Being Jamie Baker

by Kelly Oram

I felt so stupid, so young and naive, like Carter once told me I was. His comment wounded my pride as well as filled me with fear. I mean, if he could have me that fooled, anyone could. I would never really be safe. My eyes filled with tears, and I was grateful when both my parents scooped me tightly into a Jamie sandwich.

  I think the closeness of my family made Carter a little uncomfortable. Or maybe it was my falling apart in front of him.

  “It’s not too late, Jamie,” he said, clearing his throat to break up our group hug. “The good news is, Visticorp doesn’t know about you. Without them, he’s just one man. And his plan isn’t to expose you.”

  “How do you know what his plan is?” I snapped.

  “Because I know why he left. He was convinced you were special. Obsessive about it. But Visticorp never believed him, so he quit. He was probably trying to get close to you in hopes that he’d eventually be able to convince you to go back with him. He wants to prove Visticorp wrong. He wants to study you. He wants to be the one to figure out what happened. He’s looking for a Nobel Prize. If you were exposed, he could never keep you to himself. No, he doesn’t want your secret getting out at all. But, Jamie, he’s still dangerous. If you don’t give him what he wants, he’ll expose you to Visticorp just to prove he’s not crazy. And if they find out the truth…”

  My mom shuddered.

  “That’s exactly why Jamie needs to come forward,” Carter told her.

  And that’s where he lost me. “Un-be-freaking-lievable! You just never quit, do you!”

  “Jamie, it’s the only way.”

  “No! You’re not taking away my life! You’re not putting my family in danger!”

  “You don’t think they’re in danger now? Jamielynn, he knows everything. He’s obsessed with you. You don’t think that when he realizes you’re not going to cooperate, he’ll use the people you care about as means to persuade you to go with him?”

  I heard a gasp, but I wasn’t sure if it had come from my mother or me. I looked at the picture again. He’d never seemed dangerous until now. “He… He couldn’t.” I glanced frantically at my parents. “I can protect them.” I didn’t sound anywhere near confident enough in my declaration. Probably because I wasn’t.

  We all stood there locked in a staring match until my cell phone rang, startling us all. I glanced at Becky’s number on the display, but now was not the time to answer it. My mom chose the distraction as a way to break the deafening silence.

  “Jamie, sweetheart, maybe Mr. Carter’s right. Maybe it’s time.”

  I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. My heart gave out inside my chest, and I had to sit down before I fell down. I tried to protest, but my words caught in my throat, so I just cried.

  “Don’t worry, Jamie,” Carter said. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. We’ll be smart about it.”

  Carter’s voice was so not what I wanted to hear right then. I don’t know what kind of look I gave him, but it was enough to make my father step in front of him protectively. He put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Mr. Carter has a point. If the whole world knows about you, then the government or anyone else won’t be able to take you away.”

  “And you’re such a sweet girl, Jamie. The world will just fall in love with you,” my mother added. I guess she didn’t know my nickname was the Ice Queen. “They’ll want to help us. Maybe we can finally get some answers.”

  My phone blared again, and I nearly crushed it in my hand. This time the display read “Scott Cole.” As much as I was curious as to why on earth he could possibly be calling me, I threw my phone down on the coffee table and ignored the sounds that rang from it.

  Letting my hurt turn to anger again was the only way to get my sobs under control. “I don’t want to be a worldwide freak!” I shouted through my tears. “People will never leave us alone—the paparazzi, the government! Even if they can’t actually take me away, they’ll camp out front of our house, watching us. They’ll follow us everywhere. Doctors will show up wanting to study me, just like after my accident, only worse. It’ll ruin our lives. And in the meantime, the guy”—I pointed at Carter—“who discovered Electric Girl—or whatever stupid name you invent for me—gets rich and lives happily ever after. Can’t you guys see what he’s doing?”

  I think my parents were starting to listen to me. I could see it in their eyes, hesitation and even fear. I opened my mouth again, but then Carter blurted out, “I’m only trying to help you, Jamie!” At the same time, my phone roared to life a third time and I just snapped.

