The Stars Said Hello [1]

C H A P T E R - 2

The next second was a blur.

The car swerved right—missing Sophie by inches—then jumped the curb and sideswiped a streetlight. The heavy steel lantern cracked from its base and plummeted toward Sophie.

No!

It was her only thought as her instincts took over.

Sophie's hand shot into the air, 

As the dust settled she looked up, and gasped.

The bright blue lantern floated above Sophie, somehow held up by her mind. "Put it down," a familiar, accented voice warned, bringing her out of her trance.

She shrieked and dropped her arm without thinking. The streetlight hurtled toward them.

"Watch out!" Meredith shouted, pushing them out of the way a split second before the lantern crashed to the ground. The force of the impact knocked them over, and they tumbled to the sidewalk. Fitz's body broke her fall as she landed across his chest.

Time seemed to stop.

She looked surprised and Meredith couldn't blame Sophie again. "How did you do that?" Flitz whispered.

"I have no idea." Sophie sat up, probably replaying the past few seconds in her mind. Probably nothing made sense to her.

"We need to get out of here," Meredith warned, pointing to the driver, who was staring at them like he'd witnessed a miracle."

"He saw," Sophie gasped.

Fitz pulled her to her feet as he got up. "Come on, let's get out of sight."

Sophie was too overwhelmed to figure out a plan on her own, so she didn't resist when he dragged her down the street while Meredith walked beside them.

"Which way?" Meredith asked when they reached the first intersection.

She didn't want to be alone with them, so she pointed north, toward the San Diego Zoo, where there was sure to be a crowd—even during a firestorm.

They took off running, though no one was following. They reached the zoo's massive parking lot, and Sophie relaxed when she saw people outside, milling around their cars. Nothing would happen with so many witnesses. She slowed her pace to a walk.

"What do you want?" she asked when she caught her breath.

"I'm here to help you, I promise."

His voice sounded sincere. Didn't make it easier to believe him, though.

"Why were you looking for me?" She tugged out a loose eyelash, more than a little afraid of the answer.

He opened his mouth, then hesitated. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you."

"How am I supposed to trust you guys if you won't answer my questions?" Sophie asked

Flitz considered that for a second. "Okay, fine—but we don't know much. My father sent us to find you. We've been looking for a specific girl your age, and we were supposed to observe and report back to him, like always. We weren't supposed to talk to you." Flitz said. Meredith grinned and said, "It was a totally new experience for him. He's new to all these rule-breaking." Flitz looked at her and glared and turned back to Sophie. Sophie for the sake of not embarrassing him, tried to stifle her laughter.

He then frowned, like he was disappointed with himself. "I just couldn't figure you out. You don't make sense."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're . . . different from what I expected. Your eyes really threw me off."

"What's wrong with my eyes?" She touched her eyelids, suddenly self-conscious.

Meredith said, "Nothing is wrong with your eyes but we all have blue eyes. So when I saw them, I figured we had the wrong girl again. But we didn't." They looked at her with something like awe. "You're really one of us."

She stopped and held up her hands. "Whoa. Hang on. What do you mean, 'one of us'?"

They glanced over their shoulder, frowning when they spotted a crowd of fanny-pack-wearing tourists within earshot. They pulled her toward a deserted corner of the parking lot, ducking behind a dark green minivan.

"Okay—there's no easy way to explain this, so I'm just going to say it. We're not human, Sophie."

For a second she was too stunned to speak. Then a hysterical laugh escaped her lips. "Not human," she repeated, shaking her head. "Riiiiiight."

"Where are you going?" he asked as she moved toward the sidewalk.

"You're insane—and I'm insane for trusting you people." She kicked the ground as she stomped away.

"I'm telling the truth," he called. "Just think for a minute, Sophie."

The last thing she wanted to do was listen to another word he said, but the plea in his voice made her stop and face him.

"Can humans do this?"

He closed his eyes, and vanished. He was only gone for a second, but it was enough to leave her reeling. She leaned against a car, feeling everything spin around her.

"But I can't do that," she argued, taking deep breaths to clear her head.

"You have no idea what you can do when you set your mind to it. Think of what you did with that pole a few minutes ago."

They seemed so sure—and it almost made sense. Meredith looked at the expression on her face. Poor Sophie who had enough surprises to last a lifetime.