Time didn’t pause. It never does.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoet2DIzhkj
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxDP5xnswd
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7ZhFeFzk9
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxoP7Ht3CP
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqzKLsc8NI
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIK6GVZJhQy
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67Cz7eiK4F
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgzLu4n07O
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0BsWChTmy
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmtixgbdA0
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAmCMx5HmD
A saree.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4O37oryA6
But not just any saree—white.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6ndIhSSRP
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznLx9XYXDi
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6YEr4BzUX
But I didn’t.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIPERZvNpm
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopauGtwFfy
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNeJHY193M
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AFSz1z0M1
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCg5O9QBm7
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGPQKF5JoQ
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwktCRZe20
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4EOwb5ZFS
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA72YLWC2Pq
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNloaZ5ZiL9
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXgND4QLrb
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQt5ftIs9R
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgXaw6k9VU
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2cYhGUDWK
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITnIW7I0xC
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuQDuwsA39
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziZtU11YZJ
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OFxVp6BhN
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNs9SIAYuv5
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhjkgldMmO
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPuPV7lU4z
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXykVC0kN6U
And in that moment, I realized…48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSHACoBcVu
We were starting to drift.
