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Good boy energy
Lydia paused what she had been doing and stared at her phone screen with a frown for a minute or two before turning to her daughter sat across the kitchen table from her.
“Astrid sweetheart, what does German shepherd energy mean?” she asked curiously.
The teen paused at the strange and unexpected question with her coffee cup halfway between the table and her lips, as she turned to her mother in confusion.
“German shepherd energy?” Astrid repeated to ensure she had heard her correctly. Her face scrunched up in a frown as she tried to figure out what the hell her mother was talking about.
“Yeah I’ve seen a few of these videos on TikTok recently but I’m not sure what they mean by It. There’s no dogs in the video just someone walking around looking for someone else. I don’t get it”.
Lydia passed Astrid her phone who then watched the videos her mother had just been scrolling through.
Sure enough there were no dogs in the main video, it was a woman filming her boyfriend who was walking down the street trying to find her in a busy location. The guy was dressed in mainly all black, covered in tattoos and looked tough as hell and whilst he had been looking around for her there had been heavy metal style music playing in the background. As he’s walking his expression is serious and slightly moody yet as soon as he turns to the camera and spots his girlfriend everything changes…
Astrid smiles as the music changes to something light and happy, the guy’s expression goes from mean and moody to a big silly smile and he waves adorably as he walks quickly towards his girlfriend. She’s seen probably hundreds of these types of TikToks.
“It’s golden retriever energy mom,” Astrid laughed as she handed her phone back to Lydia.
Her mother is still none the wiser as she shrugs her shoulders in confusion still.
“I still don’t get it” she chuckles as she glances back down at her phone.
“It’s just something light-hearted to show someone being all sweet and adorable to their girlfriend, boyfriend wife or whatever. Kinda like how a golden retriever is all sweet and loyal, well someone that has those traits is described as having golden retriever energy”
“Ohh” Lydia said as she started to understand what it was all about.
Astrid shook her head and frowned playfully at her mom.
“Come on mom you should know this already, you’re literally dating a golden retriever yourself” Astrid laughed, referring to her mother’s current dating situation with a particularly chaotic yet surprisingly charming poltergeist.
Flashback
Six months on following the events of that unforgettable Halloween night where Lydia was almost married to a scam artist, an obsessed ghost and rescued her daughter from the afterlife, she had made contact once again with Beetlejuice by summoning him back to the living world to talk.
What started off as a talk for Lydia to get some answers and much-needed closure ended up with him apologising and asking her for a proper date, much to her surprise. No contracts, no talk of marriage, no deals, no pressure of risk, just him asking her out on a genuine old-fashioned date. For some crazy reason she could not understand, Lydia reluctantly agreed to it. That date turned into a second date, then a third, then a fourth, a fifth until Lydia realised she’d stopped counting and they were still going strong two months later and that she actually enjoyed spending time with him. The goofball actually made her laugh.
End of flashback
“What Beej? He doesn’t do that! I’ve never seen him do that” Lydia scoffed as she pretended to focus back on her phone as Astrid continued on.
“He totally does you’ve just never noticed, every time he comes over here he’s got that stupid puppy dog look whenever you walk in the room, it’s actually kinda nauseous” Both Astrid and Lydia burst out laughing at that last bit.
“He does not do that!” Lydia shook her head smiling as she tried to defend him.
“All I’m saying is, next time the two of you meet up, watch how he behaves before he sees you and then watch what he does when he does see you”. Astrid held her hands up in defence.
“Fine, but I’m telling you he’s more of a crazed Chihuahua than a golden retriever”. Lydia sighed in exasperation.
Two nights later, Lydia had arranged to meet with Beetlejuice for their date night as usual, however she wanted to test Astrid’s theory out on whether he did have golden retriever energy or not, so arranged to meet him at the Winter River graveyard as it was the only place in town they could meet outside and walk around with him in his natural ghostly form. They could have gone anywhere and he could have just disguised himself easily enough as a normal living male but Lydia really wanted to see his true face and reaction when he saw her. Plus she just loved how beautiful and peaceful the graveyard was to walk around so that was a bonus.
Lydia told Beetlejuice to meet her at the entrance gates for eight o’clock, her plan was to wait further inside so that she could just watch him and see what he did.
Looking to her watch, the time displayed 19:59, he would be here any second. Lydia had walked a short distance into the grounds where she was able to stand sheltered behind a small cluster of trees and bushes, she felt silly playing these games at her age but ever since her and Astrid’s conversation the other day, she really wanted to see Beej’s reaction. Would he do what the other guys in the videos did? Would he even react at all? A part of Lydia hoped he would.
“Well here we go” Lydia whispered to herself as she heard the faint crack of electricity and the shift in the atmosphere that signalled the arrival of the poltergeist.
‘At least he’s always punctual’she thought in amusement.
The man in question had manifested right at the gates as agreed, the small cloud of mist that surrounded him began to clear as she took in his full form now. Lydia had to admit that he was quite intimidating to look at if you didn’t know him the way she knew him, add to the fact he was stood in a graveyard at night with some mist around which only aided in making him look terrifying. His dark eyes were almost sinister, the paleness of his skin reflected the death of his body and the way he carried himself with confidence as if he had no fear of anyone, which was true because he was the scariest person here!
Beetlejuice slowly began to look around as he stood by the entrance, he glanced down at his watch to check in case he was too early, he probably assumed she would be there soon.
