A/N: I AM NOT DEAD.

I have no excuse for not updating as long as I have, except that I had major, major writer's block. I hope you guys can forgive me. I kept reading over this chapter and feeling like it was crap, but upon rereading it, it's really not so bad, except it's short, so… yeah. I can't apologize enough, and you guys are all so awesome for liking my story. Thanks so much, everybody! I hope I don't disappoint!

Disclaimer: No way I own Beetlejuice, I'm just not cool enough.

---downtherabbithole---

Alice had started to hyperventilate. She was wheezing, a hand over her mouth and her eyes opened wide, staring at the bike and at Lydia. Lydia wanted to get the other girl to stop staring at her like she was the devil, but she couldn't really concentrate on that at the moment because she couldn't really breathe herself. Bri was the one who moved first; she grabbed Alice's arm, leading the other girl a few feet away and sitting her down on the pavement, positioning Alice so that her back was facing Lydia and the bike.

Bri rubbed Alice's shoulder gently, murmuring something to the other girl, too quiet for Lydia to hear. Alice's head bobbed up and down in a nod and Bri offered a small smile, standing up and turning back towards Lydia.

Bri had gotten some experience dealing with ghosts since she'd started to hang out with Lydia. She'd met the Maitlands that first night she'd been invited over, although at that point in time she hadn't been able to see them. Bri had continued to visit, almost daily sometimes, learning more about Adam and Barbara as time went on and learning how to be at ease around the life-challenged couple. But obviously none of that had really prepared Bri for something like this, because she approached Lydia with the caution that one would usually give a rabid dog.

Bri's eyes focused on Lydia's legs for a moment, and Lydia finally jumped back, pulling herself out of the bike with ease. Lydia looked down at her legs, and then up at Bri, working hard to take each breath as it came.

"Lydia, you've got to tell me honestly; are you a ghost?" Bri asked, her voice stern, although her expression was one of concern and a tiny bit of fear.

Lydia shook her head no. She was pretty sure she hadn't died any time recently; in fact, she was sure she would have noticed if the teachers stopped calling on her. But… her eyes moved to the ring on her right hand, and her hands started to shake. That didn't mean she didn't have a link to the afterlife. The ring must have something to do with it. After all, the bike had fallen through her when she'd heard his name. That had to be more than just coincidence, right?

Bri's eyes followed Lydia's, and the other girl's eyes focused on the ring, her brows knitting in confusion. She glanced up at Lydia again, frowning a little. "Okay, I believe you aren't a ghost. Stupid question, sorry. But what the hell was that?"

Lydia shook her head, spinning around and looking in the direction of her house. She'd need to talk to Barbara and Adam, she'd need to ask them if they would go into the afterlife and talk to somebody about this, because she needed it to be fixed now. Her life was weird enough; it didn't need to be any weirder.

"Lydia, seriously, you have to have some idea. Was it random, did we trigger it, what?" Bri stepped in front of Lydia again, trying to gain the girl's attention.

Lydia shook her head again, distracted. Bri, despite her good intentions, would not be able to fix this. "I need to go home," she mumbled, sidestepping Bri and starting back up the road. She could ditch school for one day.

Bri sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Alright, sure. I'll cover for you at school, but I am definitely coming over after school and you are going to tell me what you know."

Lydia nodded idly, her mind focused on the problem at hand. Maybe she should have cut off her ring finger when she'd had the chance – maybe she could still do it when she got home. A few steps up the road, she paused; her bike, she needed her bike. She turned around and started back, picking up her bike. She hesitated, glancing at Bri – the other girl had moved to stand by Alice, and she was helping Alice up. Alice would be fine, probably… well, as normal as Alice was, maybe it was time for her to get a look at the strange and unusual.

It was really unfortunate that that glimpse of the strange and unusual had to be Lydia herself.

Lydia rode her bike back to her house as fast as she possibly could. This time when she stepped inside and yelled for Adam and Barbara, she could hear the desperation in her voice. Her shout not only brought the Maitlands downstairs, but it drew her father out of his office; Delia was the only one not there. She must be at her studio; a little place that she'd bought in town where she could sculpt undisturbed.

