by Kelly Oram
I hate to say it, but the kid was right. I almost laughed. If it weren’t for Ryan’s clenched jaw, I would have.
Ryan turned around in his seat to glare at Teddy. “You are either dense or you have a serious death wish.”
Teddy looked at Ryan as if contemplating how much of a threat he was. It was clear he was sure he could take Ryan, despite the size difference. I intervened before he said as much. “Look, can we forget the testosterone for a while and discuss the fact that you stopped a tranquilizer dart with your mind?”
That was enough to sober everyone up. We didn’t get to the real conversation until we’d found a Denny’s and had coffee in front of us. I was the one to finally bring it up.
“So...” I said, waiting for Teddy to fill in the obvious blank.
He sighed. “What you saw is called telekinesis.”
“Telekinesis?” I repeated in awe.
“The ability to move things with your mind.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know what it is, dummy. I just can’t believe that you have it. Why? How? Do you know what caused it? Can you do other things, or just move stuff?”
Teddy chuckled at my questions. I could have spouted a million more.
“Just moving stuff is enough,” he said. “Trust me.”
Ryan scoffed at the “trust me” part. I elbowed him but then leaned into his side and let him put his arm around me. He was always more relaxed when he was touching me. He says it’s got something to do with the energy inside me that always floats to the surface, but I think it’s just Ryan’s personality. He’s affectionate. Always has been. And there’s nobody’s affection that he loves more than mine.
I tried to get my mind to focus. I had so many thoughts and emotions and questions swirling around in there. So Teddy didn’t have a bunch of superpowers like me, but still. Telekinesis? How awesome is that? That one power was every bit as powerful as my electricity, and probably a lot more useful.
“I’m not sure why I have it,” Teddy said without me having to ask. “But I’m pretty sure I was born with it. And before you ask, no, I didn’t inherit it from my parents. They’d been every bit as surprised by my ability as I was.”
Teddy’s face darkened at the mention of his parents. I sensed there was a story there, but I didn’t want to pry. Instead I tried something that Ryan always does to me. I stayed silent, just listening, and waited for him to give me more. It worked. After a minute, Teddy took a breath and continued his tale.
“I don’t remember when it started, but I’ve read my mother’s journal and she talked about strange things happening when I was just a small child. When I was barely two years old, my mother would take something from me and put it on a high shelf. Minutes later it would be in my hands. She talked about things shaking and flying across the room when I got mad. She wrote that at first she believed our house was haunted. My parents were very devout Catholics. They had a priest come out and bless the house and when that didn’t work, we moved—but the hauntings followed us.”
I noticed Teddy’s use of the past tense when he spoke of his parents. I hoped he was simply referring to their religious status, but I doubted it.
“There’s an entry in my mother’s journal about the first time she figured out it was me. She was up on a ladder retrieving something from the attic and she slipped. I caught her before she hit the ground. The way she describes it, she was too heavy for me, too big an object for me to hold because my nose started to bleed, and after I set her down I passed out.”
“Wow.”
I hadn’t meant to interrupt, but I was so overwhelmed by his story. The idea of a toddler with that kind of power, well, that seems even scarier than what happened to me.
Teddy was just as caught up in the memory as I was, but he looked so pained by it. I wanted to make him feel better. “You realize you may have saved her life that day, right?”
Teddy’s face turned frighteningly hard. “Maybe. But I also ended it.”
“What?”
Ryan and I looked at each other and then waited for Teddy to explain.
“After I passed out, my parents took me to several doctors, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I hated the doctors. They were scary, they had cold hands, they poked me with needles, and hooked me up to big machines. One day they told me they were taking me to another specialist and I threw a tantrum. I was three—that’s what three-year-olds do—but most three-year-olds don’t have the power to take control of the car with their mind. I tried to turn the car around and we had a head-on collision with a delivery truck. Both of my parents were killed.”
I gasped, my hand coming to my mouth. I didn’t realize I was crying until Ryan squeezed me tightly and kissed the side of my head. His quiet “You okay?” made Teddy look up.
When Teddy saw my tears, he nearly dropped his coffee mug in his lap. “Please don’t cry! It was so long ago. Really, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay!” I cried, my voice breaking on every other word.
My mind went to Derek for a minute, but it quickly turned to my parents. It could have just as easily been either of them that I accidentally killed, and that would have been a million times worse than losing Derek. Teddy lost both of his parents in an accident that he caused. I couldn’t even imagine what that must feel like.
Without thinking, I reached across the table and grabbed a tight hold on his hand. “I am so sorry,” I whispered, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. “No one should have to live with that kind of guilt.”
I don’t think Teddy was prepared for my emotionally unstable side. He kept sputtering words like “um” and “hey.” Eventually he started rubbing his thumb over my fingers in a gesture meant to be comforting. It had been innocent, but it was still wrong and I quickly pulled away from him.
Teddy sighed and took another sip of his coffee. His eyes dropped to his lap. “I’m surprised you didn’t tell me it’s not my fault.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “There’s no point in telling you that. You already know it was an accident, but pointing that out isn’t going to take away your guilt, is it?”
Teddy raised surprised eyes to meet mine. “Nothing can do that.”
