Queen Goth in Stripes

A 'Beetlejuice' story

By: Draculamomma

Author's Brief Message: Hello dear fans, I'm currently trying to balance a hefty University schedule, among other personal things as well, but that doesn't mean I will neglect this story and my beloved fans! Here is chapter 11 for those of you who were so awesome enough to wait for it! I love you all!

P.S. A great big thank you to all those who submitted amazing reviews, added this story to their favs list, and added me as their favorite author or 'Story Alert' thing lol Thanks guys! I write for you all with passion! Cheers and happy reading! R&R please!

Chapter 11-Making Mistakes

Lydia didn't know how much more she could take. Her life was in pieces. It had been a few hours into the morning, and all she wanted to do was lie in bed all day. She didn't want to talk to anyone, or see anyone, not even Adam and Barbara. Delia knocked a few times on her locked bedroom door, signaling for her to get up, but Lydia didn't care if she angered Delia. She didn't care about anyone or anything now that she didn't have Beetlejuice. She knew, deep inside, that all this time along, he'd been the one who had helped her move along through everything painful all these times, and for that, she owed him everything she had. She wanted to repay him, for being there for her, and she wanted to confess her deep love for him, but he rejected her. He didn't want to return her feelings, and he wanted nothing more to do with her. She was at her wit's end.

The note, even though she had torn it to bits and pieces, still lingered fresh in her mind. She had practically memorized the entire thing, word for word, it was so depressing. It was so unbecoming of Beetlejuice to do something like this, it felt, so…weird…She didn't know what other word to use to describe it. She had always thought Beetlejuice to be weird, but this was just beyond weird.

Lydia heard Delia's angry footsteps marching back to her doorway and she closed her eyes and covered her ears as soon as she heard Delia's strong fists pound the wooden door.

"Lydia Deetz! For the last time! If you don't get up this instant and come down for breakfast I swear on my mother, I will make sure you're grounded until you're forty!" With a large huff, she made her way down the steps.

"Fuck you." Lydia barely wheezed out. She had been up all night crying and bawling her eyes out, she had tried to be really quiet about it, but she soon found herself screaming into her pillow within seconds. After a few hours of nonstop screaming, she felt her lungs were about to burst. She literally began coughing so hard she thought she tasted blood after a few minutes. Her throat hurt and burned beyond belief, but she was far from done.

She had later gotten up, and after checking to see if no one else in the house was awake, she made it to the kitchen quietly, and drank three cups of water, and made her way back to room, where she continued screaming for another few hours until her lungs couldn't take it any longer, and she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.

Lydia sat up in her bed, and rubbed her aching throat. She needed more water, but she felt that wasn't going to help much either. She walked over to her mirror, and glared at herself in the mirror before searching for some clothes to wear.

"Lydia stop looking so glum and finish up your toast." Delia hissed across the kitchen table at her step-daughter.

Lydia frowned at Delia, but either way it really didn't show as she was wearing her favorite dark, brooding black hat with a black veil attached to it, dropping in front of her face and making her face appear gloomier than ever. She hadn't even bothered putting on make-up this morning.

"I hope you're not going to sulk around the house like that all day!" Delia pestered on, downing a few bites of her toast.

Charles Deetz sighed and set his paper down. "Delia, let it rest please."

Both Lydia and Delia looked over at Charles. It seemed for once that Charles was standing up for his odd daughter.

Otho soon broke through the odd silence between the three members of the Deetz family as he trudged his heavy body into the kitchen.

"Good morning all." He said in a casual voice.

Lydia kept her head down as she checked her watch quickly. It was time to go to school. Groaning inwardly, she grabbed her schoolbag and snatched her lunchbox off the kitchen table as she made her way out the door and to her bike.

Lydia was glad she hadn't seen the nasty Claire Brewster anywhere as she walked into the school, but her happiness was short-lived, when she entered the classroom.

Claire Brewster was sitting as annoying as ever in her usual spot, behind Lydia, chatting up a storm with her friends. They all stopped talking and burst into laughter when they set eyes on Lydia as she walked in and sat down.

Lydia closed her eyes and concentrated on drowning their nasty cruel voices out, but they were getting louder. Lydia fought with herself not to turn around, for she knew something was going to happen if she did...something bad.

