Time didn’t pause. It never does.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63k0Zt81f0
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmA78FNakhj
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUviKQgA9aM
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RXgK7zCXi
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIT2pIxqypS
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFsRJSFldB
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ck5b4D0eg
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0OtU9ST0i
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOhnjkXzEd
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mRcTCK0MU
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIoPQH3AHi
A saree.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEf7qaGyQB
But not just any saree—white.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMIcShC3pC
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kKvOQ9nE0
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MyqqJps5A
But I didn’t.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPZ5rPfwBY
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xUhJsLOpy
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoEEnIPdfZ
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nKxlN6Hx3
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLhPV5CRfs
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjQgDIrAqg
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxz3qyp91Ll
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SLWUiL4AG
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHfDzNHFjg
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRwfcRYi37
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajJ1UmTgz1
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9HCBmc6sL
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIvXp6UKcH
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLppyWZ4m5F
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xbrJZHH52
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZZxn9R2X6
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNR6kNx9L9
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7opybHnLa
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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lS40CdVFj
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6gYb0OC03
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3oAPBW3Sw
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIqWrvRedV
And in that moment, I realized…126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakmCg8GATH
We were starting to drift.
