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As Lydia woke up, one thing was clear, this was not her house. No, her phone wasn’t charging beside her bed, her sheets weren’t covered in Baby Yodas (Yes, she knows she is a teenager, but he’s freaking adorable), and the photos on the wall definitely were not taken by her. No, this was not her house. On top of that, where was Beetlejuice, the demon wasn’t there, waking her up for attention.
Lydia looked down at herself as she got out of bed, yes, it was her. She didn’t switch bodies with anyone, like all those people syfy movies do. No, she was still her short, pale self (Or smol lesbian, as Beetlejuice likes calling her). But, why was she not in her house in Connecticut.
She looked around the room. Nothing was modern. This wasn’t even the same time period that she was used to. It was filled to the brim with bands and movie posters that her mother had loved when she was alive. This was not her time. At least she was in her own pajamas.
A sudden knocking noise filled the air, followed by a, “Lydia, wake up, you’ve got school!” By someone in the hall. She had not the slightest idea who that stranger could be.
Lydia looked around the room, moving to the closet, and wincing at the style choices inside of the wardrobe. Like Lydia's were typically dark clothing, but whoever’s room this was, only had torn and aged black clothing, and a few dark school uniform looking outfits. It was kinda overwhelming to the teenager. Lydia, in the end, just chose to go out in her Star War sweatpants and an old band shirt that she slept in. After all, it wasn’t like anyone would know her.
As she exited the obnoxiously emo room, Lydia was even more confused. Everything around the house made no sense. It was like someone wanted to do something, and someone else wanted to do another thing, and now all the walls were a whole different idea. Still, Lydia continued, moving down the stairs, not knowing what else to do.
The living room was worse. Dear lord, Lydia had thought Delia’s sense of style was terrible. Well, this was worse. It was like someone tried to make the 80’s modern and didn’t know how to. On top of that, there was a whole area dedicated to horrible art.
Slowly, Lydia forced herself away from the horrid area and into what looked like a weird kitchen area. Around the island sat a sandy blond haired man and a woman with short copper colored hair, who was holding a mug like it was her lifeline.
Lydia, being the person she was, just stood frozen in the doorway, not knowing what to do. Honestly, out of everything she’s ever done, this would have to go in the second place on the ‘Weirdest situations I’ve gotten myself in’ list. And, Beetlejuice wasn’t even the reason behind this one, at least, she didn’t think he was.
“Hey, Lydia,” A female voice came from behind the teenager, making her turn around. Great, whoever lived in the house knew her name. She made eye contact with whoever it was, the person freezing, “You’re not Lydia…” The brunette’s eyebrows furrowed.
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“Scarecrow! Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Beetlejuice screamed as he ran into his best friend’s room. The sound of the door slamming into the wooden wall caused the girl on the bed to shoot up in panic.
The demon was about to jump on the edge of the bed, hoping to wake up the girl further, when he stopped. This wasn’t Lydia. At least, she didn’t look like Lydia. No, her hair was far too jagged like and the color was all wrong. Nope, this wasn’t Lydia.
“Who the hell are you?” Nope, definitely not Lydia. The girl held the sheets up to her chest, her eyes wide as she stared at the strange man in her room.
“Better question is, whom the hell are you?” He pulled up an accent that he knew would annoy Lydia, if she was here that was. The girl opened her mouth, but then her eyes caught the objects in the room.
“This isn’t my room?” Her voice was weak as she looked at the photos that covered the walls, the posters from the local theater, and the phone on the nightstand. “Where am I?” She flinched as the phone's alarm went off, something Lydia always turned on, even though Beetlejuice woke her up before it.
“My best friend's room, babs, so who are you?” The demon glared at the girl.
“I’m Lydia Deetz,” She paused, then pointed to the phone, “What is that?”
“One, you aren’t Lydia Deetz, too tall,” He put up one finger, then pointed to the loud device on the nightstand, “Two, that’s an IPhone,”
“IPhone?”
The demon looked at the girl in confusion, “Yeah, you know, smart slaves in a box?” The girl opened her mouth to ask something else, but Beetlejuice waved him off, “You know what, I’ll have Danny DeVito explain it to you,” She nodded.
“Do you have any clothes for me to wear?” She asked as she got out of the bed, her eyes wide as she still took in everything. The Lydia looked down at the clothes she was wearing, a long black nightgown, something Beetlejuice only saw old dead people wear.
