The reviews are great guys! Thank you so much! And as someone asked "What happens next?", well find out! The saga continues!
Spencers13 2001-2002
PG-13 — Sci-Fi/Fantasy — Action Drama
Story concept, Endri & Kyle © Spencers13
Chapter Six - Could It Work?
Neitherworld
Lake Eerie
Friday, Four Days Later, Dusk
The moonlit sky was brimming with sparkling stars and, every once in a while, a few shooting stars. Three moons overhead cast a lovely glow on the crystal clear waters of a small lake below, making it shimmer under the moons' pale shine. Lake Eerie was in a loose peanut shape with a small beach surrounding it with bright green grass beyond. Once in a while, the wind would catch the grass and make it appear to dance in fluffy layers.
Lydia could not believe she was in the Neitherworld. The scenery was just too beautiful. She resisted snapping shots of her surroundings with her camera. A sky with three moons wouldn't be readily accepted in her magazine, even if it was beautiful.
She and Beetlejuice sat on one of his old beach blankets in the grass, just out of reach of the sand. A picnic basket sat between them. Occasionally they would reach in and remove a random item of food, mostly cheeses of various kinds.
"Let's go swimming!"
Lydia finished swallowing a piece of cheddar. "Oh no, I can't."
"Why not? The water's great at this time of night."
"Well I would, but I didn't bring my swimsuit," Lydia said, staring at the shimmering lake.
Beetlejuice snickered. "That's easily taken care of" Snapping his fingers, he produced a sleek two-piece bathing suit. "Here. I assume you'd want it black."
Lydia picked up the suit and eyed it approvingly. "Thanks, BJ, but where am I going to change?"
He snapped his fingers again. "Why, inside this portable changing room, of course," he said as a small cardboard stall appeared off to the side of their blanket.
Smiling, Lydia stood. "Thanks, Beej." She walked over, stepped inside the cardboard structure and closed the door.
Beetlejuice snapped his fingers for the third time, instantly changing his clothes into a pair of beetle-patterned swim trunks for himself, then took off running toward the inviting water.
"Waaahooooo!" he screamed and plunged into the lake a-la cannonball style.
Lydia came out from her changing station laughing and rolling her eyes, knowing full well Beetlejuice was making an ass of himself. She waded waist-deep into the water, searching for her friend with her eyes but not seeing him.
"Wow this water is pretty warm," she said to herself. "I feel like I'm in a bath tub!"
Tiny bubbles popped on the surface near Lydia's backside and went unnoticed. A pale head full of wet, blonde hair rose silently behind her until the whole upper body was out of the water. Beetlejuice grabbed Lydia around the waist and shouted, "Got'cha!"
Squealing, Lydia swished around until she faced him. "Jerk!" she shouted playfully and splashed him in the face. She dove under and swam out to deeper waters before he could retaliate. When she finally emerged, she was a good forty feet from the shore. Her head bobbed above the shallow waves, then her shoulders, then her chest, her hips and finally her toes left the water's surface. She floated straight up into the air, balanced on Beetlejuice's head, until they both floated several feet above the warm water.
Lydia swiped her wet hair from her eyes and took a look around. "Wow you can see for miles up here 'up here'?!" She looked down only to lock eyes with a grinning ghoul.
Beetlejuice cackled, probably for the first time since they were reunited, and it made Lydia smile broadly. She didn't mind so much that he was pulling little pranks on her. The only thing that really surprised her was that the pranks were much more subdued than they used to be. In fact, Beetlejuice had not even changed into anything since she saw him. No loudly crying babies, no animals with a familiar striped furry pattern. He didn't even change his looks to mock another person. Actually, he never even mocked another person since she came back!
Why is he acting so strangely? Or is this how he really acted before I ever met him, and now he's just gone back to that behavior? This is odd. No pranks, no shape-shifting he hasn't even eaten a single beetle! It's like he's a different person. But that cackle is definitely the same. Lydia smiled to herself. Could it be that he grew up? If he did, it must be a weird kind of maturing because he actually looks younger!
"Are you gonna stand up there an' stare at me all night?" Beetlejuice asked, never losing his smile.
Lydia blinked down at him for another moment longer, then smirked and pushed off his cranium, diving elegantly from his head into the lake below. She surfaced a moment later, laughing, and waved for him to join her. Beetlejuice licked his finger and tested the wind currents. He stood straight and tall, even though he was floating in mid-air, leveled his arms in front of himself, then jumped. Doing three rolls then ending in the swan position, he plunged into the water producing a much smaller splash than Lydia would have expected. He surfaced quickly and only took two strokes to reach her.
