He closes his eyes again, then bites his lip. “Man, if only we could get into the Griffith Observatory. There are some amazing resources there.” He looks up at the sky, where the sun has only just started to rise. “But it won’t be open yet. It’s too early.”

A small flicker of hope kindles inside me. “Em, I overheard Cosette Chung, one of the girls at Saturday School, say she was going to be at the Griffith Observatory all week. Some type of sleepover summer program for budding astronomers. Maybe she’ll let us in.”

Emmett’s eyes brighten. “Now you’re talking. Can you text her and double-check?”

I reach into my damp pocket to DM Cosette on Instagram, only to realize my mistake. “Darn it!” I say, pulling out my phone. It’s dripping like a tap. “I…I guess I forgot to leave my phone behind when I went into the ocean.”

“Sorry,” says Emmett. “I’d offer you a bag of rice to dry it in, but I’m fresh out.”

I press the phone’s power button, already knowing it won’t turn on. “It’s ruined.” I want to collapse on the sand and cry.

“And mine is out of juice,” Emmett reminds me.

“What are we going to do?” I ask, on the verge of panic.

“We’ll just have to turn up and hope this girl lets us in.”

“But how are we going to get there? Without a phone, we can’t get a ride….”

I look over at the small scooter, still lying in the sand where Hattie left him. “I guess we’ll have to take the dragon-on-wheels.”

Emmett makes a face. “But he’s so creepy. We could walk?”

I pull Hattie’s heart vial from under my sweater and dangle it in Emmett’s face. “Do you think we have time to walk right now? It’ll take us half a day just to get there.”

He swallows. “You’re right. But I’m not touching him. You drive, and I’ll hold on to you.”

“Wimp.”

I carefully unfold Boris and turn the handlebars left and right to get a feel for him. He’s kind of slimy to the touch, and I wonder how we’re both going to stay on. “Sorry in advance for being so heavy,” I say to the scooter. “You probably aren’t used to carrying two people, but we need to get to the Griffith Observatory as fast as we can.”

Boris’s tail wags in response, and with that encouragement, I gingerly step aboard. Emmett quickly gets on after me and wraps his arms around my waist like a baby koala. Boris lets out a groan but stays upright. Then he bounces slightly, as if testing the new weight.