“So they just dropped you off in the middle of the woods several miles away from town?” the pale Jessica asked skeptically from behind them. Jacob turned to look at her. She had her arms folded over her chest and her brow furrowed over cynical, disbelieving green eyes. Jacob met them, and looked away again, quickly, the smallest of blushes showing through his dark tan. Jessica raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah. They’re old, you know? Not too good with directions.”

“And what happened to your shirt and shoes?” the first Jessica asked, ignoring this little invented family tidbit.

“It got hot?” Jacob said slowly, wondering if this would fly. “I guess I dropped them; I’m not used to temperatures above 65° .”

“Well, then it might take you a while to get used to it here. It hardly ever goes below 65° , except in the dead of winter,” the first Jessica said. “But in summer, it can get up to 100° . Around that time, nobody but me feels like going outside, I guess.”

“I already think it’s too hot,” the other one grumbled.

“It’s only 85° out, you baby,” the first one said.

“Yeah, and 15° too hot.”

“About how long will it take to get back to town?” Jacob interrupted them. He had the feeling they had had this discussion many times already. “And do either of you have a nickname or something, so I can make it clear who I’m referring to?”

“Maybe an hour or so,” the pale one said, sounding very grumpy about it. “And you can call me Jess.”

“Okay. Jessica, and Jess,” Jacob said, pointing to each one. A cell phone rang, and Jess pulled it out of her pocket.

“Hey, mom,” she said, sounding a bit irritated; It seemed to be a norm for her. He didn’t mind. A pause. “I told you I was going out with OJ…I told you already! We’re ‘hiking’…In the woods, where else?…In an hour…Yes, I’ll walk the dog when I get back…Bye.” She hung up and put the phone back in her pocket. The folded her arms again and frowned. “Today of all days?” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.