a Beetlejuice fanfic
by
C. "Sparky" Read
Chapter Three
Beetlejuice moped on the couch. Avoiding telling Jacques that he did not have the rent money had sapped a lot of his creative energy, and he dreaded the time when he'd have to fess up. Jacques had cosigned the rental agreement and if the skeleton did not come up with the extra money himself he was sure to be evicted. And, thought the ghost downheartedly, part-time fitness instructors don't make that much.
Beetlejuice pounded a fist into his palm. He had to come up with that money, and fast! He thought hard, ignoring the small insects that cried out in pain as they evacuated his smoking scalp. Where would be a likely place to...
He had it! The Outerworld was full of money and, thankfully to the ghost, full of saps willing to part with it. Now if he could only get out there...
That was the tough part. Someone had to say his name three times. And boy did his parents give him a weird name! Sure it was fun at parties, but, it was always so hard to get someone else to say it when he couldn't even say it himself! Unless...
Beetlejuice brightened. Yes! Find someone who already knew his name! He jumped up. There was only one person who fit that criteria who he would actually want to see again: That cute pale thing, Lydia. He shook his head when he thought of her. Cute, sure, but, marriage? He must have been swept up in the heat of the moment or something. He could only hope his mother never heard about that. Oh well.
The ghost floated over to a mirror hung in the corner and thought about the house in Winter River. He saw the living room. There was something wrong with it...What could it be?
Oh. There was no furniture. And out the window, stuck into the lawn, was a realtor's For Sale sign.
She was gone! Beetlejuice felt a surge of disappointment. Well of course she's gone, a voice in his head said. Look what you tried to do!
Beetlejuice steeled himself. No, he wasn't going to feel guilty. Feeling guilty twice in one year, let alone twice in one day, was not permissible.
Not willing to give up on the human girl just yet, Beetlejuice shifted his attention to other rooms of the house: the sitting-room, the kitchen, the study. All were empty. Then he remembered the attic. That's where he had met her in the first place.
So Beetlejuice slipped between worlds and materialized, one inch tall, in the attic, in the miniature representation of Winter River which the ghost was relieved to find was still on its table. Hearing voices, he ducked behind a green-painted sponge bush in the Park.
"It's been cloudy lately," Barbara was remarking to her husband. "It looks like it might rain."
"Uh huh," replied Adam, totally absorbed in some project involving balsa wood and Elmer's glue at the workbench.
"I'm just saying," Barbara went on, "that I hope Lydia remembers her coat - " She stopped, much to Beetlejuice's disappointment.
Barbara gazed out the attic window. "She's here!" she said.
Adam actually looked up. "Good!" he exclaimed, setting his Exact-o knife down.
Beetlejuice watched as Barbara waved through the window. "She's coming in," she told Adam, and walked to the attic door.
A minute later Lydia knocked and Barbara let her in. Lydia and the deceased couple exchanged pleasantries, then Lydia handed Adam a small brown paper bag, explaining that it was the 'supplies' he needed. He thanked her and put the bag on the worktable.
"How's school?" he asked the girl.
Lydia made a grunting sound. "Awful," she said.
"Oh, what happened?" asked Barbara.
"Delia is trying to ruin my life," returned Lydia, walking over to the model. Beetlejuice ducked down even further. "She showed up at school today and invited everyone to our house for a party."
"Well that's kind of..." Barbara glanced at Adam. "Um...nice."
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," she said. "If anyone does come it will be to laugh at me."
Adam put a hand on Lydia's shoulder. "I'm sure your stepmother is just trying to help you make friends," he assured her. "You should try harder to socialize, anyways."
"Thanks for your support." Lydia picked up the model of the jungle gym in the Park and pretended to examine it. She sighed and put it down next to Beetlejuice, who impersonated a fountain for good measure. "Anyways I'd better get going - It's been getting dark early."
And after promising to come back soon, Lydia left.
Quickly, Beetlejuice slipped back between worlds and hid in one of the reflectors on Lydia's bicycle. The girl didn't notice a thing all the way back to her house in Peaceful Pines.
