"What are you thinking about?" asked Niko as I walked up to him.
"Ah, nothing," I replied shortly, immediately averting my eyes.
"Don't think about it!"
"No, ko. I'm not having any thoughts!" I immediately clarified.
"Niko, Nadia!!!" someone shouted from a distance while waving his hand at both of us.
Niko and I immediately looked towards the source of the voice. A woman with shoulder-length hair and a man wearing glasses were running around. They were Bella and Bobby. Our best friends since high school who knew exactly how my relationship with Niko really was.
"Nad, why are you going out with this boy?" said Bella as she put her arm around me and pointed at Niko's face with her chin.
"Yeah, so what, you can't?"
"Well, not really. It's just a new sight for me, usually you guys like to go separately. It's rare to see you together like this."
Bella and Bobby seemed to be grinning incoherently, making me immediately look sarcastically at the two of them. As for Niko, I glanced at him for a moment. His face remained flat and expressionless.
"I'm doubting the relationship between the two of you," Bobby said suddenly which made me and Niko stare at him sharply.
"I doubt that you two are married. Usually, people who are married, especially married young like you guys, must be so sweet, right? But, why aren't you two? Perhaps, you've never even kissed?" he asked, making my eyes glare at him.
"Deal! If you don't like each other, why are you trying to get married? Marriage is not for fun, my friend. Marriage is an act of worship!" added Bella, who immediately hit us with a statement that was quite annoying, but there was a point to it too.
"So, what should I do now?" I asked innocently.
"Yes, kiss!" exclaimed Bella and Bobby simultaneously, making me and Niko quite surprised to hear it.
It felt like this time I was really annoyed by the statements of these two innocent creatures. They had been teasing us endlessly for the past year. If it wasn't for our long friendship, they might have been beaten up by me. You see, in high school I managed to get a black belt in the karate club.
"Guys, you've been married for a year. Isn't there any improvement at all? You don't want everyone to know that you were actually set up and married without love? So, this kind of hand-holding is good. Let it look like a real married couple," said Bobby while pulling my hand and also Niko's hand until we were holding hands.
"What the hell are you, Bob? You dork!" Niko exclaimed in annoyance as he brushed my hand away roughly and left.
"Just like that, Nik, wait for me! Guys, I'm leaving first!" shouted Bobby who happened to be in the same class as Niko and immediately chased him away.
I let out a short sigh, then continued my steps towards the Faculty of Psychology.
"Nad," Bella called softly as she walked beside me.
"What the hell?"
"Niko's always been a bit of a hothead, hasn't he?"
"You're like someone who just met Niko yesterday afternoon, Bel. Niko is like that."
"You're really patient with your husband like that. I salute you."
I just chuckled and embraced my best friend, whose nerves were really asking for it. And, I really wanted to cover her mouth with duct tape.
"Bella dear, I've known Niko since I was a kid. If I was impatient, I wouldn't have survived until now."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," she said with a grin.
I smiled wryly and straightened my messy hair.
"Nad, do you ever feel like your heart is pounding when you like someone? Like Niko, for example. Ever?" she asked, causing me to pause and think for a moment.
"Never mind, let's not talk about Niko anymore. Let's go to class!"
I immediately pulled Bella's hand intending to divert our conversation that had begun to diverge and invite her directly to class because we happened to be in the same faculty and class too.
Bella nodded resignedly. Actually, I know she must still be curious about my answer. But, I was already lazy if our conversation was only about Niko and my feelings for him.
We both went straight to our class which was not so far from where we were walking. Arriving in front of the classroom door, suddenly there was a woman who deliberately bumped into me so roughly that I hit the classroom door quite hard.
"Hey, do you have eyes?" Bella shouted emotionally when she saw the face of the woman who had hit me.
"Whether you have eyes or not is none of your business!" she replied sarcastically.
"What do you want? Do you want to make a fuss every day, don't you get tired?" exclaimed Bella, who looked increasingly annoyed, making me try to calm her down.
"Do you want me? I want you to stay out of Niko's life," she replied with a sharp glare and pointed at my face with her finger.
The woman's fingernails appeared to be using bright red kutex. And, that made me think that she wasn't obeying the campus rules here which prohibit students from using kutex.
"Don't just point at me. That's not polite! Besides, Niko and Nadia can never be separated. And, unfortunately, you have to accept the fact that Nadia is Niko's lawful wife!" Bella screamed, emphasizing the word 'lawful' very clearly.
"I just got married, and people who are married can get divorced. So, I pray that you two get divorced quickly."
"You!" Bella pointed at the woman's face and almost slapped her cheek.
"Bell, there's no need to respond to her anymore," I said as I pulled Bella's hand and tried to calm her down.
"Girls like her have to be taught a lesson, Nad. You can't just ignore her. Do you really accept your husband being taken by a stupid girl like her? I really don't!"
"Whatever you say. Bye!" she said and left, shaking her long, brownish hair out of her face and into Bella's.
"Aishh, what a pretty girl. I wonder, not in high school, not in college, I keep meeting that awkward girl. I'm bored!" grumbled Bella looking annoyed.
