Time didn’t pause. It never does.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VJjuEo5oJ
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmxZjLQhfz
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBUFRj5vum
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJm67SB0EVJ
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIkKvvDgKU
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHZzxPcMh2
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVknpdnOhUN
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ2tMV7NXE
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6s8lzmlMFO
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEY06kbKLs
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6wrgoVNPj
A saree.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8L1OGmEbz
But not just any saree—white.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78K90HVhkp
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUcUWvHzY9
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarf5qZFuSQ
But I didn’t.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaCvHxQw6Q
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JmDkEeK8p
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCF5fVOnHPo
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVmtOx8DuU
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIw9GxpL8g
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMxLzEqeCD
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3e0MlxYhD
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuky47Z5MR
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKfWzuxV2j
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqO8XZBOBg
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjeEZzkhc8
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWJqK4KCCe
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8XwbVqT3w
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZPbRlozgz
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAqFqwSY93
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskRB3SrGxh
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtTGPU46Jl
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfhWObCsXr
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.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEIOKDBCgC
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17V9hNX0KR
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaWvxYDBrM
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqKFSaizsM
And in that moment, I realized…191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEQlM5I3VX
We were starting to drift.
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