Change had already become a part of my life.
But this time…
it felt different.
I was in ninth grade when it happened.
My mother got a transfer order.
Which meant…
we had to move again.
A new place.
A new routine.
And for me—
a new school.
I didn't tell anyone at first.
Not my friends.
Not even the people who saw me every day.
I don't know why.
Maybe because saying it out loud
would make it feel real.
So I waited.
Until the last day.
The last day of my class in ninth standard.
Everything felt normal that day.
Classes, conversations, small moments—
just like always.
And in the middle of all that…
I quietly told one of my friends.
Just one person.
I didn't expect anything more.
But somehow…
it didn't stay with just her.
The news spread.
Slowly at first…
then all at once.
By the end of the day,
everyone knew.
And that's when I saw something
I didn't expect.
They were sad.
Not just my friends…
even my teachers.
The same people I saw every day,
the same classrooms I sat in—
suddenly felt different.
Like I was already leaving,
even before I actually did.
I didn't know how to react.
I didn't know what to say.
Because I never thought
my absence would matter that much.
I thought I was just… another student.
But that day,
I realized something else.
Maybe I had become a part of their lives
without noticing it.
Just like they had become a part of mine.
And just like that…
another chapter of my life
was coming to an end.
Not with a big goodbye…
but with a quiet realization—
that sometimes,
you don't know the value of a place
until you're about to leave it.