Some would say that having a best friend who was dead as a doornail and had the power to summon a guillotine at will is more than a bit problematic. And you know what? They would be kind of right.

It took a lot of energy to hide him from my family, especially from my younger siblings.

I pulled into the driveway, with Beej in the passenger seat, and stopped underneath the over hang by my door. It had started to drizzle, and I didn't want my shoes getting ruined. I turned to Beetlejuice, who had morphed back into his normal look; electric green hairdo, dirty, tattered, striped suit, deathly pale skin, and green splotches of god-knows-what all over. The only remnant of his earlier look that remained were the aviator sunglasses, still perched on the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting the dreary sky.

"Okay, time to go invisible. You know the deal."

He nodded, and with a snap of his fingers, he apparently disappeared. I could still hear him, the only difference was he was just slightly translucent.

"Um. I can still see you."

"I know, but the others won't be able to. They won't be able to hear me either, so I can make whatever comments I want and watch you deal with the aftermath of trying to show no emotion."

I glared at him. "You're despicable."

He batted his lashes at me, and put a hand to his face, swatting the air with his other. "Ohhhh, stop it, I'm blushing!"

I sighed and got out of the car, Beetlejuice following me. I went to unlock the door, but it swung open before I could do so. I looked up, blinking in sudden surprise. It was Liz, my eleven-year-old sister. Her hazel eyes raked over me suspiciously.

"How'd it go?"

I sighed and pushed past her and into the narrow hallway that led to my bedroom and the living room. "Disaster."

She shut the door, arching an eyebrow at me. "Really? I thought he came home with you. I mean, I saw someone riding in your car with you, and heard you talking to them, so I just assumed it was Dalton."

I froze, gripping the bar in panic. "What?"

"Um, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay. Um, no, no one was in the car with me. And you know how I talk to myself sometimes."

My sister nodded slowly at me, obviously not a hundred percent sold on my cover story.

"Okay, whatever."

And with that, she traipsed back up the stairs, no doubt going to talk to her best friend, who also happened to be our next-door neighbor.

I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"That was close."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"We've got to be more careful!" I told Beej, going into my bedroom and shutting the door. He perched himself on the end of my bed and pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head. "We can't just relax, just because we think they can't see you. They can still hear me talking to myself and laughing at nothing."

Beetlejuice scratched his stubble in thought. "You think any of them are more.... morbidly inclined?"

I stared at him. "What?"

"I mean, more fascinated by the macabre. I know a girl who was able to see me through my invisibility. I didn't know if any of your siblings would be like that."

I shook my head. "Thankfully, no. My 15-year-old sister is more weird than the other two.... but even she's pretty like, tame when it comes to death and stuff. So I don't think we have to worry about that. We just have to make sure they don't get suspicious."

The demon nodded.

My phone abruptly started ringing. I looked down at the caller ID to see it was my best friend Maddison.

I picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, girl! I'm on my way."

My blood ran cold. "Um, huh?"

She scoffed. "Did you seriously forget we were getting together at your place to binge Beastars??" She chuckled.

I quietly smacked my forehead. I had seriously goofed up, this time. It had totally slipped my mind.

"Oh hey, I also talked to Dalton.... what did you do? The poor guy was rambling about a dude with you who had a guillotine??? Like what??" She laughed a little in confusion.

I grimaced, and Beej didn't meet my eye.

"What? I have no idea what he-"

"He said you introduced him to your friend BJ?? Like huh??? Who the heck did you bring with you??"

I sighed. "I can't talk to you over the phone like this. Just get here, and I'll explain everything."

"...okay. Well, I'll be there in 20, so I'll see you then, I guess."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

I ended the call, letting out a nervous, uneasy breath. Beetlejuice glanced over at me.

"So, uh, when you said you'd explain everything.... what exactly did you mean by 'everything'?"

I set my jaw resolutely. "Maddison and I hang out a lot. There's no way I can keep you a secret from her. I'm gonna tell her everything. Including the bit about you being dead."