As they laughed louder and harder, she couldn't stand it any longer. She turned around and gazed at the annoying girls behind her. What Lydia saw nearly made her burst into tears right then and there inside the classroom.

Claire had drawn big black circles around her eyes, much like Lydia's make-up usually was done, but Claire had obviously exaggerated in order to make fun of Lydia. She had put on a heavy and messy layer of black lipstick, smudging it everywhere on her cheeks, and had put on a black hat with a veil much like Lydia's.

Claire waved over at Lydia when she saw Lydia's mouth open in shock. "How do I look?" She asked in a high pitched voice.

Lydia didn't know what to say.

"We could be twins!" Claire sang out.

At once Mrs. Shannon walked into the room, and scowled at the class. She looked over and saw Claire and Lydia. She walked over to Claire and tore her hat off.

"Stop distracting the class, Claire!" She then turned to Lydia, and took her hat off as well.

"Lydia, I'd appreciate it if you stopped acting so dark and gloomy, it spoils my mood, and I'm sure it affects everyone else as well!" With that, she threw the hat into Lydia's hands, and threw Claire's at her.

"Now, since a selected few…have distracted us…can we please get back to our lesson?" She asked, after throwing dirty glances in Lydia and Claire's direction.

Once the class was silent, Mrs. Shannon went ahead and began passing books around the class.

"Now, we are finally going to take a brief look at a novel which I'm sure all of you know the contexts of, however, it's not the simple plot outline I wanted to discuss today, I wanted to hear your opinions and thoughts on the conflicts within the novel, and overall, I wanted to know just how much you can understand from a brief discussion of the novel."

Lydia nearly groaned out loud when she saw the copies of the books Mrs. Shannon was handing out. When she reached Lydia's desk, she plopped down a hard cover copy of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

Claire laughed. "Look! Lydia's favorite!" The class began giggling.

"QUIET!" Mrs. Shannon yelled, finally silencing them.

Once all the novels were passed around, Mrs. Shannon went back to the front of the room, and she grabbed her own copy of the book.

"Now, setting aside the horror culture, and all the film versions made of the novel, can anyone tell me in what form the novel is written in?"

No one said a word as Mrs. Shannon asked her question. Lydia knew that if no one answered, Mrs. Shannon would stay silent all day until someone did. So she raised a hand.

"Yes Lydia?"

"It's written much like Bram Stoker's "Dracula". In the forms of letters and diary entries, this in another word is called an epistolary."

Mrs. Shannon smiled for the first time that day. "Very good Lydia!" She then turned to the board, and wrote down the word 'epistolary', and the definition beside it. The class hurried to copy it into their notes.

"We all know who the main character is as well, the poor protagonist, Victor Frankenstein."

"Lydia's husband, more like." Claire shouted out.

"CLAIRE!" Mrs. Shannon yelled again.

Claire rolled her eyes and rubbed the black lipstick off her face but said nothing else.

"As I was saying, Victor Frankenstein is the novel's protagonist. Victor Frankenstein, time after time again, has been referred to as a tragic hero, can anyone tell me why?"

The class was once again deadly silent.

Mrs. Shannon sighed. "What does Victor do in order to gain that title? Think about his experiences and character in general."

The class was still silent.

Lydia didn't want to answer, but this was ridiculous. Someone had to speak up. She waited a few more seconds and then raised her hand. When she did, a large chunk of black ink was splattered across the room, and all over Lydia's pale, slender hand.

Lydia heard the class screaming and roaring with laughter. She felt the heat rising in her face as she slowly lowered her hand.

"CLAIRE BREWSTER! THAT'S IT! I HAVE HAD IT! YOU ARE OUT, YOUNG LADY! OUT OF THIS CLASSROOM! I THOUGHT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WOULD-"

Mrs. Shannon's loud voice was soon interrupted by more laughter as Claire stood up and bowed.

"It was nothing! I was just helping Lydia get a tattoo on her hand! You know, Goths and tattoos! Now she'll be able to wake the dead with her attractive state! And she'll probably do a good job of it too! Go ahead honey; wake the dead with that stench of blackness!"

