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.