"Shape-changing?"
"Yes."
Having my sister ask if I could shape-change struck me as so ridiculous that I burst out laughing. Mary Lou watched me briefly, then caught on because she always catches on. Soon we were both giggling hysterically, and we had the attention of everyone in the bar. I hate having people's attention, but I needed the laugh. Needed it bad.
"No," I said finally, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I can't shape-change. Then again, I've never tried."
"Then maybe you can," she said finally, after catching her own breath.
"Honestly, I've never thought about it. There's just been too much other crap to deal with, and this...condition of mine doesn't exactly come with a handbook."
"So you learn as you go," said Mary Lou.
"Yes," I said. "Sort of like The Greatest American Hero."
"Yeah, like him."
We drank some more. My stomach was beginning to hurt. I pushed the wine aside.
"You ever going to tell me what happened to you?" Mary Lou's words were forming slower. The martinis had something to do with that. "How you became, you know, what you are?"
I looked away. "Someday, Mary Lou."
"But not today."
"No," I said. "Not today."
Mary Lou turned in her stool and faced me. Her big, round eyes were glassy. Her nose was more slender than mine, but we resembled each other in every other way. We were sisters through and through.