  “WHAT?” I screamed into the receiver.

  “Uh, Jamie?” It was Mike Driscoll of all people, and he sounded terrified to be calling me.

  It would have been fun to rip his head off, but I was too surprised by his call. “Yeah?”

  “Is Miller with you?”

  “No. The game’s about to start. I’m sure he’s at the school.”

  “He’s not. The game should have started five minutes ago. They’re not going to let us wait any longer. We’re gonna have to put Warren in as QB, and he totally sucks!”

  “Well, where’s Ryan?”

  Mike didn’t sound scared anymore. “You tell me! You’re the one who’s had him on a freaking leash lately.”

  That did it.

  You know, it’s kind of funny—but not ha-ha funny—that even with Carter standing right in front of me, trying to turn my parents to the dark side, the person who made me lose total control of my temper was Mike. I pulled the phone away from my ear and held it in front of my mouth so that I could scream a deafening scream more directly into Mike’s ear. Then I hung up on him and dropped the phone, unaware that I was stirring up an electrical storm until my parents and Carter jumped back for safety and started screaming at me.

  I could see them all just fine through the greenish haze in my eyes, and I knew they were all shouting at me to calm down, but I couldn’t really hear anything except the whirlwind of electricity swirling around me. And then suddenly the significance of Mike’s call dawned on me.

  “Ryan didn’t show up to the game,” I said, not bothering to calm down. I didn’t want to calm down. I had a feeling that Super Jamie was about to come in very handy. “Ryan would never just blow off a game.”

  Carter’s eyes drifted to the picture he’d given me, and I nodded, my thoughts already there.

  “He wouldn’t,” I decided confidently. “Even if Mr. E. does want to study me, he’s not evil. He wouldn’t hurt Ryan.”

  He just wouldn’t.

  But then, Ryan Miller would never leave his team in the hands of Paul Warren either.

  I looked questioningly at Carter, but he didn’t seem to have any ideas. And why should he? It’s not like Ryan was worth anything to him.

  In the silence, my phone rang again. I scooped it up off the floor and when I saw Ryan’s name I was filled with relief. “Ryan! Where—”

  “Ryan can’t talk at the moment, Jamie,” the voice on the other end replied.

  “Mr. E.?”

  My heart sank. I was sure it had only been a paranoid fear that Ryan’s no-show could have anything to do with Mr. Edwards. I didn’t expect that fear to be legit. My stomach turned over and over again as I tried to decide if I was more angry or scared. The two emotions were pretty equal at the moment, but knowing what happens when I am feeling either, it wasn’t looking so good for Mr. E.

  “Yes, Jamie, it’s me,” Mr. E. said, interrupting my thoughts. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

  “Actually,” I said, trying my hardest not to crush the phone in my hand, “I’m the one with the bad news. I know who you are.”

  Mr. E. stayed silent for a minute. He was surprised by my confession. “It’s not what you think, Jamie.”

  “Oh, right. Like I’ve never heard that before.”

  “I promise you, Jamie. I mean you no harm.”

  “Yeah, tell that to Ryan!”

  “I don’t want to hurt Mr. Miller either. He’s just here because I know
you too well. We need to talk, Jamie.”

  “Oh, we’re going to do more than talk.”

  “Relax, Ms. Baker. It’s not going to do anyone any good if you lose control.”

  Well, he was right about that. But I was in control. Sure, I was a little glow-in-the-dark at the moment, but it was by choice. I hadn’t even fried my phone. I had no idea how I was doing it, but for the time being, I was controlling my powers. It was like I was in some kind of super survival mode. Something needed to get done, and I was going to do it. End of story.

  “Where are you?” I asked, only it didn’t really sound like I was asking all that much.

  “The school,” he answered. “But please, Jamie, there’s no need to get upset. I think you’ll like my proposal.”

  Fat chance. “You really shouldn’t have done this.”