"You're good!" she congratulated him.
Beetlejuice's cheeks burned slightly. "Thanks. I've had nine years of practice. No offense."
She nodded. "Do you mind if I get out? To tell you the truth, I'm not really a water person."
"Sure, Babes. I guess I should get out too I'm starting to prune up! Haha!" he laughed showing her his wrinkled fingers.
Lydia was floored when he didn't change into a wrinkled purple fruit, but was soon laughing along with him all the way back to the shore. They sat back on the old beach blanket while Beetlejuice produced two newer-looking towels. After she toweled herself off and draped the damp cloth around her shoulders, she reached back into the picnic basket for some more cheese bites. Her friend reached into the basket and produced a Handi Snacks Cheese & Crackersä packet.
"The moons are beautiful," she commented. Beetlejuice glanced over to see her gazing skyward and stole a look upward as well. The three Neitherworld moons were at their highest point in the sky then, all still shining brightly.
"Yeah. Sometimes when I'm in the Real World at night, I think it's weird to see only one moon in the sky."
Lydia smiled wistfully. "Sometimes I forget that our worlds are so different Sometimes I even forget we come from different worlds."
"It's kinda amazing if ya think about it."
Lydia giggled, turning her gaze to her friend. "It's amazing even if you don't think about it!"
Beetlejuice let out a small laugh. "Yeah."
A moment of silence ensued. It was not awkward, however. A simple basking silence.
"BJ?"
"Mmm?"
"How come you don't do any transformations or anything of the sort anymore? I mean, I've only been around you for six days now and maybe you just haven't gotten around to it, but I have this feeling you don't do those things you used to anymore."
Beetlejuice smirked. "Yeah, well I'm not sure. Maybe I just don't want to anymore," he said vaguely, casting his gaze skyward and sighing.
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Seems the last time I did anything unusual like that, only bad things happened. Guess I got to thinking that every time I did something like a transformation or whatever, I always got myself or someone else into trouble. I don't wanna deal with that anymore." He gazed wistfully at the stars. "No, that part of my afterlife is gone now."
Lydia gazed at him, concern rumpling her brow. "You mean you can't do it anymore? Has something happened?"
"Naw, nothing happened. I can still do it if I wanted to. I just don't want to," he said, shifting his gaze from the stars above to the stars in her eyes. "That is unless you want me to."
She smiled at him thoughtfully for a moment. "You know what? I think I like this side of you. You seem a lot more relaxed and in touch with yourself. True, it was your crazy side that first drew me to you, but I think now that I've grown up more and you've grown up more you don't really need to keep up any kind of façade you may have been attempting to. Maybe take things a little more mellower?"
"That's been my game plan for a few years now anyway," he smirked.
When Lydia's delightful giggle faded, they again returned to that basking silence. Beetlejuice stole glances in her direction every so often to find her gazing skyward seemingly deep in thought. After a while, he resigned himself to also gazing at the Neither-heavens, figuring she just wanted to relax for a while.
"BJ?"
"Mmm?" he mumbled through a mouthful of another Cheese & Crackers.
"Do you think it's possible for two friends to advance their relationship and have it work out?" she asked innocently.
Beetlejuice almost choked on his dry crackers and coughed. Lydia reached over and worriedly patted him on the back until he regained composure. "Is-uh Is that a hypothetical question?" he squeaked.
Relieved he was all right, Lydia curled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. "Yes, I suppose so."
He tried his best to answer her as vaguely as possible, knowing what she was really referring to or at least hoping. "Hmmm well, I guess if they both had feelings for each other, then it'll prob'ly work out. But if you got one of those one-sided things, it prob'ly won't."
"Oh" Lydia paused for a long moment. "Do you think it could work out?"
"Between Bertha and Prudence?! Well, I guess if they both swung that way -"
"No, BJ," she interrupted him. "You know who I'm talking about."
Another long moment of silence ensued. But this one was positively horrible to sit through for Lydia as well as Beetlejuice.
Sweat formed on his brow. Why did this have to happen? How did it happen?! No somehow, I knew it would somehow.
Beetlejuice glanced over to her. She wasn't looking at him, instead she stared at her toes and wiggled them occasionally, trying to look calm. But he knew better. He saw how flushed her pale skin was and imagined her heart must have been racing at that moment.
