"Have you ever had the banana split at Carmel Cones? They're the best," Lewis asked, pointing out an ice cream shop as we walked up the boardwalk. "The hot fudge sauce is out of this world, and the pineapple chunks they put on top are dipped in chocolate." His eyes were big and sparkling as he looked to me for my answer, and I could't help but laugh.

"Never," I told him.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed, and his sudden outburst was so loud a family eating sundaes outside the shop glanced over at us.

I self-consciously pushed back my bangs, but let out a little laugh. "Shhh! People are staring."

Lewis didn't seem to care. "Are you serious? Why the heck not? Your life must be miserable. Banana splits are the food of the gods."

"First, because I don't eat high fructose corn syrup regardless of how out of this world it is," I explained. "And second, I'm not a ten-year-old." There was also the fact that on a normal day—normal meaning playing tennis or shopping or hanging out with my friends, not spending my free time scooping dog poop with Mr. Southern Charm—I wouldn't be caught dead at the boardwalk; it was on the wrong side of town, if you know what I mean. Not that I would tell Lewis that.

He jerked to a halt, looking even more aghast than when I told him I'd never had the banana split from Carmel Cones. "Are you saying only ten-year-olds can eat ice cream? If so, I don't think this friendship is going to work out."

"We're friends now?" I asked. "I thought we were just coworkers."

"I share Tacoalypse Now with you, the best food truck in the city, and you don't consider us friends?" He put a hand to his heart and said dramatically, "You wound me, Quinn."

Another burst of laughter escaped my lips. "My apologies. I didn't realize sharing tacos resulted in instant friendship."

"They do, so whether you like it or not, we're officially friends. Now come on, there's someplace I want to take you before we have to get back to work," he said, pulling me further down the boardwalk.

"Wait, we're not getting ice cream?" I asked. After all the fuss he made about the banana split I expected Lewis to drag me inside to try some.

"Oh, we will. There's no way I'm letting you live life without the bliss of the perfect banana split, but it will have to wait until next time," he said.

Next time? I bit my lip at the thought.

As we made our way to wherever Lewis was taking me, he pointed out his favorite places like Bobo's Bike Rentals or the candy store with his favorite salt water taffy. The more he showed me, the more I began to realize that Lewis measured his life in bests: The best food truck in town; The best banana split in the world; The bike rental place with the best deals. Which made me wonder how much time he spent here. With his accent, he certainly didn't sound like he grew up in the area.

"You spend a lot of time here," I said. I meant it more as a question, and Lewis quickly caught on.

"Yeah, my dad was born a few blocks from here," he explained. "My parents got divorced when I was three, so I spend the school year with my mother in Tennessee and summers here with him."

"That has to be hard," I told him. I couldn't imagine leaving home every summer, being states away from my social life and friends.

Lewis only shrugged. "It's all I've ever known, so it's not that bad."

I wanted to know more, but before I could ask another question he pointed to a small open-air building at the end of the boardwalk. The sign hanging above the door read Arcade Avalanche, but the flashing lights and dinging sound of video games was enough to give the place away.

"We're here," he said, his grin going crooked with excitement.

I felt my eyebrow arch. Why in the world was Lewis taking me here? What were we, twelve? The smell of greasy pizza, disinfectant, and the faint stench of vomit filled my nose as I remembered the birthday party Liam had at Chuck E. Cheese's when we were that age. After stuffing herself full of pizza, Olivia went on the roller coaster simulator and then proceeded to puke her guts out. It had not left a good impression of arcades in my mind.

But Lewis didn't notice my lack of enthusiasm. That, or he was used to people never sharing the same level of excitement and animation he operated on. Grabbing my wrist, he tugged me into the arcade and started weaving through rows of pinball machines, skee ball games, and claw cranes. Finally we reached an old, beat up machine tucked away at the back of the room. Painted on the side was a huge purple gorilla.

"Ta-da!" he said, holding out his arms to present the game to me.

"What is this?"

"Space Monkey." He looked at me like I was being dumb, as if this was the Holy Grail of video games and I was crazy for not recognizing it. "It's my favorite arcade game. I've held the record here since I was fifteen."

"Wow," I said. And by wow I meant how embarrassing, but Lewis took it as a compliment and pulled me over.

