"Anika...i love you, and I know you like me too, so let's date!"

Said a man with high self-confidence, because you could say he is handsome, looks cool, and he is also quite popular on campus, but that doesn't seem to be the case in Anika Jasleen's eyes.

"WHAT? where did you get that conclusion? I? like you?"

With a confused face Anika pointed at herself, her brain seemed to be deep in thought, wondering how this man could think she liked him. They can be said to be close, but only as friends to Anika.

"No need to be shy, you always call me babe, and you always smile happily when you see me, especially if you don't like me by name."

The man smiled proudly at himself, Anika was a pretty popular girl on campus, she was beautiful, smart and sociable, maybe she seemed a bit tomboyish with her relaxed but stylish appearance and without excessive makeup, especially her hairstyle that seemed casual with a short cut, but that is precisely what makes her attractive, she has her own magnet that makes people feel comfortable near her. And the man thought that this girl liked him.

"Tom, how long have you known me? You should already know what I'm like, and... you're not the only one I call babe."

Yes, that's the fact, Anika's overly sociable nature makes it easy for her to call anyone close to her babe, even sometimes my love, male or female. For those who are already familiar with her, it is normal, they even call Anika the same way. But this man misinterprets the babe call that Anika addressed to him with its true meaning.

Tomas, the man seemed to think for a moment, is it true that he isn't the only one she calls Anika that? And after racking his small brain, he finally remembered that Anika also called Kevin and others as babe. Why is he only realized now? Maybe because of the sweet and sincere smile that radiated from Anika's face, when she called him by that name made him stunned. And subconsciously his heart believed that the call was intended only for him.

"You... called... the others as well, but your smile..."

Tomas was unable to continue his speech, he now felt ashamed of himself who foolishly concluded that Anika also liked him. He should have said a sentence that was more romantic and expressed his feelings earlier. His self-confidence immediately shrunk, but of course he didn't want to be humiliated either.

"My smile? What's wrong with my smile?" Anika asked getting confused.

"You...ah never mind, what's clear is that I like you, and I want you to be my girlfriend, do you want it?" Say Tomas to the point.

"NO!" Anika answered firmly.

"B-but...why? What's lacking in me? We could be a great couple on campus, think twice before you answer."

Tomas still doesn't take Anika's short answer for granted, this time his pride is at stake. He who had always thought he was perfect, and had a crush on many women, was now being rejected? Of course he can't, where he can save his face later?

"No no no! Because I don't like you obviously."

Firmly and concisely Anika refused Tomas.

"Hah.! Ok fine, but at least you can give me a chance first, I will make you like me."

Tomas stepped closer to Anika, his hand grabbed Anika's hand and pulled her into his embrace, Tomas brought his face closer and now their faces were only a few centimeters apart. And suddenly, a slap landed on Tomas' cheek.

"**** YOU.! What kind of woman do you think I am huh, from now on don't ever show your face in front of me again."

Anika left, leaving Tomas still unable to believe what had just happened to him, fortunately they were in a quiet place and no one saw the incident, otherwise this would become the main gossip on campus, with the tag line The Casanova being slapped by The Primadona.

From the outside, Anika may look easy to beat, especially with her personality that is easy to get close to the opposite sex, but that's not really the case. She doesn't want to commit to a relationship, she prefers freedom. And for her dating will only curb his freedom, she doesn't want her personal life to be controlled by someone called a boyfriend.

***

"Bro.!"

Kevin waved his hand at someone who was looking around for his whereabouts in the cafeteria. The man turned to hear Kevin's voice and approached his table which was already occupied by several people.

"It's been a long time, we've been gather for a long time." Aidan protested who had been waiting for him with Kevin.

"Sorry I forgot." He answered short while pulling the empty chair beside Kevin and then sitting on it.

"Damn you, we've been waiting here for a long time, you're just relaxing at home, if I don't call until the sun rises from the west, this kid won't show up." One more person who protested, Jonathan.

While the person who had been waiting for his presence only smiled faintly, and took a sip of the drink that had been prepared for him and said, "Let's get started quickly."

"There's still one more person who hasn't come yet, but she takes a long time, usually on time."

Syeril said while repeatedly pressing the call button on her phone, she was a little worried because her call had not been answered earlier.

"Yeah, where's Anika? It's too late." Karin also chimed in, she was also worried because Anika was not usually late, she was always the most punctual when there was a group gathering.

"There's someone coming." Kevin pointed at Anika, who looked annoyed, was walking a little faster while stomping her feet towards them.

"Who?" Asked the man who had only seemed preoccupied with his own world, while others were worried about Anika.

"Oh, you don't know her, do you? She's the one I told you about yesterday, the head of group A in the final semester of the language department, she's fun and gets along quickly, and remember bro, this is the last semester, and you have to graduate, you have to be a good student now. "

Kevin explained who Anika was to him, how he had to be close to her in order to help him in completing assignments, because so far he rarely went to class and was at different hours from Kevin, he was forced to change his schedule and equate it with Kevin so that he could quickly graduate and end his term. lectures were boring for him.

"KKEEEVVIINNN BAABBEE..!!!"

Anika shouted from a few meters away while waving her hand at Kevin, most of the people there already knew Anika and were not surprised by her behavior, except for one person.

"JAASSYYY BAAABBBEEE...!!" Kevin replied while waving his hand at Anika, he used to call Anika by her last name Jasleen which he shortened to Jasy.

The man, Keenan Andrew, the only person who saw the scene for the first time, just stared blankly, moreover this was also the first time for him to see Kevin act like that, making him ask again, who is that girl?

