Time didn’t pause. It never does.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNpGVBvZaO
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgV0ILUN93p
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklBLg6itOb
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGwR7YuRAx
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5H9kWTzss
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP22xv1OxzY
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVYfFPr7LM
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqz3LNN7ken
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIQtc5fp74
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1PlSDYpUU
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqXw3MG77h
A saree.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkrA1QESMv
But not just any saree—white.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KoPetXali
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpm0DjehMzg
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKE1z2sAnN4
But I didn’t.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDPHkEOON0
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGAa1ennak
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDiPmtfuAP
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5EqBbC9mz
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabUHI9kAIr
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxdl4Cb59V
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0qosNOIp9
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4UpIonzKd
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IIYI9uXZF
Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5nkPpH1IN
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeP2iDdDZR
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXd9lONKO6
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIzYt1p6xA
And when I finally found them after some time searching.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ036CHHwReS
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0u9RcZjWW
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOapIRgaCPN
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNqvBOiBRQ
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRd9qxNFGK
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnZWFeD67U
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFbsvihNNZ
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttG1yndsUB
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsPvLJwc0f
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGVW1hPLMw
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkqFv52ziR
And in that moment, I realized…87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICkc7tFFWL
We were starting to drift.
and then Add to home screen.