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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBgaNJ22VG
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMLcqlJj2j
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dQuW4TE0W
Not in organizing.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNL6C0rzQn
Not in performing.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7T1HDjXBz
Just… present.
They needed money.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVKmMMvvYG
I gave it.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL79GPJ88to
They needed support.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJhbpyzHww
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2FgAdHOyS
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIKPmZ0wxz
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgWZvejeAy
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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8V9eShDqn
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEo8EfbzCu
Like a habit. Like a whisper.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAJnrZLfbd
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVSDKSvmgF
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6j5YoLmmD
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM11GkcKBFI
Nothing grand.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJYwwDYeyg
But it was enough.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngiDej5p05
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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipbCB9pHXp
A sudden storm of words.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLtqesByZs
She was furious, broken —305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREnMScCX6w
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUvgzjHQjs
The quiet ache behind her decision.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4X4UDpspb1
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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvqAC6o0Cc
She hesitated.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcb9400Qw0
Asked around.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWDdbiPh0o
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl5ZtQwIZl
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7QZzgI37j
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaIvIIJTGK
We met Bettie and the others.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1J5FfMPVrL
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnPYi7ZcF2
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pjZHay4iH
Laughter over muddy fields,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDO8E5NJshP
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzBOgbXlhb
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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSmzjt1Aua
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFge3fui1C
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbPX4lTB03
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EkRH9oRPK
ran through rows of green and yellow,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfleHE656aZ
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXBBMMA6Eb
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXC9WB2XlK
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUsd79XWOU
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXu4yaQHog
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvxSFf46Hm
No grand goodbye.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijyuPsYvWq
Just that quiet warmth of knowing305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4eMGk69Yq
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RD2c8RDP1
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKhktTqXR0
even a single shared day305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBJLQL4L0D
can feel like flying.
and then Add to home screen.