“No,” He shook his head, “You are way taller than our Lydia Deetz,”
She turned to look at him, “Your Lydia Deetz?”
“Yeah,” That’s all he said. The demon went out the doorway and led the other girl downstairs. God/Satan, this was already too much.
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Lydia put her hands up, not knowing what else to do, “My name is Lydia Deetz,” She didn’t know what else to say. Damn movies, they always showed these parts as humorous, not awkward, “Um, I seem to be lost?”
The woman pointed, “You are not Lydia Deetz,” Lydia was confused. She made it sound like the teenager didn’t know who she was.
“Yes, I am,” She didn’t know what else to do. She turned to look behind her, at the people at the kitchen island who were now looking at her, confused, “Do you have a phone I could use? My dad and stepmother are probably freaking out right now,”
Suddenly the man behind her spoke, “Wait, how can you see us?”
“Because you are right in front of me?” Lydia crossed her arms, “Now, do you have a phone I could use? Please?”
The brunette shook her head, “No, we’re ghosts, how can you see us?”
Lydia laughed awkwardly, “Oh, I just can. Actually, at my house, we have two ghosts in our attic, Adam and Barbara Maitland,” Lydia smiled at the thought of them, “They’re basically my second parents,”
“Barbara and Adam Maitland?” The copper haired woman looked between the two other adults in the room.
The brunette in front of Lydia stepped forward, “We are Barbara,” She pointed to the man at the island, “And Adam Maitland,”
Okay, that was funny. Lydia couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her. “No, no. Uh, your not blonde, or the most innocent person anyones ever met,” She pointed to the man, “And, he doesn’t throw off that dad vibe like Adam does,”
“Lydia?” The woman spoke, “We are the Maitlands,”
The teenager shook her head, “No fu- I mean freaking way!” Her eyes were wide, not believing what she was being told, “Next thing you’re going to tell me is that it isn’t 2020 anymore,” She rolled her eyes.
“It’s not,” The other woman at the island, “It’s 1988,”
Lydia shook her head, “You know, this is a rude prank,” She spoke, laughing slightly, “I mean, who the freak are you even?” She pointed at the copper haired woman, who glared at her.
“I am the famous sculptress, Delia Deetz,” She smiled smugly at her words. Lord, no, this was too much for Lydia. First, the Maitlands were, well, far from themselves, but now Delia? She couldn’t stop herself from laughing, earring a glare from ‘Delia’.
“No, Delia, no,” She shook her head as she laughed, “What happened to you? Your wearing black willingly, and you don’t even have a crystal on you,” This poor soul, “Is this post gay husband leaving?”
The woman seemed taken back, “Excuse me, what?”
“You know what, never mind,” Lydia waved her off, “But, for real, where is your phone?” She honestly had no clue if it would call anyone, but, honestly, she didn’t feel comfortable with these ‘Maitlands’ and this strange ‘Delia’. Nothing made much sense right now.
Barbara put her hand on the teenager’s shoulder, “It’s in the living room,” She pointed to the doorway, “And, please make it quick, I think we all need you to explain some things,”
Lydia nodded and quickly moved back into the interesting living room. She quickly entered her father’s number and listened to it ring. She just prayed that someone would answer.
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“Good morning, Lydia,” Delia greeted as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The red haired woman rose from her yoga position and allowed her eyes to get used to the morning sun that shined through the windows, “Your father made pancakes this morning and put them in the fridge,”
“Hey, Dora,” Beetlejuice’s voice was full of caution, something unlike the demon, making Delia look at him worriedly, “We might have a problem,”
The adult rose to her feet, “What is it-” She stopped, looking at the dark haired girl standing behind the demon, “Lydia! Did you have a growth spurt?” She clapped her hand, realizing how the girl was taller.
“No-” He tried to cut her off.
Delia clapped her hands, “She’s tall now!” She stepped closer to the stairs, getting a closer look at the girl, “Wait, you're not Lydia…”
Beetlejuice moved in front of the teenager, making jazz hands, “Surprise...”
Delia shook her head and moved to the girl, who was looking at her feet, “”Hello, I’m Delia, what’s your name?” Her voice was soft, as she tried to get the girl's attention, or at least get the girl’s name.
She looked up, her eyes wide, “You’re not Delia, at least not the Delia I know,” Her voice was quiet. Delia herself looked at Beetlejuice, who shrugged.
“What do you mean?”
“The Delia I know is, well, much, and not all, well,” She gestured to the woman’s bright attire and crystals, “That,”
“Well, what’s your name?”
