A Red Band, A Green Dress, and A Thousand What-Ifs - Texus-2k23

It all started with a stupid mistake.

I deactivated my Snapchat and Instagram. Just like that. No second thought. And because of that, I missed everything.

Then, out of nowhere, I saw a random post about Texus 23—that event at SRM Ramapuram on April 21st and 22nd. Just another college fest. Nothing special. Until I realized something.

I hadn’t seen her stories. Not a single post. No snaps. Nothing.

And then it hit me.

I missed it. I missed her.

The regret started kicking in. And you know how I get when I start overthinking. I had to know.

So, I started digging. Everywhere. SRM event pages, random posts, YouTube videos. I scrolled like a lunatic. And then—I found it.

A 43-minute-long YouTube video from the event.

The resolution? Just HD. Not even crisp. But at that moment, it was everything.

So what did I do? I slowed it down. 0.25x speed. Frame by frame. Searching for her like a detective.

At first? Nothing. Just random people, loud music, flashy lights. Useless.

Then—Vivitha.

Then another girl—Shruthi, I think? The one in the red dress.

That was my first clue. And then another familiar face. My heart started racing.

Was she there?

And then, in the crowd—I saw a girl in a green dress.

Could it be her?

I wasn’t sure. The video was too blurry. But then, I noticed one thing.

A red band on a hand.

That was it. The only thing I had.

I kept watching. Over and over. Pause, play, rewind. I must’ve watched that video a hundred times. Desperately trying to confirm.

And then—her twin friends. Dancing.

She had to be there. She had to.

But I never saw her clearly. Never got that one perfect frame. Just hints. Shadows. Blurry glimpses.

And the funny thing? The event itself was trash.

It looked like some school function. Nothing grand. Just random people standing around. And the weirdest part?

They were dancing to The Weeknd’s “Die for You.”

Like, seriously? Who even dances to that?

But none of that mattered.

She was there. She enjoyed it. She lived that moment.

And me?

I was sitting alone. Watching a blurry video in slow motion.

Trying to relive a moment I was never even in.