“That’s why I didn’t say it. I know the guilt you’re feeling. I know it too well.”
Teddy questioned me with a look, but didn’t push me for an answer. Especially not when I started crying again and Ryan said, “It’s okay, Jamie. You don’t have to talk about it.”
But to my surprise, I did want to tell Teddy. Yes, he was practically a stranger, but he understood exactly how I felt. I’d never met anyone who understood me that way before. I wanted him to know that I understood him, too, so I bit my lip and then confessed something I’d only ever told Ryan and my parents.
“When I was sixteen, I killed my boyfriend. Yes, it was a freak accident that was beyond my control, but it was still my fault. Derek is still dead because of me, and nothing anyone can do or say will take that guilt from me.”
I felt Ryan’s surprise at my admission, and I thought he might be mad at me for sharing something so personal with a guy he didn’t like, but when I looked up at him I only saw love, sympathy, and total support.
Teddy stared at me for a moment, processing what I’d just told him and soon understanding crept over him. “The accident you mentioned in the hospital?”
I nodded.
“You were driving?”
That’s not what killed Derek, but I’d promised Ryan I wouldn’t explain the truth about myself to Teddy yet so I nodded again, letting him believe his assumptions were true.
“I’m sorry,” Teddy whispered.
I shook my head. “You’re the first person I’ve ever met that understands how I feel.”
A faint smile tugged at Teddy’s lips. “It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”
It really was. “Yeah.”
We smiled at each other, but with Ryan sitting there watching us share this connection the silence instantly beca
me awkward. I tried to dial back my intensity and said, “What happened after your parents died?”
Teddy took a long deep breath. “Italians can be superstitious. Not many people wanted to hang on to a cursed kid when strange things happened around him. I was bounced from family to family for the next two years until some people from the States adopted me.”
“The people who adopted you, do they know what you can do?” Ryan asked.
I hadn’t even thought to ask that. The idea of being different and having to hide it all the time was horrible. I was so grateful that I’d never had to hide from my parents. At home I could always be myself. It was a nice break. If Teddy didn’t have that, then when did he get to be himself?
“Yeah, they know. I’d learned to control it a little by the time they came along, but they’d read my file. They’d suspected something from the very beginning. They worked with me, though. Helped me learn how to control it completely.”
“That’s good.”
Teddy shrugged again and went back to his coffee.
I dropped the subject, even though I had a lot more I wanted to ask. I got the distinct impression that he didn’t like the people who’d adopted him. He’d been with them since he was five, but he didn’t call them his parents and his eyes became a furious storm of emotion when he spoke of them.
Maybe I do take after my dad a little bit with the paranoia—a teeny tiny bit—because my brain automatically began creating a story. Teddy said that these people had suspected the truth before they adopted him, but he’d been in Italy and they were from the States. How did they even know about him? Unless they were looking for odd cases like Teddy’s. It seemed to me that maybe these people adopted him because of the powers he possessed. If that was the case, did they try to use him? Did they ever really love him?
Once again my heart was in my throat, but I couldn’t ask him that question. I was afraid of the answer. I asked a different question instead. “Do other people know about you?”
“Besides the people who adopted me?” Teddy met my eyes, glanced at Ryan and then whispered, “No.”
A long, heavy silence stretched out between the three of us.
I knew how big that news was. I knew what it was like to have to tell someone your secret when you weren’t sure you could trust them. The same thing had happened to me, and I got so scared I almost cooked Ryan’s car—with us inside it.
I was surprised when it was Ryan who quietly said, “We won’t tell anyone.”
“Of course we won’t,” I promised.
Teddy whispered a barely audible “I hope not,” and I felt so sorry for him.
“How are you not freaking out right now?” I asked.
“I’m nervous,” Teddy admitted. “Scared, even. But what other choice did I have? I couldn’t just stand there and let that guy shoot you.”
Ryan and I both flinched, but I’m sure our thoughts were on different memories. Ryan, no doubt, was thinking about Lorenz trying to capture me, but I was back in the hospital with a boy who would never walk again because I hadn’t done what Teddy was brave enough to do.
I had to wipe tears from my eyes again. Ryan squeezed me and Teddy’s faced softened.
“It’s okay, Jamie,” Teddy whispered. “I’m only nervous about your reaction to me. I’m not worried that you’re going to tell people about me. I trust you.”
He wasn’t lying. I could tell. He really did have complete faith in me. Now that was something I couldn’t understand. “How can you? I’m practically a stranger to you.”
A ghost of a smile crossed Teddy’s lips as he sipped his coffee. “Call it a...gut feeling.”
I really, really didn’t like the sound of that. Ryan didn’t either, because his body went stiff beside me. Ryan clearly didn’t trust him yet, and judging from the way Teddy’s eyes kept drifting to Ryan, that distrust was completely mutual.
“A gut feeling?” I asked skeptically. “Not that Ryan and I aren’t trustworthy people, but your life is now in our hands. That kind of trust isn’t earned based on gut feelings. Not by me anyway, and I doubt it is for you, either.”
Teddy lifted one shoulder and let it drop, another barely there smile playing at the corners of his lips. “What do you want me to say? I just know I can trust you.”
