it wasn’t as though his life wasn't how he had pictured it to be at twenty one years old -- old enough to drink in america, studying cinematography at one of the best universities in the country, and overall surviving on his own. but unfortunately for niko, his families' ideals differed greatly from his own. and the lying? it was what one might label as a compulsive disorder, but nikolas would easily argue. yes, his family thinks he's studying in the medical field. and that he's living off campus ( which he had yet to move out of his dorm ). and in recent news -- that he's engaged. “happily engaged to the prettiest american girl”, he had made sure to specify. how else was he supposed to put their nagging about him dating to a halt? but despite all his misfortunes regarding his families' ideals, niko had one thing in his favor -- they lived thousands of miles away.
and then there was matilda. matilda callahan. they had met somewhere on campus, the both of them being art majors, one visual and one media. despite their grade gap, niko easily considered matilda one of his closest friends at university. and conveniently, she was the only other person who knew about the ridiculous lies he kept her updated on. she was his confidant, and was well aware of the fake life he had fabricated for his family. and naturally, she'd be the first to hear about his new engagement. "matilda!" he called once reaching her floor in their co-ed dorm, approaching her room and knocking, hoping she was present instead of at class. "guess who's nearly a married man?" he asked through the door, trying his best to suppress his laugh in order to trick or scare her -- although he didn't expect her to fall for it, he still tried.