The nameless girl brushed her pointed hair out of her face, “Lydia Deetz,”
Delia laughed at that and brought her hand up to her head, “I must be getting deaf because, it almost sounded like you said you were Lydia,” At the awkward chuckle from Beetlejuice, she realized something, “Shit- I mean, shuck-” She rubbed the back of her neck, “You’re Lydia Deetz?”
The girl nodded, “Yeah? And, I assume you’re Delia Deetz,” The teenager rolled her eyes, thinking about her own stepmother.
The redhead smiled to herself, her eyes going to the ring on her finger, “Well, not yet, but, yes, soon,” She looked at the clock on the wall, “How about, we talk about this over some breakfast. How does that sound?”
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He didn’t answer. Which isn't his fault. After all, her dad didn’t have a phone in the 80’s. Lydia just honestly wanted someone to answer. So, now, she was sitting on the most uncomfortable coach ever, surrounded by people who claimed to be people she knew.
The brunette Barbara sat across from her on a loveseat with the other Adam. In a random other seat sat Delia, who looked upon her with judgmental eyes, which honestly threw off the teenager the most.
“So, can you give us your basic background? Like your age, parents, stuff like that?” Adam meakly asked from beside his wife.
Lydia rolled her eyes, “I’m 15 years old, my parents are Charles and Emily,” She watched as this Delia seemed to tense at the mention of her father’s past wife, “Deetz. My mom died a year or so ago, so I got a life coach, Delia,” She gestured to the colder woman, honestly the polar opposite to the version she was used to, “And then we moved to Connecticut. Then I met the Maitlands, and the Beetlejuice-” Everyone tensed at the name.
“You had to deal with that monster?” Barbara growled from her seat.
“Yeah, I assume you know him. He helped me out, but then he needed me to marry him to be alive and all that crap, a green card thing, honestly,” Lydia winced as she thought about her and her best friend’s past. She also realized how all the adults were tense, “So, I married him, then killed him. We’re cool now,” She looked around the house, realizing how there was no sign of the demon anywhere, “Where is he anyway?”
“Damned to hell, I hope,” Delia muttered from her spot.
Barbara weakley smiled, “Our Beetlejuice was nothing like that,”
Dear lord, Beetlejuice, what did you do to this poor family?
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“So, your mother never died?” Delia drank tea as she watched the teenager girl eat the pancakes that were left for the other Lydia, well, Charles hadn’t said which Lydia he made them for.
“No,” The girl spoke in between the bites, “They divorced when I was like five,” She took another bite, “Then married, well, you when I was like twelve, I think other you only did it for the money, but who knows,”
Delia laughed awkwardly, “Well, I hope not.” She looked around for something else to talk about, her eyes falling on a painting a certain demon made for her, “Did you have a Beetlejuice?”
The girl tensed at the name, “Yeah?” She swallowed, “Was he that bad here?”
Delia tried to continue the sentence in the most delicate way possible, “He wasn’t horrible, he did destroy our house though,” Nope, that wasn’t what she should have said, “What did he do to you?” Shit, wrong, she watched as the girl paled and put down her fork.
“Uh, yeah, he forced me to marry me,” Delia thought over the words. Forced. Not a grew card thing. No, forced was what she said. She felt sick. “Otho was performing an exorcism on the Maitlands, got both of them, and the only way that it could be stopped was by marrying, uh, that Demon, so I almost did,” She paused, looking at the plate, “But, thankfully, he was eaten by a sandworm, so I didn’t,”
“Well,” Delia took Lydia’s hand into her own, “At least it ended well,” Suddenly, her phone went off, making the other girl flich away. Delia shot her a look of pity before looking at the message, “Good news, Charles is on his way home,” The girl just nodded. Lord, she was so bad at talking to any form of Lydia it seems. She had to turn this around, so, with an awkward smile she gently asked, “Would you like to see the Maitlands?”
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“That sick pervert,” Lydia groaned into her hands. Lord, this Beetlejuice was just sick, or, at least, so different from her own. The adults around her nodded. “Well, how do I get back? To my family?” Lydia asked, realizing that, hey, as her family was, at least it was better than this, art and demons included.
Adam spoke up first, “We, don’t know…”
“But, we’ll try to help,” Barbara turned to her husband, “We still have the handbook, maybe that’ll give us a clue,” Adam quickly rose and ran upstairs, leaving just three girls, who just sat awkwardly.
