He Can Handle Himself

Gwen's eyes widened. "Really? Then why haven't you ever mentioned her before?"

"We fell out of touch," Jacob said half-truthfully. "She went to college out of state. I didn't even know she was back in the city until she literally ran into me." 

Mercifully, he was spared from saying more because the Garlands arrived. Perry had a nasty black eye and that was fairly distracting. They all gaped at him but Hunter said what was on everyone's mind first. 

"What happened to you, man?" 

"I fell off the library ladder and took a bunch of books down with me in the process. One of them hit me in the face," Perry said sheepishly.

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "How did that happen?" 

"He broke the shelf on the way down," Noelle sighed. "All of the books on that row landed on his head. It's a miracle he didn't get a concussion or worse. I nearly had a heart attack when I found him passed out on the floor under a pile of them."

"Clearly, I am fine."