Being Jamie Baker (14 page)

I turned back around and glared at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. I’d meant to sound fierce, but my statement came out in a whisper.

“If you want people to believe you’re just a normal kid, you really should stop miraculously walking away from accidents. You shouldn’t be so sloppy.”

Okay, he was totally right about that. It was sloppy. And he was spot-on about my powers too. But clearly he had no solid proof. He wouldn’t be here hounding me if he did. So I took the route that every superhero takes. I called him crazy. And why not? To anyone but me, what he was saying
was
crazy.

“You’re insane,” I said with a hard laugh. “You followed me all the way here just to accuse me of what?

Having
superpowers
? Was homicidal ex-girlfriend not enough? Am I the Incredible Hulk now?

“You can deny it all you want. But that doesn’t make the evidence any less true.”

“You call that
evidence
? A mangled sign and one eyewitness who was in shock from nearly being a sumo pancake? That’s pretty thin, even for you. Go ahead and print your stupid theory. It’s not like anyone will believe it anyway, since it will be smushed in between a story about an alien abduction and a baby born with three heads.”

I must have hit a sensitive spot because Carter suddenly looked as angry as me. “I told you it’s not about a story this time!” he yelled, frustrated.

I wasn’t sure what his angle was, but I knew one thing was certain. “Everything is
always
a story with you, Carter!”

I was suddenly reminded of my final months in Illinois. I could have eventually moved on from Derek’s death if it hadn’t been for all the rumors. All the pictures and the stories. This man had single-handedly destroyed me. He turned everyone I loved against me and forced me to leave the home I grew up in.

Angry tears sprang up in my eyes. “YOU RUINED MY LIFE!”

I’d been so preoccupied with Carter’s being here that I had forgotten we were in public until Mike Driscoll, of all people, stepped into the middle of the argument. I furiously batted at my eyes, horrified that Mike would notice the tears in them, but his attention was completely focused on the stranger.

“What’s the problem here?” he demanded, his voice hard.

“No problem that concerns you, Johnny Football,” Carter said, brushing him off. To me he said,

“Can we go somewhere more private?”

Before I could tell Carter where exactly I thought he should go a voice sang out, “Bow chicka wow wow!”

The comment startled me. I looked over my shoulder to see Paul Warren grinning like a moron.

“Creepy old dude’s diggin’ on the Bake-ster!” He nodded at Carter and said, “Take a number, bro.” Unable to find any words, I just watched as Scott Cole called Paul a tool and kicked his knees out from under him.

When Paul dropped to the ground, Paige was suddenly directly in my line of vision. The expression on her face not only made me forget about Paul, it caused my adrenaline to spike.

It took me a moment to recognize my fear. I quickly looked from Paige’s face to Becky’s, next to her, and then to the entire circle of people who surrounded me. Half the school was now watching, and all of them were wondering who Carter was and what he wanted with me. I could see it in their eyes.

Curiosity. Suspicion. Right now they would all believe anything Carter told them.

And there was a lot that he could tell them.

I looked back at Carter, my eyes pleading rather than angry as panic began to set in. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said. Unfortunately my voice faltered, so I added, “Leave now, before I call the cops and explain to them that you’re stalking me from clear across the country.” As I pulled out my cell phone Carter rolled his eyes at me and said, “You can’t afford to act like a teenager right now, Jamielynn. You will be sorry if you don’t hear me out, I promise you that.” Carter’s threat caused another surge through my body, as did the way he reached toward me like he was planning to pull me by force from the parking lot. But this time the surge I felt was not adrenaline, it was electricity, and it was pulsing rather violently through me. “Don’t touch me!” I shrieked, imagining what would happen to him if he did.

The horror in my voice made Carter draw back his hand curiously, and Mike stepped between us.

“All right, dude,” he said, getting in Carter’s face. “Time to leave.” Carter’s face flushed with anger. “Or what? You’re gonna give me a wedgie?” he snapped, taking an aggressive step toward Mike.

Mike met his advance, and the two started arguing back and forth like a couple of sixth-graders.

Immediately all the guys from the football team lined up, ready to pounce on Mike’s command, and Paul Warren started chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

I was going to use the distraction to make a run for it, but a single word brought everything to a halt.

