“How is school? If you need anything just tell your Uncle and me, we would do anything to help you.” says Audrey to Naara.
“Everything is fine, Auntie. I don’t need anything right now. Don’t worry, if something comes up, I’ll definitely let you know,” replies Naara as she stroked Audrey’s cheek gently.
A smile rises on the middle aged woman’s face hearing the words of her niece whom she already considers her own daughter.
“Alright then,” Audrey smiles warmly at the beautiful girl standing in front of her.
Naara stands up, takes her bag and wears the cheap flat shoes she bought five months ago from the
salary of her part time job at a cake shop.
“I have to go now, Auntie. I promised to see my lecturer. Love you, Auntie.” Naara kisses Audrey’s cheeks and hurries to her campus.
***
Naara Kiva is a 21 years old third year student majoring in Art and Humanities in one of the best universities in the city of Bonn, North of Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Despite being of Australian and British descent, she lives in Germany. She moved to the country after her parent’s death when she was still in Junior High School, and she has been staying with her aunt and uncle, Audrey and Kenneth since then.
Fortunately, she was accepted in one of the public universities which exempt tuition for local students. She is only required to pay a small administrative fee as the only expense for her schooling.
Naara is also one of the most outstanding students in her campus. The girl has always maintained good grades. Even then, she’s a sociable student. She isn’t the type of nerd who only focuses on her studies without a care for her surroundings.
The cost of living is quite high, so Naara uses her free time to work part-time at a cake shop and becomes a freelance model for her friends.
***
“Naara!” someone yells from behind her.
Naara hears the voice, but she pretends not to. Occasionally playing tricks on someone isn’t a big deal. She continues to walk on. A tap on her shoulder stops her feet. A wide palm presses on her and she suppresses down a smile.
“Oh, damn. Were you playing with me, hm? I yelled quite loudly, so there’s no way you didn’t hear me.” The oriental-looking man grumbles beside her.
“I didn’t hear anything,” she lies with a blank expression.
The man runs his fingers through his hair as he struggles to catch his breath after walking in a hurry to catch up to her.
Naara can’t hold her smile seeing the annoyed look on the face of her best friend whom she secretly has a crush on. The lovely girl takes some tissue from her bag and offers it to him.
“Sorry for making you sweat so early in the morning,” she says with a mischievous smile.
“I knew it. You were playing with me, weren’t you?” Xion complains with a big smile on his face as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.
***
Tibra Xion, the handsome man of Chinese and French descent, has been Naara’s best friend since Senior High School. Xion was the first person to befriend Naara since she moved to Germany, and eventually they became best friends.
“So, you’re mad at me?” asks Naara to Xion.
He turns to look at her and shakes his head slowly. “Nah. I just don’t wanna talk to you cause you’re a menace.”
“Tch, what a sulky man,” Naara mocks. The brunette then walks faster to leave Xion behind.
Throughout their way to class, Naara catches the voices of the university girls coquettishly greeting Xion from behind. Undeniably, Xion is one of the most attractive men on campus. The guy is friendly and also known to be helpful. Annoyance and jealousy soars in Naara’s heart, but she can’t do anything but keep quiet. She doesn’t want to ruin the friendship that has been built for years. Xion embraces her from behind, startling the girl. A blush appears on Naara’s cheeks.
The girl immediately dismisses his embrace and puts on a flat face, covering her true feelings.
Xion shows her a box of chocolate in his hands.
“Chocolate from a fan?” asks Naara. He nods.
“I didn’t have the heart to refuse,” he says. She just responds with an “Oh”.
“Have you told Auntie about the comparative study course Mr. Kellan offered us?” asks Xion.
Naara sits in one of the seats in the corridor as she sighs before she replies.
“I haven’t said anything,” she says, fiddling with her fingers.
The slanted-eyed man takes a seat next to her. “Why? Isn’t the course free? We don’t have to pay any fees to enter.”
