Time didn’t pause. It never does.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjCz2NuExl
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3mfkdiIZb
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2hdYzHidl
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbUITXKJvC
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnp4pvY1d8
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8n6yy9F2ca
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0xvWjrY80
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DaIEEQojb
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EFQZ5Hc8o
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sEkxSrtiy
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnMSE5FVHb
A saree.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9ztoxJJYO
But not just any saree—white.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg31q0D83HZ
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHUmONa6Bd
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUPuKKKBKF
But I didn’t.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooLviuH9ni
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUao28hc3F
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvUrKPTf0B
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqm3BWHRLB
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDYFwpmdhq
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIVal0VOtp
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaDFKorSw2
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUepoNizst
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftC80EvgwG
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9irwK5Rlk
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlr986k7vn
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpQpEAmKRa
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AUj9fQgp2
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVp3QMUj4KQ
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzFRcv9d7y
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavNnSSZJWG
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡug3RZgM98k
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkL58VqZFRb
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPATDFkcgjn
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLPlXpKGSw
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVKLTMMegP
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcYGzxvAmK
And in that moment, I realized…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIp3m9tmyB
We were starting to drift.
and then Add to home screen.