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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXP2G3I7xc
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GsKZIUepm
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVeYIv3upn
Not in organizing.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHgiliNw72
Not in performing.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡar978YNJTv
Just… present.
They needed money.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5nPqOvfYX
I gave it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yIlYI00e0
They needed support.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwfzN9Gre0
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoU5eLVJA0
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzHvuJLKXL
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmYL0qVW59
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jztK0cXnH
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UPUuULDii
Like a habit. Like a whisper.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkcEAMjcVm
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EL02wBYwS
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrWTSdMISi
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxhZt4NgjU
Nothing grand.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgUcf48ssx
But it was enough.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryXGmbt6zX
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrgMv6M923
A sudden storm of words.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgb75ewv5i
She was furious, broken —44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkCywCu9u0
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlcDnO772R
The quiet ache behind her decision.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshuqUFtzDz
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJ78F3DVVr
She hesitated.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lwHlnnnn3
Asked around.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvj5qqWUDM
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYbLL52pfq
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoz4RBXrJR
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YnYOcqVn1
We met Bettie and the others.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFt0CbNwxk
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQl3HKuOCm
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxfPQQHTYs
Laughter over muddy fields,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNF6BhPx8N
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkKAlKjnge
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gBnDjXMVY
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGErexCMTEu
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYAVxguumI
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5RCo7v1jl
ran through rows of green and yellow,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSUaDSaTjg
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxM3bHt1PeE
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnM3npUL6h
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnx4jXoKxR
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowGsibqNcv
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S49doRhcF
No grand goodbye.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVC4GJsOS5
Just that quiet warmth of knowing44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXedxdNRAt9
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoXauNsB7r
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHKAmdKJLZ
even a single shared day44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvqYWXq7Fy
can feel like flying.
