On the Fourth of July, Mallory forces herself through a long run and stops to photograph unusual orange flowers at the house she and Teddy call the Flower Castle. Adrian catches her on the driveway, but instead of chasing her off, he introduces her to his wealthy parents, Sofia and Ignacio. Caught off guard and embarrassed by her sweaty appearance, Mallory goes along when Adrian falsely says she runs cross-country at Penn State, then improvises another lie by claiming she is an elementary education major.

The conversation makes Mallory acutely aware of the gap between Adrian’s polished, privileged world and her own history. Ignacio warmly jokes about Adrian and treats Mallory’s choice of the trumpet vine as a sign that she is independent and low-maintenance, while Sofia pointedly notes that the flower is also hard to control. After the family leaves for an awards event, Mallory thinks about Adrian’s seemingly perfect upbringing and admits to herself that, in another version of her life, someone like Adrian would be her ideal boyfriend.

Later, on a Monday morning, Mallory again tries to help Teddy socialize by taking him to a local playground full of children his age. Teddy refuses to join the other boys and insists he only wants to play with Mallory, which reinforces how isolated he is and how dependent he has become on her. Back at the house, Teddy goes upstairs for Quiet Time after lunch, and Mallory, tired from late fireworks and frustrated by the morning, accidentally falls asleep on the sofa.

Teddy wakes Mallory later in the afternoon, ready to go swimming, and hands her a new drawing. It shows the same dark forest as before, but now a man is shoveling dirt into a hole while Anya’s body lies at the bottom. When Mallory questions Teddy, Teddy says the man buried Anya so no one would find her because he stole Anya’s little girl. Teddy then casually adds that Anya must have gotten out, giving Mallory a more explicit and troubling account of the violent story behind the drawings.