Legacies Reborn by Pittacus Lore

phone at first, but when I peek around the sofa it looks like it’s actually coming from this guy’s hands . I can see just a glimpse of his face and blond hair. Something about him looks familiar, but I’m not sure why.
    â€œNine?” he asks. Then his voice lowers a bit, getting kind of an edge to it. “Five?”
    That’s when it dawns on me why I know this guy—he’s the dude who was fighting the big ugly alien on TV. He’s like a legit superhero. The good alien from that cheesy-as-hell YouTube video they kept playing on the news.
    John Smith.
    Maybe he knows what’s going on. Maybe he knows why I can suddenly move stuff by waving my hands around.
    I take a step forward, into the light coming out of hispalms. It feels warm. Which had better not mean it’s got radiation or some weird alien stuff in it that’s going to make me sick one day. My eyes have to readjust again. When they do, I can make out the other figure coming up to John’s side. He’s kind of a scrawny, indie-band-looking sorta dude. Not John, though. He’s tall and buff, even though he looks younger now that he’s in front of me and not on the news.
    He’s probably the most famous person in the world right now. Other than the aliens. It’s kind of weird that he’s standing there looking at me like I’m a surprise.
    â€œYou’re him,” I say, taking a few more small steps forward. “You’re the guy from TV.”
    He turns off his flashlight hands and gets a weird look on his face. I can’t tell if he’s relieved or disappointed to see me.
    â€œI’m John,” he says.
    They ask me some questions about other people being in here with me, but I’m pretty sure they aren’t talking about any of the robbers. Both the guys look at me like I’m about to pull a knife on them or something. Then I show them that I’ve got powers too, by floating the gun from the alien I smashed against the wall over to me.
    That definitely changes their expressions.
    They seem surprised. Not about the powers themselves, but that I have them. I’ve seen John do some crazy stuff on TV, and he and his buddy just took downa whole squad of monsters from space plus their ship. I wonder if they know why I suddenly have telekinesis—their word for what I can do.
    I try to make sense of everything as we talk. I’m a human, but I’ve got the same powers John and his friend have. Benny didn’t have them. None of the other scared people I met tonight have them. But I do. Which means that either I’m just the luckiest—or maybe unluckiest, I don’t really know yet—girl in the city, or there’s a reason I’ve been turned into a superhero. It seems like someone or something chose me specifically. I just can’t figure out why.
    It’s time I got some answers.
    â€œSo, um, can I ask why you picked me?” I raise my eyebrows and look back and forth between them. The scrawny guy’s mouth just hangs open like I’ve asked him to fly me to the moon. John’s eyebrows are scrunched together.
    â€œPicked you?” he asks.
    Yeah, fool, as in why do I have alien powers?
    A bunch of questions fly out of my mouth, but neither of them seems to have any idea why I’m a mutant now. So what gives? If they don’t know, then who would?
    John’s got other things on his mind.
    â€œIt’s not safe here,” he says. He looks so earnest, eyes all big as he nods. “You should come with us.”
    It’s not like I can just follow these guys. I still haveto find Mom. Besides, if they’re out fighting aliens— Mogs , as they call them—that means joining up with them would probably put me on the front lines of this attack. I’m not exactly thrilled by this idea.
    â€œIs it gonna be safe wherever you’re going?” I ask.
    â€œNo. Obviously not.”
    â€œWhat John means is