"Never mind. Better yet, let's go to class."
I immediately pulled Bella's hand to get into our class. Arriving in class, I was silent for a moment. That woman was Lisa, our high school classmate. Since high school, our relationship had never gotten along.
In the beginning, Lisa did like Niko and pursued his love even though Niko didn't look at her at all. Many times rejected, Lisa did not give up at all and always tried to make Niko like her. Until finally Niko and I were officially dating, Lisa was still pursuing Niko's love.
Lisa really hated me because I was so close to the man she loved. Just being her best friend made her hate me so much. In fact, when she found out I was dating Niko, Lisa became even more intense and always tried to separate the two of us.
And, somehow, even though we were in a loveless relationship, Niko and I were inseparable until we finally decided to get married. Lisa was endlessly looking for trouble every day with me. I'm already pretty tired of all her rude behavior.
"Already, don't think about what that crazy woman said. If she dares to mess with you, I'll deal with it," said Bella, who sat next to me while holding both my hands.
"I can't stop thinking about Lisa. Isn't she tired of disturbing other people's lives?"
"People like Lisa can't be tired. She's basically a mentally ill girl. She can get stressed out over time because of her obsession," said Bella, who was given a nod by me.
"Obsession is indeed one of the scariest diseases. I hope Lisa realizes it soon. I'm afraid she'll develop multiple personality disorder before long," I said, getting goosebumps at the thought.
"Nad, multiple personality disorder is very scary. I think Lisa could develop the disease in the long run."
"I can't imagine. What would happen if Lisa had multiple personalities? Lisa's personality alone is scary enough."
"Never mind, don't talk about her anymore. I'll get sick of talking about that ignorant woman," Bella said, which made me chuckle. "By the way, where's that black bracelet you often wear, Nad? I haven't seen it much lately, haven't I?"
"Do you mean this black bracelet?" I asked while taking out a black bracelet from my bag.
Bella nodded, causing me to immediately look at the bracelet she was referring to.
"This bracelet is my favorite bracelet. Even though it's worn out, dirty and out of shape, I really love this bracelet."
"Yes, I used to see you wearing that bracelet and once I cried because I lost it."
I smiled a little and reminisced about the times when this black bracelet had been lost and I had cried so much because I had lost it.
"I have to carry this bracelet everywhere I go, Bell. Even at my wedding, I still carried it even though I didn't wear it. It's my good luck charm and half of my life," I replied as I looked at Bella's face and stared at the black bracelet with teary eyes.
"Jiahhh, your language is already like a witch doctor," she said with a laugh that made me chuckle as soon as I heard it.
Finally, the lecturer had entered the class too. While opening my notes, I accidentally saw a photo in my bag. I stared at the photo for a long time with my eyes starting to tear up. I felt like I wanted to go back in time.
"Nad, how do you really feel about Niko?" asked Bella suddenly.
"My feelings?" I asked confused as I put my photos back into my bag. "My feelings for Niko are normal. Why?"
"Try testing your feelings in front of Niko so that you know what your feelings really are."
"How?"
"There are many ways, Nad. You can do it by going on a date or something like that. Or not holding hands, staring at each other and many more."
"No, I'm not doing anything stupid like that."
"It's not stupid Nadia. If you've done the things I just said, try testing your heart. If your heart is pounding and you're misbehaving, it means you like Niko. Try it."
"What kind of test? Use a tool?"
Bella was so excited when she heard my answer that she pinched my cheeks so hard that I almost screamed at her. In fact, the lecturer in front of us even glanced at the two of us so sarcastically. And, that made us both silent for a while.
"Why are you suddenly so stupid about this? Usually you're always smart. But, you're only good at subjects. You and Niko are a good match. You're both smart about education and you're both dumb about romance," she said, which made me laugh widely as soon as I heard it.
"What do you know about love? You're like a love expert, Bell!"
Bella glared at me so sharply that both of her eyeballs almost popped out of her eyelids.
"I'm sure you'll regret it, Nad. You can tell me now that you don't like Niko. The next time you like Niko, you'll regret it if Niko falls in love with someone else. Love hurts, man!"
"Whether Niko likes someone else or not is none of my business."
"It's definitely your business. You're already Niko's legal wife."
"Legal in religion and according to the state. But, it's not legal in my heart or Niko's heart."
Bella furrowed her brow and looked at my face intently. She let out a long sigh that made me curious about what she would say next.
"Are you sure you've never once felt the feeling of being in love with Niko even for a minute?" she asked while looking at my face and impatiently waiting for my answer.
I let out a short sigh then looked up at the lecturer in front who was explaining.
"I've buried that love deep, Bell."
"What do you mean?" she asked, not understanding.
"I mean, you'll never understand how I feel about Niko."
"How am I supposed to understand if you never even told me that you liked Niko. You're too secretive with your friends."
I was silent. It felt like what Bella said earlier had some truth to it. I was closed when it came to feelings and love affairs. In my opinion, the matter of love does not need to be expressed. It's enough to feel it yourself and let it melt in this heart by it self.