“I’m into it, too, but not nearly as much as Broadway Girl over there,” Jessica said, jerking her thumb at her friend. “I mean, her myspace name was ‘Pre-Broadway’ for the longest time! And she tried to start a club in middle school called the FBC, ‘Future Broadway Club’. I think she’s obsessed,” she added confidentially, whispering loudly behind her hand. Jess reached around behind Jacob to push her in the shoulder, but she was smiling nonetheless.

“Cool,” Jacob said. “I’ve never really been too great of a singer myself, but I played a few traditional instruments back on the reservation.”

“Reservation?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah. I’m one hundred percent Quileute Indian,” he said proudly. “Born and raised in the La Push Quileute Indian Reservation up by Forks, Washington. I tried out some of the traditional instruments, but I never really stuck to anything. But I like listening to music. I’ve never really heard anything from Broadway, but I’d love to listen to some.”

“Great!” Jess said, walking a little more brightly. Jacob smiled widely at her, and she smiled back, making his heart skip a beat.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, just listening to the sounds of the forest, so much louder to Jacob than the other two, but also more familiar. He had spent so much of the last year in the forest with acute canine ears that it sounded comfortable and familiar, like a lullaby he had been hearing all his life. He found himself glancing over at Jess every few seconds, a small grin tugging relentlessly on his lips.

His moods were still unusually high when town came back into sight. It wasn’t filled with skyscrapers, but Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, was well developed and urban. It had trees and grass spread evenly throughout the city, in medians and spare lots and such, that gave it a more earthy feel rather than business steel. Feeling awkward and lost, Jacob continued to follow the Jessicas through the winding streets until they reached a quiet neighborhood.

They stopped in front of a red brick house with an enormous semi-decorated oak tree spreading over the front yard. There was a scooter and a cat dish in the alcove that led to the front door, and Jacob could see an old broken down car back up around one side of the house for some reason.