Second year had barely begun when the word “freshers” echoed through the corridors.
A celebration for the new batch — new faces, new stories, a new chapter.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRvsm24zPd
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CjW2o2sRD
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmf1JDP1dKC
Not in organizing.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHo9pgx7TY
Not in performing.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhdog24pmm
Just… present.
They needed money.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpLpSTq4vM
I gave it.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPGhZTaX76
They needed support.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFu2DQpGQVI
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGz4yGvzUm
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfE3B0djQF
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN50PGzFBEG
I stayed in the shadows, a spectator in my own celebration.
Then she handed me her phone.
“Can you shoot my friends’ dance on stage?”
Simple.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAma7ENXvT
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEtkI2cGRE
Like a habit. Like a whisper.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhPblx2oh5
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuCgmylkiC
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQ7U9JFAd9
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjF2GwlMgHH
Nothing grand.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH081k07anr
But it was enough.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyKUXdm4cw
Sometimes enough is everything.
Then came her department's freshers’ event.
But before that — something happened.
She had a falling out with one of her friends, the same one I first met at the college fest.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQkxUW1FNM
A sudden storm of words.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6ydMf3IZT
She was furious, broken —121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1JJbmr4G3
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYk1BQCI63L
The quiet ache behind her decision.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8mjHEzLZZ
And without thinking much, I asked:
“Would you like to do it with us instead?”
By us, I meant Simon, Ramu, and a few from her own department.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHJYpmu3SL
She hesitated.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoP9LKeq5sB
Asked around.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3GGJZrtks
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIymrF8np8Z
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jrZECm3nl
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8lNIE7QGB
We met Bettie and the others.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IP9cNg85t
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAWLo12EeY
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSI4UCK1Oj1
Laughter over muddy fields,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sSfV1UuF5
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxi9RyKKyz
moments I knew I’d want to rewind again someday.
By noon, Simon and I wandered around the area for an auto to help the others.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtuDxYj0nm
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJAexjTqi4
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTj0L2e29Ym
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhU5Z88KbiL
ran through rows of green and yellow,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFGfjxdsAn
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4T1dpRUS7J
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTN7gpYjAt
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2iQRTjlwm
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvK9DdIA3l
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2b3GUUGww
No grand goodbye.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1DvaTyrZP
Just that quiet warmth of knowing121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFe1B4PYsDS
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXAzZXz5y9
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvoPIg1kl3
even a single shared day121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbDLbgS3Pt
can feel like flying.
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