Chapter Three: Happy Anniversary
I held the completed book in my hands. I wanted to keep it, but the whole reason I made it was to give it away. Hopefully Beetlejuice's gift would make up for the loss. I wasn't expecting much, but it was still nice to dream.
After placing the book in a box and wrapping it in waxy red spider-web wrapping paper, I put the ring back on my finger. The ring had a special magic to it. My fingers were long and bony, much thinner than they were when I was eleven. To accommodate that, the ring diminished in size so it continued to perfectly fit my ring finger. My lips curled into a small smile. Sometimes I would just stare at that ring for hours. Each time a different reel of memories would play in my head. That bitch Claire asked me numerous times if I got the junky thing at some thrift store. I respond that at least I didn't get my clothes from a dumpster. Her outfits had gotten trashier as the years went by. She wore ridiculous make-up and always made herself look like a slut. Who am I kidding? She is a slut. We would bounce insults at each other, throwing them at each other's walls and letting them roll away.
I put the present on the nightstand and cleaned up the materials, then I proceeded to change out of my vampire nightgown. I wore all black today, even down to the bra and underwear. The only thing that wasn't black was my red hair tie, which I put around my right wrist. The dress was plain and simple. Its loose skirt swayed just below my knees and sent cool breezes across my legs. The torso was snug but not tight. The collar simply cut across two inches below my collarbone, revealing my shoulders. The sleeves of the dress were as loose as the skirt and ended at the elbow. Around my neck I tied a thick choker with a silver cross hanging from it. A set of thin black bracelets hung from my left wrist. I pulled on a pair of leather boots. Just as I finished doing my make up and brushing my hair, Beetlejuice appeared in the mirror.
"Happy Anniversary, Babes!" he exclaimed. I jumped back in surprise, my eyes wide. For a moment I thought I was hallucinating, so I rubbed my eyes. His face was still there right in front of me. Shouldn't he be with Ginger right now?
"What are you doing here?" I asked as I put down my hairbrush.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm celebrating our anniversary!" I didn't notice this at first, but he was wearing one of those cheesy unicorn horn party hats. Rainbow confetti rained on him and he carried a noisemaker.
"But…what about your plans?"
"I decided not to show up," he replied briskly.
"Beetlejuice!" I exclaimed. "You don't just stand people up like that!" While I was disappointed with him for being so cruel, happiness flared up inside of me at the same time. "Thank you so much!" I added happily. I jumped forward to hug him, but my face went into the mirror. While I rubbed my poor nose, Beetlejuice just sat there and laughed.
"I've got the party set up at my house. See ya there!" With that said he disappeared. Smiling, I ran to the nightstand and took my present. After fixing my appearance, I stood in the middle of the room.
"Though I know I should be wary, still I venture some place scary. Ghostly haunting I turn loose. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"
The door I took to the Neitherworld popped up in the middle of my room. When I opened the door, a spiraling portal was revealed. All of the loose articles in my room tipped over or migrated to another spot because they succumbed to the wind. My hair and the loose parts of my dress swayed to one side. Taking in a deep breath, I jumped into the portal. The door slammed shut behind me.
The door on the other side opened and I walked down the steps, finding Beetlejuice's road house just ahead. I went in through the front door. He had cleaned up the place a little bit and decorated it with streamers, banners, and balloons. On the table there was a cake with six lit candles on it along with a few bowls of snacks including "Beetle Chips", his favorite. Once he convinced me to try them and I ended up returning home sick. I liked bugs, but not in my stomach.
"It looks great in here!" I exclaimed happily. I turned to him, holding the box out. "Let's open our presents now," I added, "Happy Anniversary." I smiled even more when he took the present and unwrapped it. My stomach felt empty and it gurgled nervously. He must've known how nervous I was because he was being very slow and hesitant when he was undoing my careful wrapping. "Hurry up!" I wailed. Laughing, he quickly ripped the remaining paper off, opened the box, and took out the book. His mouth opened into a wide smile. He pushed the cover away and flipped through the pages, taking in all of the memories I had preserved.
"Wow, Lyds, this is great!" I jumped in my spot, cheerfully clapping my hands.
"I'm so glad you like it!" I replied. After putting the album on the table, he took out a box. Just seeing the box made me gasp in delight. He must have worked really hard to raise the money for this gift. Hopefully he didn't get it by stealing from children or selling phony miracle products. I wanted to rip the poorly done wrapping to shreds but I kept my dignity and carefully unwrapped the present. My knees were shaking, both out of nervousness and excitement. Carefully I removed the lid from the box.
The gift was a new dress.
Gasping, I gingerly removed the dress, allowing the box to drop to the ground with a light tap. The piece unfolded in front of me. I let it dangle from my hands and just stared at it for a moment. The dress was red and black, my favorite color combination. The torso was a corset tied in the front with red strings. There were no actual sleeves, but the dress was held up by a thick black choker, similar to the one I was wearing right now, with straps attaching the choker to the rest of the dress. The skirt that bled from the corset was black and loose. Over the black fabric was a veil of red lace.
My favorite part of the outfit was the cape that came with it. It was a hooded cape with a black outside and a red inside. I also had a pair of black gloves that stretched up to my armpits and thin black boots that reached my knees.
"Beetlejuice, I love it!" I cried, holding back my tears of joy. Smiling brightly I jumped into a hug. "Thank you so much! It's perfect!" I turned towards his bedroom and ran in. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest like a sugar-high hummingbird. My feet briskly glided across the floor on a cloud of elation. "I'm going to try it on right away!" Before he could say anything, I shut the door. Quickly, I slipped my small poncho and body suit off, replacing the old clothes with this beautiful new dress. I decided to tie my hair into a long braided ponytail, which took a while. After looking at myself, my smile melted away, and I put my hair back into the high ponytail, using the red hair tie. A few times Beetlejuice knocked on the door to make sure I hadn't died or something. I didn't let him come in. I wanted the new me to be a complete surprise to him. Before putting the cape on, I looked down at myself, tightening the corset a little bit. My boobs actually looked decently sized! I squealed delightfully into my hands.
