Chapter 5: Ambush
"Lydia!" Delia screeched. Lydia emerged from her room and peered over the railing of the stairs. "There's a young man here to see you!"
Lydia hurried downstairs and found Jack looking slightly traumatized by Delia's yelling.
"Hey Jack" Lydia said.
"Hey Lydia" Jack said with a smirk. He lifted his books. "I'm ready to study."
"My stuff is up in my room" Lydia said.
"Good" Jack replied as he caught Delia starting to approach them. "We can study there."
Lydia nodded and led Jack up to her room. If they could avoid Delia, studying would go much smoother.
An hour later, Lydia was sitting on her bed with her history book open on her lap and Jack was sitting in Lydia's computer chair. They had gone over the Revolutionary War twice and Jack was still missing stuff. Jack's interest in studying had also started to wane and he started looking at the strange stuff that cluttered Lydia's room.
"What is this?" Jack asked poking a squishy pink thing.
"One of those stress reliever things" Lydia replied. "My dad got it for me."
He wheeled himself over to a black binder that was labeled 'photos'. He started going through it.
"Okay, back to studying" Lydia said. She looked at the study sheet and read off an essay question. "On April 14, 1775, the British ordered Governor Gage to enforce the Coercive Act and suppress open rebellion. What were Governor Gage's actions and how did the rebels react?"
"They…crossed the Delaware with Washington" Jack said. Lydia sighed.
"Gage sent British troops to destroy the rebels' weapons. Paul Revere and William Dawes ride to Boston to warn the colonists. Are you even paying attention?" Lydia asked. Jack closed the binder and placed it on Lydia's dresser.
"What are you doing this weekend?" Jack asked.
"Nothing" Lydia said. "I thought you wanted help studying tonight."
"I need the help, but I was wondering if you wanted to get a pizza or something on Saturday. We could totally watch a movie or something" Jack replied.
"I don't know" Lydia said. "My parent's are going to New York this weekend."
"Perfect. We'll just order a pizza and watch a movie here" Jack said. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and rolled over to Lydia's bed. "I mean, we don't have to, but it would be cool." Lydia raised an eyebrow. Why did a football player want to hang out with someone like her? Don't football players usually date girls like Claire? Before she could register his closeness, she found that Jack had moved close and was pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Are you okay?"
"Why would you want to spend time with me?" Lydia blurted out. Jack smiled.
"You seem pretty cool" Jack replied. "And, you're smarter then most of the people at school."
Lydia felt a small smile grace her face. Jack's hand, which was lingering close to her face, snaked around to gently pull her closer to him. Lydia nearly gasped when she felt his lips on hers. As quickly as it started, it stopped.
"I think I've had enough studying for tonight" Jack said with a chuckle. "But, I'll see you tomorrow at school. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay" Lydia replied.
"Saturday night?" Jack asked as he pulled on his letterman jacket.
"Seven o'clock" Lydia said with a smile. Jack grabbed his books.
"Seven o'clock, Saturday" Jack said with a smile. He leaned in and kissed her again.
Saturday couldn't come quick enough for Lydia. Jack had blown off some of the other jocks to eat lunch with her and had taken an interest in her photography. Lydia had even managed to get through the rest of her school week without Claire or Beetlejuice interfering. Lydia took a deep breath and tried to stop being flustered from her week.
"Lydia?" Adam called out. Lydia turned to see Adam enter into the living room. "Lydia, now, I know you have a date tonight, but—"
"But nothing" Barbara said cutting him off. She came into the room with her 'Handbook for the Recently Deceased' in her hand. "We have a meeting to get to. We might not be around for a while."
"Okay" Lydia said with a shy smile.
"I want to know all the details when I get back" Barbara said. Lydia agreed and watched as the couple went up to the attic. Lydia glanced at her ring and groaned. It was still green and she couldn't seem to get it off of her finger. She had tried while in the shower, while doing dishes, and whenever she felt that no one was watching. She sighed and told herself that she had more important things to worry about.
A ring at the doorbell and Lydia was out of her chair at break neck speed. Lydia opened the door with a smile.
"Hello?" Lydia asked poking her head out the door. She was met with the night air and the sound of wind in the trees. Lydia frowned and closed the door. She peered out the eyehole and still saw nothing. No pranksters. Nothing. "Oh my god. I'm going mental."
Lydia left the door and went to grab a soda from the kitchen. She heard a knock at the front door and the hinges swinging open.
"I'm in the kitchen" Lydia called out before heading towards the living room. Lydia nearly dropped her soda when she saw most of the football team standing in her house. "What're you guys doing here?"
The large boys looked at each other, each wearing their lettermen's jacket, making them look strangely cultish. One guy, the quarterback, Kevin Laudry, stepped forward.
