Time didn’t pause. It never does.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5MEMf7GCD
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMtgnTtOmF
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUDBC4Hbvg
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OOw1zaAtt
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULh7wT821X
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFv74KjjvKC
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0AFpoiNeE
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB3NmsL5mM
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRcvWRgBpa
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNrI6DsrtT
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDo2sMKGico
A saree.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQh5myaxGbK
But not just any saree—white.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NNyMmk8Dm
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBsZRJxaKo
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiwQD63Pla
But I didn’t.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODVgyZkAIQ
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMup0838ayD
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dIcZD9ibJ
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6GDYZRy38
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFJ3u312Px
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIw6G0FUvoL
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53PxbrXeYP
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq05MF4hnUL
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1YsjOPsWV
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡop5JMvKSgn
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJmWzmNQeR
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi111U3cTFy
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZBYfgF1hV
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1H7xDYjkhJ
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MCXcxQbp4
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Nnh4185SF
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnCl4n5Aax
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLtHkQXQz9
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.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeF8HWYblv
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbHyxrto17
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIChXXtXerI
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotWdZkMDXV
And in that moment, I realized…128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZiYv2F9vw
We were starting to drift.
