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Stranger Beetles

"Wait, that's a demon?!" Nate asked incredulously. "Why does he look like a used car salesman?"

"Don't flatter me, Kid," Beetlejuice said. "The Collector, huh? No problem, Lyds. Uncle BJ's got a bone to pick with him, anyways."

He flew into the school, suddenly dressed like a masked luchador. He found the other demon pretty quickly. They were both suddenly in a wrestling ring, a crowd of Beetlejuices cheering as the original Beetlejuice waved and bowed.

"Gracias, gracias," He said, hamming it up. A beetle clone in a striped referee shirt appeared in the middle of the ring, holding a microphone.

"In this corner, we have the OG Beetlejuice, nominated most handsome demon in the Netherworld! Single and ready to mangle!" The ref turned and looked the Collector up and down with a look of disgust. "And in this corner...we have this guy." The clone crowd boo'd loudly.

Nate, curious, poked his head in the door. Who would want to miss a super awesome demon fight, like come on?! Seeing the pure shenanigans Beetlejuice was pulling, he looked at Lydia with an expression of confusion. "Does he do this a lot?"

Stranger Beetles

Nate yelped when the sky suddenly grew dark. Green lighting struck near their feet, and a loud cackle sounded all around them. It seemed BJ was feeling up to his old theatrics again.

When the demon appeared, he flew over to Lydia, dressed in a flight attendant outfit. "Thank you for flying air Netherworld. We know you didn't have any other choice!" He paused the shtick when he noticed Nate and Zach looking at him with bulging eyes.

"Uh, Lyds?" He was suddenly back to normal, "What gives?"

Stranger Beetles

Nate was stunned, stuck to the spot with fear. "What the hell is that thing?!" He finally got control of his legs and ran like hell. Nate found the nearest door to the outside and pushed it open. "Come on!" He waved frantically to Zach and Lydia.

Stranger Beetles

Nate ignored the teacher's comment. He gave Lydia a little wave, and sat in his usual chair next to Zach. He, of course, noticed nothing amiss. He took out his books and glance at Zach's page before turning to the same one.

Stranger Beetles

Sounds good!

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I guess either? And I dunno. I can't think of anything that a 13 year old would be in dept for, that's not like illegal anyways =P

Stranger Beetles

Beetlejuice smiled a little, and ruffled her hair. "I'm proud of you, Lyds. A chip off the ol' tombstone." He looked around. "I guess I should put everything back, huh?"

A second later, the graveyard disappeared and they were back in Lydia's bedroom, BJ sat on the footboard of her bed. The Maitlands let out a yelp as the house suddenly switched back, the ceiling below them becoming floor again.

Over the next few days, Beetlejuice tried to actually talk about his feelings, rather than bottle them up and let them explode. He told Lydia what he'd told the Maitlands, about his mom and his life in the Netherworld. These were things he'd hinted at, but never really confessed. Talking about feelings was hard.

Luckily, the Maitlands were unnaturally understanding, and didn't try to kick BJ out for turning their house upside down. Nate, Zach, and Lydia started hanging out after school more, sometimes with BJ tagging along in dog form. He was still worried about Lydia being seen.

The next week at school, Nate was late coming in from a dentist appointment. He checked in with the office before heading to class, hoping Mr. Dulley wouldn't give him hell for it.

Stranger Beetles

Sure!

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He steadily shrunk under her verbal lashing. Beetlejuice cringed when she went to hug him, but upon seeing that she didn't intend to hurt him, relaxed and hugged her back. He sniffed again, fresh tears starting to fall.

"You're the best, Lyds," He squeaked. "I'm sorry I made a mess of the house. I just...I'm afraid of being alone. I know it's messed up, kid, but I'm messed up."

Stranger Beetles

Beetlejuice lifted his head, his hair and complexion a sickly, mournful purple. "You know why I never go to the Netherworld?" He asked, sniffling and wiping his face on his sleeve. "Because everyone there either hates me, or tries to use me for my powers." He paused, "They'll pretend to be my friend, and I'll fall for it like the idiot I am, and then once they get what they want from me, poof, they're gone."

He paused again to wipe his nose. "And now you have other breathers to hang around. Why would you wanna hang out with...with a dead guy?"

He broke into tears again. Clearly he'd stewed on this for a while. Probably the last few days, until it all came to a point. Now the house was upside down and he was afraid he was going to lose his best and only friend."