That put a smile on my face and I reached across the table to squeeze Teddy’s hand again. “You can trust us. I promise. Thank you for doing what you did tonight.”
Teddy immediately went back to his coffee, trying to hide his blushing cheeks behind his mug. It was adorable.
When it got quiet again, it felt like a good place to end the conversation for the night.
I’d never wanted to tell someone the truth about me so badly before. I was desperate to tell him. He was the first person I’d ever met who was like me. He had abilities no human should have. I wanted to swap stories and talk about so many things that no one else in the world could ever possibly understand. Sure, my parents and Ryan were supportive and sympathetic, but they couldn’t ever really understand what I was going through. Teddy could.
It was better to leave before I spilled the beans. “Well, I’m exhausted. I really wasn’t feeling well at the club tonight. I think I need some rest.”
“Okay, babe,” Ryan said, kissing my temple softly. “Let’s go back to my room. Sean will be out for a while, probably. I’ll make you a cup of Magic Tea and let you fall asleep on me to some sappy girl movie.”
I grinned from ear to ear. “Sounds like heaven,” I said, through a yawn. My body was relaxing just at the prospect of some quiet time with Ryan.
Ryan pushed himself to his feet and laced his fingers through mine. When Teddy didn’t budge, I looked back at him. “You want a ride home? What dorm do you live in, anyway?”
I didn’t understand the look on his face until his eyes drifted to my hand in Ryan’s. He forced himself to meet my gaze and then somehow managed a small smile. “You guys go ahead. I think I’m going to hang out for a bit.”
All I could do was nod. Teddy’s crush on me had been cute until that moment. Now it was just heartbreaking. He joked about liking me, but the longing in his eyes right then wasn’t funny. I felt terrible for him, but there was absolutely nothing I could do. My heart was Ryan’s. Always and forever.
Ryan gave my hand a gentle tug. I could tell he was feeling just as badly for Teddy as I was. With nothing left for any of us to say, I gave Teddy an apologetic smile and left without another word.
“Ugh,” I groaned once Ryan and I were on the way back to Ryan’s dorm. “That sucked. I feel awful.”
“Welcome to my world,” Ryan said with a grimace.
It should have been funny, but it wasn’t. Sadly, Ryan wasn’t being cocky. He was just speaking the truth. So many girls had been in Teddy’s shoes, pining after Ryan without a chance in the world at their feelings ever being reciprocated.
“Maybe I can shift his interest,” I said. “I could introduce him to my parents. If they knew he was like me, they would so take him under their wings. My mom would probably unofficially adopt him into the family. Then maybe he’d be able to see me differently. Like just a friend or a sister or something.”
“But you’d have to tell him about your powers.”
I leveled Ryan with a stern look. “I’m going to have to tell him. And soon. Visticorp is a problem.”
“Yeah, but they’re a problem for you, too. We have to do something about them anyway. If we can stop them from coming after you, then they won’t be able to come after him either, and he never has to know anything was ever wrong.”
“Ryan.” I sighed. “I want to tell him. Don’t you get it? He’s like me.”
“Which is exactly why I don’t trust him. Don’t you think it’s a pretty big coincidence that the only two people in the world with superpowers just happened to meet randomly?”
“I don’t think we can really assume Teddy and I are the only ones anymore. If there are two of us, then there could be others
.”
“Still,” Ryan argued. “Even if there were a hundred people like you or a thousand—which seems impossible—out of the six billion people in the world, you end up going to the same college as another one? I don’t think so.”
“What are you saying, that our meeting wasn’t by chance? That’s impossible—unless he knew about me and came looking for me.”
Ryan made a face, as if to say that was exactly his point. “Funny he should show up right at the same time as the Visticorp guys,” he said.
I’d never thought about it that way. Suddenly, my mind raced with a million possibilities. I didn’t like any of them.
I wanted to tell Teddy everything, but Ryan was right. We couldn’t trust him yet. And since I wasn’t going to share my secret with him anytime soon, I couldn’t ask him any questions that might help me figure out if our meeting really had been chance—if he really didn’t have any clue who I was and what I was capable of. My only option for now was to keep a close eye on him and learn everything I could about him.
“You’re right,” I conceded.
Ryan grinned. “When am I not?”
“You’re also full of yourself.”
His smile grew wider. “I was just stating a fact.”
“Okay, egomaniac—hey, maybe that should be my nickname for you.”
“Pet name, Jamie. It’s supposed to be something romantic.”
“Whatever, Captain Sappypants. We were talking about Teddy. How are we going to find out more about him?”
“Easy.”
I knew what he was going to say before he said it.
I nodded my head, agreeing with him, but I still sighed. “It’s time to visit Carter again.”
I was sitting on the steps of his building with a Coney dog and a Coke when Carter finally decided to be done working for the day. Sneaky man that he was, I didn’t hear him until he was right behind me. “What are you doing here, Jamielynn?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin and managed to spill some of my Coke on my shirt. “Thanks a lot, Carter!” I snapped. “I just bought this shirt.” I’d done a little shopping since I was in New York. The shirt was cute and had cost me a small fortune.