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.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfyBGzYgbY
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zfRE4egHp
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXTWy1tBfa
Not in organizing.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BSRATFBys
Not in performing.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEcv2uGGe4
Just… present.
They needed money.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEvKUZAKFJ
I gave it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOeO7hLqDW
They needed support.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21WOO5W5ic
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIccCGSkxzq
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡls0x6bQAWR
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJfLISV5Ds
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.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPpmGDpbtK
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyolpoc5NxE
Like a habit. Like a whisper.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUWDgnZnb7
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvQItrqNxF
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRYJzRubMs
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6GHXoBiaB
Nothing grand.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqh2rGusaiJ
But it was enough.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUTYWsz7fH
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.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYl4CgVjSk5
A sudden storm of words.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79siyHifZw
She was furious, broken —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsMPbjCHZn
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZSks6FQeS
The quiet ache behind her decision.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtB9mgtq7L0
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.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVEdrLrGoo
She hesitated.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxtvUTdJli
Asked around.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNiH2A8Fel
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrofcu2Joac
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXddKEiIVUw
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKiYz0lWQ4
We met Bettie and the others.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEPiRatUBX
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLpyCX8wEs
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCiuUb3CNr
Laughter over muddy fields,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVFae39Q2r
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiC5YiYgldK
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.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDH7mukdGG
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVvd6v6rtW
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC23lvybCNo
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tKaBddyld
ran through rows of green and yellow,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOe5KEURAgg
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWPIBa1GQW
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbo2tV4wFn
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKnqTk3PB6
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8kqYhHf2x
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMuntxcssG
No grand goodbye.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1ztEuuOgb
Just that quiet warmth of knowing52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaMEKWGUIC
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTChKHjMBg
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOPEkYZaUV
even a single shared day52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0EIPSrxKT
can feel like flying.
