Time didn’t pause. It never does.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5eXp0P5H7
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tLcFuv0nF
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLE2CX2z12
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs89fpciW75
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoKllZflNa
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1CL91szss
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGY0LeJMsTn
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1UJw2TEsX
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFbGsWkYXA
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtZDwyYplC
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIkUMXoqYz
A saree.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfahN150e8
But not just any saree—white.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlo5Dc7PaJN
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVagFpJtwZo
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8nyR22mid
But I didn’t.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhf058rKFO
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqU8FrHSrhN
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtv5bdvRTs
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22eu0wLcx8
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTVzs3OEP1
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUL3DKAqOZ
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuOMMXfgcd
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuPZoBc0dB
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5D04sNvlyD
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrG9aI8LA80
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBWqGV8Wap
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl72YKcNaje
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvBg7otfhp
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7nfXNLimu
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQayY3NphI
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoUzGodw37
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6IgCGMuON
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1boe6twDCO
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngyBYDSsSK
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BzU3MuJzO
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeTpUtvzhx
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2QxlWFMWN
And in that moment, I realized…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2ZEfYvCrK
We were starting to drift.
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