Dez lay on the bench in the garden with his legs stretched out on the wood. The sun warmed his skin and the flowers gave off a sweet fragrance. He puckered his lips and blew hot air on the petal he had plucked from a daisy earlier. He was going for the record of longest time a person can keep a petal afloat with just his breath, a record he had made up in his boredom.

He heard grunting and the rolling of wheels on cobblestone, so he caught the petal in his palm and sat up.

"Stupid heavy dirt," Austin grumbled.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead and his forearms were glossy with perspiration. He was trudging through the garden with a wheelbarrow loaded down with fertilizer. He stopped beside the bench and wiped his brow with the back of his garden-gloved hand.

"That looks really heavy," Dez said, standing up and inspecting the wheelbarrow.

"It is. And this isn't even where the fertilizer is supposed to go."

Dez spun around, looking at the garden. "But this is where the flowers are."

Austin nodded and said, "Yeah, so, this is the garden for the house. The real flowers are in the fields, and that's where this has to go."

Dez scratched his elbow and said, "Oh, okay. Well, if you need it, I could help."

"Yeah! Sure. That would be awesome. Here."

Austin dug into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out another pair of garden gloves. He handed them to Dez and then moved over so that Dez could lift the other handle. The guys lifted the wheelbarrow and rolled it down the cobblestone path of the garden, then the rocky path of the ranch, and then finally the dirt path of the flower fields.

"That was awful," Dez panted.

His shirt clung to him from all of the sweat and his face was a faint pink. He hunched over with his hands on his knees. Austin laughed, stretching his tone arms above his head.

"And this is just the first one."

Dez sprang up and shouted, "First one!"

Austin shook his head with a grin. "Nah, I'm just kidding. This is the only load. Now all we have to do is spread it around each row of flowers." Austin's grin faltered for a moment as he added, "That is, you know, if you still want to help me out."

Rows of pink; rows of purple; rows of yellow; rows of white spread across the green field. The combination of the green hills in the distance, the clear blue sky, and the beautiful blossoms made something inside Dez spark with new energy.

"Of course! Where do we start?"

They split the rows and met in the middle. Dez traced his finger around the petal of a flower and sighed. It felt like the smell of the soil would be trapped in his nose forever, but he thought the flowers looked so happy that he didn't mind.

"Hey, man," Austin started. He was squatting next to Dez but he kept his eyes on the plants in front of him. "I'm sorry about the stuff with your sister. I wanted to tell you. But…"

"I know."

Dez watched as Austin's shoulders slumped a little. The redhead pointed to the flower in front of him and made sure Austin's eyes followed.

"Doesn't this flower look happy?"

Austin smiled at the plant and then at Dez, saying, "You think the flower looks happy?"

"Duh! You've got to really, really look at it."

Leaning closer to the yellow flower, Austin squinted and tilted his head to the side. His eyes widened as did his smile. He excitedly patted Dez on the shoulder.

"Dude! It totally does!"

"This makes me happy. We should celebrate," Dez said, standing up.

Austin did the same and nodded. "Let's go visit the piglets again. But first let's eat lunch. I'll make pancakes."

Dez pumps his fist in the air, saying, "Dude, your pancakes are the best!"

"I know," Austin said, tossing his gloves into the wheelbarrow.

Trish stared down at the calendar she had swiped from Ally's arts and crafts room. Because the huge house wasn't used as an inn anymore, Austin and Ally converted a lot of the guest rooms into hobby rooms. Ally's music room was the biggest hobby room, but Trish was banned from it shortly after that first night she found Ally playing the piano.

You misplace one guitar autographed by Bruno Mars and suddenly you're a bad guy? Overreact much, Ally? Trish thought.

With the calendar on her lap, Trish sat on her bed and tapped a red marker against her chin. Big red X marks covered her first week in isolation. Technically, she still had people around her but her world was miles away. In fact, she wasn't sure what part of the country she and Dez were actually in. She sighed and flipped the pages to August. Her finger circled the bold number 15, the day her senior year of high school is supposed to begin.

