After they'd made it home from the UVSN meeting, the two girls tried to sooth their frayed nerves by watching reruns of old sitcoms huddled together on the couch. Mary's tolerance for badly written dialogue proved to be higher than expected, but she eventually gave in to her exhaustion and had gone to bed.

When she'd finished putting on her pajamas, Emily gathered up the wet towels from the floor and tossed them lazily into the laundry shoot, still amused by the old-fashioned features of the house. She knew that in a few more weeks the novelty would wear off and she'd be back to leaving them strewn on the floor. With a small sigh she left the bathroom and headed for her bedroom, where she stifled a scream.

Emily: "What in the hell are you doing in my room?"

Jacob jumped, clearly startled.

Jacob: "I'm … it's my cat."
Emily: "No, it's you. You're in my room. Why?"
Jacob: "Mr. Twinkles is under your bed."
Emily: "Why is he under there?"

Jacob: "She."
Emily: "She?"
Jacob: "Mr. Twinkles is a female. And she ran away again because she doesn't like it when Aunt Lois starts throwing things."
Emily: "How did she even get in the house?"

Jacob: "Your back door was open. I followed her in but she ran under your bed before I had a chance to get to her."
Emily: "Against my better judgment I'm going to shut the bedroom door so she doesn't get out of here. And yes, I know I'm being completely foolish by 'ignoring my instincts.' Just be glad your cat didn't run into Mary's room because I have no doubt you'd be a pile of dust by now."
Jacob: "She's more off balance than she's letting on."
Emily: "Who, Mary? She's always been pretty intense."

Emily kneeled down on the floor next to her bed and peered under. Amongst a few stray dust bunnies and a random assortment of pens and paper, she could just make out the reflective glow of a pair of cat eyes. She found herself sighing in relief -- at least she wasn't being lied to.

Emily: "She looks like she's settled in back there pretty well. I could always bring her over to you tomorrow sometime if you think she'd be OK here."
Jacob: "I'm going to stay here for a while in case she comes out."

For half a second Emily was sure he was kidding before she realized he was settling down on the floor. She couldn't help but wonder what sort of mess she'd gotten herself into this time, warily easing herself into a sitting position.

Emily: "OK then. I don't suppose I'd have been falling asleep any time soon anyway."
Jacob: "You still can't sleep?"
Emily: "Nope. You ask a lot of questions."
Jacob: "Sometimes it's the only way to learn things."

Emily: "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what happened after Mary and I made complete fools of ourselves tonight?"
Jacob: "There was some residual commotion for a few minutes, but then things got back to normal."
Emily: "So Mary and I don't have a group of angry vampires after us?"
Jacob: "Not that I'm aware of."

Emily: "That's a relief. I'm sorry if you ended up having to talk to that chatterbox of a woman in the end."
Jacob: "Actually she just set me up with a job then told me to go have fun on my date."
Emily: "You have a job again? That's fantastic! I'm really happy for you. When do you start?"
Jacob: "Monday."

She let the silence settle between them, picking idly at the pile of the rug she was sitting on. It occurred to her then just how lonely Jacob must be. He didn't seem to have any family outside of his Aunt Lois, who didn't come across as much of a caretaker. Emily knew how hard it was to care for an ailing family member, but could only imagine how difficult it must have been for him at such a young age.

On top of the obvious lack of family, he also didn't seem to have any friends. In the time she and Mary had lived in their house, she hadn't seen any sign of visitors to the Towans' residence. There were never any other cars parked in front of the house, just the same beat up old pickup truck rusting away in the driveway.

He sat quietly across from her, tracing patterns with his finger on the worn floorboards of her bedroom. His face was expressionless, but by no means lacking in intelligence. Even in the dim light Emily could see his eyes quickly darting back and forth under a fringe of blood red hair.

Emily: "So why the red hair?"
Jacob: "I just like it."
Emily: "That's odd."
Jacob: "Is it?"
Emily: "You seem like the kind of person who always has a specific point to everything they do. I guess I never thought of you as 'just liking' anything."

Emily was surprised to see Jacob smile.

Jacob: "Not everything can be easily explained. I just figured you'd rather I didn't start on some long-winded ramble about different wavelengths of light affecting my brain in different ways."
Emily: "On most nights I wouldn't mind, but tonight I'm happy to accept that you just like something."

Just as Emily was about to suggest for a second time that she bring the cat over the next day, she felt the soft brush of fur against her arm. Before she even had a chance to register the movement, Jacob had silently and instantly crossed the room and swept the cat up. He flashed a crooked smile once more before leaving, murmuring almost inaudibly to the small animal in his arms.

Emily: "'Golly, Emily, it sure was swell of you to let me walk into your house unannounced and hang out in your room until my cat came out from hiding.' 'Hey, think nothing of it, Jacob! Come hang out any time of the night. Oh and you don't have to thank me. It's nothing, really!'"