Shattered Mirrors

Chapter 10: Society Gal

The sound of the phone ringing was what woke Aya up. She reached for the cordless phone in her room. Finding it she picked it up and fumbled for the talk button. "Whaddya want?" She asked, an annoyed tone. It was...what...Saturday?

"Aya darling!" The high pitched female voice made Aya wince in response.

"Ugh, hi Alice." She mumbled. "It's too early...what do you want?" She asked.

"I'm having a party tonight. And I was wondering if you could, like, sing for us? Thomas is coming." The voice continued, not seeming bothered by how tired and pissed off Aya sounded.

Alice...was Aya's older sister. She was almost 24 by now, and had been engaged to the son of a CEO for some big business for years. They had gotten married sometime during the summer. Aya didn't really care about it.

Thomas, well...he was the man Aya's parents had arranged for her to marry after she turned 18. His parents were from England and rich for some random reason she couldn't remember either.

Rich bastards.

"Please say you'll come. It wouldn't be a party without my little sister singing a few songs. Please, darling!" The annoying voice chirped.

"Fine, what time?" Aya groaned, a major headache starting to set in.

"It's at six, but arrive a little late, you have a bigger entrance." Alice said.

Aya hung up and rolled onto her side. Her head hurt! Why did she feel so fucking tired? She didn't want to move.

"Hey, alcoholic, can I come in?" Beej's voice came from the other side of the door.

"It's too early!" Aya whined out.

"I've got a peace offering." He said, hoping to get her to let him in.

"What is it, war chief?" She asked, a slightly amused tone to her voice.

"The plentiful offering of fruit from the fridge." He answered, in a voice like a grunt, imitating a war chief through the door.

"Ugh, fine, come in." She mumbled, sitting up. Her head throbbed with just the little movement.

He carried in a tray of assorted fruits, knowing she was all vegetarian. "What was the phone call about?" He asked. From the time he had been there almost no one had called.

Aya perked up at the sight of food. What had happened last night? She vaguely remembered Ryan and his lips on hers. She remembered how he had tried to trick her and how she had kneed him...and Beej had kicked him out. "Did I get drunk or something...?" She felt hungover.

"You don't remember anything?" Beej asked, feeling his heart fall a bit. She didn't remember saying 'I love you' to him?

"I remember bits and pieces...but a lot of it is a blur." Aya answered. She thought for a moment. Then she remembered feeling confused and sad and pathetic and ashamed...and admitting that she...loved him. She loved him? Yeah, she did in a way.

Beej nodded and passed over the tray for her. He didn't help himself to sitting onto her bed, instead he floated a bit away from her bed, watching her. "What was the call about, toots?"

"It was my older sister – " She started, but he cut her off.

"Is she a looker?" He asked, winking amused.

"She's taken. Married. Too bad." Aya said, feeling annoyed and not sorry in the least. "Anyways, she wants me to sing at a party for her tonight." She finished.

"You can sing?" He was surprised. He thought all she could do was yell.

"Very funny." She said as she bit into an apple.

"Seriously. Can you?" He asked, now curious.

"Why don't you follow me tonight, like you probably will...and see for yourself?" She offered, although she honestly wasn't thinking.

This was him. He liked causing trouble. A party, full of rich, well-dressed people...and her fiancé...yeah, not a good idea. But her mind wasn't on that. It was on showing off her voice for him.

"Thanks for breakfast Beej." She said as she took another bite of her apple, slipping off the bed.

"Um, yeah. You sure you want some ghost haunting some rich party?" He asked, as he floated off. "I don't think that people would appreciate me being there." He said with a ghostly laugh that sounded more like his old self.

"So?" She said. "They aren't going to see you." She said. She walked over to the closet and started going through her clothes. Instead of throwing them on the bed or making a mess, she just flicked through them with one hand, the other holding the apple to her mouth. Finally she stopped at a dress, pausing to look over it.

It was a blue-violet that would go well with her brown hair and eyes, since brown and blue tended to look good together. It had spaghetti straps and ruffles at the bottom in a slanting fashion so it showed more leg on one side then the other. She didn't have many dresses anymore. She hated wearing them. She took the dress out of her closet and carefully set it on the bed, looking it over. "That'll have to do I guess..." She mumbled.

Beej watched all this, feeling as if he was spying on something private. But since when had he cared for someone else's privacy? "Nice dress toots, trying to impress me? Cause if you wanted to do that, you could just go in what you're in and – "

"Oh, please. Why would I try and impress you?" She asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes and taking another bite of the fruit in her hand.

