Time didn’t pause. It never does.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLefN3sarum
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtMORoZieN
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡav2vNzgH92
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqN5jfti4VM
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyTGT1Ouq1
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAA0xIfjFe
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALequLCul7
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZsZWqppx2
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnGyuF4Y6o
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxl0C2rRJ7
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuy6RSP8gY
A saree.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJpVVc7qCx
But not just any saree—white.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3ylqrzftI
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebr9bz5W4O
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHwNjCTyqp
But I didn’t.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQC3FcR6T7
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTvshSo5nU
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VexcuTXgl
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJZv1HT0ay
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoJ3hvLXrU
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVg1A7ICCv3
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrn0m6xDIQL
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstPdFVjxPH
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHJQIkttWJ
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5HcMHd182
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvCAC3EwTv
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNvC25e9xj
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCY7PcuGaXO
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevwzw7t53O
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHoAoWhGNf
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtIulgziZl
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzlcLQ7m2J
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexgyxsArhx
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYg1bGvZUNb
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJ1dTO9e2b
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PIsEyqe52
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRZsdff9cS
And in that moment, I realized…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYYeHIv6Ir
We were starting to drift.
and then Add to home screen.