After a long break of silence, Delia rose, “I need some wine, anyone else need anything?” Lydia looked at the clock, which showed it was only 10 a.m., but, honestly, worse things have happened.
“I’d like a glass of water please,” Delia nodded and left the room, moving back into the kitchen.
“So,” Barbara shifted, “How did we die in your, uh, world?”
Lydia winced, “You fell through the floorboards, it was a quick death,” Barbara nodded.
Delia appeared once more and quickly moved back to her seat, an overly filled glass of red wine in one hand and a small glass of ice water in the other. “In this other world,” She spoke as she set Lydia’s glass on the coffee table, “Is Delia married to your father?”
“Not yet, anyway, their wedding is planned for July,” Lydia grabbed the cold glass, “You know, you’re nothing like the other version of you,” The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Delia smirked as she took a long sip of her wine, “How so?”
“Well, she’s all positive energy, crystals, veganism like,”
“She’s a hippy?” Barbara interrupted, not believing what she was hearing.
“Kinda, but she hates that phrase, she just calls herself, ‘One of Mother Earth’s Disciples’,”
“That would be an interesting twist,”
Adam suddenly came down the stairs, a leather bound book in his hand, “Sorry, it was covered with old junk,” He put it on the coffee table, and opened it to the first page, “Let’s find a way to get you back to your home and get our Lydia back!”
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“Hi, Lydia, it’s nice to meet you,” Barbara, being the person she was, instantly greeted Lydia. The girl looked happy to not be bombarded with questions the moment she met the other version of people she knew. “This is my husband, Adam, and I’m Barbara,” She smiled.
“Well, you know I’m Lydia,” The girl nodded, a small grin on her face, “This is a wicked attic,” She noticed Beetlejuice in the far corner, who was trying to carve something out of the wood, “Who is he? He never told me his name,”
Barbara laughed as the demon looked up and stuck his tongue out, before going back to his work, “That’s just Beet-”
“Laurance!” Delia covered quickly, realizing that telling the girl that Beetlejuice was still in the house wouldn’t be the best idea, “He’s, uh, my son! Adopted, but, yeah, still my son,” Her eyes were wide as she continued to lie. She could almost feel the glare from Beetlejuice, but that was the least of her worries.
“Well, hi, again Laurance,” She waved to him, but he didn’t wave back, too focused on the work he was doing, for once. Her eyes found the table in the middle of the room, where Barbara and Adam were working on building a model of the town, “My ghost parents have one of these too,” She looked down at it, moving so she was eye level with the grass, “But, yours has more details,”
“The joys of the modern era, I guess,” Adam smiled as he watched the other Lydia get excited over the model. He watched as she traced her fingers over the roofs and as she marveled over the tiny figures.
The sound of Delia’s phone ringing suddenly filled the room, “Sorry, it’s Charles,” And she stepped out of the room.
“So…” Adam looked at the other Lydia who was holding a dog figurine that he had made, “Would you like to try and make one of these?”
She looked at him with big eyes, “You’d really teach me?”
“Of course!” Adam moved her over to the shelf, “Now, you can choose a block and a blade, and we’ll start,” He watched as she looked over each piece carefully, before turning back to his wife.
“I miss our Lydia,” Barbara smiled sadly as she watched the girl look through the tools.
Adam nodded, “I do too, but, maybe we can learn a thing or two from this Lydia,” He paused, “Do you want to look through the handbook with, uh, Laurence, and see if there is anything about getting her home?”
“I’ll do that,” She pressed a soft on his lips before moving over to Beetlejuice, grabbing the book as she went.
Adam turned back to the girl, who now had a block of wood and a small knife in her hand, and a smile on her face, “Now, as you know, practice makes perfect,”
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“So, it says, I have a day here, then I go back? Just like that?” It seemed far too easy. There had to be a catch.
“That’s what it says,” Barbara reread the paragraph again, “So, I guess so,”
“I feel like there's a catch,” Adam quietly said, but everyone still heard him.
Delia shook her head and rose, her empty wine glass in her hand, “Well, you two can worry about that, right now, Lydia had been stuck in the same clothes,” She gestured to the teenager who just shrugged, “I bet I can help you find something that fits,” She walked out of the room, leaving Lydia to follow along.
“Good luck,” With that, she exited the room, chasing her other stepmother up the stairs.
The two quickly moved into the other Lydia’s room, Delia wrinkling her nose at her stepdaughter’s taste, but she didn’t say anything about it.
