“Is she always this cheerful?” Jacob whispered sarcastically to Jessica.

“I heard that!”

“Sorry,” Jacob said quickly.

“It’s okay. I know I’m not too pleasant,” Jess said, speeding up to walk alongside him. “I don’t like being outdoors too much. Heat and humidity, two things very readily available in Florida, make me really testy. I’m a little easier to get along with when I’m indoors.”

“A little,” Jessica snickered, and Jess shot her a friendly sort of glare.

“Anyway,” Jess said, “where are you staying if you just got dropped off? You didn’t even know what town you were near, or where it was.” Jacob shrugged and continued walking, not really looking at either of them; He had never really been great shakes at lying. Or talking to girls. Or lying to girls.

“I don’t know yet,” he admitted. That was the truth. He guessed that he would probably transform at night to hunt and sleep in the woods. Jess raised an eyebrow at him again.

“No money, no way of getting food?” Jess asked, sounding unmoved, a little worried, possibly a little condescending. He shrugged again. “Well, you could get a job. And you could probably stay with one of us. And if not, we could at least bring you food until you get enough money to buy your own.” Jacob looked at her curiously.

She wasn’t looking at him, but ahead of her and sort of down, watching her feet. She had that cool air or someone who knew very well that she wasn’t very good at socializing. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail with her long sweep bangs only partially pushed behind her ears, though most of them were still hanging down in her face. Her face was slightly flushed, just from the heat, and she seemed to be pacing herself. She was wearing jeans and a loose blue T-shirt that said, “My soul was removed to make room for all this sarcasm”, and old white sneakers.

On his other side, Jessica was looking forward and roving from side to side happily. She had a spring in her step that said she had traced this path before, and obviously had absolutely no problem with being forward. Her dark skin showed no sign of heat stress or fatigue, and her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and braided to keep it out of the way, with pieces at the front on both sides hanging down in front of her green headband. She was bouncing along happily in a tight white baby-T and green cargo Capri’s with fashionably cute tennis shoes.