Meanwhile, Beetlejuice was trying his damnedest to push the towel away so he could listen. Unfortunately, his power to teleport had been stripped, so even the super-speed he had at his disposal (which he used to keep up with Claudia's bike in the mornings) was useless against a locked door and a piece of bathroom paraphernalia.

What was she saying to the person on the other line? Who was it? Did it have anything to do with him? The suspense was killing him! He had to know!

Wait! What was that? She had said something about something being "absolutely necessary". What? Damn it all, she could be talking about anything! Running away, finding religion, getting a date to the dance so she could show off. The horrible possibilities were endless!

Finally she said goodbye and thank you to whoever it was she had been talking to and hung up. He heard her breathe a sigh of relief and cross the room to unlock the door.

He hid between the cracks in the wall as she ran downstairs to the kitchen. There she grabbed a soda, then came back up and began on her homework.

Beetlejuice decided to stroll in ten minutes later, hands-in-pockets and whistling nonchalantly. "How's it goin', Clauds?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied, rather reserved and calm as she did math equations.

Something was very, very wrong. He must've finally driven her nuts. That was the only possible explanation. She was being perfectly natural to him, as if he hadn't flaunted Ben in front of her, taken physical advantage of her and flirted shamelessly with a real girl in her immediate presence.

"Clauds, you ok? Are you feelin' alright?" he asked, worried.

"I'm just fine. I'm trying to do my algebra, if you don't mind. Try to stay quiet."

"Claudia, you're sick. Very sick. We gotta take you to the doctor's. Tell your mom you're sick."

"I'm not sick. I feel fine. Now shush; I'm trying to work this quadratic formula."

Beetlejuice was very close to frightened. This eerie calm was just plain creepy; so unlike her. He sidled up to the bed and clambered up. On her lips played a knowing, slightly mad smile. Her eyes mirrored the page of math problems, but in them glinted a wild spark that struck a weird chord in his gut. Something was brewing beneath the surface; he could feel it.

Dear God, she had finally cracked. That was the only thought that kept spinning in his brain as he watched her work. How he was gonna explain the girl's obvious mental instability to Juno he had no idea, but what worried him was living with a nut-job for the remaining nine or so months of his sentence.

"Clauds, I really think we should go see the doctor. Come on, it can't hurt. You're schedualed for a follow-up check-up anyway. Please? I'm practically begging you!"

"Will you hush up? Math is tough enough without having to carry a conversation while doing it," she returned, slightly perturbed.

The annoyance in her voice eased his suspicions only slightly. He breathed a little easier and sat down on the covers. At least a little bit of Claudia was still in there.


Claudia spent the next two days in a state of suspended ecstasy. It was almost over! He would be gone and she could get back to living. Maybe two more days was still enough time to snag a date to the cotillion. Then she wouldn't have to spend Friday celebrating on her own.

Finally her brown cardboard box arrived in the mail on Wednesday afternoon. She signed, paid the UPS man, and sprinted upstairs to her room to tear the package open in a frenzied whirl.

There lay her two precious items, along with a hand-written note from someone named R. Giles. Apparently he was the owner of the Magic Box.

Hope all goes well, the note read. Best of luck to a fellow magic-practicer.

She smirked and nodded. How could it not go well? Anything that ended in Beetlejuice's departure had to be the best of luck.

Claudia hurriedly looked up the proper incantation. She poured the demon-dust around her in a circle and anointed herself with holy water by pouring it on her head, two hands and down her throat. The water had been procured from Winter River's only Roman Catholic church by means of a water bottle, but since the bottle had been gotten from a church picnic years ago, she figured the water wouldn't be any less blessed from its conveyance. Picking up the Bible in her right hand and the crucifix in her left, she began to read the instructions once more.

Suddenly her face fell. The ghost had to be present in order for the spell to work. There was only one way to get Beetlejuice in the room for sure, and it entailed a very big risk.

Claudia summoned up all of her courage and opened her mouth.

"Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice."