Back Home: A Beetlejuice Story

Chapter 14

BJ

My leg is bouncing. I've been up since before the sun rose. I still can't believe what happened last night. I'm still nervous, jittery even. I don't want Lydia to think that I was still feeling weird about yesterday and that I left the room to avoid her, but I can't sit here and wait for her to wake up. I don't know if I'd even be able to talk about what happened. Why did I like that kiss?

I go downstairs, pacing around the living room, trying to calm down. I mumble to myself to calm down. It was only a kiss. It didn't have to mean anything, and it didn't.

"Um, good morning," Charles says from the bottom of the stairs, his voice filled with concern and questioning. I stop pacing and cooly put my hands in my pockets.

"Hey, good morning, Chuck," I keep my voice even and calm, not giving away the internal panic I'm feeling.

"What are you doing up this early?"

"Uh, just couldn't sleep, I guess." Charles nods, but he gives me a skeptical look. He walks into the kitchen and, from the sound of clattering dishes, begins cooking breakfast. I sit down on the couch and turn on the TV. There's not much else for me to do right now.

Breakfast is spent in awkward silence. Originally everyone was as chatty as normal, but they caught on to the lack of talking between me and Lydia, the way I'm hovering with my plate by the wall, and the way me and Lydia both have our heads down. I can feel everyone's eyes shift around, trying to figure out what happened between me and Lydia. They were all certain we were going to make up and be fine. Lydia briefly looks up at me before snapping her head in the other direction.

"Is something going on between you two?" Charles, ever the concerned dad, asks.

"No!" Me and Lydia exclaim at the same time.

"No, nothing's going on dad. We're fine. Everything's fine," Lydia says, picking her plate up and putting it next to the sink. "Great breakfast, I'm going to go study." She rushes out of the kitchen in a blur. Everyone's attention shifts to me.

"What? We're fine," I shrug. I continue eating breakfast, quietly, but my skin crawls at the fact that I can still feel everyone's eyes on me.

Lydia

My head is planted to the surface of the vanity. Betelgeuse and I can't even look at each other anymore. My hands are shaky with nerves. I've gotten through one page of the practice test and I'm already exhausted. "Betelgeuse," I say.

"Hey, Lyds," He responds as he teleports into the room. His voice doesn't have the same eccentricity to it. He sounds so careful about what he's saying, about his choice of words.

"I'm going to go for a walk around town. Do you want to come with?" I ask, stretching as I get up from the chair. I rub my forehead now realizing that it's sore from being stuck against the hardwood surface.

"I, uh, do you want me to come with?" He shoves his hands in his pockets.

"Do you want to come with?" I repeat, my voice getting higher at the end. I feel so nervous around him now. I hate it.

"I think I'll hang back, actually. If that's okay," He holds his hand out to take the ring from me. I can feel myself begin to frown, and my heart sinks a little. I was hoping we could talk it through on a walk, but I guess not. I slide the ring off my finger and drop it into the palm of his hand.

"Alright. I'll see you later then," I slip on some shoes and leave.

The air is cold and stings my nose and cheeks. My feet drag as I walk, and my hands are balled up in my pockets. I smile and greet people as I pass them. My mind swims with thoughts of how to make things better. It hurts so much that he's being distant and that I'm being distant. Yes, it's awkward, but we're freezing each other out and I can't stand it. We're both just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.