"Lydia, what's the matter?" Adam asked, coming down to stand at the foot of the stairway.

"Shouldn't you be at school now?" Charles added, leaning on the railing and looking down from his vantage point on the second story.

"I can't," Lydia gasped, dropping her bag on the floor and moving past Adam, sitting down on the lowest stair. She was out of breath from riding up the hill so fast, and the hyperventilation that she'd pushed away earlier was starting to return. She'd turned intangible. "Something's wrong with me."

This got Charles's attention, and he started down the stairs, pushing between the Maitlands. "Pumpkin, are you sick?" He sat down on the stairs next to her, and hesitantly he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Lydia let him, staring at the front door in silent, somewhat wheezy, contemplation. "No, not sick."

Barbara moved down to kneel on the other side of Lydia. "Then what's the matter?" She asked, her voice concerned.

"I…" Lydia paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. How was she going to explain this? "I went insubstantial on the walk to school today."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and Lydia cracked open an eye, catching the glance that Barbara and Adam shared. The ghostly couple looked more than a little concerned. Barbara mouthed one word to Adam, who nodded with a sharp jerk of his head, and then the two turned their attention back to Lydia.

"Wait, what do you mean… insubstantial?" Her father asked, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

"I mean what it sounds like I mean, dad," Lydia mumbled, running a hand across her face. It had felt so odd to have her bike falling through her, and this was all Betelgeuse's fault, she was sure of it… this needed to be fixed, somehow. But how?

"Lydia, how do you know that you were really... you know… insubstantial, and didn't just drop something?" Adam asked, his voice vaguely hopeful, though he couldn't manage to make the optimistic expression on his face look sincere.

"My bike fell through me," Lydia replied bluntly.

Adam blinked, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "…Oh."

"Did anybody see?" Barbara asked, her face still obviously concerned.

Lydia nodded. No reason to hide it. She couldn't just pretend like this hadn't happened, and Alice would badger her about it the very next day, if Alice still had the courage to talk to Lydia after this at the very least. "Bri… and her friend Alice."

Barbara had relaxed somewhat after Lydia said 'Bri', but as quick as another name was mentioned her back went straight, that particular expression of fearful concern flashing across her face. "Oh, no."

Lydia sighed, brushing a smudge of dust off of her skirt. This was bad. Very, very bad. She could only imagine how bad a time Bri was having at school, doing damage control, trying to keep Alice from making herself look insane by telling someone. And what was she going to tell Bri, when the girl came over after school looking for an explanation?

"Look, you guys, I think this has something to do with…" Lydia paused, waving her right hand in the air, the ring flashing in the light. She didn't even want to say the word 'marriage' right now, because that might trigger the whatever-it-was happening to her. She didn't want to see if she could fall through the ground. "Adam, Barbara, can you go to the other side and talk to somebody about this?"

Adam and Barbara shared another glance, and this time, instead of looking grim they each wore an odd mixture of emotions that Lydia couldn't quite make out. Barbara turned back to Lydia and nodded, and from behind her, Adam said, "All right, sure."

"In fact," Barbara said, standing up, "We'll go now. Try to keep it together until we get back, all right?" Lydia nodded, and Barbara offered Lydia a small smile, stepping around her and starting upstairs. Adam followed her. The knowledge that she now had two people ready to represent her in the afterlife, trying to figure out what was going on, made Lydia feel minutely better – at least now she was going something about it, no matter how insignificant that something was.

Then, the fact that Bri would be demanding an explanation in only a few hours came back, and Lydia groaned, covering her face. If the Maitlands hadn't already told her how much the afterlife resembled a giant office, and if her husband – she shuddered a little as the word entered her mind – wasn't waiting on the other side, she would wish to be dead purely for the peace of mind.

Charles squeezed Lydia's shoulders gently. "Is there anything I can do, Lydia?"

Lydia pulled her head up, looking at her father with a tired and frustrated stare. "Does Delia still have some valium lying around?"