All this for me? I never thought she would like me other than friends. Damn I hate this. Why does it have to be so difficult! Why did this have ta happen now? Why did she have to turn out so beautiful? It makes my answer so much harder Beetlejuice cleared his throat quietly. "Lydia?"
She turned her head finally to gaze at him as calmly as possible, but her eyes betrayed her. She was absolutely shaking inside. She took a big chance with this one. She had blurted the question before she could make herself stop. In fact, she didn't even know why she asked it. She just did.
"As much as I wanna say yes, Lydia I can't." He looked away sadly.
Lydia blinked. "Why?"
Beetlejuice clenched the beach towel at his sides into his fists. "'Cause there's someone else."
She released her held breath in a slight gasp and raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh I didn't know, BJ. I'm sorry."
"No," Beetlejuice turned to face her with real sorrow painted on his thin features, "don't be sorry. It's not your fault. I only want one more thing than to be with you, and if that one thing wasn't present I'd prob'ly tackle you right now." He sighed. "Please, Lyds, this is such a perfect night let's not ruin it. Let's just be with each other right now."
Lydia nodded reluctantly. "You're right. I didn't mean to--"
"Shhh" Beetlejuice hushed, putting a finger to her lips. "We can continue this conversation some other time. In the meantime" he shifted himself over and sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her, "I think I can get away with this." He hugged her tightly and smiled into her always fragrant hair. Lydia reached up and held onto his cool arms as he hugged her tenderly, thinking all at once that his actions were confusing and wishing the moment would never end.
"Look," he caught her attention, "The asteroid ring that orbits the Neitherworld will be closest to the atmosphere any second. It'll look like the sky's on fire."
Slowly, one by one, streaks of reddish light drew themselves across the sky, and before long, the whole sky shimmered with hues and shades of red. It really looked like fire burning in the zero gravity of space.
"Oooo!" Lydia cooed, watching the show.
The red glow from the sky reflected across the surface of the lake, making it appear to be on fire as well. Even in Lydia's grey eyes, the fire swirled, giving her an almost devilish appearance. Too bad Beetlejuice couldn't see. He just might have reconsidered her approach to him.
"I thought you'd like it. I wanted to share this with you," he whispered to the back of her ear.
"It's beautiful, Beetlejuice!" she gushed. She half expected him to say something in return like, "It's not as beautiful as you, Lydia." But the words never came, and he stayed silent, staring up into the Neither-heavens. His eyes seemed to be afire themselves, with what, she didn't know. Perhaps they glowed from the streaks of light showering overhead, or maybe they glistened with unshed tears. Or maybe, just maybe, they sparkled from the fire within himself. The fire of passion and love. Lydia would never know, however, for no more words passed between them until the wee hours of the morning, when they sat, half asleep in each other's arms, yet still staring at the burning sky.
"I should probably go home soon" she yawned, " It's really late."
"I guess so." Beetlejuice sounded disappointed.
Lydia slowly began gathering empty wrappers and stuffing them back into the wicker basket. "I'm leaving today to go back to my apartment in New York. It needs a little cleaning before I go back to work on Monday."
"Oh so you don't live at your house anymore?" he asked.
"I thought I told you. Not for about five years now, Beej. I graduated from Miss Shannon's school, then went right to college in New York. After I finished that up, I started working as a temp for you're gonna think it's funny The New York Division of National Geographic."
Beetlejuice shook his head. "That's not funny, that's great, Babes! I'm glad you're doin' somethin' you like."
Lydia smiled. "Thanks. Well, I did so well for them, they kept me on and made me their lead photographer. The work is tough because they demand so much, but the pay is good, so I can't complain."
"I'm happy for you, Lyds. You deserve everything in the world," he said truthfully.
Lydia fell silent.
"Is somethin' the matter? Did I say anything wrong?"
"Nono. Everything is just fine. I should get going," she said, standing. "You're welcome to come along with me to my apartment if you want. I know it's not the best place in the world, but it's bigger than my bedroom back home and more private too."
Beetlejuice smiled gratefully. "I'd like that."
Lydia smiled back. "Great. This time, though bring some pajamas. I don't think you'll fit into my shirts."
"You got it, Babes," he chuckled.
************
Oh boy! Did you get that?! Lyds asked BJ out! WHOO! But... he said no? O_O Uh oh! Better stay tuned for what happens next! Things are starting to heat up with everyone, and Lyds is kidnapped!?!?! *gasp* Next time on BJ Afterlife!
Thanks for the reviews! I look forward to reading more and more! You guys are great! *hugs everyone*