Ryan Miller had spoken my name.

That’s all. Just my name. But that was enough. I whirled around and he was
right there
. His eyes lingered on me for an agonized moment, and then his expression turned murderous. “What,” he asked in a controlled but dangerous voice, “is going on here?”

Even Mike gulped before he spoke up. “This dude was harassing your woman,” he explained.

Then he turned back to Carter and added, “He’s about to get a beat-down if he doesn’t take off. Right now.”

Ryan flashed a glare at Carter but couldn’t keep his eyes from returning to me. “Jamie?” he asked again.

My heart spun out of control as Ryan looked at me for the first time in a week. The overwhelming sense of relief was just one too many emotions for my poor body to handle at the moment. I shut my eyes before tears could spill from them and didn’t open them again until I heard Carter sigh. I’d had enough, so I looked helplessly into Ryan’s eyes. “Get me out of here?” I whispered.

Ryan didn’t even hesitate, but as we started to leave Carter grumbled, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Jamielynn. Because these
accidents
seem to follow you around, and if something happens to your new Derek Witters, here”—he motioned to Ryan—“I’ll be the least of your worries.” My knees buckled under the weight of his statement. Ryan was too stunned by the reference to my dead boyfriend to catch me before I fell, but not too stunned to ball up his fist and throw it so hard at Carter’s face that it knocked Carter on his butt. Carter’s nose started bleeding everywhere—definitely broken.

“Whoa, Ryan! What is going on here?”

Of all the teachers to witness Ryan bloodying the jerk, I was glad it was Mr. Edwards. He’s cool.

He kind of gets me. Or at least doesn’t bug me. He’s also the only teacher that wouldn’t take Ryan directly to the principal’s office. Fighting, even if it is with a sleazy reporter and not another student, gets you suspended at Rocklin High, and I didn’t want Ryan to get suspended. Sure, he was reigning champ of the jerks for ignoring me all week, but he was defending my honor. Plus, it’s Carter. I’ve wanted to pound that man more times than I can count.

Okay, maybe Ryan was forgiven.

“Jamie?”

I shook myself from my thoughts and blushed a deep red because judging from the bemused look on Ryan’s face, I had been staring, probably dreamily, at him while deciding I didn’t hate him anymore.

I scrambled to my feet just about the same time Mr. E. reached Carter. “Is someone going to tell me what’s going on here?”

Mr. E. seemed unnecessarily angry with Carter. He must have seen more of the spectacle than I thought.

“Just a misunderstanding,” Carter told Mr. E. absently, then turned his attention back to me. As he wiped at the blood starting to dry on his face he said, “We’ll talk later, Jamielynn.”

“Not if you know what’s good for you,” I warned.

He became irritated again, and his eyes deliberately flickered to Ryan. “I’m not the one you should be worrying about.”

I don’t know why I got so angry. Okay, I do. Because his subtle warning that I should be concerned about Ryan hit a little too close to home. But even still, I shouldn’t have lost it the way I did.

Energy blitzed from my body like an invisible shock wave, and suddenly the lights throughout the student parking lot flicked on. It was only for a second, and most people didn’t even see it, but I noticed, Ryan noticed, and even Mr. Edwards noticed. He was staring up at the lights completely puzzled.

But more importantly, Carter noticed. His eyes grew really wide for a minute as he was unable to mask his shock, but he recovered quickly and gave me a knowing glance before he walked off. “See you around, Jamielynn.” There was no mistaking the threat in his tone.

Once he was gone and the shock of everything that had just happened wore off, Mr. Edwards was the first to speak. “Everything all right, Jamie?”

He was going to ask something else, but I cut him off. “Don’t worry about it, Mr. E. I’ll take care of him.”

I finally looked up to see half the school now staring at me. I took a deep breath and then met Mike’s gaze. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” he muttered, clearly surprised by my sincerity. “Who was that guy? What was he talking about? Who’s Derek Witters?”

“Look, I appreciate what you did, but it’s really none of your business.”

“Whatever,” Mike grunted, and then immediately headed for the parking lot.

“Are you sure, Jamie?” Mr. Edwards pressed again. “I think maybe we should call the police. That man should not be harassing you.”

