The sounds of blasting fireworks and worried crowds slowly began to fade away, leaving Shilo with nothing but the sound of her panting. She stopped, resting her hands on her hips as she lifted her head up, as if trying to bring more air into her exhausted lungs. After a few moments and a few long breaths, she turned to see if she had been followed. Of course she didn’t think anyone saw her. She had taken care not to seem too suspicious.

Too bad she couldn’t outrun Caleb, who was already skidding to a stop at her side, kicking up a bit of dust into her face. She frowned, waving the tiny burst of dirt away from her face.

“Well, that’s not very nice,” she said with a huff, wiping her gloved hands against her pants.

“What you did wasn’t very nice either,” Caleb pointed out, his eyes already back to judging her. “Everyone is already on edge and you just pushed them right off.”

She rolled her eyes, clearly expecting the famous Caleb lecture. Before he could even open his mouth to say anything more, Shilo held her hands up in defense.

“To be fair, I wasn’t trying to blow up that cart! I didn’t even know that seller was in town today.”

“Of course you didn’t know. You didn’t even bother to stop and think, did you?”

“Wow. I did think, thank you very much. I noticed the crowd and was about to call off the spell but…” she shrugged, her eyes gazing off to the side to avoid his harsh gaze. “I thought I could use that to my advantage.”

“You thought wrong,” Caleb said sternly. “You just put all those people in danger.”

“It wasn’t even a big deal, Caleb! Just a few sparks, no big deal! It was just fireworks, nothin’ more.”

“So your plan was to blow up the candy cart instead?” He stood there, waiting for her explanation. At first she didn’t say anything, resorting to playing with the button on her coat.

“Not blow it up,” she finally mumbled out. “Just surprise the shop owner, that’s all… You know how much he charges for that candy? Just because it comes from out of town doesn’t mean he can just charge whatever he wants.” She sighed, looking up at Caleb.

“He’s easily distracted. The bead was supposed to explode a few glimmers of gold specks, nothing more.. Since he’s so greedy I was thinking he’d leave the cart for a bit to see what the fuss was about. Gold equals riches after all…”

“...So you were planning to steal from him?”

Silence.

“...Just a couple sticks of glass,” she muttered out. “He wouldn’t have even noticed.”

After a few moments of silence, Caleb let out a frustrated groan as he scratched the back of his head.

“Geez, what am I gonna do with you… Skipping out on our lesson just to try and steal some candy. You’re such a kid, Shi.”

“Yeah.. I know. Sorry. I guess it was kinda stupid of me.” She knew better. Shilo had always been told what was right and what was wrong. It wasn’t difficult! She knew completely that her little scheme was immature. Obviously it didn’t stop her.

Caleb looked at her for a long time, trying to see if her apology was even genuine. After knowing her for so long it was easy for him to read her expressions. Even the way she spoke was enough to provide clues about how she actually felt about situations.

She seemed genuinely guilty about it this time.

“Well… We should head to your place for the lesson,” Caleb said slowly, walking ahead of Shilo. Following after him, she noticed that he was searching his bag for something. He even stopped walking for a moment to pull it out. Caleb presented two long wooden sticks, holding them out to her.

“You won’t be getting this for a long time.”

The candy presented to her was exactly what she was aiming for. The “glass” was simply melted sweet wax which hardens out into clear sheets. The custom is to break apart the sheets and melt them together, resembling glass. Inside the glass were small bursts of sparks, continuously moving throughout the sweet to show the flavor. The two sticks Caleb held were each different flavors. One had sparks of pink and white, while the other sparked with bright yellow and silver.

“Aw Caleb! You didn’t have to!” A bright smile grew on her face, not expecting him to actually get her the candy.

“Just hurry up and take it. Don’t you dare leave me stuck with the sour one…”

She quickly swiped the yellow and silver stick, immediately popping it into her mouth. The flavor was perfect! First the sweet glass hit her tongue, then shocks of the sharp, sour flavor she adored began to fizzle into her mouth. Letting out a delighted sound, Shilo started walking ahead, pleased with her choice.

“You always remember my favorite flavor, Caleb. Thank you!”

“How could I forget?” He had a small, almost invisible smile on his lips as he started to lick his own glass stick, walking along side Shilo.

“It’s the flavor I hate the most…”