Lydia's Struggles.

" 3:33..? Ugh. " Chp. 6

Lydia and Beetlejuice lay asleep in the gothic girls cold room.

" Lydia! Come here, you gotta get your costume on! "

" Mama! Hold on mama! "
Lydia called out to her mom before running into her arms and giving her the small black dress.

" Okay Lydia, lift your arms up! "
Lydia's mother smiled at her, moving the strands of black hair out of the young girls face.

Lydia rolled around a few times on her bed; messing up most of the black sheets on her stiff bed, then she jolted awake.

" Oh.. It was-.. just a dream. "
She whispered to herself; feeling hurt inside. Of course it was "just a dream". She thought while turning to look at her floor-.. though she couldn't really see much because it was pitch black in there.

But, she did see a figure on her floor: and it was the only thing she could recognize because nobody else she knows will curl up like a cat and lay down.

" .. Bj? "
She whispered,, but she didn't wanna wake the ghost so she just turned to look at her clock instead.

" 3:33..? Ugh. "
She groaned: it was way to early for this.
" Wait.. it's Halloween- "
Suddenly she smiled and threw herself back down onto her bed; finally. Her favorite time of all year! Halloween! The one time where she could be herself without getting judged.

        She let herself fall back into a comfortable position only because she KNEW it was Halloween and she couldn't WAIT until it was time to go trick-or-treating.

     She laid in bed; tossing and turning but eventually she fell asleep again. She knew that if she stayed away time wouldn't move any faster- and falling asleep made everything seem to move a lot quicker.

" Lydia! You look amazing sweetheart. "
Charles said to Lydia giving her a huge smile.

Lydia ran into her father's arms with a giggle as Emily approached the two and joined in on the hug: Lydia smiled to herself before she felt a hand on her shoulder. " I'm sorry. "

" Mama? What..? "
Lydia whispered.

" Emily? "
Charles said staring at his wife, and when they turned to look at eachother they were both at her funeral. Cold and alone. The wet rain hitting both of them as they turned to look away from eachother.

" Beloved mother to Lydia. " The priest said sternly.

" Lydia, Wake up. "
   Delia said to Lydia; shaking her awake. It was now 6:45 am. She just sighed at her stepmother with a nod.. she jolted up with a yawn- 
    Beetlejuice wasn't in her room anymore..

" H-Huh? "
She said with a fright, something seemed off. She was upset about her dream.. or.. nightmare, and Beej wasn't in her room anymore. She just hissed metaphorically when Delia opened the black curtains to her room.

" Get ready, you have school. It's only a half of a day though, dismissal is at 12:30. "
Delia said to her, and then left the room with a smile. She seemed off today too, what was wrong with her?

  Lydia got dressed into her school uniform, but took her time. She really didn't wanna get ready today. It was Halloween, of course she didn't wanna go to school today,, but that's fine. She needed to go.
                       Once she did her hair, and put on some black eyeshadow she left her room; slowly walking down the stairs. The mood today was off, Delia didn't seem as happy, The Maitlands weren't talking to BJ, and BJ wasn't even in the kitchen waiting for her. Which was a surprise to her, because he wasn't on the couch. Lydia knew something was wrong, she felt it in her gut: but she decided to not say anything about it.

                                         " Did dad leave for work already? "
Lydia grumbled, facing the Maitlands and Delia: seriously, what was going on?

" Yeah, he did. "
Delia said sternly, she was drinking some herbal tea. Which why didn't she seem so happy? So bubbly?  She always answered with a sing-song tone.

                                      " Oh. "
Lydia said, and that's all she said: it seemed way to early for him to be gone already, but she couldn't question it. Also, she didn't really know what else to say. The whole mood was off today, it seemed so strange and unusual, and it's almost like everyone else noticed too.

           She stayed silent while finishing a bowl of cereal, the Maitlands weren't making any jokes to make the milk come out of her nose, and Beej wasn't eating his bug cereal right next to her. She didn't know what was wrong, so the only thing she did, and maybe the only thing she COULD do, was grab her bag and walk out the door.
                                 It seemed very weird walking out those heavy doors without someone mocking you when you said " Bye dad. " or... maybe it was because her dad wasn't there so she couldn't even say that. UGH, besides the point, it was just weird. Seriously, what was going on.

            " Hurry up! "
Kids yelled from around Lydia, which she decided to ignore. She wasn't fond of other kids her age, nothing new though. She didn't really like the kids at her school: and she was certain that they didn't like her.

           She wasn't really pleased with the kids being louder than normal, she already had a headache that morning, and the kids didn't help it at all. She was still confused about why everything seemed so off, and why Beej wasn't there, and why the Maitlands were quiet.. also where was her dad? None of this made any sense to her. She was upset, terrified, and just.. confused.

When she got up to the door of her school, she looked around.

" Nobody. "
She smiled, and quickly ran the opposite direction from her house.. and school. She ran through the streets, and she knew exactly where she was going.
 
           It was a park that her and Beetlejuice had been to before. Right, where is Beetlejuice?

" Ugh.. I know I should like being alone, but it's boring. There's nobody to hangout with. Nobody to laugh with.."
She said to herself. Lydia hopped up onto a swing, and started swinging softly, before she started going higher and higher.. She pulled out her phone taking a few photos of herself, but she didn't save any or post them.

Anyways, by the time she gotten to the park, it had been 10 minutes since school had started; it wasn't that far but it was..  far enough.
  
     Usually you had to call beforehand if your child wasn't going to be at school that day. It's fine because she'll just come in late anyways.
The excuse?

She woke up late- and when she got out of the house and halfway there; she fell in some mud and the she had to clean up, get changed.

She slowly walked back to school, and when she got there- it was probably 4th period or something.
She walked in and said her exact excuse, and then she got a late pass. Headed to her class.

When she got there, she had to give the teacher the late pass.. and then sit down in her chair.

She didn't even wanna be here today, it was her favorite time of the entire year.

" Lydia, we're just talking about- "
Lydia drowned the rest of the teachers words out. She was tired, and afraid. Why wasn't Beetlejuice at her house? Why was her dad gone earlier?

Why was everyone staring at her right now? She's sitting down, she's not even standing..

Why was everyone acting weird?
What was wrong with today?

" Lydia? Do you get that? You understand all of that? "

" Uhm.. yeah. I do. Thanks. "
She smiled at her teacher; but she had no clue what she said at all. Lydia just missed Beej.

The ball rang loudly; the sound pierced her ears.