It's not too long before Cocoa and I finally reach the park of Lake Straven. The beautiful scenery of Lake Straven has not really changed much over the years I've been living here.

The trees are now larger and are spread far and wide along the walkway. This allowed them to place the benches accordingly to provide shade during any time of day and allow those strolling down the dirt walkway to avoid glares from the sun.

The park itself had playground with its own obstacle course all along it, as well as slides, swings, tire rides, and its own Merry Go Round. From the park entrance, it's located to the top leftern most part.

The lake has not changed much either. The same ducks swam along the surface of the water and the same kids, albeit older, stood there feeding them bread. Cocoa and I also did this from time to time. Also, when the moon shone at the right time during the right cycle, you could almost see a heart shaped reflection in the water. It was quite romantic.

But my favorite part was the leftover, untouched forest to the top right of the entrance. Originally, this was a large forest. But they cut down some of it to create this park, leaving this section here. When I come here alone, I usually wander off in there to get thinking done or just when I feel like being out of the house; it helps me feel closer to nature.

 

"Want to go to the usual spot?"

 

Cocoa knows me far too well, and she should; we've been friends for 3 years now. You could almost call us sisters with how much we've been there for each other; her with my nightmares and making friends and me with her family issues.

 

"Sure."

 

Since it's the middle of the afternoon, no one is really here at this time of day but us. There's the occasional passerby but not much else.

 

As we slowly walk through the forest, we notice that a lot of the animals are moving about tree to tree.

 

"Jittery, aren't they?" Cocoa asks me.

 

"Yeah."

 

We reach the center of the forest with ease, its beauty radiated by the bed of red, blue and violet flowers. The sun shone down just perfectly in center above the trees and allowed anyone to get lost in thought here. Even rabbits would scurry through once in a while. It was like being in a dream.

 

"I love coming out here," I tell Cocoa as we sit down. She doesn't seem to notice I said anything though. I then turn to her and notice a sulken expression on her face. I'd ask her what's wrong, but she seems distracted by something.

Several moments of silence go by and I begin picking flowers when Cocoa finally says something.

 

"Hey Random, what do you think of the test the schools offering?"

 

I nearly jump when she says something, but I turn to her regardless, concerned, and say, "You're worried about that?"

 

"Yeah," she nods. "Letting a computer decide your future seems, odd, doesn't it? It leaves you little room to explore if you get dead set on something and- are you listening?!"

 

She turns around to see me picking more flowers.

 

"Of course I am. Think about it," I spin around to face her. "We've had three years to explore and do what we want. But it's our final year now, and we need to move on or will be stuck behind, you know? No matter what the results, you can still explore and choose; it's not set in stone."

 

When I finish she chuckles a little, mostly because I was imitating our principal at the end.

 

"I guess you’re right. But look at you, you're amazing. The entire town talks about you like you have a grand future."

 

"And in the end I'm still me and make my own choices," I cut in. “You love hot chocolate, right? You’ll open a great cocoa store one day.” I pause and turn toward the clearing. "Anyway, you know I can't focus on that right now." I raise my hands before I finish, indicating the gloves and the nightmares attached beneath them.

 

"Have you come up with a way to figure out why you have them?"

 

"None," I respond, sighing. I look down at my hands. It's not that simple.

 

The wind rustles through the trees as we exchange more conversations back and forth, mostly about the forest. The calming atmosphere has made us both forgot about our worries and has allowed us to clear our heads.

 

"Cocoa," I say turning toward her. "Do you want to stay the night?"

 

"Sure, do you have to ask?" she says smiling.

 

Cocoa has stayed over quite a few times in the past. She and Tipsy are the only two that know I have the frequent nightmares, so I really feel close to them and safe when they're around. Cocoa had suggested a doctor before to help with the dreams, but I want to figure it out on my own. The past experience with them was not something worth remembering.

 

"Shall we head home then?" I ask Cocoa as I stand up to stretch.

 

"Sure."

 

I then proceed to help her up and then we leave Straven Lake.