"We don't want you casting spells on Jack" Kevin said.
"Casting spells?" Lydia repeated disbelievingly. "Get out of my house."
"We heard that your folks ain't around tonight" One of the jocks said from the crowd.
"Yeah" A guy who was commonly called Brick said. "We figure that we should teach you what happens to people who cast spells in our town."
"I don't cast spells, assholes" Lydia said crossing her arms. "Where's Jack?"
"Jack is unavailable to you…forever" Kevin said. The jocks started to spread out around the room.
"Don't be such a prick" Lydia said. "Just leave."
Lydia watched as the group nearly formed a circle around her. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Look at her ring!" One of the guys yelled. "It just changed colors! She is a witch!"
Lydia looked down at her ring. It had indeed changed. It was now a bright amber color, as if it had caught fire. Lydia rubbed the ring with her thumb and barely looked up in time to see Brick in the process of tackling her to the ground. Breath left her lungs for a second and her head was now throbbing.
"Witch!" Brick hissed at her. The others were enclosing on the two. Brick was straddling Lydia's legs and had one hand on Lydia's upper chest. "You like magic? I'll show you my magic wand!"
Lydia grimaced and tried to squirm away, but the others wouldn't let her budge. Lydia caught a slight glimpse of her ring, which was starting to glow as if a light had been placed behind it.
"Beetlejuice!" Lydia shrieked. Brick sneered at her and slapped her across the face.
"She's trying to put a curse on you!" One of the jocks said.
"Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!" Lydia screamed, half crying. Brick held up his belt and pressed it close to Lydia's face.
"Don't think I won't hurt you" Brick said.
A lone figure appeared in the room expecting an audience of one. Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow when he saw the crowd of boys in the Deetz's living room.
"Get off of me!" Lydia shrieked from the group. Beetlejuice quietly made his way over to the boys and peered over their shoulders.
"What's up, boys?" Beetlejuice gruffly asked. The jocks gasped nearly at the same time and a few stepped back to give Beetlejuice some room.
"Who the fuck are you?" One of the boys asked.
"Who indeed" Beetlejuice said with a mischievous grin. "I'm the ghost with the most, pal." Beetlejuice pointed to Lydia. "You guys have met Lyds I guess."
Lydia mouthed the word 'help'. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"I got something to show you guys" Beetlejuice said with a grin. In an instant, his face and chest opened wide up to display his organs and several beetles crawling around in his chest cavity. Beetlejuice stepped over Lydia and leaned against the back of the couch just as the last of the jocks left screaming. "Little bastards."
"Thank you" Lydia said picking herself up. She looked at the blonde ghost before her and felt her bottom lip tremble slightly. She awkwardly hugged him before tears streamed from her eyes. "Thank you so much." Lydia could hear her voice cracking and sounding heavy with tears. She hated the way she sounded. "I thought….I thought…that they…were-were g-going to---"
"Shh" Beetlejuice cooed to her. He gave her back a few pats and pushed her off of him. "Look Babes, I hate being the hero most of the time, but I don't think you'll have any trouble."
"You looked pretty scary" Lydia said with a small laugh that sounded more like she coughed. Lydia wiped her eyes dry.
"Pretty scary? What're you talking about?" Beetlejuice asked. "They all ran out of here screaming."
Lydia just smiled and moved to sit on the couch. Beetlejuice moved over the back of the couch and perched against the arm of the couch so he could watch the tv and Lydia.
"Want something to drink?" Lydia asked. She had pulled herself into a tight ball and was trying to pull a blanket around her.
"Pass" Beetlejuice replied. As he watched Lydia fiddle around with the remote and stare distantly at the television screen, Beetlejuice could only ask himself one question 'Why am I caring about some living chick?'
"So…" Beetlejuice said trying to be suave. "Does this hero get a kiss?"
"Beetlejuice" Lydia said. "I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last person on earth."
"Hey Hey Hey!" Beetlejuice yelled. "Enough with the 'B' word!"
"Sorry" Lydia said as if it didn't really matter. She watched the television talk about some inventive new product that helped with back pain before speaking again. "You know you really shouldn't be here. I should just put you back where you came from."
"You won't dare, babes" Beetlejuice said leaning towards her a tiny bit.
"What makes you so sure?" Lydia fought back.
"I overheard that your folks are gone" Beetlejuice said while picking at the couch. He paused and leaned in close to her. "And, you wouldn't want those guys to come back here, would you?"
Lydia stared Beetlejuice eye to eye and swore she saw something that resembled depth to the creature in front of her.
"No" Lydia whispered.
"Great" Beetlejuice said softly before sitting upright again. "So, what're we doing tonight?"