Two freaking months away! With all this stuff going on, will I even be back on the first day? I have to! It's bad enough my party reputation is going down the tubes since I'm not exactly around to party, but the first day sets the fashion precedent for the rest of the school year.

Trish groaned and fell back against her mattress, her curls spilling across the pillow.

"I'm going to die here," Trish said to the ceiling.

"That's a little dramatic. Did you do a lot of plays at your school?"

Ally came into Trish's view as the brunette leaned over the side of the bed with her hands on her hips.

"Stressing over what you're not doing will only keep you from actually doing anything," Ally said.

"Do people just not knock anymore," Trish said, sitting up and pressing her back against the headboard.

Ally sat at the end of the bed and smiled at Trish.

"Your door is open, which I think might be a first. I think subconsciously, you're ready to join the rest of us," Ally said.

Trish didn't say anything for a moment. She pulled her hair back into a black hair-tie she kept around her wrist and avoided eye-contact with Ally.

"I starred in a few," Trish mumbled.

"What was that?"

Trish rolled her eyes but she was smiling as she said, "Plays. I starred in a few plays at my school. And I only left my door open by accident."

"Uh huh. An accident." Ally said. She picked up the calendar. "You're counting down the days until school is supposed to start for you?"

Trish's jaw dropped slightly but she cleared her throat and shrugged.

"No. I'm not."

Ally said nothing; she just raised her eyebrow and smiled at Trish.

"Fine," Trish said, sighing and dropping her shoulders. "You being right is kind of annoying."

"It'll be one of your favorite things about me," Ally joked.

"Doubt it," Trish laughed.

Ally handed Trish the calendar and said, "You need to find something that will take your mind off things. If you were back home, what would you be doing?"

"Really? This is my busiest time of year. Pool parties, beach trips…"

"And you set up those things?"

"As if I'd trust my friends to handle anything that could affect my reputation."

"Those don't sound like very good friends."

Before Ally could say anything else, Trish covered the caretaker's mouth with her hand.

"Okay, no more moral lessons for today, Ally. If me and you are going to try and get along, we have to set some boundaries," Trish said. "Agreed?"

Ally gave her a long eye roll but nodded in agreement. Trish pulled her hand away.

"I hope you washed your hands."

Trish bit her lip and said, "I may have borrowed that special hand soap from your bathroom." At Ally's look she whined, "It makes my skin feel so soft."

Ally laughed. She touched her own face, saying, "Your hands were soft." She stood from the bed and said, "Wait here."

A moment later she returned with a laptop in her hands.

"This is not for social media accounts. You and Dez have to remain off the grid. But I may have a project for you, to take your mind off things. You just have to play well with others," Ally said. "And by others, I mean Dez."

"Well I am bored," Trish said. She scooted closer to Ally and asked, "What you got?"

Dez walked down the hallway, whistling a tune he heard Ally humming earlier. He had a towel wrapped around his wet hair and his pants stuck to his legs a little because he hadn't completely dried from his shower.

He stepped into his room then pushed the door shut with the back of his damp foot.

It's dark in here. I didn't realize how late it is, Dez thought.

He flicked on a lamp before unwrapping his hair and tossing the towel to his bed.

That's weird, he thought, noticing his bed looked lumpy. His blanket was all deformed like something was beneath it. His eyes widened as the blanket began to gently rise and fall, the way something looked when it was breathing.

Oh no! What if the bad guys found us? And he's waiting for me to get in the bed so he can take me away! If I scream, will he get me before the others can save me?

Dez's entire body was tense. He wiggled his fingers to make sure they still worked then cautiously leaned over to grab his flashlight from his bag on the floor. He tiptoed over to the bed. Pinching the top of the blanket with his fingers, he peeled the cover back as he held the unlit flashlight over his head.

Please be like a stray dog or something so I don't have to clonk you. I've never really hit anyone before. What would Mom think?

At last, the lump was revealed in the lamp light and Dez felt his whole body turn to Jello. He sank to the floor, exhaling loudly, and let the flashlight roll out of his hand. He closed his eyes and listened to his heart drum against his chest.

