BLACK PARK

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Alexandria Anderson

   “Don’t forget your coat.” Andy says for the third time.

   “I won’t, Andrew, don’t worry.” I reply with a light chuckle.

   The boys and I are going to Black Park today and it’s going to be colder than it already is, since today is meant to be the first day of snow. After talking to Andy, I change into a pair of black jeans, a black top, and a leather jacket. I put on some makeup, take my phone and wallet from the study table, and the scarf from the chair before I walk downstairs.

  “Mom,” I say, as I head into the Living room. “are you really sure you don’t want to come?”

   “Hundred percent sure, sweetheart.” she replies with a smile.

   Before I could say anything, my phone buzzes. I look at it and it’s a message from Andy.

fr: Andrew Fowler
      — are you ready to go?

  I text him back, saying that I am and he says that they’ll be here in five minutes. So, I take a seat on the sofa and wait for Andy and his friends to arrive. Just like he had said, I hear the doorbell ring after five minutes.

   “Mom, I’ll go ahead now.” I say, getting up from my seat.

   I take scarf and walk behind the sofa to embrace her from the back.

   “You take care, sweetheart, have fun.” she whispers.

   “I will, Mom.” I say with a smile and walk towards the front door. “I love you, see you later.”

   I unlock the door and step out on the doorstep where the lads are. Andy’s wearing a black top with a gray hoodie over it, and a checkered scarf whilst Mikey’s wearing a black jacket with a scarf tucked into the front of it. Brooklyn’s just wearing a red varsity jacket buttoned all the way up, and Rye’s wearing a white coat with fur on its hood.

   “Hi,” I sheepishly smile. “sorry, it took me a while.”

   “It’s alright, we aren’t in a hurry anyway.” Andy assures me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

   “Where’s Cam?” I ask, as we start to walk down the sidewalk.

   “He couldn’t come with us today, he said that he’s going somewhere.” Mikey replies.

   “Aw, wish he could’ve come with us today.” I say, putting on my scarf.

   We arrive at Black Park in just half an hour, there aren’t much people than I thought which is actually a good thing. As the boys vlog, I just walk around the park as I admire the place. It isn’t five in the afternoon yet, but the sun’s about to go down already. The leaves of the trees have fallen off, scattering the place below them. It must look really beautiful, especially during summer. I snap out of my thoughts when someone taps me on the shoulder, I turn around and Brooklyn smiles sheepishly.

   “Brooklyn, hi.” I smile at him.

   “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asks, looking around as we walk down the path.

   “Nothing, I just want to look around.” I reply as I glance at him.

   He nods, “Is it your first time?”

   “Yeah.” I say, smiling a little.

   “Me too, I am actually excited to go around the park.” he replies.

   “So do I.” I chirp, a smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

   Before any of us could say anything, Andy calls us over and the two of us join the lads. As we walk down the pathwalk, we saw a small Santa’s Grotto and we stop by there for a couple minutes, before we continue our exploration.

   “Aren’t we suppose to go to the lake?” Mikey asks, anxiously looking around the place.

   “Yeah, I don’t think we’re in the right place.” Andy adds.

   “I think we’re in North Pole.” Brook chuckles.

   We stay there for a couple more minutes, before we all go back to where we turn and see that the lake was on the left side. As we walk down the pathwalk which leads to the lake, I stop for a minute to take a picture of the place around us.

   “Squirrel!” Brooklyn suddenly shouts.

   I stop what I was doing and walk towards the boys, just in time to see Rye coming back from the airy woods.

   “No, I was gonna go up and say hello,” Andy says. “these people infuriates me!”

   We laugh at Andy’s remark and continue to walk down the pathwalk. After a few minutes of walking, we finally see the lake in the distance and the boys start to run; leaving me behind. I just smile to myself and shake my head, as I follow them.

• • •

   Andy stops singing already, but Mikey is still going; singing very loud whilst Rye and Brooklyn just watch him.

   “Let it go, let it go!” he shouts. “turn away and slam the door!”

   I laugh, but I stop when I see Rye walking away. I wonder what’s wrong with him, I turn to Andy and look at him questioningly. He just smiles and shrugs, walking towards me and putting his arm around my shoulder.

   “He’s okay, don’t worry about him.” Andy assures me, winking.

   The four of us walk down the path that Rye took and Rye stands a couple feet from the edge of the lake, looking across the distance. Rye says that he and Mikey will cross the lake one day when it isn’t cold anymore and it’s probably the longest thing that I heard from Rye ever since we met a few months ago. After a couple minutes, we head to the local cafe to eat.

   “What’s yours?” Andy asks.

   “I’ll just have whatever it is that you are going to order.” I reply, I am not really familiar with the menu.

   He chuckles and nods, “Okay.” he says and orders our food.

   I help Andy carry our foods to our table and hand their orders to the boys, before we sit down and eat our food. Afterwards, we head out of the cafe and start to walk again until we come across an obstacle course. Brooklyn and Rye go first, but Brooklyn didn’t last that long. Just as Rye’s about to finish the obstacle course, Rye accidentally stains his coat as he goes down the monkey bars.

   “You got massive dirt mark on your coat.” Andy laughs.

   Rye looks at it, before he stomps away from the boys like a little kid; making them laugh. The boys, who are still laughing, follow him to the play area.

  “He’s got a dirt mark on his coat!” the boys sing in sync.

  I just smile, as I watch the boys. Afterwards, it’s Andy and Mikey’s turn. Brook vlogs them, as the two boys start the obstacle course.

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