Anika immediately joined them and immediately started the discussion. They gathered together to work on a new task that they had to collect in the next three days, Anika acted as the group leader, so she was the one who arranged the tasks for each member.

"Karin and Syeril search for examples of Contemporary literature, Aidan and Jo looking for history, Kevin and .... I forgot what your name was?"

Anika pointed at Keenan who sat beside Kevin and was right in front of her. Keenan didn't answer right away, he looked at Anika with an astonished look and asked back.

"Are we already acquainted?"

"Pffttt....!!" Kevin and the others couldn't hold back their laughter, it seemed that Anika had forgotten that they hadn't actually met. When she arrived, she immediately sat down and without further ado, started their group work.

"Ah sorry, I forgot I haven't introduce myself yet," Anika extended her right hand towards Keenan, "Anika Jasleen, and you?"

"Keenan Andrew." Keenan shook Anika's hand, and laughter erupted from those who witnessed the phenomenon.

"Haha...what happened to you today? Usually your eyes will sparkle when you see something shine." Jonathan taunts Anika who is desperately trying to stop his laughter, he knows very well that Anika's eyes are the most responsive when she sees a handsome man, usually she will immediately tease them and make them waver.

"Is there something wrong? You look out of focus Jas, and your face has been really sour since you came." Kevin asked who saw a different look on Anika's face when she walked over to them earlier.

"Nothing, I'm just mad at someone." Anika answered briefly, and it only increased the curiosity of her friends.

"Who dares to irritate my baby? Tell me, let me beat him." Syeril asked fieryly while shaking the shoulders of Anika who was sitting beside her.

"Calm dear, I already beat him." Anika replied casually while releasing Syeril's hand from her shoulder.

"WHAT?"

"WHY?"

"WHO?"

"HUH?"

All of a sudden everyone clapped together, except for Keenan of course.

"I slapped him hard enough, so forget about this matter and let's get on with our work."

"Ok if you really don't want to talk about it, I believe you must have deterred that person, and I'm proud of you girl" Syeril patted Anika's shoulder like a proud parent for their child, and it managed to make everyone laugh again.

"Of course dear, who dares to harass Anika Jasleen on this campus." Anika replies with her confidence high level.

They return to focus on the task, Anika explains what everyone has to do, they all pay close attention to Anika, sometimes someone asks if something is not understood. But not with Keenan, he pays attention to Anika not to listen to what she is saying, for some reason he feels there is something interesting about this girl.

Keenan is an anti-social type, he is not easy to get along with strangers. He is close to Kevin because they were friends from middle school, it was Kevin who introduced Jonathan and Aidan to Keenan so at least he has some close friends now.

Then what about girlfriends? Keenan has a handsome face with a cool character, making many women fall in love with him, and there are some who have enough courage to express their feelings to Keenan. Did he reject them? Not all of them, there were some that he accepted and made girlfriends, but they didn't last long. With Keenan's cold character like that, his girlfriend got bored and finally broke up with him.

Basically Keenan accepts them also not based on love, only because Kevin told him to have a relationship with a woman. At first Keenan himself was confused as to why Kevin asked him to date, and only then did he understand when Kevin said that he didn't want Keenan and himself to be thought of as gay.

It sounds funny but that's the fact, many are gossiping about them because they are always together everywhere. And finally Keenan wants to try dating, but what's so special about having a girlfriend? The girls whined too much and were hard to understand, he who didn't understand what they wanted just responded as they asked. But in the end they even asked for a break up, dating is really complicated, that's what Keenan had in mind so now he doesn't want to have a girlfriend anymore, for who knows how long it will.

"Okay, everyone understands right?" Anika asks everyone in her group, while tidying up her books.

"Yep, very clear." Karin replied and the others nodded as a sign that they all understood their respective duties.

"And...you?" Anika pointed to Keenan again, usually she can quickly get along with new people, but Keenan has his own aura that makes Anika reluctant to act friendly to him.

"Well, I understand too, I will contact you directly if there is anything I need to ask."

Keenan's answer made Kevin a little surprised, didn't he hear wrong? Usually Keenan would prefer to ask him first, if there was no other choice then he would ask the person concerned. He's like that because he can't at least make small talk first if he has to deal with people who aren't very familiar with him.

"Oh ok, but don't call me past midnight." Anika said smiling faintly, "Because I'm already in dreamland."

"Yeah...yeah...you should know that she doesn't like being disturbed the most while on a date with her bed and pillow." Now Aidan was chattering at Keenan, while the others just laughed amusedly.

"You mean dating?" Ask Keenan couldn't understand the meaning of Aidan's words.

Anika rolled her eyes and smiled, then answered Keenan's question, "Umm, the point is....one of my main hobbies is...sleeping."

"Ppfftt .." Keenan smiled, and again made Kevin surprised. Keenan now understood why the others were also smiling amused earlier, "Ok, but why does the expression have to be dating?"

"Because her loyal boyfriend is her pillow and bolster, she doesn't want to date a man in real life." Said Sheryl obviously.

"Are you done exposing my disgrace?" Anika said sarcastically to her friends, "When it's finished, let's go back to our respective realms, I have a date with my pillow and bolster tonight."

"HA HA HA HA"

And again, they all laugh together, they are already very close, every time they gather there is always jokes and laughter, and sometimes the envy of other students, many want to join Anika's group because apart from being made up of intelligent people they are also has a good looking face.

And now their group has added one more member, giving a new nuance to their group, while at the same time creating a foreign feeling at the leader as well as the newcomer.