"This is Hairy Geoffrey," he said, pointing to the purple gorilla. Up close, I noticed that he wore an eye patch and had some type of laser gun holstered at his side. "He's the captain of Starship Banana, and he travels through space exploring new planets and fighting pirates."

"You do know that gorillas are apes not monkeys, right?" I said, pointing out the obvious flaw with the name of the game.

"Please don't ruin my childhood with you technicalities," Lewis said.

Before I could respond, a group of kids swarmed around us. There was a tall, gangly boy with midnight hair and glasses, a pudgy redheaded boy with a smattering of freckles, and a girl dressed in pink with pigtails and a lollipop in hand. "Lewis! Lewis!" they exclaimed. "You're back."

"I told you I would, didn't I?" he responded, smiling down at each of them.

"You said you were coming at the start of summer," Glasses accused. "It's nearly August."

"I'm sorry, Henry," he said, ruffling the boy's hair. "I planned on it, but then my mom decided to move, so I had to help her pack up her house. Guess what that means?"

"What?"

"I'm never leaving again."

While the kids cheered at the news, I scratched my cheek in confusion. "Your mom moved from Tennessee to Massachusetts?" I blurted.

Lewis looked up me. "Yup. I'm starting college here in the fall, so she wanted to be closer to me."

When Lewis acknowledged me, the three kids finally noticed I was standing next to him. The girl in pigtails looked at me and then back at him. "You brought a girl here?" she said, her bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

"Don't be upset, Carmen," he said, crouching down next to her. "This is my coworker, Quinn. You're still my favorite girl in the whole world."

Oh, so now we're just coworkers again? I thought, smirking at Lewis. Guess that taco bond isn't as strong as strong as I first thought.

"You promise?" she asked, holding out her finger for him to take.

"Promise," he said, wrapping his pinky around hers. "No one else can blast evil space pirates like you can."

"What about me?" the redheaded boy objected. "I can."

"You too, Chip," Lewis told him. "You're an expert pirate blaster."

Even with his reassurance, Carmen still eyed me up like I might steal Lewis away from her at any moment. Deciding to make peace, I smiled down at her. "You know that my name is Carmen too?"

"Lewis said it's Quinn," she countered.

"That's true," I told her. "But my surname is Carmen."

At this, she giggled. "Why is your last name a first name? That's silly."

"Is Lewis silly then too?" I responded. "His last name is a first name, same as mine."

Carmen thought for a moment before finally nodding her head. "When you put it like that, I suppose you're right. Plus, I've never met another Carmen before."

"She's cool, right?" Lewis said, but then added, "Although, she's never had a banana split from Carmel Cones before."

Chip wrinkled his nose. "She must be an alien. We should blast her."

Lewis let out a deep laugh. "That wouldn't be very nice," he told him.

Before any of the kids could respond, a woman shouted from somewhere in the arcade. "CARMEN! CHIP! Where are you? It's time to go!"

"Aww man," Chip groaned. "We've haven't even played a round of Space Monkey yet."

"Don't worry, little dude," Lewis said. "I'll come back tomorrow and play with you, okay?"

"You better," he said. "I'm sick of playing with Henry all the time. He's not as good as you, and he hogs the good joystick."

Henry crossed his arms and shot Chip an angry look, but said nothing in his own defense. Carmen giggled with her brother, and then the two waved goodbye before disappeared around a Pac-Man machine to the sound of their mother's calling. After they were gone, Lewis and Henry played a round of Space Monkey. I watched from the sideline, not quite sure what was going on. There was lots of shooting (blasting as they called it), collecting bananas, and shouting on the boys part.

"You've improved," Lewis told Henry when they finished. The younger boy blushed and adjusted his glasses at the compliment.

"I've been practicing a little," he admitted.

"A little? More like a lot. If I don't watch out, pretty soon you're going to beat my high score."

"Yeah right," Henry scoffed, but he looked pleased with himself.

"Just you wait and see," Lewis told him. "Anyways, it was fun playing with you, buddy, but Quinn and I need to get back to work. Will I see you here tomorrow?"

Henry grinned and pushed his black bangs out of his eyes. "Where else would I be?"