Time didn’t pause. It never does.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdemW9sFVYi
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uD2WbOkdN
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17xvvFiVPc
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcUWidKC7o
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eflYKz44D
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZvYQpsihN
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgxhm3t0jq
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefYhBdy48F
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wC7WmxFM9
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqaFs1Ln8N
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9O4h2APcW6
A saree.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgJHyWDxTy
But not just any saree—white.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrO2VPPQTv
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTV5Es20Og
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvniHbO0QIo
But I didn’t.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqOptgxcEG
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gZl8WuRSQ
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUAVASkrs4
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8m0ATyy2sZ
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSQTPlRI9j
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfzI8gYhw4
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYo1z5WYuF0
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXY2y6si8wq
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjfcDDr5uy
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdDtJLYEue
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yWNFQ2fsc
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5t2nL8MEET
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWj6moSpBX
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NyCJkdpLr
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUY75so2kd
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1plaWAXMG2
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIh9eAKFvC
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rK71vSZQT
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.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5onIRv6rT
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0qzgKuff3
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSibQg909S6
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYji0YZrFf
And in that moment, I realized…32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3cVBTGNWz
We were starting to drift.
