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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyV48l9WES
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DMBGeRxSP
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd93BmV5QXx
Not in organizing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoMzqmENJz
Not in performing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAk35yp6KI
Just… present.
They needed money.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkirDyMTQHr
I gave it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30C3N9KF6x
They needed support.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0RsNcoG71
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRq5cetLum
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbrJK5ojLW
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWH35oCcpf
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VtQF618jH
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5h3f9vnzEX
Like a habit. Like a whisper.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfPthRiWQl
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qY7cZEuMD
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxGQpNNQTH
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKGRhUO8pm
Nothing grand.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbZ2kXYcOB
But it was enough.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rT1eyI2nb
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSeP0dWzUj
A sudden storm of words.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJV7nPKkBp
She was furious, broken —78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2P189QG3u
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcEHqLxyyM
The quiet ache behind her decision.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOuwowAHu6
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffmw6TxMe2
She hesitated.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkwm4GZMSb
Asked around.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZE7i7wtGm
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNNRCYnkHs
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd55NxhDUS
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMahuluL59k
We met Bettie and the others.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVB1kSY8BZl
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡka6wFaUxKS
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR69Dww7gM5
Laughter over muddy fields,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEl0LOsBs8
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2o7pber0X
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4IRM8l85l
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpMKUGDiKW
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaV6pSwWy5
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJASTBOlH6
ran through rows of green and yellow,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSfwuFSPp5
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVofkiQN8VE
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4Fs1bUrdS
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSB85YSN7H
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tBSQiBKrt
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWd42MMy6a
No grand goodbye.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdxECi2yt3
Just that quiet warmth of knowing78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwxPx5cqcC
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8LLUJkKI6
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSvYpxQv3R
even a single shared day78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTfef7fw2I
can feel like flying.
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