Naara stares closely into his eyes, a hesitant and thoughtful expression on her face.
“I don’t want to burden my uncle and aunt to pay for my living fees for three months in Berlin. The salary for my photoshoot will only be paid after two months. Last week I also spent my part time salary to buy some books.” Naara reveals.
Xion gently takes her hand, leading her heart to run wild.
“I’ll be with you during the whole time in Berlin. There’s no need to worry, Naara Dear,” he speaks softly.
“I don’t want to study alone by myself there. I’ll miss you a lot if we stay apart. I’ll talk with you to your uncle and aunt if they won’t let you go,”
“Think of the new friends and experiences we’ll be able to get. Come on. Haven’t you always dreamed of being able to study in the best university in the country? Not to mention it’s for free,” he coaxes.
Naara snorts in annoyance. “You’re so good at coaxing and persuading people. Aren’t you just looking to flirt with people there?” she quips.
Xion pinches her nose, making her glare at him. “Are you jealous? You’re worried a rival will appear? Oh ... come on, you’ll always have a special place in my heart, darling.”
“You’re so gross,” Naara pretends to shudder, even though she is immensely happy to hear his words.
“So, you’re taking the offer, right?” whines Xion.
Naara laughs amused by his childish antics.
“We’ll see.” She says in the end.
***
After a long talk and discussion with her uncle and aunt, Naara accepts Mr. Kellan’s offer.
Unexpectedly, her family is enthusiastic and thrilled to hear of Naara getting such a rare opportunity. Kenneth, Naara’s uncle, drives them to Berlin soon, looking for places for her to live in the city. They do not rent a luxurious apartment, merely a small and modest flat, but it is enough to make Naara happy and very thankful.
Beste University of Berlin becomes the chosen university for Naara and Xion to study for the next three months. For Naara, this is truly a golden opportunity that she cannot afford to miss. To be able to enroll into university with a scholarship isn’t an easy feat. This time, she is given an opportunity by her university to study for free here. It’s like a dream come true.
“Whoa.. it feels like a dream to be able to step my foot here. Amazing place!” exclaims Naara
enthusiastically as she enters the spacious and luxurious campus.
“Why do we only have to stay for three months? We should just stay until we graduate. I’ll surely look so cool,” hearing Xion’s words, Naara hits his arm hard.
“Look, this is more than enough for us. So save the complaints, womanizer.” she warns him.
“Alright, dear,” he replies, making her heart run wild again.
The two of them walk following the directions of the campus map held in Naara’s hand. Finally, they arrive at a library as according to the directions from the main campus building.
They are welcomed by a student who has been waiting for their arrival. A beautiful dark blonde girl shows off her dimples as she smiles and approaches Naara and Xion.
“Hi... let me introduce myself, I’m Stephanie, you can call me Hanie. The two of you must be Naara Kiva and Tibra Xion, am I right?” The girl introduces herself as a conversation starter. Naara smiles as she shakes her hand.
“Hello, I’m Naara Kiva. You can call me Naara. It’s nice to meet you, Hanie,” says Naara.
“I’m Tibra Xion, just call me Xion. Nice meeting you.” Xion follows after.
“I’ve been appointed to show you guys around the campus,” Hanie explains.
They start a mini tour around the campus. Hanie dutifully explains the details of every corner in the campus. The last thing she wants is for Naara or Xion to get lost while walking on their own to find the study room.
The campus is huge and can be quite confusing to new arrivals like Naara and Xion, but they do their best remembering every place in the campus. After around 48 minutes of walking, Naara interrupts Hanie’s mini tour.
“Hanie, is there a toilet around?” asks Naara as they stop walking for a moment.
“Ah, of course. It shouldn’t be too far from here. You can just walk past those two rooms over there and turn left. Or do you want me to come with you?” asks Hanie.
“It would be better if you do. She gets lost often even in our own campus. She forgets a lot.” jokes Xion, leading Naara to give his shoulder a small punch.
