Time didn’t pause. It never does.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwojsj8bmZm
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhb6nhCj87
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGw0RLb6ezv
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDLbZ1WDd5
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIRp2et7d8
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJPLOEDWLq
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvDuKreHiQ
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4f1g1T3FS
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPglVOSrBJV
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16wVF2HjTN
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm22xY3Vkcq
A saree.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQoZqtSDJM
But not just any saree—white.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpn576UmoP
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe84vpn87L3
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHck5YwUhh
But I didn’t.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufwYviflUM
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6S2dOeWvG
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVFKr10WPb
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjT73SAMSR
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZZDQjDrVI
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBXg0BoM7D
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpRI28Le7B
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4uWJiVT9Q
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZM6YHdnB8x
Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx52ILn9RKM
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbcKVdtrgR
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEifEJCgeM
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA26dbaoCts
And when I finally found them after some time searching.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuJYQSldJ7
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡie0Gt4kWJY
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMIqWAD1ZI
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBl34iFkMhF
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhPE2xoFvt
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPM25Ed6cYU
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9R4NUE1uZh
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTkrsXJQ4W
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGpqsNhvSk
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NNBPZ9wxX
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIYjUGHV0Y
And in that moment, I realized…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSobnfwNNi
We were starting to drift.
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