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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKO9veSBzV1
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Cwv8Y1yan
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcnYlxlwzg
Not in organizing.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQQzRXlUd8
Not in performing.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWWA2Yh4qe
Just… present.
They needed money.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hUIBt1dHd
I gave it.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3sPI0eLle
They needed support.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLlf8jixU5
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrd8MZaOiVK
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0Tfg0S9xG
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SHcBowDSf
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQeMmU02a5
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbyPuCzLcB
Like a habit. Like a whisper.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFQBKEPAKD
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwnOIptFVT
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IW3pWYNJs
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XUTGaMmU4
Nothing grand.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpy1l88dGAL
But it was enough.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLX1vPbFkM
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxydAxKOfdt
A sudden storm of words.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWfnWHbSXg
She was furious, broken —147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hC8JZ4GnZ
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweFJjvgfbi
The quiet ache behind her decision.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotPFXdahWH
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuJiceEXCe
She hesitated.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHezUHkfhH
Asked around.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatygqHOdZv
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1cliWUvhM
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsu1o4ug6ZD
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyhuA96jx1
We met Bettie and the others.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsuCRoWaWO
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkInvq7hDTl
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEz9GUBhvc
Laughter over muddy fields,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJil1rGJjL
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbYbnIxr1q
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFpYXzadi3
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CaG48Ai5Z
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9G9YRe4Tb
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSb22glYBT
ran through rows of green and yellow,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK7et5jrzl
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVsX6IzKtm
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOI31GDu7a
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXF472Vbke1
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoSqY5hWt0
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoh6R2QSPR
No grand goodbye.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKAbAEGW42
Just that quiet warmth of knowing147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUNgHU39vp
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9nIHlC66j
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDJr4i39gp
even a single shared day147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAIRaOvkcn
can feel like flying.