Trish mumbled something in her sleep and snuggled deeper into the blanket. After blowing out another breath, Dez opened his eyes and stood back over the girl.

"Wake up," Dez said, shaking Trish's shoulder.

She shrugged his hand away but slowly sat up.

"What is it?" she whined, rubbing her eyes with her hand.

Dez gaped at her and gestured to the room, saying, "You're in my assigned guest room, in my assigned guest bed, drooling on my assigned guest pillow."

Trish blinked and looked around the lamp-lit bedroom. Dez's colorful assortment of pants that his dad had packed in his getaway bag were all over the floor. And his beloved camera was plugged into a wall outlet.

"Oh yeah," Trish said. She pressed her back against the headboard and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. "I was waiting for you; you've been gone all day. Sheesh, when did you start having plans? And you never showed up, so I was like, he'll definitely be back before I go to bed, I'll just wait in his room. But Austin has the air condition blasting and it's freezing in here! I tell him to turn it on once and he has to pull something like this. Everyone knows the cold makes you sleepy. He did it on purpose. Why are you wet?"

Dez looked down at the blanket he was leaning over. Droplets of water dripped from his freshly shampooed hair.

"Sorry," he said, pulling his fingers through his hair as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Wait. You were waiting for me?" He grinned.

Trish raised her eyebrow at him and nodded slowly, dragging out the words, "Duh. I just said that."

"So you meant what you said?" He stretched his arms out and held her shoulders. "We're going to get along now?"

"Calm down, Freckles. Ally gave us a project to work on while we have to be here and I just think it'll be good practice for getting along. You know, moving past our Miami stuff for now, and starting our Wherever We Are stuff so I can have a somewhat decent summer. Now, stop touching me."

Dez lifted his hands from her shoulders and kept them in the air.

"When do we start the project?" he asked.

"Tomorrow. If you're anywhere to be found."

Dez rolled his eyes and said, "I didn't know you were looking for me. I was hanging out with Austin. We had the best time. He's amaze."

Trish smirked, saying, "So you took my advice and forgave him?"

"He promised to make sure Didi stays safe. I expect him to keep his promise," Dez said, glancing out the bedroom window. It was already dark out. "It gets so dark here. I can actually see stars from right here on the bed."

Trish turned her head and leaned forward to see out the window.

"I can't see anything," she said, leaning back but keeping her head turned in that direction.

Dez looked at Trish. Her hair was French braided into pigtails and her eyelids were still low with sleep. She pulled her knees to her chest.

"I bought three new swimsuits the day before those people blew up your house," she said, still looking away from him. "Expensive swimsuits. Designer. But now I'm wearing one of Jace's old shirts with a chocolate stain on it."

He reached his hand out to place it on her shoulder, but decided against it and patted the space next to her on the mattress instead.

"I promise you'll have a moderate to okay summer," Dez said. "And you can expect me to keep my promise."

Turning her head back to him and making eye contact, she said, "Let's see how tomorrow goes first."

Dez picked up the flashlight from the floor and said, "Well, for starters, I didn't beat you with this flashlight."

Trish lowered her eyelids more and hummed sleepily. Two seconds later her eyes widened.

"You didn't what?"

"I didn't know it was you!"

Trish flung off the blanket and got out of the bed. Dez quickly stood up.

"I call you Freckles a few times and you try and beat me in my sleep. That's so cold," Trish said, walking to the doorway.

Dez followed behind her sputtering an apology. In the doorframe, Trish stopped and smirked at Dez over her shoulder.

"Just kidding, Dez. Go to bed. We've got stuff to do tomorrow."

Dez watched her turn and walk down the hallway. He let relief wash over him for the second time that night then turned back to his room. He switched off the lamp before climbing into bed. He snuggled his cheek into the pillow and tugged the blanket up to his neck. His eyes were almost shut when a warm sensation enveloped him, the body heat his bed had held onto.

"Trish was just in my bed." He flipped over and sat up. "Trish just called me Dez."