"Because I'm handsome, sexy, the hottest ghost you'll ever find." He said, seeming full of himself, although he was joking, as he hoped she was too.

"Oh please, I'm sure I could find Heath Ledger somewhere in the Neitherworld." Aya said with a laugh.

Beetlejuice looked confused. "Who?" He asked.

"A guy who died not too long ago...movie star, Australian, his accent was to die for in 10 things I hate about you." She said, feigning a swoon. "Now there would be a ghost I'd want to meet."

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. "Australian? Ick. What is it with you and British sounding stuff?" He said, referring to the accent she sometimes adopted.

"Do you have a problem with that, governor?" She asked adopting the accent again.

He shook his head. "Nope, not at all." He said. Although he wondered about her sometimes.

* * *

She was nervous. What was she going to sing? There weren't many songs that she could think of, not with two men she...loved watching her. And her sister would be wanting to critique her. What did she sing.

Once there was the sun

Bright and warm and wonderful

Shining like the love within my heart

Was that the television? Oh, it was an old movie.

Now there's no more sun.

Winter has killed everything

And although its dark December

Forever

I'll remember sun

Oh, wow, it had been forever since she had watched that movie. But, that gave her an idea on what to sing, a song from that very movie. Although not that one.

She looked at the clock. 5:45 PM. She needed to go get ready. Beej had disappeared, so she decided to wait on looking for him. She went upstairs and changed into the blue dress, adjusting it a few times. Then she pulled on the, ick, heels. They were blue open-toed and the heels were small, but still there. She went to fix her hair, curling it for once so that it fell in tight ringlets around her face. She pinned a few curls back with a barrette so it wouldn't be in her face. She didn't bother with much make-up, just eyeliner.

Then she was ready. "Hey, Beej!" She called through the house, wondering where he had gotten off to.

"Over here, toots." He said and when she turned, she saw him in a new black and white suit. Still the same style, but it was clean and wasn't torn in spots.

She let out a small "Hyuu~" as she saw him. "Who are you trying to impress? Some ghost girl I don't know about?" She asked, acting all jealous.

He laughed. "Yeah, sweetheart. A real looker." He said with a wink as he floated out to her car since she'd have to drive anyways.

They got to the party around 6:30, because she had lost her way a few times. There were valets, actual valets, parking the cars. She handed over the keys and started to walk up the drive. "Don't spill anything on my sister, or the guys with her. You can prank anyone else. Oh, except for me." She said, setting down rules because she had just remembered that he did like to cause trouble.

She walked inside and was greeted by a large entrance with armchairs and people were mingling. When she walked in, people turned. Suddenly she felt something jump on her and she had to stop herself from falling. Arms were around her neck and she was trying not to inhale blond hair. "Alice." She said, feeling the breath knocked out of her.

She hated family.

The girl let go of her and looked her over. "Oh, you look so pretty! Come on, let's go show you to Thomas and then you can talk to Rick again. They'll be so happy to see you!" The girl was talking enthusiastically, and tugging on Aya's hand.

Alice wore a pink dress that was tight and showed too much cleavage. She was taller than Aya was, especially with the heels. Her hair was blond and curled, much to Aya's dislike. It made them look alike in a way. Alice was a bottle blond, while Aya's hair was her natural color, a honey brown.

People stared and whispered. It had been a while since Aya had appeared at a party like this. Her parent's had forced her to stop going after they had started to abuse her, not wanting anyone to know.

Soon she was dragged over to two men. One was older, and was her brother-in-law, Rick. He had black hair, and wore thin glasses, with a slim build. "Hello there, Aya, how nice to see you. You look lovely." He said, taking her hand and pulling her into a fake, one-armed hug, giving a bare brush of lips to her cheek. Not very brotherly at all. But she didn't blame him.

She returned the kiss on the cheek and stepped back, looking for where Beej had wandered off to. She didn't see him, so she turned back to what she was doing so no one would think something suspicious.

"Darling." The other man said, as she looked over to him. He was her fiancé. He had shaggy brown hair, and bright green eyes. He was only a year or two older than her, and had a more muscular build to him. "I've missed you so much." He said, stepping forward to embrace her. She flinched, only because she knew Beej was somewhere, watching what was going on. "You look radiant this evening." He whispered against her hair and she blushed.

