Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25

Chapter 12: The First Meeting

About an hour after my mother left for work, Ostin knocked on my door. He was carrying the multimeter and his notebook. He noticed the can of whipped cream on the counter. "Dude, did you have crepes?"

"Yes."

"Any left?"

"In the fridge. You can microwave them."

He heated up the remaining crepes, then piled them high with powdered sugar and whipped cream while I played a video game. "That was a cool party last night," he said.

I nodded, intent on my game. "Yeah, it was."

"Especially when you knocked Corky over."

I didn't say anything.

"Taylor's really a babe. You know she likes you."

"She likes everyone."

"I don't mean it like that. I mean she likes you. I read this book on body language. And I was watching her body."

"Yeah, I bet you were."

"No, for scientific purposes."

"I bet," I said.

When he'd finished eating the last of the crepes, he came over to the table. "Okay, let's see if there's been a change in your electrical status."

I paused the game. After the cell phone incident I was curious to find out myself. "Let's do it."

"Wait, what's that?" he said, pointing to my new watch.

I held up my arm. "It's a watch my mom gave me this morning for my birthday."

"What's it made of?"

"I think silver."

"Hmm," he said. "Silver has high conductivity, even more than copper. That's why they use it in satellites and computer keyboards." Ostin always vomited up everything he knew about a subject.

"So?"

"Well, you should probably take it off. It might throw off our readings."

"All right." I unclasped it and laid it across the kitchen counter. Then I clipped the multimeter's cables to the ends of my fingers.

Ostin looked down at the machine. "Ready? Three, two, one, go!"

I surged.

Electricity sparked from the copper ends. "Whoa!" Ostin cried. He set down the machine and began scribbling in his notebook.

I unhooked the clips. "What was I?"

"Dude, you're not going to believe it."

"What?"

"This thing goes to a thousand volts and it's saying ERROR. You're definitely becoming more electric."

I sat down on one of the kitchen bar stools and put my watch back on. I wondered what that meant: more electric. "Do you think it will stop?"

"I don't know. No wonder Taylor's cell phone didn't work." He set down his notebook. "So is Taylor really coming over for cake and ice cream?"

"She said she was. Then afterward we can have our first official meeting of the Electroclan."

"That's sick," Ostin said. "Real sick."

Ostin and I played video games most of the day except when we took a break and walked to the 7-Eleven for Slurpees.

Around five o'clock Ostin's dad came and got him for dinner. After he left I made myself macaroni and cheese again, then lay on the couch and read from one of the books I'd been assigned in my English class-Lord of the Flies. I read until Ostin came back an hour later. We still had time for a few games of Halo before my mother got home.