Time didn’t pause. It never does.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgoQXiMExg
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpd3hjFYSX
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgb2xbwiRO
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0K9OAzTvW
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIua2pD9kz
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6MspspxC8
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZ1vn7GFPu
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUr2oC8AdEN
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyhdxKtGrc
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbTTKGiS3X
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsD9lMJ7g1z
A saree.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojHEMNhSQM
But not just any saree—white.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMde7Gqwaa
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSFTjiuNDb
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xPDinW1gt
But I didn’t.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8l1hNEcQF
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9HOjSpZUr
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSq5wsM0I3j
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopmJGJhwmd
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKcXa0SfAg
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplx1NQJJgT
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9maE1xw46h
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc1a2NLOEl
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2G0363XbB
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF58ZFUdHxr
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJWK5SaVrb
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY20OEV83ZW
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxP1IC0OKZ
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAFXCRwIJE
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtEBVVXlae
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1mAHpe29W
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVAGR6M2uk
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8T4nQtr0M
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.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMbMhZ6MmC
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd43QXS6vos
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahLEmKbmKs
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQhSYM0crq
And in that moment, I realized…415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0KIO50x7n
We were starting to drift.
and then Add to home screen.