So Close

Written by Chibikan

Lydia threw her bag on her bed and sat down solemnly at her mirror and sighed.

"Hey, babes," came an expected, and welcome voice, bringing a small smile to her face. "Boy, I thought you'd never get home."

"Hi Beetlejuice," Lydia greeted tonelessly, even though she was happy to see him.

Beetlejuice frowned. Lydia spoke in that tone unless something was wrong. "Whoa, babes, you look blue." With a poof, he painted her face blue. "See?"

Lydia laughed gently as he juiced away the paint. "Thanks Beetlejuice, but it's nothing really. I'm fine. It was just a long day."

Beetlejuice shook his head, "No way Lyds. I know you way better than that."

Another sigh was the reply, "Beej, really, it's just a stupid dance at school. Nothing major."

Beetlejuice nodded, "You mean that prom thing that even Burp and Prune have dates for?"

Lydia put her hands on her hips indignantly. "BJ! You read my diary!"

The poltergeist shrugged it off, knowing she wouldn't stay mad at him, "I had to do somethin' while waiting for you to come home."

Lydia shook her head, "Yeah, it's the prom. It's supposed to be a very important dance. And I'm not going. I don't even really want to go, really."

Beetlejuice didn't buy it for a minute, "Really? 'Cause it sounds to me, like ya do."

He really did know her better than that, she realized. "Okay, so I do want to go. Doesn't mean I'm going to."

"Why not, if you wanna go, you should go." Beetlejuice told her.

She shook her head, "Nahh, it would be too awkward going by myself. You don't go stag on prom night."

Beetlejuice could see that she really did want to go. There had to be something he could do. He thought hard before coming to what should have the obvious solution. "Hey, Lyds. You don't have to go by yourself. I'll be you date." he said, excited at his brilliant idea.

But Lydia was skeptical, "BJ, you can't. You'll be revealing yourself in front of everyone. I can't ask you to do that."

He waved off her worries, "You're not askin', I'm offerin'. I can be in disguise. I can make myself look your age, my skin can be color-changed for one night. No one'll know. Hell, I'll even," Shudder, "bathe." he looked at her eagerly, realizing then that he was begging.

Lydia could see how much he really wanted to take her. Good ol' Beetlejuice. Always quick to do whatever he could to make her happy. And he was even offering to be clean. "Alright, Beej, I'll go to the prom with you. It's this Saturday, pick me up at six. You'll need a tux."

Beetlejuice leaped into the air, "WHOO HOO!"

"LYDIA!" came a holler from downstairs, "DINNER!"

The teen turned from the mirror, "COMING!" Quickly, she turned back to her best friend, "Beej, you really are the best friend anyone could ever ask for. I'll see you later," she stood and left the room, missing the wistful look in his eye.