The group of friends do not think they can finish painting the stars before Terry returns.
In the excerpt from "The Thing about Terry," the group of friends work in a hurry for four hours so that they finish painting the stars in Terry's room before she arrives home. As a matter of fact, they intend to hide in the closet to see Terry's reaction to their work and surprise her.
The bird helps the cow by getting the tick off, and by doing so, it helps the bird as well because the bird gets a snack while doing so. Hope this helps :3
