Time didn’t pause. It never does.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVC1z1cc4KZ
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtC9vkuC3Ro
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPBpLFuoaH
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcY5eUc3KW
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eSzrwmkCu
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDjnAbAwgo
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zCPDKk1Uy
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuWN2qfpC4
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjojUDkxHTh
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIYWDMIA29
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8Bl4wY3zw
A saree.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIA3186FUd
But not just any saree—white.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhNtY1gQeX
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sh1MRwWwO
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIsiGQ2HM1
But I didn’t.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSRQGIoRgs
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSAurhxtqS
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AiHpnGAsZ
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhbAeelts5
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22ufnzIuI1
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4NAyOg6F8
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6e2AhT75I
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNG1jXPY2zZ
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Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcZtrqQ8Ah
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZkVElv8ST
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacibEe9XIe
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And when I finally found them after some time searching.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZG5z2BoC4
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nym2Cvqpv
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMI2PQ5eKS
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0Z91IPSUU
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDickV2DOJ
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TyFx3IiZo
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7IFg41EAE
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdEnXim9A7
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKn7u1lHA9a
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PBcTSoCjj
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UQVbsvAs0
And in that moment, I realized…494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IEMBiG374
We were starting to drift.
and then Add to home screen.