It doesn’t take long for us to settle into a schedule.

I go pick up Marilyn Monroe and Atticus, since they live on the same street and they’re the closest to me. Micayla picks up Rascal, and Bennett picks up Oscar, and we all meet at Daisy’s before we walk over to Dog Beach.

On the days that I watch Hudson and hang with Marilyn Monroe in the mornings, Micayla and Bennett take care of the other dogs and then we meet them there.

Sometimes we get pancakes at Daisy’s, and the dogs spend time together, drinking water and eating treats. Sometimes we just pick up lemonades to go.

Either way, it’s a routine. And I like routine.

The days speed by, taking care of the dogs—we’re with them every weekday morning and sometimes afternoons too. We also have a few new clients.

Buttercup, the yellow Lab, is here for the next two weeks. She’s part of a family with two parents and two kids, and they’re always taking day trips. They go to explore the lighthouses on all the islands and also take ferry trips to Connecticut and Massachusetts. So when they’re on a day trip, we get Buttercup for the whole day. She’s sweet and playful and is just the friend Marilyn Monroe needed.

When Buttercup’s not with us, we can all tell that Marilyn Monroe misses her. She’ll wander around aimlessly, looking forlorn. We give her extra treats on those days.

We also watch a Shar-Pei named Lucky every now and again. He’s only on Seagate for another week, but his owners like to spend all day sunbathing and reading on the beach. Lucky pretty much keeps to himself, but Bennett’s trying to get him to come out of his shell.

Every time I see Bennett, I get this excited, energetic feeling. It’s so weird. I was always excited to see him, but now it’s different, and I can’t even really explain it or understand it. I keep thinking it’s going to disappear, but it’s almost the end of July and it’s still here. A month from now, we’ll be leaving Seagate, and I have no idea what I’ll do with this feeling when I won’t see Bennett every day.

We’re so busy taking care of the dogs, but we still have time for fun. The Seagate Knowbodies Trivia Competition is tomorrow, and I can’t wait. It’s definitely on my list of top five favorite nights of the summer.

Micayla, Bennett, and I are always a team, and we compete against other teams of three. The teams can be all kids or all adults, and everyone is treated fairly. Some people think it’s weird for kids to compete against adults, but when it comes to Seagate Trivia, sometimes the kids know more.

We’ve won the past two years in a row, and I think we can win this year too.

Mr. Brookfield invites us over for pizza again, and I hope we’ll have time to go over our trivia after dinner. I don’t want to talk about it too much in front of Calvin and Claire, though, because I don’t want to make them feel bad about not being on our team.

We’ve been to Mr. Brookfield’s for pizza once a week for the last three weeks. He always orders too much, puts dessert out first, and pretends he doesn’t want to play his scream recording, when I know he really does.

Calvin and Claire seem to have warmed up to life on Seagate, even though they don’t really do much except lie by the pool and eat ice cream. They haven’t asked to help with the dogs, and we haven’t offered.

The way things are going, business could get really crazy in August, though, and we may need to ask for their help. We’ll see. I’m getting along with Claire a little better now, but I wouldn’t want her to say something mean and ruin the dog-sitting.

We’re all sitting around eating our pizza, listening to the Scream, when I overhear Bennett and Calvin talking.

“Did you tell them yet?” Calvin whispers to Bennett, and then looks up. He sees me looking at them, and I guess he knows I overheard.

I can’t help it. I look at Bennett way more than I used to.

“No, man.” Bennett bites into his slice. “I will. Don’t worry.”

Calvin nudges Bennett, and then they both look up at me, and now they both know I was listening. I look down at my plate and pretend to be really involved in whatever Micayla and Claire are discussing.

“Yeah, my mom says I have to wait until eighth grade to wear makeup to school,” Claire says. “But no one really wears it yet where I live anyway. Just, like, a little lip gloss.”

“Same with me,” Micayla adds.

“What are you guys talking about?” I ask.

“Shh,” Micayla says to Claire, not to me, and I can’t figure out what’s going on. What’s so secret about wearing makeup?

I decide not to ask questions, but it bothers me the whole rest of the night. We end up staying at Mr. Brookfield’s really late, and we don’t have time to practice our trivia.

“Don’t worry. We know everything there is to know about Seagate,” Micayla tells me as we’re walking home. “They don’t change the questions much.”

I shrug. “I guess so.”

“I have to tell you guys something,” Bennett says, following a few steps behind us out of Mr. Brookfield’s house.

I had almost forgotten about Bennett and Calvin’s secret conversation. What with Micayla and Claire’s weird makeup talk, there are too many secrets and strange whispers to keep track of.

“What?” I ask.

“Promise you won’t be mad,” Bennett says. He smiles a little in his goofy, cheerful Bennett way, and I feel like I could never be mad at him, no matter what. But I’d never tell him that.

“What is it?” Micayla asks, impatient.

“I’ll be here for Seagate Knowbodies, but I have to bail on the next few days of dog-sitting,” he tells us. It’s a short sentence, but it feels like a knife in my chest, and I’m not sure why. “Calvin invited me to go on his dad’s boat for a few days, and I feel like I should go.”

“Well, don’t go just because you feel like you should,” I say, and then instantly regret it. I sound angry and I don’t like it.

“No, um, I mean …” Bennett waits a few seconds before talking again. “I want to go. I think it’ll be cool. Just us guys.”

I don’t know what to say to that.

“It’s okay for me to have other friends, you know.” He jabs me a little with his elbow, like he’s joking. But sometimes jokes can be truths in disguise. I think this is one of those times.

“No biggie,” Micayla says, like none of what Bennett said was a big deal or even a little bit surprising. “Rem and I can handle the pooches.”

We get to her house, and she says good night and blows us kisses, the way she always does. Through the window, we see her mom sitting in the big armchair, reading.

Maybe Micayla doesn’t think it’s a big deal that Bennett’s leaving for a few days, but I do. I know I can’t say that, though. I know I need to play it cool and act like it’s fine. I mean, of course it’s fine. Bennett can have other friends.

I just don’t know why it feels so sad. It’s not like he’s going on the boat trip and never coming back.

“We’ll be fine with the dogs,” I say. I realize that we passed by Bennett’s house, and he kept walking with us until he finished talking, and now he’s walking me home, totally out of his way.

“You’ll be more than fine,” Bennett says. “You’re awesome with those dogs, Rem.”

“Thanks. But you are too.” I smile. “Imagine, if you never found Oscar, we might not even have this business.”

He shakes his head. “Imagine if you never started sitting at Amber’s house while Hudson napped. And you were the one who cared about finding Oscar in the first place.” He high-fives me, and I walk down the stone path to my house.

When I get to the door, I can’t resist looking back at him. “Get psyched for trivia,” I say. He’s just standing there, at the end of the path, watching me walk inside. I wonder what that means. I’ve never seen him do that before.

“You know it,” he replies.