“Just forget it—I’m fine. His harassment is second nature to me by now.”

“Who is he?”

“Nobody, all right!” I was beginning to lose my patience. Carter just has that effect on me.

“Okay. If you’re sure.”

My expression was ice cold again. “I’m sure.”

“In that case,” Mr. Edwards said with a sigh, “Mr. Miller, I’m going to pretend I didn’t see you break anyone’s nose.”

With that, Mr. Edwards headed back inside, and the rest of the crowd slowly began to disperse.

Soon enough the only person still there was Ryan. “Are you all right?” he asked when we were finally alone. “Is there anything I can do?”

I went against my better judgment and met Ryan’s gaze, instantly getting lost in it. There
was
one thing he could do. He could pull me into his arms again and magically make me forget everything bad in my life the way he had in his backyard.

Remembering the magic of that moment reminded me of how abruptly it ended and how Ryan hadn’t so much as looked my direction since it happened. Suddenly the magic was gone.

“Ryan, you don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend like you care.” I tried not to snap, but Ryan was still startled by my sudden hostility.

“You were right—your paper’s done now, and you solved your mystery. I told you the truth about me, so there’s no need to keep up the charade.”

“You heard all of that?”

I tapped my ear with my finger. “Like Superman, remember?”

“I’m sorry, Jamie. I didn’t realize you could hear well too.”

“So you’re only sorry because you got caught? Is this a joke to you? Do you have any idea how big a deal all of this is for me? I didn’t just disclose intimate details of my life to you last week. I put my entire family’s lives in your hands by telling you the truth. It’s bad enough that you ignore me so that your reputation won’t be tarnished by association, but to trust you like that and then actually hear you say that it meant
nothing
? That we’re not even
friends
?”

“But I didn’t mean what I said!”

“Which part?”

“Any of it!”

I instantly regretted everything I’d said the second I saw his face. He looked so desperate for me to forgive him, so I relaxed as much as I could.

“I was just trying to get them off my case because I was scared,” he finally explained.

“Scared? Of what? Afraid they were going to get mad if you admitted we were friends?” Ryan blushed guiltily but shook his head. “It’s more than that. After you left my house, whatever you did to me, it was just like when you kissed me. I was bouncing off the walls with all this crazy energy that I just couldn’t explain. My mom started asking me all these questions, and I didn’t know how to answer any of them. She wanted to take me to the doctor, but I freaked out and wouldn’t go. I wasn’t hurt or sick or anything. It actually felt amazing. But I didn’t know how all this stuff works. I was afraid a doctor might find something weird, and I didn’t want it to be able to come back to you.” My anger was temporarily replaced with horror over the idea that I’d hurt him, and I gasped. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m great! I mean, once it wore off I kind of crashed and slept for like eighteen hours, but other than that everything’s fine.”

I don’t think I’ve ever been more relieved in my life than I was to hear that I hadn’t really hurt him. I was honestly convinced I’d killed him when he didn’t show up to school that next day.

“Anyway, Jamie, I realized that you were right. All those times you told me it was better if I didn’t talk to you—I get it now. So as hard as it was for me, I stayed away from you all week because I’m scared of people figuring it out. I see why you don’t put yourself out there. It’s too big a secret. It would be too easy to make a mistake.”

All I’d wanted was for Ryan to understand. Yet having him agree with me somehow vaporized any hope I had of a normal life. Ryan had been the one thing that ever made me think my life might still be worth living, but now that was gone.

Surprise tears filled my eyes. Ryan reached out to wipe them away but once again decided not to touch me. “Your safety’s what’s important,” he whispered. “If that means staying away from you, then that’s what I’ll do. I give up. You really do win this one.” He gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Feel honored. You’re the first girl to ever successfully reject me. I didn’t think that was possible until now.” He stared at me for another long moment with a lot of regret in his eyes, and then sighed.

“See you around, Jamie Baker.”

Letting him walk away from me was the right thing to do. It was the out I’d been looking for, and it was what my dad wanted. It was the safe thing for sure, the smart thing. But in case you haven’t noticed yet, I sometimes lack some serious common sense. That, and Ryan Miller seems to be my Kryptonite. He got only about ten steps.