Lydia probably would have never acted the way she had if Claire hadn't mentioned anything about the dead. For as soon as she had, mental images of Beetlejuice flew through Lydia's mind, and then she snapped.

She flew out of her desk faster than she thought she could have, and landed right face first into Claire, knocking the little blond onto the floor of the room. Lydia began packing in as many punches as she could to Claire face, and immediately the room went wild.

Mrs. Shannon tried pulling Lydia off Claire, but Claire surprised them both by slapping Lydia hard across the face. Before Lydia had a chance to react, Claire took advantage of her surprised situation, and rolled over, pushing Lydia down onto the cold, hard floor.

"YOU GOTHIC BITCH! HOW DARE YOU EVEN LAY A CLAWED FINGER ON ME! I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO KILL YOU!" She screamed in a loud voice as she began pulling at Lydia's hair.

"GIRLS! STOP IT THIS INSTANCE!" Mrs. Shannon's yelling did nothing to stop the girls. The entire class was wild. The other girls in the room gathered around Lydia and Claire, chanting and trying to pack in a few kicks and scratches.

Mrs. Shannon dropped her books and raced to the door, presumably to get the Principal. Lydia and Claire didn't stop however and the insults soon got louder and worse.

"STUPID BLONDE!"

"SATAN'S WHORE!"

"AIRHEADED BIMBO!"

"BLOODSUCKING WITCH!"

Lydia got one leg free under the struggling Claire, and she used it well to shove Claire's light, but strong body off of hers. Claire went rolling into another girl, and caused that girl to fall down.

Once Claire was back up on her feet, she tried straightening and smoothing out her rumpled and slightly dirtied blonde hair as she glared at Lydia.

"You are in so much trouble!" She hissed out.

"So are you, you stupid bleached moron!" Lydia spat back with venom.

The class gasped.

"You're such a goddamn touchy freak, you know that? I was only joking and you attacked me!"

"You're the one always teasing me for being different! You deserved it!" Lydia yelled, standing her ground firm.

"Well maybe if you weren't such a Halloween freak I wouldn't be bothering you!"

"People should be able to dress however they want and be themselves without bimbos like you hurting them!"

Claire glared daggers. "Can't you be normal?"

Lydia clenched her fists. "THIS IS WHO I AM! EITHER ACCEPT IT, OR LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Claire resorted to yelling too. "YOU STUPID GHOST LOVER!"

With another wrong statement made, Lydia once more leapt at Claire with fingers outstretched.

"HELP!" Claire managed to shout out before falling into a desk behind the crowd of girls. Lydia shoved Claire into a whole bunch of desks with all her might, sending the blonde's body sailing straight into the doorway of the class, and into the chest of the Principal, Mrs. Baxter.

The principal nearly fell over as well, if it weren't for Mrs. Shannon who held her back. Claire stood up quickly when Lydia suddenly grabbed the collar of her shirt, and punched her across the face, not too hard to break her nose though.

Mrs. Shannon finally grabbed Claire from leaping forward at Lydia once more, and held her down by her shoulders, while Mrs. Baxter held Lydia back as well as hard as she could. Both girls were trying so hard to grab each other's throats, but the stronger, older women held them back until they were both tired of struggling.

Lydia sat down on a desk, breathing heavily and angrily, while Claire sat down on a chair, fixing her hair, her shirt and her skirt quickly. The class eventually quieted down, as if expecting more insults to be thrown around the room, but when none came, the teachers dismissed the other girls, who headed out the door slowly, waiting for a few more punches and hits.

Once the room was empty, Mrs. Shannon explained slowly to Mrs. Baxter exactly what had happened. When she was finished, Mrs. Baxter asked Claire and Lydia to apologize to one another, when they did, she said she was going to call both their parents.

Lydia didn't really care much as she was lectured about how inappropriate and un-lady like her behavior was. She really could have cared less. She sat back on the desk, glaring her death glare as best she could over at Claire, while the Principal called her parents.

Claire didn't make much eye contact with Lydia, but once Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Baxter were distracted; she turned to Lydia and mouthed: "THIS ISN'T OVER, GOTH."

Lydia only smiled and flipped Claire off bravely.

