Time didn’t pause. It never does.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrDYtgfeSb
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbZMIUTrZO
Some people remembered and sent their wishes—those who genuinely cared, and some who remembered just for the day. I used to try and figure out who meant it and who didn’t. Now? I just let it all pass. I didn’t reply to many. Didn’t check my phone often.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡib4dL39Tqu
Because birthdays, to me, were always the most dangerous kind of mirrors—ones that reflected everything I was, everything I wasn’t, and everything I feared I’d become.
I didn’t go to college that day. Just couldn’t bring myself to.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pAXN6SoDt
Instead, I stayed home—quiet, thinking, breathing. I did speak to Seren that day, though. It was a short conversation. Nice, calm, normal. But it didn’t really lift the strange heaviness I felt.
That was also the day Eren died.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhP4EVQtxf
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIc1IR8p8q
Poetic, right? My own day of birth marked by the death of a fictional character I somehow understood more than most real people.
The world moved forward anyway.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4aRuVwhSE
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vRdkSE1YJ
I never panicked. I never really cared for exams—not in the way others did. For most, it was a battle. For some, a gamble. Some survived with pure memory. Some with borrowed luck.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Xg2zbXCcz
Me? I coasted through with instinct. Gut feeling. Pattern recognition. My brain had a habit of remembering just enough. Not more. Not less.
December moved like a blur. Wake up. Classes. Occasional learning. Rare focus. Occasional sleep. Repeat.
And somewhere in the middle of all this, came the festival celebration.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvz7tTbYLD
Our college was buzzing. Cultural vibes in the air. Colors, music, that strange collective energy people only summon during festivals.
I showed up in traditional dress. Not my comfort zone, but I was oddly okay with it that day.
That morning, I wrote my exam and then ran into Seren. She too was in traditional attire.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFnoQuL7kh
A saree.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRXK1Nwvlg
But not just any saree—white.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi04w8dyw5d
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNamWT0NoB
There was something about her that day… soft-spoken grace and a kind of presence that made me hesitate. I wanted to compliment her. I really did.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8myRhGOR6
But I didn’t.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewk2BzBFqt
Words stayed stuck behind my tongue.
She was walking with me and along with her friend to THub so we could collect our records. I followed a few steps behind.
On our way, we met up with—Helen, her sister.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2juL4CYRCC
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hp5y8nSo4
She stood confidently among her group of friends—people who radiated assurance and seniority. And amidst them, Seren fit in effortlessly.
Helen introduced me with a smile. Her friends offered polite nods.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKhmQMtLai
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIWJC98WYB
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0OQUB5SKr
So, I stayed quiet. Offered a few half-smiles. Watched Seren interact with her sister, and something about that interaction made me realize how little I really knew about her world beyond our small shared corner.
Eventually, Seren and I made our way inside T-Hub to collect the records.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjERgs7N6nn
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVG4N2nVJ9
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpz6awykDJ
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJM8qAOyhWs
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5zqHR3E2u
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxMnmGFhdP
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmQwYuLO2s
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5YiMQtXr5
So, I collected her record, submitted mine, left hers in the right place, and turned to go.
That’s when I ran into Leona.
Leona wasn’t the kind to hesitate.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IJEhVKcUH
She asked me directly, “Wanna hang out for a while?”
And I figured—why not? It was better than sitting on the bus in silence till evening.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkrQBWOWkF
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24XrievP8x
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOez8QPvHw
Then Ren showed up, and the three of us ended up wandering around campus—passing the time, talking about things that didn’t really matter but still filled the silence.
Evening crept in. The sun painted long shadows across the ground.
Eventually, I found myself near the bus bays again. And there she was—Seren.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8p4bbnX8aV
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzRpxZ1gF2
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINde4Se2WC
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNBp3RGB24
And in that moment, I realized…60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0w2ScxkLjz
We were starting to drift.
