Time didn’t pause. It never does.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5SQhb4C6Z
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQHFPSF7rW
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdI3NMgraaL
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7SAzU922P
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WRGsp6arF
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWu3AaNINk
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqxmcrL3lV
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJY98xK6Ij
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGl9S1RnBU
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxVz7pgJA7
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlf8bHXk4O2
A saree.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sS9wwVxL7
But not just any saree—white.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfzTuIh6il
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3r69kbYsrY
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugjFEsZeQN
But I didn’t.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOP5PIjWTT
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenBgqIZdH1
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6I5VQYTfr
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT5f5J1FpT
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7EpL4z7EN
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozvRMimvNf
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxFdVLuZGZ
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZky0VafND
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKA7lRUhHR
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzoTddbmFf
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5R3ixzgCAG
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOE62eFhec
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCMLzjgdKW
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1VotNQA5h
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7wnU4fWJK
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFB8bFCLlN
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBTAXti6Ab
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm3BQsXnIb
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoqv4RhaQD
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQlgjuyjEX
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscyix3UL8q
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkBZ4drLKk
And in that moment, I realized…161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqw8FlEeNA
We were starting to drift.
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