When Lydia got home that day, she received the lecture of her life from both Charles and Delia.

"FIGHTING WITH ANOTHER GIRL? WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?" Delia yelled as she paced the room back and forth wringing her worried hands.

"Lydia we raised you to know better than that! What's with you and this Brewster girl? As long as I can remember you two have been at each other's throats since we moved in here!" Charles yelled.

"She started it! She threw ink at me!" Lydia argued back.

"What are you? Two? It doesn't matter who the hell started it! What mattered was that she wanted to get a reaction out of you, Lydia, and you were more than willing to give her one!" Charles yelled.

Lydia folded her arms across her chest and tried to look as if she had done nothing wrong, but deep inside she knew her father was right. Claire only wanted to get a rise out of her, to make her look foolish in front of the entire class, Mrs. Shannon, and Mrs. Baxter, and she had been stupid enough to fall into Claire's trap.

"Fighting with girls! Of all things!" Delia began screaming again.

"First it started with wearing black make-up and clothing, then it was the sad and depressing music, then it was all those weird horror movies! Now this? Next she'll be using drugs and drinking Charles! We have to stop her before she ruins her life!"

"Excuse but I'm nearly eighteen years old! I'm not a child anymore, Delia! I can take charge of my own damn life from now on!"

"I can see that! You've shown your father and me today how well you can handle a little bit of criticism. Tell me, Lydia, what are you going to do one day, when you're working at an office somewhere, and one of your co-workers who doesn't like you very much for whatever reasons decides to say something nasty to you or do something mean like Claire did to you? What are you going to do then? How are you going to react? Are you going tor resort to violence again? Is that your answer for everything?"

Lydia didn't answer, but kept her face shielded away, so her parents wouldn't see the single tear that rolled down her cheek.

"Lydia you were right about one thing. You are an adult now. And when you're an adult, society will look at you as an adult, and you will be held responsible for any of your own actions. Whether they are bad or good, you are responsible for all of them in the end, and you are also responsible for facing the consequence of your actions!"

"Your mother is right, Lydia. You are almost eighteen. You were lucky Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Baxter were willing to let you off easily on this today, but let me tell you something. The police, they won't be as kind and understanding as Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Baxter. If the police arrest you for fighting with someone else, you will not only earn yourself a ticket into prison, but you will earn a nasty report on your record, and no one will want to associate with you if they find out you have had a violent past history. Is that really the life you are planning on building for yourself?" Charles was mostly quiet during this time, but his voice began getting louder and louder with each sentence he spoke. He had never felt truly angry with his daughter, but she was pushing him on the edge today.

Lydia could not answer her father. He was always the calm and rational one in the family, and he was absolutely right. She was heading for a life of disaster if she kept up like this. With nothing else to add or say, she excused herself, and went off into her room for the night sadly. She didn't notice Otho's hideous grin as he passed her on the way to her room in the hall.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Beetlejuice jumped to his feet once the ice cold water hit his face. "WHAT THE HELL?" He shrieked as he wiped at his face, trying to get the water off.

"THIS SHIT'S COLD!" He cried out as he shook all over.

"Well there was no other way to wake you!" The purple zombie bartender yelled back, as they stood outside of the bar in a small, narrow alley. The bartender threw the empty bucket down and pulled up a small stool and sat. Beetlejuice sat on top of a dumpster lid, and sighed.

"All my muck is gone thanks to you! I was workin' so hard on buildin' it all up and you ruined it!"

The bartender frowned. "What? Now you look a little cleaner! You looked utterly disgusting before! With all that green and yellow moss all around your face! Now I can see your skin!"

Beetlejuice only growled deep in his throat.

A few seconds of silence went by.

"How long was I out for?" Beetlejuice asked, trying to shake the water out of his blonde hair.

"A few hours, maybe four?" The bartender answered.

"It seems longer than that…"

"Well we are dead…" The bartender answered dully.

"Good point, bub."

Beetlejuice ran his fingers through his messy hair, feeling his throbbing headache subside a little. "It's been a rough night."

"You're telling me!" The bartender hissed. Beetlejuice ignored his comment.

"I just wish I could see her again…" He whispered.

"Well clearly it would never work out, as much as you tried." The bartender offered.