  I heard Carter and my parents call out to me as I disappeared in front of their eyes. I knew they were worried about me—well, my parents anyway. Carter was only worried about his paycheck—but honestly, did the Flash ever stop to explain things before he took off running? There’d be plenty of time to explain everything when it was all over, and I was sure this was not going to take very long.

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER 23

  I didn’t hesitate for even a second as I flew to the school and blew through the door to my English classroom. Maybe I should have come up with a plan first because I was not prepared for what I found waiting for me on the other side of that door. I knew Ryan would be there. I even expected to see him tied to a chair or something, which he was, but I never dreamed that he’d be wired to a car battery. It was such a disturbing sight that the moment I saw him I freaked the mother of all freak-outs.

  “Amazing,” Mr. Edwards whispered to himself as the lights in the room burst, raining down in a shower of glass and sparks.

  “Amazing” is definitely not how I saw it. What I saw was every muscle in Ryan’s body tensed and shaking violently from the electricity being pumped into him. The wattage was so high that he couldn’t even scream. It was the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen. “Mr. E., what are you doing to him!” I shrieked.

  “It’s not me, Jamie. If you don’t want him to die I suggest you turn off the power right now.”

  When his words sank in, I was so horrified that my eyes drifted back to Ryan in what felt like slow motion. “I can’t just flip a switch!”

  I took a step toward Ryan, wanting to rip him free from the torture. But as I moved closer, the energy got stronger. I couldn’t free him, so I did the only thing I could think of. I left. And it just about killed me. I left Ryan there, stranded with a psychopath, wired to a car battery, and now, thanks to me, probably half dead. But what else could I do? I was killing him, and unlike Mr. Edwards seemed to think, I couldn’t just turn it off. Not when I was so upset.

  I ran from that room as fast as my legs could take me. I was too distraught to think up a plan, but it didn’t really matter because my phone was ringing just a few short seconds after I took off. I didn’t say anything when I answered it—I couldn’t get words out between my sobs—but Mr. Edwards didn’t wait for a greeting.

  “I’m sorry, Jamie.” Mr. Edwards sighed, and he had the nerve to actually sound remorseful. “I didn’t realize… I was under the impression that you had learned how to control yourself. Honestly, I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

  You know what they say: anger does a body good. Or maybe that was milk, but whatever. It certainly did me some good right then to get really mad, because I quit crying like a baby and found my inner ice queen.

  “Then why take Ryan? Why strap him to a battery? You’re sick!”

  “It was self-defense. I knew that if you couldn’t use your power around him, then you wouldn’t be able to use it on me.”

  I hated to admit it, but, “Actually, Mr. E., that wasn’t a bad idea on your part.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Too bad it was all a wasted effort.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Because I may not be able to stop you right now, but the cops surely can. Don’t think I’m not going to call them.”

  Mr. E. ignored my threats and changed the subject. “I’ve been to Tahoe, Jamie. I’ve seen your little practice sessions with Ryan.”

  I was about to hang up on him and call the police as promised, but something occurred to me then. “It was you I saw that day, videotaping me.” I was talking more to myself than him. “I should have known Carter would never be stupid enough to get caught.”

  “Jamie, the things you can do… You’re incredible! Don’t you want to understand how it’s possible?”

  “No. What I want is for you to let my boyfriend go.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Not until you hear me out.”

  “You,” I growled, “will never get what you want. I would let Carter take me to CNN before I’d let you come anywhere near me!”

  “You don’t understand what I want,” Mr. E. said in a strange voice. I realized a moment later it was desperation. He was pleading with me. “I want to help you master this gift you have. I want to see you happy, Jamie, and safe. We could work together. Just you and me. No hospitals, no doctors, no labs. Kind of like what you and Ryan have been trying to do, except that with the things I know, we could actually get some answers. You wouldn’t have to leave your life, and we don’t have to do any tests that you don’t want to do. I would take care of you.”

  It was right then that I realized Mr. E. had some serious issues. “Carter wasn’t kidding about you being obsessed with me, was he?” I said. “News flash, Mr. E. You’re a psycho!”

