Back Home: A Beetlejuice Story

Chapter 10

BJ

I hear Lydia take a sharp inhale and she rolls over. I glance over at her to see if there's any indication of her being awake. I see her rub her eyes and pull the covers closer around her.

"Hey, you awake?" I ask her. She's silent for a few seconds before responding.

"Yea," her voice is a croak that scratches against the silence of the room. "What time is it?" She asks.

"Seven-thirty. You missed breakfast," I say. I turn to face her, but her back remains to me. "You doing okay?"

She stays silent for a few seconds, feeling like it's bordering on a minute. I begin to wonder if she fell asleep again. "Peachy," She finally hisses out, sounding exhausted and sarcastic. I raise an eyebrow and begin to ask if she's really okay before she cuts me off. "Can you leave?"

"Leave?" I ask her, I can't help the hesitation in my voice. "You want me to leave?"

"I'm tired. I want to be alone so I can just zen."

"Oh. Okay," I get up and go to the door, placing a hand on the doorknob. I take a glance at Lydia before I leave, seeing her staring off with half hooded eyes. She's got the covers up to her chin and I can see roughly through the covers that she's curled up in a ball. I open the door and leave, closing it softly behind me.

With both Delia and Charles being at work, the house is fairly empty. The Maitlands had set up camp in the living room in front of the TV. I didn't want to disrupt them and I decide to hide out in the study. The room is lined with bookshelves that have been filled to the brim. I sit down in the large chair, and suddenly I understand why Charles spends so much time up here. The chair is mad comfortable and I honestly wish I had tethered my soul to this chair instead.

I sit and read in the chair for a few hours, skimming through various books. Poetry, periodicals, encyclopedias, some classics. Nothing that interests me and I get bored quickly. I start spinning on the chair, whistling nonsense tunes.

"Hey, knock knock," Barbara says from the doorway, interrupting my slow descent into boredom-induced madness.

"Babs, I'm sure you're wondering why I called you for this meeting," I prop my hands on the desk.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Is Lydia up yet?" Barbara rocks on her heels. We're not used to Lydia sleeping this late.

"I'm," I pause for a second. "I'm really not sure. She woke up at seven-thirty and asked me to leave because she was still tired. So, she might be up, she might not be." I shrug.

"Okay, I'm going to go check if she's up. She missed breakfast, so she might be hungry and," Barbara shrugs. "We gotta make sure Lydia eats, right?"

"Absolutely. Go check on our girl!" I wave a hand at her and she takes off down the hallway. I can hear her knock on Lydia's door and her side of the conversation. I can hear Barbara get dismissed.

"She's still tired?" I ask Barbara as she passes by the room.

"Yea, that's what she says. You're sticking in this office for the day?" She asks me.

"Yea, yea. Just gonna sit here and," I rustle through some papers and files, grabbing pens and pencils. "I have no clue what I'm doing."

"Well, if you get too bored you can come watch some TV with me and Adam, we'll tone down the loving married couple if you want."

"I think I'm going to slightly screw up a few more of Charles's files first. I've been a little too well-behaved lately, gotta do something to mess with people."