“Alright, then we’ll go to the toilet first.” Hanie tucks Naara’s arm in hers as if they have been old friends with no awkwardness.
“Don’t wander around, sit here nicely. Hanie and I are only leaving for a bit, don’t try to flirt around.” Naara warns him, making Hanie laugh.
***
The students toilet is quite spacious, and it’s immaculately spotless that Naara makes a sucking noise on her tongue amazed when she steps in. The space between the sinks and the cubicles are quite wide.
“This is the best toilet I’ve ever seen,” she mumbles. Hanie smiles as she hears it.
“I’ll wait for you right here,” says Hanie as she washes her hands in the sink. Naara walks towards the cubicles.
Yet, before she can step inside a cubicle, she becomes shocked as an inappropriate scene comes to view.
A woman is kneeling in front of a tall man. Inadvertently, the man meets Naara’s eyes. He stands there leaning against the wall with a bored look on his face.
Naara shakes her head, slowly backing off as she tries to calm her rushing heartbeat. Her heart is thumping so loudly that it feels like it might jump out of her ribcage.
The man pushes the kneeling woman’s head away and takes a tissue paper. While Naara rushes to quickly leave the place, he’s leisurely zipping up his pants.
“What a lunatic!” Naara cusses. She surprises Hanie as she quickly grabs her and runs off the toilet.
“Hey... calm down, Naara. What’s going on with you?” Hanie pulls her to a stop. Naara’s face is red as she struggles to soothe her anger.
“There’s a guy inside. Oh, and he’s doing perverted things with his girlfriend. God, my eyes are ruined now. Damn it,” Naara explains, still shaking a little.
Hanie turns around and finds a very popular guy in Berlin staring back at her. No! He’s looking at Naara like she’s the one who disturbed him.
“Adelrado...” Hanie murmurs.
“Is that the guy you saw?” Hanie whispers. Naara turns around to find the man she saw inside the cubicle and quickly turns away.
“Yes, that pervert. Damn it!” Naara cusses again.
“Don’t get involved with him. Forget you saw anything just now,” suggests Hanie.
“Why? Who is he?” asks Naara innocently.
“You don’t know who he is? Are you sure? He’s probably more famous than the top actor in this country.” Naara shakes her head, not understanding.
“He’s Adelrado Cetta Early. He just finished his Master’s Degree in International Business
Management, and it seems like he’s going to take his doctorate next. He’s a very famous young entrepreneur who’s extremely wealthy, not to mention his nearly perfect physique. So many women are close to him, yet no one lasts more than three days. He dislikes being denied anything and he’s callous. That’s why, it’s better for you to avoid him than to seek trouble with him,” Hanie explains.
Naara shakes her head disbelievingly. “As if there isn’t any other guy.”
“There are many guys. But none of them are handsome, smart, and rich the way Adelrado is,” Hanie replies.
“Are you one of the girls who like him?” asks Naara.
“I used to be, but not anymore. I’m sure I’m not the type he likes,” Hanie says easily.
“You should be careful not to fall in love with him,” Hanie warns Naara.
“Huh? Me? No way. I’m not gonna fall for him. There are far more attractive guys than him. That perverted guy is so not my type,” Naara replies.
“Hmm... really? Is it because you already have Xion, so you think this way,” Hanie guesses.
Naara becomes nervous in an instant, not knowing what to do. Hanie doesn’t realize the change in her expression.
“Let’s forget about this. Xion must be tired of waiting already.” Naara tries to switch the topic of their conversation.
Hanie understands and she nods.
The two then walk back to the place where they left Xion by himself.
***
The man whose activity was disrupted by Naara leans on a wall, his sharp eyes watching the back of his new target.
“An unfamiliar face. Looks suitable to be my new plaything. Let’s have some fun together,” whispers Adelrado with a smirk on his handsome face.
