Time didn’t pause. It never does.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscgXToOfz7
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtcbgZ7JCi
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWOtzOHKsd
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgoXFZ7uvb
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHhD0zjNZv
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXF5WcjxSkR
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOB0fxVLWL4
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXeyIgvGZg
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjuYmDrGjN
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3TpiMIoB0
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwN8WCzYHc
A saree.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP1n50JiQO
But not just any saree—white.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXT5nR3rlk
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVp4RBPV8W
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2JYLHF3AA
But I didn’t.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuYIekXjEl
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYZLzkZ9Jl
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdZDKUx1TD
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACb5mqHMng
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWntmThiQ6F
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSAtMLIJd7
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQjJqp7U2Z
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMKjCawFvk
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HPGM9y1Rg
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOunyBBd10x
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZPKFTNRgC
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjLT81FnHI
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDRTzMGRKi
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UMmRhKni7
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0bRa7KLxL
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkA1yi59Swu
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsp8eVqjQTY
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDcbAHdpHh
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuA9VuezWN3
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzfWed4WYd
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0glkjA6ap
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpZSOkfLFl
And in that moment, I realized…25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkfWvkLlDm
We were starting to drift.
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