“Our Lydia, she mostly wears dresses,” She moved to the closet, looking through the different shades of the same color, “So, I hope that’s fine,”
“Yeah, I wear dresses too,” Lydia sat down on the bed, not knowing what else to do.
Delia grabbed a shorter, shapeless dress and threw it to the girl, “It might be longer on you, but you’ll only have to wear it for the rest of the day,” She threw another, which was puffy on the bottom, it looked closer to what she was used too, “If you want to take a shower, we have some towels,” Delia exited the room again, making Lydia quickly grab the two dresses and rush to catch her, “And we have some extra deodorant,”
“A shower would be nice,” The older woman nods. They stop at a closet as they go, Delia grabbing a crimson colored towel and a travel size bar of deodorant.
“Just go down the hall and it’s the first room on the left,” With that, Delia leaves the teenager only in the hall.
Lydia quickly moves to the bathroom, but not before an open door catches her eye. It’s an office, a lot like the one her father has at her home, but on a stand was a statue of what Lydia assumed was This World’s Beetlejuice’s head. It was well done, most likely the work of Delia. For some reason, that imagine is stuck in the back of the teenager’s mind as she gets into the shower.
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“Charles, calm down,” Delia walked the business man into the attic, “We are looking into how to get Lydia back, but, I’d like you to meet,” She pushed him towards the teenager who put down her work as she looked at this world’s version of her father.
“Hello?” He was the polar opposite of her own father. This man was taller and well built, her own was a shorter man, who was skinnier.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” His voice was rough as well.
“I assume you know who I am,” She tilted her head to the side.
Charles nodded, “Yes, Delia told me as I came here,”
Barbara, who had been reading over the Handbook For the Recently Deceased for the past thirty minutes or so, let out a squeal, “I found it!” She jumped up, much to the annoyance of Beetlejuice, who had fallen asleep on her shoulder, “It says that she’ll go back to her world after 24 hours. And, in return, we’ll get our Lydia back,”
“Well, then,” Charles clapped his hands together, “I guess that solves that!”
Delia smiled, “You know what this means,” Everyone gave her a questioning look, “We have to make the most of her time while she’s here! But, first, let’s get her into comfortable clothes!”
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To say Charles was confused when he came back home to a new Lydia would be an understatement, but everyone else explained it pretty quickly. Dinner was interesting, because it was the first time in a year or so, that Lydia wasn’t forced to deal with Delia’s meat substitutes. No one talked much, either, so it was quite a difference compared to her noisy dinners, but it ended quickly.
Lydia went to bed quickly, but she couldn’t fall asleep. She had never missed her family so badly as she laid in another girl’s bed, waiting to be brought back to the year 2020. She could only think of what they had done without her. What Beetlejuice did without her was a bigger question.
Still, as the clock struck 11 p.m, she felt her eyes grow heavy. Soon, she would be back home. Soon, she’d see her family again.
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“It was nice meeting you,” Barbara whispered as the other Lydia tucked herself into bed, back into her nightgown.
“Yep, and don’t forget your talent in wood carving,” Adam smiled down at the girl. It felt weird for him, saying goodbye to a version of a girl he treated like a daughter, but he wanted his own Lydia back home.
“I won’t,” The girl smiled, as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes, “Thanks for everything Delia, it was fun to hang out with you,” The redhead smiled brightly, “and tell your son I said bye to him,” At the questioning look from Charles, she just shook her head.
“I’ll do that for you,”
Lydia turned to Charles, “And you, you cheated in Monopoly, and you know it,” She pointed an accusing finger at the man.
“I never cheat! I think you just got second place,” He smirked at the girl, who stuck her tongue out. “Goodnight,”
Slowly, all four adults exited the room, letting the other girl fall asleep.
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“Scarecrow, you’re back!” Lydia never thought hearing Beetlejuice’s shrill voice at six a.m. would ever sound so good, but, she was so glad he was here. That she was back. Now, all she needed to do was find her family, and hear what they had done without her, because, honestly, they’d be lost with her. Just, as she was lost without them. But, at least she was home.
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“Lydia, sweetheart, breakfast is ready,” Adam’s voice echoed around the goth’s room as she got up. Yes, she was back. Thankfully. Of course, she had a great time with her other family, but she missed the things only they did.
The smell of bacon filled the air, causing the girl to jump even faster. Yes, this was her home. She was with her family once more, as dysfunctional as it may seem, but they were her’s. And, she wouldn’t trade them for anything.