Chapter Two

The next day went by very slowly. Lydia sat listlessly by her mirror, waiting impatiently for Beetlejuice to appear. She'd filled her notebook with two pages of doodles and poetry by the time his face appeared in the mirror.

"Babes?"

Lydia sat up straight away. "What did they say?" she asked frantically.

"Let me out, and I'll tell you."

She chanted the required words, and Beetlejuice popped out of the mirror.

"Here," he said gruffly, passing a letter to Lydia. "It's from Mayor Maynot; Prince Vince got too sad and couldn't handle writing it."

With trembling fingers, Lydia opened the letter.

"Banned from the Neitherworld?" she cried, sinking to the floor. Beetlejuice's face fell; he'd had no idea the letter contained such orders.

"Oh, Beej…" Lydia cried, bursting into tears. "I can never go back! And…I didn't even get to say goodbye!"

"C'mon, Babes!" Beetlejuice said, putting an arm around her. "You're not gonna let a little letter like that stop you, are ya?"

Lydia thrust the letter into his face. "If I go back, I forfeit the remaining years of my life."

"What's wrong with that?" Beetlejuice said. "The Neitherworld is way more fun than this snooze-ville." A loud snore from outside shook Lydia's window, and Beetlejuice chuckled at the manifestation of his powers.

Lydia, however, was furious. "How could you even say that?" she shouted. "I love the Neitherworld, and I love my friends, and I love…visiting you, but…you realize what you're asking me to do?" Her voice softened. "I can't leave Bertha and Prudence. I could never do that to my family. And…I don't…I don't want to die. Not yet."

Beetlejuice was shocked. "You…you would rather stay here? With the living?" he asked slowly.

"Yes," she whispered. "Even if that means I won't see Jacques or Ginger or the Monster or Doomie…" She teared up at the mention of their beloved car.

"Lyds," Beetlejuice was torn. "You've still got years to live. I don't know how many since your lifespan's been halved, but…" He stared at his shoes. "It could be a really long time before you're dead."

Lydia sucked in her breath and stifled a sob. "I know."

"Even with those years taken off, it could be ten, twenty, thirty years!"

"I know."

"Lyds…"

She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. "There's nothing stopping you from visiting me."

"You're right," he sighed. "You can summon me at any time, Babes."

Lydia flung herself into his arms. "Don't ever stop visiting me, Beetlejuice," she whispered. "I'm going to be so lonely until I die."

Lydia would look back on those words and laugh. Now that Claire was gone, the Brewster clique had dissolved, and there was no one left to torment her. Lydia was surprised to find that she had more friends than she thought; by the end of the school year, she was even moderately popular.

For the first year, she raced home straight after school every day, waiting for Beetlejuice to appear in her mirror, and although she couldn't go to the Neitherworld, they still had fun together. But when Lydia was elected president of the Photography Club, she had to stay after school and work on club matters; she was busy with classes, always had so much homework, and was developing an active social life.

Beetlejuice did his best to accommodate Lydia's busy schedule by only appearing in her mirror on Friday nights, which they usually spent together; he never missed a Friday, and so far, neither had Lydia.

In early June, Beetlejuice appeared as usual.

"Hey, babes! How'd the last day of school go?"

"It was a nice day," Lydia replied, pulling her hair up. "I got to see my grades-all A's and B's!"

"Bees?" Beetlejuice said excitedly, a buzzing sound coming from his pocket. "Best grade I can think of."

"That's nice, BJ," Lydia said absently while going into her closet.

"So, what are we gonna do to celebrate?" he asked expectantly. "I've got some sombreros and calypso music set up, or we could go to Burp or Prune's house and set up some pranks or something, or—"

"Actually," Lydia's muffled voice cut him off, "I can't go out tonight."

"What?" Beetlejuice was crushed. "But, babes, it's Friday!"

"I know," Lydia answered, "but I was invited to an end-of-year party."

"A party?" Beetlejuice asked. "Did you say you'd go?"

"I did." Lydia opened her closet door to reveal the elaborate black dress she was wearing. "Well, what do you think? It took me a month to get it all done."

"That's…uh…quite a dress," Beetlejuice stammered, jaw agape. "Pretty fancy for a bunch of girls sitting around drinking punch."

Lydia flushed. "Actually, Samantha's invited a bunch of boys from St. Christopher's, so there'll be dancing…"

Beetlejuice winced and started to say something, but Delia's voice ripped through the wall.

"Oh, Lydia," she called. "Are you ready for the party yet?"

"Coming, Mother," Lydia called back before turning to Beetlejuice and giving him a hug.

"Want me to show up at your party?" he asked, a little reluctant to let go.

Lydia made a face and shook her head 'no.' "You should probably go; I'll see you later, OK?"

"When?" Beetlejuice asked, but Lydia was already opening her bedroom door to let her mother in; he had no choice but to juice himself back to the Neitherworld.

"Oh, you're dressed already?" Delia said as she came in, concern written all over her face. "Honey, don't you think it would be better if you wore something with a bit more…color?"

Lydia stared into the mirror, half-wondering if her reflection would change into her best friend's face, but she only saw the dress she'd been sewing for the past two weeks. Off-the-shoulder sleeves were difficult to sew to corset bodices, and the skirt's tiers had been tedious, but the dress exactly matched the picture she'd drawn last month.

"No, Mother; I want to wear this one." She attached the spider brooch Beetlejuice had given her four years ago to a velvet ribbon around her neck. "How do I look?"

Delia merely turned to her husband, who had come to see how his daughter looked for her first co-ed party.

"Charles, darling, I think I need a drink."