Time didn’t pause. It never does.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ30uB5g0cC
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlG755lL6Z
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIgBj0XWow
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡak4zqQS7rq
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDJokr64zl
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnc434QkwvG
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSDNqEFwzn
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AqzGOJWSX
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfqrozFwli
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8xHvY93W0
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotIxzpmqFI
A saree.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgP6i9D1eR
But not just any saree—white.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqz2GF3jMb
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3x0wzvVt9e
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRsAWV9WQq
But I didn’t.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpge637cav
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJSc0tb3XU
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PaFOa8oz8
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqYGefJyrG
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qPsapTIYX
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIirQQP750V
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWYct2In1F
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZsI3ia5jI
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnq7dy06Sy
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cRdtxnhc6
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVU5IEdoIt6
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9m6IaXbkoC
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1fLwNN7GF
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJWYvKmRdc
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZ6XBJvEnA
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASw9FYHXui
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJHmrHR3k4
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQJn0vSJYq
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.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9974woYX3l
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfMhIkjKst
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8Qac5YjPG
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz09WDNAZhX
And in that moment, I realized…106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHU4D7IXjp
We were starting to drift.
and then Add to home screen.