ATTENTION ATTENTION! SUPER IMPORTANT!!
Read the Author's Note at the end please.
Twenty minutes later, and still fuming, Lydia threw her last bag into Doomie's trunk and slammed it shut before flopping into the passenger seat. The young Betelgeuse slid in next to her, throwing the distressed goth a pitying look. "Ya just can't catch a break, can ya kid?"
"Hnn…"
Betel chuckled, turning the key in the ignition and pulling away from the curb. The vanity bounced in the backseat, threatening to tip over. "Why'd ya bring that thing anyway? I gotta tell ya, it was a bitch ta haul outta there…"
"It was my grandmother's, and I brought it to… feel homey."
"Okay. So… where to Babes? The 'rent's house? Some sleazy dime-a-night motel? Canada? France? Tim-buk-tu?!?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"I dunno. A lotta things. Whaddaya mean specifically?"
Lydia leaned over, socking his elbow. "Be serious, for a moment please."
"Sure thing. So where to?"
Lydia bit her lip, thinking hard. "There's a decent hotel that doesn't completely devour your wallet in town. I guess there for now. Can you keep some of my luggage, please? I'd owe you another one."
Betel glared sideways at her. "Since when did I become a fuckin' monkey-servant ta ya?"
Lydia smiled. "Think of it as… a huge favor that I will be eternally grateful for."
"Why not just go home?"
"Because I have to see this through. And… I don't think I could… could tell them I was kicked out of school." Her face was flushed with shame, and she heard another pitying chuckle from beside her.
"Oh please kid: the only one who'd be all disappointed is… your mom…"
"Step-mom. I thought you knew everyone's name?"
Betel shrugged. "I only 'member Babs and Adam 'cuzza their obituary, and your step-mom kept yellin' Chuckie's name."
Lydia shook her head. "Delia. Her name is Delia."
"Whatever. So where's this hotel?"
Half an hour later, Lydia was waving goodbye to Betel as he sped off down the street. He'd told her to wait fifteen minutes so he could find an appropriate take off spot. He was taking everything but one bag of her clothes, her toiletries, and her school bag back to the Neitherworld for the time being.
Lydia flopped backwards onto the (seemingly at least) clean sheets, folding her arms behind her head. Almost the moment her eyes slid closed though, that freaky ghost wind kicked up around her. The ghouls were silent, so she supposed they just wanted her to know they were there.
Lydia grimaced, letting her eyes slide closed once more. "I wonder who it was that stole our papers…"
Nick
Lydia shot up on the bed, her face a mixture of horror and disgust. "WHAT?!"
Looking for Lydia
Came in the window
Lydia sighed, closing her eyes tightly against her annoyance with the ghosts for not telling her and Beej this earlier. "When?"
Nighttime
When Lydia left
Came in through the window
Great. Now he was a creeper as well as a bastard. Lydia shoved off the bed and practically flew to the door. Oh Betel would be pissed if he knew she was going after Nick, but her mind was set on her fist and his face.
She was at the graveyard in no time, storming up the hill, and of course there he was: seated in front of the memorial, so freaking innocent.
"You rotten, lying, thieving bastard!"
Nick spun around, tripping in his haste to stand as the goth advanced on him. He sputtered for a moment, before managing to fake a snarl and jab an accusing finger in her direction. "Who gives you the right to-"
"You nearly had me raped and killed. And then you have the nerve to pull some pity crap on me and start talking to me because of how guilty you feel? Then I find out you broke into my room and stole my documents? I'VE BEEN SUSPENDED AND KICKED OUT OF MY HOME DAMMIT!"
Nick gawked at her, taking a terrified step back. "Lydia…"
"And another thin-"
"LYDIA!"
"What?!"
Nick took a deep breath, and lifted his hands in surrender. "I didn't know they would think it was you Lydia. I was trying to… well… to do something that might make me seem like not such a bad guy to you…"
"So you broke into my ROOM?!" Lydia shoved him hard in the chest, completely lost in her rage. "What the hell is with you Nick?! Is messing with me fun to you? Some sick, twisted ga-"
"It's not…" And his expression was so hurt, so forlorn Lydia couldn't stop herself from softening.
Her expression became pleading as she took a step closer to him. "Then what are you doing? Why would you do that to someone you didn't even know, and then make them finally feel…" She frowned, searching for the right word. "Normal?"
Nick sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I… I don't know Lydia. I didn't have much of a ch… didn't think anything through."
Lydia stared at him. "Excuse me? I think you were just about to say something else. What was it?"