  I don’t think Mr. E. appreciated me calling him crazy, because he got mad. Supermad. Supervillain mad.

  “You don’t know what’s best for you,” he said, his voice trembling in the creepiest way possible. “But I’m going to make you see.”

  “Cuckoo!” I sung. “I’m calling the cops now.”

  “If you do, Ryan will be dead before they get here.”

  The guy sounded crazy enough that he might actually be capable of what he was threatening. Something came up my throat then, and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to say anything.

  “You leave me no choice, Jamie,” Mr. Edwards said.

  There was a moment of silence, then a click, and short buzz of static in the reception on my phone. Then Ryan began to scream a pained, muffled scream. “Hello?” I screamed. “Mr. E.? What are you doing?”

  Mr. Edwards was way too calm when he finally spoke up again. “The interesting thing about a car battery, Jamie, is that it’s really not enough power to kill you by electrocution. That’s why people like to use it as a form of torture. You see, what it does is, the electricity makes all of your muscles tighten up so hard that you can’t breathe. Eventually you die of suffocation. It’s a very slow, painful death.”

  “This isn’t funny, Mr. E.! You’ll kill him! Stop! Turn it off!”

  “I want to, Jamie, I do. But you’re a very stubborn girl. This may be the only way to get through to you.”

  “But I can’t control it!”

  “Well, I suggest you learn pretty quick.”

  Why did this keep happening to me? Why did I continue to hurt people? Derek was dead because of me. And now Ryan was dying. Again, because of me.

  I was so frantic that energy raged inside me at an extreme I’d never felt before, and it caused that yellow-green haze to cloud not only my sight, but my mind as well. It was impossible to think rationally. One thought took up all the space in my head: Save Ryan. Do whatever it takes.

  As I took off running again something in the back of my head told me that saving my boyfriend might require taking the life of my favorite teacher, well, ex-favorite teacher, but whatever conscience I used to possess had flown the coop. I knew I wouldn’t be able to control my temper when I saw him, but I didn’t care anymore. Quite frankly, Mr. E. deserved whatever he got.

  I was back at schoo
l within seconds and stopped in the parking lot. I could still hear Ryan, but his scream was already weak. Too weak. I needed to get in there, but I knew that if I went barging in like before, I would most likely kill Ryan instantly. As worked up as I was, I was probably radiating enough energy to make his body explode or something. That was a nightmare I could live without, but I had to do something.

  Slowly, and more focused than I’d ever been in my life, I stretched my hands out in front of me and closed my eyes. Just like that time in Ryan’s bedroom, and in the park with the street lamps, I could feel all of the electricity in the world around me. Ironically, it didn’t feel like the nightmare that it was. It felt more like a nice warm security blanket. Almost as if it were part of me, just an extension of my arms. I could feel it. I could grab it. I could push it away from me, pull it to me.

  It was strongest near the football field, where the lights were now on and the scoreboard was blazing. But this was not the energy I was interested in. I turned one hand away from the field and swept it toward the school. When I found the tiny pocket of energy coming from the direction of Mr. Edwards’s classroom, I sucked it out of there as quickly as I could.

  When I started to pull the energy into me I heard Ryan’s cries of pain stop. He gasped for breath once and then went silent, most likely succumbing to unconsciousness. This actually comforted me more than it horrified me. It meant that my plan was working and the torture had momentarily stopped. But it wasn’t over because I still couldn’t get myself under control, and as long as Ryan was attached to that battery, every ounce of energy I released in his presence would be pumped directly into his body. So as I walked slowly toward my boyfriend, I continued to swallow up every last drop of electricity in the entire school so that there would be nothing left to hurt Ryan.

  By the time I reached the classroom door, the energy I was still pulling in was nearly too much to keep contained. I had to stop. I couldn’t take in one more ounce of electricity or I would burst with an explosion that would wipe all of Rocklin High from existence. This was it, the moment of truth, but I was determined. “You will not let it go,” I ordered myself. “You will not hurt Ryan again!”