Disclaimer: Beetlejuice and all related characters belong to Warner Bros. I wouldn't take responsibility for BJ if you paid me. No way, baby.
Chapter 13: Not Like Fear
The clock ticked backwards. One hour classes took two, and the time between getting home from school and dinner was indeterminable. Lydia spent the time alternately wondering what she would say to her mother, and worrying that Beetlejuice wasn't telling her the truth. But what he had said at the end… it had to be more than a coincidence. It had to be.
She found herself in the evening after the dinner dishes were done so nervous that she felt sick. Delia had chattered on throughout the whole meal about a new contract with a couple from upstate New York who were looking for something dark and organic to decorate their home, and her dad had listened genially, and suggested a few ideas which Delia immediately shot down with cheerful laughter. Finally, Lydia couldn't stand another word. She turned to her father and said, "Dad, did mom have a thing for pennies?" Delia fell silent immediately, and Lydia felt a twinge of regret. She was handling everything so clumsily, dead and living alike. But she had to know.
"A… a thing, sweetie?" Charles was a bit at a loss. His daughter never mentioned her mother in front of Delia. In fact, Lydia hadn't spoken of her in years. He fumbled through his memory, and then nodded thoughtfully. "She had a nice coin collection. Nothing valuable, you know. She was keeping it for you so that you would have a coin from every country…" His throat tightened. After all this time, he still missed her. Lydia chewed at her bottom lip. Where had that mannerism come from, he wondered? Probably someone at school.
"Where is it?" Lydia cleared her throat, and began again, trying not to sound so urgent. "I mean, I was just thinking the other day that I don't have much to remember her by—just a few books."
Charles thought harder. His wife had died of throat cancer when Lydia was eleven. Many things had come and gone in that long time. Had he kept it? Of course. But where? "Well, sugar, I don't remember right offhand. It's probably in the boxes in the attic somewhere. We can look through them this weekend if you like?"
Lydia's stomach clenched. She forced herself to calm down. A coin collection. Worthless. To think that the message and this were even related was a huge stretch. "Okay, dad. That sounds fun." She managed a smile at Delia, too, and then excused herself abruptly, leaving behind her bemused father and stepmother. Delia waited until she was almost out of earshot to turn to Charles.
"Has she been acting strange lately, dear?" Delia's prettily angled eyes were pursed in a frown, and Charles fought down his initial compulsion to defend his daughter at all costs. She had been acting strange. Stranger. But the move had been hard, since they had left the house where Lydia had grown up. Delia had insisted, saying that she couldn't compete with a ghost. Charles gave his wife a reassuring pat on the hand.
"She's fine. Just give her time, and I'm absolutely positive that things will get back to normal." At this, Delia gave him a little half smile.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Lydia was actually standing outside of her own door, feeling more uncertain than she ever had in her life. She would call him. She had to call him because that was the only certain way to get him to come. But once called, she couldn't hold him. The other option was to wait until she fell asleep. She was never going to fall asleep. Would he tear the house down? Would he continue their game? Would he demand his promised kiss? Would she refuse? "This is ridiculous."
She forced her feet to move, feeling dread like a deep current against her. The room was freezing. He was there, waiting for her. And her heart began to pound, but the feeling that coursed through her was nothing like fear.
Where was her courage? This was about her mother. She filled her lungs, and tried to release her doubts.
"So, I'm going to say your name, now, and I have a lot of questions, and I have something to show you, so you can't just go off and set loose snakes in the DAR hall, okay, B? Gods, I'm babbling to myself." Lydia took a deep breath, and then said, all in one word, "Beetlejuicebeetlejuicebeetlejuice." There. It was done.
"You owe me a kiss," came a dark drawl from behind her.