Time didn’t pause. It never does.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5lgHgtI0i
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNK3tIOfnY
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNc7fXMu6um
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEL39r61gvL
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpABOky49Pd
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMdwFzr0ip
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslZak3wn3s
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHHMngJiKv
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9B8MMbBW6
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSJBdyYCgl
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZG5txhzEA
A saree.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMGIMmQaYd
But not just any saree—white.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJ78dMstIh
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGv1ZHhIMK
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzB8RDF5C2
But I didn’t.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdnNY5cxnt
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7z0c9ffvaM
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GgkoOFfXQ
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUB2ecNfTlO
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDizEvrtbH
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7ineserKO
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvQmPxvqeJ
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQQjTlcX4c
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs34Ogzz0Hf
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIHHHSbHPw
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJYU2At2e9
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPwq5IJTCe
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3xGvHtrv2
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJt0oRfXvSg
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DmBlNBgd6
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLktZR2x7s
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHcV2HwJrp
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhoVFrCb8Y
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GUzQ2N3jS
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCgHzk81eG
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvpJv8wNp9
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFOBzyBSoS
And in that moment, I realized…38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfpIRNtFQv
We were starting to drift.