Beetlejuice watched from not too far away, feeling the anger wash over him. He bit back the thoughts of cruel pranks he could pull. Aya would just get angry. But...with competition like that, how did he have a chance? He saw her flinch and was a bit relieved. He floated down, behind Aya, playing with her hair to purposefully get a reaction, just so she'd jump back from the other guy.

Aya did jump back. "S-sorry." She mumbled, apologetically as she turned to glare at Beej, who grinned.

"Your sister is quite the looker." He said with a laugh.

She was annoyed about it. But she tried not to let it show. "I know its been a while, Thomas. I've been...busy, I'm sure you can understand." She said, with a small smile. He touched her cheek and Beej felt the jealousy rage.

Aya pulled back. "A-alice, didn't you want me to sing one song. I can't stay long, I have to be somewhere early tomorrow." She was lying, but she didn't want to stay now. This was awkward for her.

Alice grinned. "Oh, yes! Come on, the pianist knows almost any song you can think of, and there's a microphone up there." She said, leading to a corner that was a bit elevated for a piano and a somewhat stage.

Aya stepped up, not wanting to do this. "Just one song." She said. Alice nodded.

Aya walked over and said the song, although she didn't know if it would work just on a piano, but it was better than nothing.

She hated singing for people. No, that was a lie. She just didn't want Beej to hear her, hear her if she messed up. Or if her voice cracked.

She heard the opening chords of the song and she readied herself. Her voice would have to go high for this song. Although...that wasn't that much of a problem.

I know there's someone, somewhere

Someone who's sure to find me soon

She didn't know why her thoughts weren't on the human watching her with dazed eyes at her voice, but were on the ghost. That ugly, perverted ghost.

After the rain goes, there are rainbows

I'll find my rainbow soon

Hah, Beej, a rainbow? Really? What rich, romantic planet was she from? Oh, that was a different song.

Soon it won't be just pretend

Soon a happy ending

Love can you hear me?

If you're near me

Yeah, he was near her alright...getting closer to the sound of her voice. She looked up at him for a moment, and looked down, trying not to blush. He looked at her like she was some weird alien or something.

Sing your song

Sure and strong and soon

Okay, there went the love song. She set the microphone down and stepped down, cheeks red as her sister ran over and hugged her.

"Thanks for doing that, sis. I know you hate singing for people." Alice said cheerfully.

Two men were staring at her. One who thought the song had been meant for him, but it wasn't, and she felt bad. How could she...be in love with a ghost?

She walked over and gave Thomas a small kiss on the cheek. But then was walking off. "I'm going home," She said, but someone caught her wrist. It...was Thomas, but it wasn't him. She somehow knew it was Beej possessing Thomas.

"One dance?" He asked, soft. She wasn't sure why, but she nodded. He was in Thomas' body, but she didn't hesitate. When the piano started the next song, she danced with him, a slow waltz, although he stumbled through the steps a bit, causing her to giggle.

* * *

Beej couldn't explain it. The way she held herself, the graceful movements. The sound of her voice, the feel of his arm around her waist, her hand on his shoulder. Everything was just so perfect. Although, it wouldn't work. He was dead. The dead didn't get love. They didn't get happiness. That's why they were dead.

"So...who's the bub who's body I'm in?" He asked.

"My...future husband. My parents arranged a marriage for me, although I do plan on breaking it off without them in the picture." She said, softly.

"Is that why the British accent?" He asked, remembering that Thomas had one too.

She nodded her head. "Every other summer my parents would ship me off to spend time with him, and it grew on me. It's an optional thing, but it is part of me." She said softly.

"Was the song for him?" The question he had wanted to ask the most.

She shook her head. "No, it was for some idiotic perverted old man who wouldn't appreciate it." She said with a giggle.

An expression Aya couldn't read came over Thomas' (at the moment Beej's) face. "I'm sure any guy would appreciate a girl singing for them." He said, with a seriousness that had been present in him for days.

Aya stopped dancing with him as the song ended. She leaned up, and kissed him. It was Thomas who she was kissing, but under it was Beej. It was Beej who deepened the kiss, not Thomas.

When she broke free, she felt guilty. Would she kiss him again once he was just a poltergeist? Would she want to?

A night without sleep, where her thoughts were on death...and she wasn't sure why she had fallen in love with the idea suddenly.

A/N: Well, chapter 10 is out. Whee. This was like...so aggravating to write. I had to force myself to finish it. School sucks my creativity out of me slowly. . School is like...the biggest evil ever. Especially with classes like "Human Relations" and "Fashion Merchandising". Really? Oh well. Life's a bitch and then you die, right?

Feedback would be appreciated.