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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAGko2g9AG
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4n18kxCoWj
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWw0DhYvzmW
Not in organizing.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iHp4n0QAJ
Not in performing.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpXruWX1TI
Just… present.
They needed money.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pTpHCLMss
I gave it.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnpiqx5Wyv
They needed support.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqHOuNSnUj
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVOrBBzYZk
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2pFFTw79H
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4KVCVHtTx
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4Dx67EKBw
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPgAYEN1O2
Like a habit. Like a whisper.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2H5DWvGzv
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt66gyZYGOk
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYl8oFvOFd
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE9ubkj1Cb
Nothing grand.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzhCmyeSnf
But it was enough.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEkBrbvO4q
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFZVvd8ysu
A sudden storm of words.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsobI8f9NV
She was furious, broken —323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSAbp8xx9g
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UIkidZCGX
The quiet ache behind her decision.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPfeDz8WHB
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilA4oKxpX9
She hesitated.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqYxB2Xcsh
Asked around.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡef3ugQZgpg
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaueocNgCYx
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBlsBqVZfK
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdLDMYx7S4
We met Bettie and the others.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKjBOAxg8p
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9N8kcXkGlH
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5UXITmaUK
Laughter over muddy fields,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWWDLU7R1a
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAajXQJLDve
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.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfdXut9BI2
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIV1otjvPn
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xh7MIEQsB
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhrRcxYjaH
ran through rows of green and yellow,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJH7LONgTr
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZpXgfXo7Y
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlT03M0aCKV
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy7MV6DYjm
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pKV1UFDCq
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkvcThIB1b
No grand goodbye.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMf5MsA7bxx
Just that quiet warmth of knowing323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeC8QozJKis
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgscR2qvYc
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchYHyZMMe5
even a single shared day323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUD2gnMgdCT
can feel like flying.
and then Add to home screen.