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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARiiiDYW97
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8n6Z9rLDK
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NmfUG7ady
Not in organizing.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1lxIS300e
Not in performing.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObghuMObT4
Just… present.
They needed money.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrBRh1bCPX
I gave it.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOuznB7y6t
They needed support.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJpjF9TwNh
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmybzAHUOHJ
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyg6GDQWC6N
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXg9mdg5Nx2
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1tVZOtgpL
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMgF1y3vox
Like a habit. Like a whisper.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKSk8mj3sm
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6zl6qJbsn
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmT6aHDotLw
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2T9TOvHuI
Nothing grand.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFxiF1ELFm
But it was enough.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTiWmKY8c0
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO783qox3A6
A sudden storm of words.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEtZpIrcpR
She was furious, broken —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4VM0S4P82
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyjIMs9IYL
The quiet ache behind her decision.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6wImYB0cW
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUiV9e0crB
She hesitated.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmQttkigfk
Asked around.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTif9tRbDoD
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskA5HjmIyW
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFVJEGSKo7
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb74OijSPs8
We met Bettie and the others.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nAZF9uDZb
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEporBPgU1R
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGVJStPjCW
Laughter over muddy fields,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rMo3U5wFe
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiO3dLMRdVQ
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4k9PBkj3h
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEz71HsLr4
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIPtIuKZGr
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBtV8DmpwD
ran through rows of green and yellow,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGjHu5xpA6
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjs8w6Pgsi
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7M3CEehGo
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTjDHSwWRX
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8KsIgs1hO
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9A5OmOt5if
No grand goodbye.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubLPisTVwu
Just that quiet warmth of knowing73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9xzky4p7d
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYjYsJ69Qv
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyUGd7K0ps
even a single shared day73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pS7FG9eGm
can feel like flying.
and then Add to home screen.