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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhwhw82e7Q
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrN1on2N4p
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcshnR28v6
Not in organizing.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1S2yafw9d
Not in performing.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwk8mcp61QI
Just… present.
They needed money.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmVbX0r6QK
I gave it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawR2JyE2mj
They needed support.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBFTvAqYp5
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4rkNfgMmm
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVE4EWjSHC
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXFJz6gQjU
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEbCKqzLYv
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9lzmB7NGa
Like a habit. Like a whisper.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxrzbULaUt
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGENDBDwfQ
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKENwJ6ccL
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkco25FldDN
Nothing grand.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbUxMPVcoM
But it was enough.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YIKJxWbPB
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H2umciuLm
A sudden storm of words.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd45WiKyEe0
She was furious, broken —49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUJJM2XHGi
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ncq897XEb
The quiet ache behind her decision.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTM56J7BnX
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4o5zDNxlfA
She hesitated.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWMJNRPMsl
Asked around.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuXPHihuF1
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gqF5BGRaG
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡei1AUTiVuz
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0v1CMxnFtb
We met Bettie and the others.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6OoI6fMMi
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5rpFSCA6M
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR933pz1ebK
Laughter over muddy fields,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx56DJLSjIs
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSPpFlHoWx
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKYk7iv9HV
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ujuiwSTU8
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceD21ZcSgd
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypcbCDRFbV
ran through rows of green and yellow,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtMmMsmAEC
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjr0AwqEvx
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUYfAA7cPu
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19yGKDPzpG
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0L2LiAi7W
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpMqpxp5Ti
No grand goodbye.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaAKmpYwLS
Just that quiet warmth of knowing49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0wshQ3Au6
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfYVsiFrAu
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnMavrcCNy
even a single shared day49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpcMoyckm1
can feel like flying.
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