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.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANt7RaEoVW
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaR7ROP5qUO
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEatcgrGA9v
Not in organizing.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTw2lWDvUjN
Not in performing.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJHyB5tP39
Just… present.
They needed money.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnv5U5gc95A
I gave it.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQSWmN2PSb
They needed support.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsRrRNK1c2
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wbz0bAoKQ
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvUvWWd2xe
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyg0Nqttfi0
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.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNX5BUOeKZ
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmUevzVrmw
Like a habit. Like a whisper.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ujw59luYh
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Nad4dtVEK
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5loQI8Dr4x
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVyghZQSua
Nothing grand.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSM6Ibxh3rj
But it was enough.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLzVF5z4Dh
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.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6D1JLCtv6B
A sudden storm of words.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvGPILFmnd
She was furious, broken —111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdicc0Bkh8X
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NCyM9YXUL
The quiet ache behind her decision.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Tg4t0Ch3Z
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.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRDljIjmK5
She hesitated.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7dDeYHDyH
Asked around.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w0OvTyXoc
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiT4QpGHn9P
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOFv4aKEGs
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGhnv9mSiJ
We met Bettie and the others.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiSMhKa1ik
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsashAooLh
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp2DsF6IFL
Laughter over muddy fields,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBhNNeKe0S
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94W2wR5HQo
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.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfAB6tFAUZ
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeAJlDwdUp
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFSooUJnVK
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvGXDDFPaF
ran through rows of green and yellow,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UWN5A3h6a
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt44Fj3wlFh
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLjlAiAh26
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQt5w6MAVE5
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoQHPOlliH
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDKe9VPyGz
No grand goodbye.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXM60eHQVlz
Just that quiet warmth of knowing111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0EJKIBpyh
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDCABsmoTq
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVTcbX5rz4
even a single shared day111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8l6qewJCHV
can feel like flying.
