Time didn’t pause. It never does.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaIEa4uStT
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu66NjNbLA
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kxDAf8oJU
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRjEPAP05g
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm6nS8jiLZ
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7fjwZgd8z
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecbDYyBjJ8
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbGxkeXqJ4
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYGxkTPCxF
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPvJpsqWl6
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevxffLdEW6
A saree.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWZxkokE92
But not just any saree—white.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSm7jODzOJL
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCF9PY3rAov
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokTBWFhmAA
But I didn’t.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCimJHSb2l3
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCKh9AOal0
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAxjjNXnBj
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9N8w9GgZDW
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gormfHqWt
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq98Sl1D7j
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwFdQ3osoc
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUzYiPXjgo
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9NAnYm22e
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSFls4oRCJ
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IT3vWXMRN
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSgEJUqvMC
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1iFf3fGfm
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuGYIw8szz
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBGwpAGB4M
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYCKaRLIDG
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVK3xaS2bgc
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QbuWTwhB4
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCb1j0hoGJ
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQuWjMaKnK
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5I0y6Jxkm
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCqiznIff9
And in that moment, I realized…149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6jtjynsiG
We were starting to drift.
