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.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33xC8QMQKF
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKusZFD47Uw
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcU6doL4VL
Not in organizing.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbNHQIOztb
Not in performing.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOjgsbpQ5X
Just… present.
They needed money.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nY40nOqpD
I gave it.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6ijN3e1X8
They needed support.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG18TV77sc3
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOyiFB2Rey
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCBsrUqYTh
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5G7lYYFek6
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.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZkrHhU0aW
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCOARRWS51
Like a habit. Like a whisper.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VklUNz4bV
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUvoNCXgKw
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBB1WC0NVK
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7UL1GyxIq
Nothing grand.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCeNpnVDWh
But it was enough.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEE5auPtQ5
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.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQz9elv5qe
A sudden storm of words.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2v4jfIO7X
She was furious, broken —65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZ7eGauxsk
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91050t1QXP
The quiet ache behind her decision.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBQaCKgOye
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.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDwnEc8WoW
She hesitated.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyokovkywiV
Asked around.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICxYNYvecS
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2ctRXQx76
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIP6pgV95V
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuC6fUdRq1S
We met Bettie and the others.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DHhhLWQZJ
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡml8SgDQ2Cj
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnbNSc5QIv
Laughter over muddy fields,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7GxkoBU4t
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBLtqZD8Qe
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.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfG3zcGDlw
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhp6hCySOd
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmIrdPTtMC
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tB3iZK0XI
ran through rows of green and yellow,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2t1yFpeGQ
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0vDBZMOFA
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0ptKD9qOv
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMgQ22tyoY
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UPNiVQYql
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfM1Rn8ck2S
No grand goodbye.65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXmvgBuXaY
Just that quiet warmth of knowing65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhAGtB1oux
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaZShUatcb
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHHn49qMSs
even a single shared day65Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKNDIWUObW
can feel like flying.