Beetlejuice nodded. "That doesn't mean I won't stop wantin' her though."

The bartender stretched his legs a bit too much, and they fell off. He growled and tried getting them back on. "We all want certain things we can't have! I, for one, wish I had a better pair of legs!" He managed to get his rotting feet back in place.

Beetlejuice only looked on. "Yeah, I know. Death sucks."

"So does life." The bartender said softly.

"It did…"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Lydia was nearly finished with her note. It had taken all night to think up the proper words, and not make it sound too cheesy, like her first suicide note had. After putting a lot of thought into this one, she sat back and read it sadly, wiping furiously at her face as the tears came.

Mom, and Dad,

I know these last few days have been harder than any other we've all been through. I know this isn't a good time to bring this up either, but I just can't stand it any longer, I tried fighting it, believe me I really did. I fought so long for myself, for you, for everything. But I'm tired of fighting and running now. I'm just so tired.

I wanted to say, thank you, to both of you, for being able to deal with me for this long without going insane. Thank you so much dad, for everything you've done for me. You've done a good job raising me, and I love you for that. Same with you Delia, I know sometimes it seems as if I don't like you, but I really do. I accept you as a part of this family, and I love you as I did my own biological mother. Thank you for standing by me and dad, and doing your best at all times.

I am so sorry for seeming so selfish, and wanting to get in the way of your plans. I am sorry if I ruined everything, and embarrassing you in front of Otho. I really didn't mean to, I swear, but now that I have, I am trying to take it back, and I can only hope you'll forgive me.

And last but not least, I am so sorry for taking my own life. It's apparently a sin to do such a thing, but I can see now other way out. I can't, and trust me; this is going to be good for all of us. I am doing this for all of us. You will no longer have to deal with me getting in trouble at school, and you won't have to be embarrassed to have a Goth for a daughter. Once again, I apologize for all the pain and troubles I caused. Please forgive me. I love you all.

Sincerely,

Lydia Deetz.

With her final read through finished, Lydia walked into her parents' bedroom, and put the note on their bed. She didn't want them to find it with her body, that was too cliché.

She made her way back to her room, and looked around for a while. She looked at her pictures from birth to adolescence, and smiled. It had been so long, and yet it had all passed by so fast.

At least now she would be able to stay with the Maitlands, and perhaps, maybe, see her Beetlejuice one last time. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was worth a short.

Lydia sat down on her bed, and pulled out the fake death potion from the drawer of her night table. She looked the bottle over and over for a long time, before opening the lid. An old, disgusting scent reached her nostrils, and she nearly vomited.

She closed her eyes and prayed quickly in her head.

"I love you mom, I love you dad…I love you Beetlejuice. If only you knew how much." With those last words, she tipped the bottle into her mouth, and drank with eyes clenched shut as the gross tasting liquid entered her warm mouth.

She drank and drank and drank every last drop, until the bottle was completely full. Once there was nothing left of the potion, Lydia hid the bottle quickly under her pillow, and lay back on her bed, with her arms lightly resting on her stomach. She could feel the cold potion as it made its way down her throat, pooling into her stomach. It was only a matter of time now before it took effect.

She closed her eyes and thought only of all the times she shared with the Maitlands and Beetlejuice. All the laughter, the smiles, the tears, everything. She played them all over in her head for minutes, like a movie. She soon felt her breathing getting slower and heavier, but she kept the memories living.

"Beetlejuice…" She whispered. She smiled to herself, remembering the time he had changed into a dog, and Delia had decided to keep him as a pet, giggling lightly as she remembered how silly he looked.

"Beetlejuice…" She whispered a little softer this time, feeling her heartbeat slow down. She remembered when he had first shown up to her in full form, dressed like a carnival master, saving the Maitlands.

"Step right up! Test your strength!" He had shot his father's friends right through the ceiling of the house, and she giggled again.

She took one last breath, and imagined kissing Beetlejuice. She wondered how his lips would feel on hers, she hoped they would be warm, and full of life and love, for her especially.

"Beetle…juice…" She was able to get his name out once more, before her heart beat no more, and she breathed no more.

End of Chapter 11 *Sniff sniff* THIS IS SAD!