How does Lia fit into the community in terms of the relationships with other characters?

I think that this becomes one of the fundamental
challenges that Lia faces in the work.  Lia is shown to have had really a strong
relationship with Cassie.  Yet, this relationship is one predicated out of fear of
isolation.  Both depend on one another to endure their self- destruction.  Yet, neither
one is able to generate the strength needed to ask the other one for help through such
bouts of self- hate and self- destruction.  Once Cassie dies, Lia is sucked into a realm
where she really does not sustain viable relationships with anyone else.  Her parents
and social realm do not help her and Lia is forced to endure a systematic descent into a
"metaphorical universe," where constructive contact with others is limited, at best.
 Anderson posits that what is most redemptive and powerful for Lia is not as much
relationship with other characters as much as a healthy relationship with herself.  Lia
recognizes in the end that there is a way for her to stop the path she is on, a path
that Cassie dies while sojourning.  The ability to understand that she is hurting
herself helps to establish a relationship with her own sense of self that can help her
find a way to emotional and physical wellness.  It is from this point where the
potential exists in forming relationships with others.