His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

In the end, Eli won the fight, mostly because Harper wasn't really trying anyway. It was embarrassing to let him keep those pictures, true, but on the other hand, she secretly liked the thought that the two of them got to share the same picture frame again after so many years.

It turned out, however, that Eli's mission didn't stop there, and he ended up working hard at it for the rest of the evening — one by one, they checked every roller coaster in the park off their list, and he had no qualms buying all the photos that resulted from the adventures. Harper expected that by the time they returned home, there would be three dozen emails waiting for them with idiotic snapshots.

"I can't believe you," she exclaimed in a reeling state of residual high as they exited the gate of Tower of Scream. "My expression is exactly the same in all these pictures. Is there really a point in getting all of them?"

"Of course, it's the collector's edition." Eli was practically glowing with satisfaction. "Besides, you don't look exactly the same. There is a clear correlation between how wide your mouth opens and how tall the ride is. Too bad we don't have the pictures from ten years ago, otherwise we could've determined how much remodeling the park has gone through based on that data."

Harper pinched his arm. Eli grinned with a fake ouch.

"The place did change a lot, didn't it?" She mused at the topic, her mind slowly coming back down to the world around them. "There are a ton of new rides now. Even this walkway feels different. Must be new too."

They were strolling aimlessly along the channel as they spoke. The wide promenade was covered in smooth cobblestones and lined by short bushes trimmed into lively animal shapes, no longer the narrow, crowded footpath from what they remembered. Beside them, the ocean splashed and foamed, so close to their feet that Harper had a brief moment of illusion that they were simply drifting on the waves.

Or maybe it was just her head still spinning from all the thrill she hadn't felt in years.

"Things change a lot over ten years," Eli agreed, nodding to their left. "I think that entire area over there is also a recent addition. Looks brand new and trendy."

Harper followed the direction he was pointing at. On the far side of the promenade sat a small plaza, occupied by a row of delicate gingerbread style houses. Each one was painted a different pastel color, and the whole thing looked like a market square that popped out of a cute storybook.

"Oh! Souvenir shops?" She squinted, trying to read the ornately decorated store signs. "Nope … Ah, an ice cream shop!" The excitement that had just started to settle inside her sprang back to full life. "Are you hungry?"

Eli darted her an amused look. "Who needs to be hungry to have some ice cream?"

That was all the convincing she needed. "Yes!! Then let's start off dinner with a huge serving of dessert first!"

She all but pushed him toward the bright pink building with the ice cream cone on its sign.

The shop, as it turned out, was an immense treat to the senses no less than the rides themselves. There must've been fifty flavors lining the counters, all divine looking and insanely tempting. Harper didn't even know where to start. "How do people choose when there are so many options?" she mumbled under her breath.

"I think I know which one you want." A smile played at Eli's lips. "Pineapple and strawberry lemonade?"

"… No way!" Harper hurried over to where he was standing. "That's a real flavor?"

"Mhm. Looks like frozen yogurt. And it should go nicely with a cone too, with some unicorn sprinkles on top."

Harper gave him a half surprised, half impressed look. He had remembered all her childhood favorites. "Should I assume that you'll still be getting dark chocolate?" She took her own chance at a guess.

He chuckled and returned her a glance that said "do you even need to ask".

They had their order within seconds and sat down at the cute blue seats by the window, laden with cushions shaped like fluffy clouds. Harper studied the unicorn sprinkles on her cone, a glittery rainbow of colors that made her food look even more like a five-year-old's choice.

"Funny how it feels to be a kid again," she remarked, feeling a sense of surreality at how she ended up with this. Then she remembered that the whole evening had been just as ridiculous as the ice cream, and she let out a small laugh. "I never imagined I'd still have that part of me to scream my lungs out on a ride, or get a cone with unicorn sprinkles on top … It sounds so silly, but it's so nostalgic too."

Eli smiled over his own ice cream cup. "What's wrong with being silly? Life is too short to take it so seriously all the time."

Harper nodded thoughtfully at the truth in those words. "Right. No more sentimental remarks about growing out of a young heart then. I'm going to devour this frozen yogurt like the starry-eyed girl I am."

She opened her mouth wide, classless like a true kid, and took a big mouthful of her dessert.

The flavor exploded on her tongue. The tangy sweetness of yogurt, the refreshing zest of lemons, the blend of summer fruits. It was heavenly, perhaps even more so because of the thrill of the evening, and she let out a satisfied sigh at the back of her throat.

Casually, she licked her lips, savoring all the mess she had smeared over her mouth — sometimes it did feel nice to let go, and not bother thinking how much of a sight she must be making with cream all over her lips. She spotted a bead of melted goodness starting to drip down along the cone, and she lapped that up too, flicking her tongue out and slowly licking the milky residual clean. Then she closed her eyes and swirled the dollop of cream inside her mouth, enjoying it in a state of sugary ecstasy.

When she opened her eyes again, it was to discover that Eli's gaze had suddenly grown dark, locked onto her with a strange intensity. Though as soon as their eyes met, he abruptly turned away, digging into his own ice cream with suspiciously more force than necessary.

Harper: "… ???"