Finally, I slipped on the boots and the gloves, followed by the cloak. When I came out, shrouded in the cape, Beetlejuice was sprawled out on the couch and dead asleep. I stomped towards him, my boots clunking against the wood floor, and bonked his head with my palm.
"Up!" I shouted. He let out a scream and jumped up, standing straight and tall. His gaze was that of an army private. For a moment it was stale and glazed over but when I snapped my fingers his attention turned to me. Smiling, I opened the cape and put it behind my shoulders so the rest of the dress was visible. It was beautifully crafted and wonderfully finished. It must've cost him a year's worth of money from a regular job. "Sooooo, what do you think?" I span in my spot, allowing the cape and skirt to twirl. There was a silence. I looked up. He was just staring, like he was trying to collect his thoughts. Did it look bad? Good? Amazing? Terrible? "Beetlejuice?"
Right there he burst out into tears. His crying was kind of obnoxious. He let out this croak-like wail, his mouth open vastly and his green worm tongue sticking out. Tears came out like twin rain showers. It was like watching a two-year-old having a tantrum. But why was he crying?
"What's wrong?" I asked quietly, my voice overflowing with worry. I stepped closer to him, hearing the heels of my new boots clunking again. This seemed to make his tears worse. "Beetlejuice?"
"You're…growing…up…too…faaaaaaaaast!" he wailed, taking deep breaths between each word.
"Someone else here still needs to grow up," I mumbled. Quickly I shook away my annoyance, replacing it with a sweeter tone. I took a few more steps towards him. "Why's that so bad?" I asked softly. He just kept whimpering. What a baby. "Beetlejuice…I'm not going to leave you just because I'm growing up. I mean…I'm going to college, but I'll still get to see you, right?" I put up my finger as if to say, "One moment," and ran into the bedroom, coming out with my old poncho. I held it up and wiped the tears away from his face.
"Thanks, Babes," he croaked, patting the water off of his eyes. My lips curled into a smile once more.
"No problem," I replied cheerfully. Despite my smile, my head hung ever so slightly thinking about the subject. He still never told me if I could talk to him all the way in California. I decided to change the subject. I looked down at the dress, holding the skirt out. "This dress is so beautiful," I exhaled. "You must've worked really hard to get the money for this." Beetlejuice's usual smile returned. He placed a hand on his hip and the other in the air like he was holding a tray of food.
"Actually," he corrected me, "I made it from scratch." I brought my hands to my mouth.
"You made this?" I shouted into my hands. He nodded proudly. I turned my gaze back to the dress. This one little piece of information made me see the dress in a completely different way. He had cut and formed the leather creating the corset, measured and sewed the fabric of the skirt, and even stitched the cloak. There had to be some magic in there, but I believed it was mostly love. I twirled in my spot again. "It really is wonderful, thank you so much!"
We spent the rest of the morning chatting, looking through the album, pondering over memories, and, of course, eating. The bowl of Beetle Chips were gone within the first half-hour and we quickly gobbled down our cake. All of the eating made Beetlejuice quite tired by noon, so when he conked out on the couch, I spent about an hour watching T.V. The reception was horrible and his obnoxious snoring made it hard to hear, but I kept myself entertained by flipping through the album (again) and using the T.V. programs as background noise.
Beetlejuice awoke with a yelp when there was a knock on the door. He floated to the door, mumbling some swears under his breath. When he opened the door, his yellow eyes bugged out of his head and he instantly shut the door. I stood up, briskly walking towards the door, my new cape flaring out behind me.
"Who is it?" I asked, finding Beetlejuice disguising himself as a coat-hanger.
"The Royal Guards!" he hoarsely whispered.
"Hm, I wonder what they want," I said as I reached for the doorknob.
"Don't!" Beetlejuice wailed, coming out of his coat-hanger form and diving towards me. I stepped out of the way and let him slam into the floor.
"What's wrong with the Royal Guards?" I questioned, impatiently tapping my foot.
"The last time they showed up they were trying to arrest me!" he moaned. My eyes rolled.
"Don't even bother to explain," I mumbled, opening the door. A pair of Royal Guards stood before me. The blue-skinned bodies of muscle stepped aside and allowed a skinny, jewel-clad person to enter the house. I backed away a little bit, lifting my arms so my cloak could hide my whimpering friend. "Ah…uh…what can I do for you, sir?" I asked as politely as possible.
"His royal lowness Prince Vince requests the services of Mister Beetlejuice," the man said in a snooty British accent. My lips pursed together, I bent down and picked Beetlejuice up by the collar, making him stand and face the jewel guy.
"I-I-I didn't do it, I swear!" Beetlejuice spat out as he waved his hands in front of him. "Whatever it was, I had nothing to do with it!"
"Calm yourself, Mister Beetlejuice," the man said, "we are here to ask for your services, not to arrest you." Upon hearing this, Beetlejuice let out a relieved sigh.
"Guess they didn't figure out who put the spiders in the Queen's underwear drawer," he muttered under his breath, chuckling at his cleverness. The jeweled man didn't seem to hear, but I did, so I delivered a smack to his arm. "That huuurt," he whined, rubbing his arm. I crossed my arms and listened as the jeweled man explained that Prince Vince was kidnapped and that we had to find him.
