Beetlejuice: the Musical Short Story Book

Two Sides: Lydia

Lydia stormed upstairs in a sour mood, entering her bedroom and slamming the door closed as loud as she possibly could. Her bedroom shrouded in complete darkness, Lydia moved over towards slumped on her bed and made a grumpy but inaudible soft noise as she curled in on herself. To her, it was just one of those bad days. And she didn't even feel the need to speak to anyone that day, much less interact with them.

At the slightest of a noise from behind her she perked up then looked down again, still down and upset.

"Lydia?"

She made another inaudible noise, curling in on herself a little more.

"Lydia, are you okay? Lydia?"

That sounded like Barbara. Lydia turned her head, looking at both Barbara and Adam. Then she looked away again.

She felt the Maitlands sitting down on her bed on either side of her, Barbara putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to her. Adam put a hand on the teenager's back and started rubbing circles into it. Lydia relaxed at her ghost parents' touch - but still felt not like herself. She needed some comfort, needed some support. And the Maitlands knew now to be there for her.

Barbara reached out a hand, combing it through her pseudo daughter's hair. While it seemed to calm Lydia down, the older female seemed to sense that the teenager still felt both sour and down.

Lydia shifted and rested her head against Barbara's chest, making quiet, sad whimpering noises. Though these started to sound a little more depressed and upset. Both Barbara and Adam held the teenager close to them, both of them comforting her and calming her down a little more. A brief few moments passed the three of them before Lydia calmed completely down, her whimpering noises slowing down and eventually fading away.

Lydia glanced up at Barbara before turning her head and looking over towards Adam. Both of the ghosts sported smiles of warmth on their faces, and Lydia closed her eyes, took a much needed deep breath, and relaxed before opening them again and looking back over towards Barbara.

"Now what happened, Lydia?" Barbara asked, her tone calm, gentle, and relaxed.

"I..." the teenager said before pausing, looking off to the side then back over to Barbara. She opened her mouth to speak again, then closed it when nothing seemed to come to her.

Barbara put a hand on the living teenager's shoulder, urging her to continue.

"I got into an argument with Delia," Lydia finally found herself saying. "But it wasn't that serious. Just a small one."

"Lyd, honey. How can it not be serious if we heard you stomping your way upstairs and slamming your bedroom door closed. We came up to check on you because we were worried something happened. Now, what was the argument about?"

"Nothing," Lydia mumbled under her breath, quiet enough so that the Maitlands couldn't make it out.

But that just got both ghosts even more worried, Barbara turning her head and exchanging glances with Adam. Then they both refocused their attention back over onto Lydia, who had shifted and was now looking down again.

Barbara reached a hand out and placed it under Lydia's chin, lifting the teenager's head up so that the latter was looking her in the eyes. "Lydia, the argument. What happened?"

"I said I didn't want the crystal that she was trying to offer me to calm down and make my day not bad. Then I shouted at her and then stormed upstairs here. That's it. That's what happened," Lydia said regretfully.

Again, Adam and Barbara looked at one another then back towards Lydia.

"I shouldn't have said any of that to her," Lydia continued, mumbling quietly to herself.

Barbara removed her hand from under Lydia's chin and once again put it on the teenager's shoulder. "Lydia, did you apologize to Delia?"

"Do I have to?" Lydia responded solemnly, looking from Adam to Barbara again.

Barbara nodded in affirmation and response. "Yes, she mentioned it to the both of us and your dad after the argument. Said that what you said hurt her feelings. I think that both you and her will feel better after you apologize."

"I..." Lydia glanced off to the side, then turned her attention back over towards Barbara. "I guess."

"That's the spirit," Barbara said, her and Adam getting up from Lydia's bed and helping the teenager up, putting their hands on her back and leading her out of her bedroom and down the second floor hallway towards the older Deetz' room.

"Gee, Barb," Lydia joked as the three of them got closer to her dad and Delia's room. "You're starting to sound like Delia herself."

Barbara just rolled her eyes in response, a sly and amused smirk creeping across her face. But that, of course, didn't stop her from laughing quietly to herself. Even if it was brief and unheard by her husband and Lydia.