She saw him long before she got out the door. The guy was leaning on a polished, buffed and probably spit-shined black Mustang GT with two white racing stripes painted on the side. He was talking to a guy wearing the school football jersey, laughing and grinning that adorable smile she noticed back in class. Suddenly, she saw him notice her and send the football player away, crossing his arms and smiling at her.

"Hey!" he called up at her from the foot of the stairs she was on.

"Hey yourself!" she called down. Pulling the piece of paper out, she walked down the steps and waved it at him. "This wouldn't be yours, would it?"

"It might be. Then again, it might not. That all depends on if you're willing it take up the offer on it. If you're not, then it's not mine."

"And if I am?"

"Then hop in, 'cause my name's Ben." He offered his hand and opened the passenger-side door with a flourish.

"Claudia Lowe," she said, shaking the smooth hand and sliding into the seat. He closed the door behind her and went over to the driver's side, getting in and revving the car.

The Mustang started up and they shot out of the parking lot with a blast, Claudia laughing nervously at the speed. They shot through the quiet town and out into the endless fields beyond in the gorgeous afternoon.

"So where do you live?" he inquired over the sound of the engine.

"Up on the hill in town!" she yelled back. "In that white house!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Folks say that place is haunted!"

Claudia laughed out loud, her voice resounding over the noise from under the hood. "You don't know the half of it."

"What?" he yelled, unable to hear her.

"Nothing!" she called back. "Not that I don't love having my ear drums blown out, but can you stop the car?"

"What? I'm gonna kill the engine; hold on!" he yelled back, turning it off and braking to a halt.

He turned to her and grinned. "Sorry; the muffler is broken and by God it's noisy. I think the townspeople are signing a petition to have me outlawed."

"I can't imagine why," she giggled. She noticed he still hadn't removed the glasses and was sort of sorry she couldn't see his eyes. She hadn't really seen them in class at all, either.

"You don't wait a while to get at the new kid, do you?" she asked playfully. "I mean, I hadn't been there an hour and I already had some guy slipping notes into my back pocket."

"You weren't flattered? I better make a note never to talk you again!" he gasped, pretending to scribble an invisible note on his palm. "Must… not… flirt… with… freshman!"

"I'm not a freshman; I'm a sophomore," she corrected him.

"Oh, really? That's good, because freshman-senior relationships never work out." He raised his eyebrows and laughed.

Claudia laughed with him and her mind was a blissful blank; devoid of memories from the night before and that horrible dream. She had even almost forgotten about Beetlejuice! And now, here she was, in a fine car with an even finer boy, laughing it up and forgetting entirely about…

"The social! Oh my God!" she swore, suddenly serious and shocked.

He stopped his laughs and tilted his head. "What social?"

"My mom mentioned she was hosting a church social after school, and I was supposed to be home by four!" She almost hyperventilated when she saw that his radio clock read 4:45.

"It's not that bad, is it?" he asked, reaching for his keys.

"You don't understand my mom! She's nuts about her church! She wanted to commute to our old church every Sunday, but I had to remind her that it was all the way back in Jersey; four hours away."

"Well, then, we better get you home!" he shouted over the now started car. With speed rivaling light itself, they raced down the highway and back into town, almost going supersonic as he climbed the hill road that was packed with cars. Claudia's heart leapt into her throat as she caught a glimpse of her mother standing under a white E-Z Up tent, handing out barbecued chicken and smiling sweetly. Claudia knew her mother, well enough to know that the woman was lowering inside, seething that her daughter had skipped out on this important function.

"Claudia Darcia Lowe!" Mrs. Lowe practically bellowed across the lawn when she saw her daughter. She walked over and put on a required smile for the boy next to her.

"I thought I asked you to be home by four, dear. And who is this young man?" she inquired, forcibly trying to hold back her holy anger.

"Oh, Mom, this is Ben. Ben-…?" Claudia searched her memory. "I don't think I got your last name."

"Oh! It's…Jacobs. Ben Jacobs. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lowe," he offered, putting out his hand. The woman took it for only a second, then dropped it and look to her daughter.

"Well, thank you Mr. Jacobs for driving her home. Claudia, I believe there is a bowl of barbecued chicken over there that will not serve itself to the guests. Make sure you wear that "Bon Appetite" apron so the sauce doesn't get on your uniform. Mr. Jacobs," she nodded to him, turning and about-face and walking back to the picnic.

Claudia turned to Ben. "Don't be fooled. She's really mad at me; I'm gonna get it later on. If I'm not in school tomorrow, start digging around in the town cemetery. She'll have already killed me."

He laughed. "Well, you're pleasant. It won't be that bad; she can't keep you out of school."

"And why is that a good thing?"

"Because if she did, I wouldn't get to see you tomorrow." He smiled and turned back to his car, got in and roared away.