My birthday came again.
The same day my favorite character had once died in a story I held close —334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLn0abyhYge
and in a strange way, I always felt like a part of me dies a little on this day too.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ihVt624Ea
But this time, I chose to go to college.
Alice wasn't there, though.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMqF6A9XhS
She had gone to meet some friends — people she hadn’t seen in a long time.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YqWPXCiG0
I understood. I really did.
Still, I had the whole chocolate store in my bag.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVpfcuNfEd
Literally.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bbEIBZtWb
It was one of those small, sweet joys.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcl4KO7jJit
Enough to carry the weight of the day.
That evening, I decided to do something special.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndpM8GrqMC
Not for me.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8MxAOH5ID
But for the ones I held dear.
I woke up early.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNlrrdntFU
Cooked with all my heart.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ieBnXe0pX
Packed everything carefully — biryani and chicken curry.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF9JayEqez
Each grain of rice, every spice measured not by recipes but by intent.
It was my second time cooking for my friends.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3UCCA20XT
The first time… she didn’t eat.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9R8fMoczi
Even though I had packed a box just for her.
But this time, I was determined.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmX0geFPlR
This time, she did.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MU02RDSyj
And not only that — she smiled and said:
“It tastes like my mother’s…”
I could’ve cried.
We sat under the same big tree where it all began.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97ICXTC06C
The same one where I met her.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLHAhgpVUk
Just five of us — Forevermore, Leona, Richard, Harry, and me.
We ate.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpPgCmvemO
We laughed.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbIBKQj556
And for once, the world paused.
Later that evening, Richard gifted me a sleek clock —334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5HaGxZlPv
and Seren handed me something else…334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVJiTN5jZU
a lamp.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡct8L2yAzau
Not just a lamp,334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyznEfQyG40
a galaxy trapped in glass —334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpzQPjA2g5
a swirl of stars and dreams I once saw only in the skies.
Those were the first real gifts I ever got.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjahNQyus3b
The kind that whisper of futures still unwritten.
Time passed.
Forevermore and I were learning together again — night calls, evening talks.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WyyI0Ij1D
I met her bus mates, her senior friend who knew Ravikanth.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhA43frR5t
It was all… steady.
Until one day.
A small moment. A misunderstanding.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1sRlQkzA5
And everything cracked like silence after thunder.
Ren doesn’t like chocolate.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48Q42PZbVv
Everyone knows that.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbElxeBINZ
Including me.
And yet —334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNrar9AuTe
that day, when we all stood by the buses,334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bgeWrZB9N
I jokingly asked him for a big one.
He brought a small chocolate anyway.
I didn’t take it.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFl5AuRXat6
He handed it to Alice.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Shq58pkbN
And then he left.
I watched it happen,334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTBaJBtY8N
not as someone who was jealous,334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSpvHqjczi
but someone who noticed something off.
It wasn’t the chocolate.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECOeRTUbcC
It was why it was given.
Not because it was meant for her.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLHWWisVMM
But because it was just… there.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhocqkua2R4
Something to discard.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BOSJQHKAS
And she accepted it — unaware of how little thought it held.
When Richard called me to leave for another friend’s birthday, I turned back,334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz81UVcgxRw
looked at her one last time, and said —
“Some things are never meant to be taken.”
I didn’t explain.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhiaCAKhQP
Didn’t say goodbye.
I hoped she’d understand.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF23Jfl5hGc
That she deserved more than secondhand gestures.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79O1hsURNs
That she was not someone who should accept leftovers from anyone — even friends.
But she didn’t see it that way.
After that day…334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsboiqSlOo
she stopped speaking to me.
No more messages.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbez6o7Chy
No calls.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzw5eP6jZtv
Not even eye contact.
It was as if nothing had ever happened between us.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPC9b5nX5SX
As if our late-night classes, shared songs, stories, dreams,334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gjgMOJus4
as if I… never happened.
I tried to talk.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TKkKzTuQp
To explain.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxVPSKxGJS
To bridge the gap.
But how do you hold on to someone334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnqdVIIcoD
who already let go before you realized they were slipping?
Maybe it was just a small misunderstanding.
Maybe… it was the moment she was waiting for334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoITOidB9D
to finally walk away.
and then Add to home screen.