Beetlejuice series were the cartoons of my childhood, but I didn't understand much back then. Almost fifteen years later my interest was reignited and of course, I couldn't help but to check out the world of fanfiction on the subject. This fic was originally planned as a one short, nothing major, but as always it grew and grew and grew and became more than fifty pages long.
A little warning – the characters are slightly OOC, but there is a reason for that. It is manly cartoon verse, but one movie character remained (she is just too interesting to not mention).
Disclaimer: Everything about Beetlejuice universe belongs to Tim Burton, to whom a lowly bow for his incredible talent and creativity.
Feeling Alive by Lady Arabella Malfoy
"Come on, babes! Come on, come on, come on! You've been pouring over those books for three days straight! When will we have fun already?"
"There is nothing I can do about the fact that I need to finish high school, Beej. And constant weaning and floating around above me doesn't help a bit!" Lydia snapped with irritation. "I have an exam tomorrow."
"And then we will hang out? It's been ages!"
"You are exaggerating like always. Only a couple of months. And as I said just a moment before I have exams for which I need to study!" she shouted, slamming her forehead onto the current published occupant of her table. Beetlejuice was driving her nuts! He always did it to others and her occasionally, but right at that moment it was truly unbearable.
"So there will be another exam the day after tomorrow?" Beetlejuice inquired with a fallen face, but Lydia didn't see it, because she was already engrossed in her textbooks.
"No, there won't be any."
"So we are going to the Neitherworld?" Beetlejuice even did a somersault in the air to express his happiness.
"No, I have a date."
"Damn."
Lydia's dates were of course an extremely sensitive subject for Beetlejuice. Lydia started dating at sixteen and Beetlejuice was certainly not happy about it. Okay, he threw an enormous tantrum the consequences of which were still seen throughout the Neitherworld (not that Lydia knew or saw any). With time he learned to accept that Lydia also had private life which excluded him. However, the first half of the year was terrible – not only Beetlejuice ridiculed Lydia's boyfriends in all ways possible, but pulled pranks during the dates to the extent of his abilities of him being in another world. And since he was proudly calling himself the Ghost with the Most, he could do a lot.
At first Lydia found it funny and even flattering, but soon even the strongest willed guys started to freak out and that usually meant one thing. And no girl likes to be dumped and that frequently too. So she and her best friend BJ had a 'talk'. The resume of it was the following: since Lydia was alive, she was growing up which included certain activities he was certainly aware of because he was more than six hundred years old. So they worked out a schedule in which ten days a month of her life belonged solely to Beetlejuice.
The only problem was that with exams those days lately had been being sacrificed to the studies and Lydia found it pointless to move her other plans. She had only one life to live and BJ was not going anywhere, right?
"So is it the same guy?" Beetlejuice drawled, doing another lazy circle above her head.
Lydia held back a groan. Silence. She knew he hated it. "Yes, Beej, it is still Henry," Lydia replied with a sigh, knowing that it's better to say something, anything in return.
"How boring. It would've been much better for you to change them every time. Then the tricks would not have gotten old so quickly. Not they I use one trick more than once…"
"You act like such a child at times. Dating is not only about fun but the ways to share it with the special person."
"As if I don't know that! I don't see any sharing though," Beetlejuice snapped and snatched Lydia's calendar from her desk.
Lydia watched as he flipped the pages. His eyes were darkening with every day turning to yesterday. Only when Beetlejuice's white bangs started to move in a perfect replica of Gorgon Medusa, Lydia understood that she had made a grave mistake.
"What is the meaning if this, Lydia?" Beetlejuice asked, his voice dead. Beetlejuice was dead for a long time, but it was the first case of his voice sounding as if coming from the bottom of a very deep grave. "No BJ days this month and the next. Even Bertha sees you more than I!"
"Bertha is my friend, I can't just-"
"And I am your what?! Toy-zebra?!!"
"Let me explain, Beej, we are studying for the university entering exams together," Lydia pled, seeing the situation was getting out of control. A sudden rainstorm in her room was a more than suitable illustration to Beetlejuice's mood.
"University, hah? And when were you planning to share it with me? On the day of the departure?!"
"Of course not, I just didn't know how to break it to you. And nothing is for certain till September and -"
"Put a sock in it, Lyds," Beetlejuice barked and a sock attached itself to Lydia's lips. "We were best friends. Somewhere in the past. Yes, I am not one of your breathing friends, boyfriends, whoever. But I am not some imaginary friend either and I don't just disappear when a kid grows up. But since you are so eager to live this mundane life then I'll leave. You can do and go wherever you want with whoever you like. You'll never see me or the Neitherworld. Ever again."
"Wait, Beej, please!" Lydia cried, finally overcoming her shock. She couldn't believe what was happening. Didn't he need her for coming to this world? Weren't they the best of friends? He couldn't just leave her like that! He just couldn't by default! "Please, just give me some time! I promise that the moment I finish my exams we'll spend a whole week together. I swear!"
"Promises, promises," Beetlejuice tattered. His words formed letters in the air, but fell apart right away. "Five years. In five years exactly to the minute, the door to the Neitherworld will appear for an hour. If you do not enter, then you won't see it ever again."
And then he disappeared. Just like that. No good bye or even something close to it. But he couldn't completely vanish from the world of the living, right? Maybe it was just another prank?
"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" she called into the darkness, but it remained dark and empty.
Only silence greeted her. Lydia was sure she would soon learn to hate it. She looked at the calendar that started the whole quarrel and gasped – that day was their eighth year anniversary. Lydia moved the glance back to the book (she indeed had to study), but all words seemed to be blurry.
……………..
A lot happened in Lydia Deetz's life in the following five years. She graduated from a university becoming a professional fashion designer. She had a string of admirers in there, some admired her art, some her outside beauty. She did have a steady relationship with one guy, Richard was his name. Everything was quite serious, they were even engaged for three months, but he broke it off. Lydia was devastated, but more because of the reason then because of the fact itself. Richard demanded her to choose between him and fashion. Her artistic soul revolted and she lost another person dear to her.
She moved to New York and her clothes instantly gained her a reputation and then a success in the world of fashion. Still she was counting days to the date that was circled in red in her current calendar. Lydia didn't know exactly what was the point of her returning to the Neitherworld. To say proper good byes to all her friends? And maybe find an answer to the question that was bugging (oh yes, 'bugging' was definitely the right world) her all those years: why had she not managed to replace him? To find a friend as funny and as unpredictable as Beetlejuice? Someone who always managed to make her smile no matter what. But Lydia knew it was impossible, you can't have a friend that could be always by her side. She even parted ways with Bertha and Prudence, who now lived on the opposite ends of the USA after graduation. She exchanged e-mails with them, but they had their own lives and Lydia gave them the space they needed. She requested the same from Beetlejuice and he complied, but the emptiness inside her wasn't filled up. Not even her work could do that. The Ghost with the Most was hard to forget and impossible to replace.