She watched as he stood leaning against the wall to the entrance with his hands in his pockets, he had lit a cigarette and appeared to be casually waiting for her.
Lydia felt guilty about making him wait and playing this game on him but she figured after everything they had been through in their shared history, he owed her this much!
After a few minutes she watched him flick the end of the cigarette away as he started to pace slowly. She noticed he had a serious look on his face and maybe even…wait did he look nervous?
Beetlejuice continued to pace but remained close to the gates, he clearly didn’t want to stray too far in case he missed her if she arrived. He kept checking his watch.
Lydia checked the time too, it was now 20:06, she wondered if she should go to him or wait and see if he came further in to look for her.
After another few minutes he stood still just looking out into the distance as if hoping to see her walking up. After obviously seeing no sign of her he dropped his head to stare at the ground.
Lydia was nervous in case he got fed up of waiting and left without finding her. For some reason what had started out as a silly game had become important to her, she really wanted to see his true reaction, how he behaved when he didn’t know she was there, she was hoping he reacted like the guys in the video did, she realised that this was her feelings for him starting to really blossom. She wanted to see his true feelings for her.
At 20:10Lydia decided she would begin slowly walking down towards him, interestingly he appeared to have decided to do the same as she watched him gradually turn and begin walking further inside the dark mist covered grounds.
From her elevated vantage point she could see him walking slowly in between the graves. If anyone else had been here tonight it would have been a frightening sight for them to see the powerful and dangerous poltergeist slowly stalking through the trees and gravestones. There were times when even she would look at him and wonder what the hell she was doing letting him get near her but she couldn’t deny the small thrill that it gave her knowing she was close to him, someone important to him and was the only person on earth that had this bond with the chaotic ghost.
Lydia changed direction and found herself back on the well-worn footpath that would take her directly towards him.
Beetlejuice still hadn’t spotted her yet, he continued to glance around as if searching for her through the mist, like a predator stalking their prey. He appeared lost in thought as he turned his head every so often to look for her. There was something about his fearsome side that Lydia could not deny an attraction to, he was dangerous and yet Lydia felt no fear for him.
Whilst walking, Lydia came to a stop and just waited for him to come closer, they weren’t actually that far from each other now, she could see him more clearly, he would surely spot her soon.
Upon reaching the crossroads where their paths met, Beetlejuice turned in all directions unsure what way to go…then he spotted her…
Lydia now had her answer.
Her heart skipped a beat as she watched his expression change from the scary, mean, serious look he’d had into the most natural and excited smile she’d ever seen and it was all directed at her.
His eyes had lit up immediately upon seeing her and his lips formed a big goofy smile similar to the one he’d had at their ‘almost wedding’. In fact his whole posture seemed to change from slow and deadly to light and bouncy as he quickly changed direction and started to walk towards her.
“LYDS, BABES!” he called out to her, even his voice sounded excitable.
Lydia couldn’t help but smile at him as the big scary ghost changed immediately upon seeing her.
He was definitely a golden retriever.
‘There’s my big goofball’ she thought as she watched him wave and practically bound up to her.
It had only taken him a few seconds until he was stood in front of her.
“Babes I couldn’t find you, I thought we were meeting at the entrance? Fuck it doesn’t matter!” he spoke rapidly before throwing his arms around her waist, lifting her up in a massive hug and spinning in circles with her.
Lydia had her arms wrapped tight around his neck as she held on for dear life as he spun them around, laughing into his neck she could hear him chuckling away in her ear.
“BEEJ! I swear if you drop me!” she gasped as she laughed at his antics. He slowly stopped spinning then stood still with her still wrapped up in his arms.
“C’mon babes I’m not gonna drop you, don’t you trust me?” he asked playfully as he slowly lowered her down, her feet finally touching the ground. She kept her arms around his neck but loosened off so she could pull back to look up into his face.
“Of course I do but you’re the clumsiest ghost I’ve ever met Beej, you tripped over a tree root last time we were here when you could have just walked through it, you know like most ghosts would” She teased him whilst running her fingers over his cheek tenderly.
“Oh yeah, fair enough you got a point there babes” he answered almost bashfully, his arms remained around her waist refusing to let go. “Missed you Lyds” he spoke lowly now as he tightened his arms and pulled her in closer.
“I missed you too Beej” she responded before standing on her tiptoes and pulling his head down. Her lips met his in a soft, slow tender kiss that sent a shiver down her spine. His hands caressed gently but firmly up and down her back while hers moved from his neck to his chest before resting on either side of his face.
After a few minutes of the two new lovers getting reacquainted with one another they both pulled apart slightly, mainly so Lydia could take in some vital oxygen.
“So what do you want to do tonight?” Lydia asked as they slowly pulled out of each other’s arms, Beetlejuice held his hand out for Lydia to take, they interlaced their fingers together and both slowly began walking down the well-worn path together.
“Well we could stay here for a bit, or we could go get food, you hungry? I’m hungry, I’ve never asked but do you like Italian? I make a pretty damn good spaghetti believe it or not, one of these days I’ll make it for ya if ye like? We could always watch a scary movie, I know you love that, I can rustle us up some popcorn too, how’s Astrid doing she good?”
Lydia smiled and shook her head in amusement as her ghostly chatterbox of a partner rattled on whilst they walked.
‘Definitely golden retriever mixed with Chihuahua’
The end