Nick shook his head. "Lydia… I told you I regretted it. I wish I'd never done it."
Lydia took a step away. "Doesn't change the fact that you did."
They were silent for a while, staring blankly at the memorial until Nick suddenly spun on her, blurting out the first thing that came to his mind. "Who was that guy with you earlier?"
Lydia glared at him. "Now you're spying on me too?"
Nick bit the inside of his cheek. "No… I went by… I wanted to see if you were back yet, so I could talk to you. But I bolted when I saw you with that weird looking blond…"
Lydia huffed, planting her fists on her hips. "He is not weird! And why is it your business who I hang out with?"
Nick kicked miserably at a tuft of grass. "I just wondered."
"He's the friend I keep going to stay with. You know, a real friend." She crossed her arms, positively snarling at Nick. "He's real eager to meet you too. He's just itchin' to meet the guy who drove a depressed woman to his house for almost a week."
Nick swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Lydia… Lydia I'm telling you the truth-" He stared desperately at her again, clasping his hands together. "I really, truly and for surely regret what I did for Matthews more than anything I ever have, or ever will in my life. Because…" He bit his lip, staring down at his shoes suddenly. "Because I really do care about you Lydia. I… I really do…"
Lydia however, huffed and turned away from him. "Save your lies for someone who cares."
"Lydia…"
The hill was silent again: a tense, awkward, almost painful silence. Lydia was about to leave, when a pale form entered her vision.
Alexis glared up at Lydia, shaking her head. "They're using him Lydia. They're using you too. He needs your help!"
Lydia shot a glance over her shoulder, checking to see if Nick was still there. Of course he was, staring morosely at the ground. Lydia sighed, turning back to Alexis with a confused expression. She shrugged, wordlessly trying to communicate that she had no idea what the girl was talking about.
Alexis stared at her brother for a moment. "He didn't want to, and didn't understand. He only did what he was told. And now he's doing it for me."
Lydia cocked a brow, trying to urge the ghost on.
"You have to come back, tonight Lydia. He won't come at night anymore." Lydia held up her hand, taking a step towards the ghost as she disappeared. Alexis gave her brother one last sad look. "Don't let Betelgeuse near him. For both their sakes."
With that, she faded away, leaving one confused, irritated goth. Lydia sighed, spinning once more towards Nick. "I'm leaving now. Stay away from my windows."
Between the angry threats on the phone and the constant blaring of the news, Lydia felt herself grow evermore tired of this ordeal. She half-wished she'd never agreed to help these spirits.
After the tenth or eleventh (she'd lost count) call from some angry student (guys and gals), she'd called down to the front desk and informed them she would be sleeping, and would no longer be taking any calls or visitors. If anyone asked for her, they were to be told that Miss Lydia Deetz checked out already, and has gone to stay with a friend. She didn't even know how the bastards got the number of the place she was staying in. Probably someone in town had seen Betel drop her off here, and sent out a school-wide alert that the snitch was staying at Pinecone Inn.
And then, of course, the only channels she got for free on the tiny little screen were local news channels, weather reports, and paid programming. It was like an even more boring version of Neitherworld T.V.
Lydia's stomach growled as she listened to yet another update on the PPU Fire story. She wondered where Betelgeuse was, and if he'd found Juno yet. Lydia hadn't seen him so upset over anything since… well since her little run-in with Matthews. She could tell his patience was running thin, and decided maybe it was a good thing that he'd sent her back to the breather world while he searched. At least here she could avoid his mood swings.
The goth decided that a little snack from the vending machines was in order, and scooped up her wallet and room key before heading out. She would be off to meet Alexis again once darkness fell, and her stomach was twisting in anxious knots. Couldn't she have an uneventful, peaceful college experience like a normal person? No… she had a gaggle of goony ghouls latched onto her through a Ouija Board, and poltergeist for a husband, and had a midnight rendezvous with the spirit of the guy who almost had her murdered.
Why can't my life ever be simple?
So I know this is rather short, but it seemed an appropriate place to cut it off. Besides, I didn't want to cut the next scene up.
Speaking of…
I only have to fix the last three chapters up in a few places, add a few things, embellish a few points. So…
.
.
If you guys REAAAAALLLY wanted me to do so… I could hurry up and finish my final project for reading and upload the rest of the story.
I was up until like, four in this morning, filling in the skeleton of the chapters because I was so excited. Let me tell you, the adrenaline rush was great fun.
So… if we reach 35 reviews today, asking me to post them up, I will hurry through the rest of my project and post them for you.