Back Home: A Beetlejuice Story

Chapter 4

Lydia

My family has gotten used to the change of me and Betelgeuse being around the past few weeks. He still doesn't join any meals, but he's offered to join every single one of them, and he smiles and refuses. I wish I was adjusting as well to being here as BJ. I find myself sneaking small things into hidden locations, for "safekeeping." Twice Delia has had to ask me where a chunk of amethyst crystal has gone, each time it's been in a spot I can't even explain as to why I put it there. Most of the stuff that I've ended up stashing around the house has been blamed on Betelgeuse, and he won't let me correct them. He doesn't want them getting mad at me. Dad once caught me standing on a chair shoving an old cigar box on top of the cupboards. It was a box Dad kept from his dad, he kept pictures in it.

"Lydia, no one is going to break into the house and steal it," he tried to reason with me. "You should tell Betelgeuse to stop vanishing stuff around here, you'll feel better then." Dad always hesitates before saying Betelgeuse's name, but giving a nickname to him would be unthinkable. It's a better step than Delia, who will solely refer to him as "him" or "your friend." They may be used to him being here, that doesn't mean they like that he's here.

"He's trying his best!" I plead with Dad.

"No, he isn't. If he was trying, this whole disappearing act would've stopped a long time ago." Dad retorts, not being able to find his watch. I had taken that last night when Dad took it off to help Delia with the dishes, and currently, it's stashed in a porcelain vase in the upstairs study.

"He's not the one doing that, I keep trying to tell you guys that!"

"Someone like that doesn't take the blame for things they didn't do." I cross my arms and glare at him, leading him to sigh and rest his hands against the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "Fine, okay Lydia. If you took it, then where is it? Because I have to go to work soon, and I prefer to have my watch."

"It's upstairs in the study, blue vase on the top shelf." I look away as I say this. I love my dad but this is a kind of vulnerability I didn't want to share with anyone. It's worse now that I feel cornered into it, having to choose between protecting myself or my best friend.

Dad huffs exiting the kitchen, pissed-off whispers about his detest of Betelgeuse coming from him as he goes. I don't want to be here when he comes back, I take the side door out of the kitchen and go sit in the backyard.

Being on the top of a hill, we don't have any trees or large plants for me to sit against, so I lean against the house, enjoying the cold air. It feels like it could snow soon. I feel someone appear next to me.

"The hell did you do that for?" Betelgeuse's voice is seething with rage. "We had a system going, you would hide shit for whatever reason you wanted, I'd take the fall. Why are you playing the hero?"

"I'm sick of them being pissed off at you all the time. It's exhausting." I don't look at him as I say this. He's terrifying when he's angry.

"They're never going to like me, Lyds, get used to it!"

"Well, you're not doing me any favors hiding the fact that I'm so fucked up in the head now that I compulsively steal from my own house!"

"They'll send you to fucking institute if they know!" I can see out of my peripheral vision that he squats down on the ground next to me. "Is that what you want? To sit in one room all day, nothing to do but wait for some drugs to kick in and talk to some lame-ass about all your problems? And if you don't talk they keep you there longer. Is that what you want?" I can hear the concern in his voice, just barely showing from underneath his anger.

"No," I rip some grass out of the ground. A cold hand rests on top of mine, stopping me from continuing.

"I don't want that for you either, Babes. If you tell me what going on, we can keep this whole thing going. No one but you can banish me, so I'd be safe." I look at him, scowling. His face is cracked into a grin.