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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXavs38pRm
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPahJftZ0o
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyU42ScwNor
Not in organizing.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84RH8PKNt1
Not in performing.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMw7LZFmilD
Just… present.
They needed money.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKMKVedgxn
I gave it.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9egyTD5Gn
They needed support.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVZY9wtxCN
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRA4X07gtT
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYsTMy9tdI
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnaoQ2bgh7
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1PdenqCD8
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQCENwjX8i
Like a habit. Like a whisper.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOifvrAUKQW
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtPN7S0rtn
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6Hly017Ry
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalaX2Vel9z
Nothing grand.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQK6v1tfMYy
But it was enough.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfWqr7ZxK2
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKKTmTCykw
A sudden storm of words.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnJazTpmdd
She was furious, broken —45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOKOjvsmPf
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunApuai8qg
The quiet ache behind her decision.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUqtdqZCGy
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1TwGyQP90
She hesitated.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwKGFqqHLE
Asked around.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64ZPTGU1pB
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0b7X7kVhfB
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwK3uOuyHS
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3UP45ssZD
We met Bettie and the others.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePUBMqwN2x
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85wnbK1fpw
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjeI8Yljw4
Laughter over muddy fields,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDzoe9PSPK
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJJksgPhCP
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmfsL9VXP3
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsnNFj4VPV
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiScMeRaIhB
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4QPhpBVdx
ran through rows of green and yellow,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbyFjEM0rC
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZZUT8u6Zl
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1brOWh2mN
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryNhalv82Q
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO4Gl8KWfk
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wQQ1VXgLL
No grand goodbye.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfYwENgvmG
Just that quiet warmth of knowing45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyD93VFMNA
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡociMcgQOSp
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUf66wjDtO
even a single shared day45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3qCHEW4lP
can feel like flying.
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