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.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqdTPd22FR
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZM667RkABx
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFiFu4vS1J
Not in organizing.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFwF0FgiEE
Not in performing.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxg8lMJo3S
Just… present.
They needed money.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7TP5A5z7Z
I gave it.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSlniqYT8j
They needed support.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡli3Y4cFx2p
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsfAXLiloN
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbKqNLDT7H
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmyw9epT1D
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.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKcUMfcdBH
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCmTncQSwz
Like a habit. Like a whisper.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RxV638zU8
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2AGkV9q1d
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSeQKDk0Ir
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjDG3k29cE
Nothing grand.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphkLFzNgqh
But it was enough.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfW4ETVmCOA
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.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz3AKuzpye
A sudden storm of words.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnVQJzARtl
She was furious, broken —143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhXhDJP63W
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVa6dYPiWT
The quiet ache behind her decision.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBolTFiwfb
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.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtinxOf5op3
She hesitated.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDBpjqWAGi
Asked around.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfDLEKZLM8
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TjjeL2kNX
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xXIi5wbvM
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3b17Lr2tK3
We met Bettie and the others.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhleDDlrBl
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8ELl93V8Y
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3013XGJ2Xr
Laughter over muddy fields,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeK2CGs3CJ
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIczgv0uKXo
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.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVE4S5MFp0b
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcm7yHtSUfu
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMToYALydaU
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QdBDhiGBP
ran through rows of green and yellow,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVD3w89e1r
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfezNh20Hz8
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3YEqV7WhM
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRdZpQJA7M
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxrqYV4Ei6
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUqluhOgV8
No grand goodbye.143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YQZaClJLS
Just that quiet warmth of knowing143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDVusLY5sC
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiF8SHS83v
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6QZozYkG6
even a single shared day143Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5WMemWSoA
can feel like flying.
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