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
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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
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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.