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.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOukRePrNg4
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95681OYADt
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaikohf9hli
Not in organizing.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDrdV0rXsF
Not in performing.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5eJOdTh9q
Just… present.
They needed money.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWliZJWKwXd
I gave it.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmlqnh7fg6
They needed support.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIJ5rjrurg
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUQKm1H3F0
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWTRTR1i8x
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnMGAIB4oR
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.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbnzcMjrrq
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TI0l8H9yZ
Like a habit. Like a whisper.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmcpObln6o
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTw2wbg1qiE
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fZHLwen6I
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UPsMXwAZU
Nothing grand.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNDaKLiSy2
But it was enough.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnM6GwOkpXY
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.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Z5belwJqO
A sudden storm of words.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKw8V1EHfO
She was furious, broken —123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxxiLt8Ot9
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdr7mXKBQqi
The quiet ache behind her decision.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9RRLvcJig
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.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSLVVenal3
She hesitated.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2V2cce34k7
Asked around.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7MUBDWweF
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sGnGpEEvN
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeuxCGAlVV
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97Yl1LhlJA
We met Bettie and the others.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGEF1xSRAf
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcgRRifxeG
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1VUwVkXDk
Laughter over muddy fields,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxNCiVDpJD
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XvvcDgYVB
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.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18B5wpZdqU
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNe63cPEQso
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUPz1agnGZ
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkM4ctWndZq
ran through rows of green and yellow,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e3ouIfcib
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90U1POPebI
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTBOkLdOJG
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqmtKQAvUe
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRfmo57T8W
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8sFJIbjgV
No grand goodbye.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2lKpTZNjT
Just that quiet warmth of knowing123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDruekZHxsM
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoONiFKzrJ
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32VrOVZk5k
even a single shared day123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihQzEpEy8M
can feel like flying.
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