Jia groggily opened her eyes as she felt cold droplets of water on her face. Her head throbbed for some reason and she saw three faces staring intently at her. Mina, Namjoon and Jungkook. Jia groaned in pain wondering why she felt as though she woke up from an unsatisfying nap. A few seconds of confusion later, it hit her. She hadn't fallen asleep; she had in fact, fainted. The sudden realisation made her shoot up straight in a hurry to sit. She hit the gawking face of Namjoon in the process. Her suspicions were confirmed as she noticed that she was still in the cafeteria. She groaned and rubbed her head to make the pain go away. She rewound the event in her head and almost screamed again in frustration.

She had turned around to see Jungkook with his ever-annoying coconut head right next to hers. He held a terrible furry eight-legged creature in his hand; a spider. The moment she'd realised what it was, he had gracefully thrown it upon her. That was all it took for her to faint. Now that she thought about, she realised that it wasn't even an original one. Just a fake plastic one to throw her off guard. Jia had a bad case of Arachnophobia, something she'd mentioned to him as a child. And he shamelessly took advantage of it.

Why was Jungkook being like this to her? When Jia mentioned that he was weird. She meant super, crazy, bat-shit weird. He was just a random boy to the rest of the school but to Jia, he was the mascot of disaster, the face of evil and a lunatic prankster. Jia had no idea why she was his target. They'd both been real good friends in their elementary grades until he was forcefully shifted to a boarding school and it wasn't until two years back that he had miraculously joined the school again. Jia was happy to see her friend again but he had changed drastically. He wasn't the carefree, energetic kid anymore. He seemed more...troubled.

Jia had dismissed it off as signs of puberty but at one point, it really got on her nerves. After his mysterious reappearance, he'd randomly tease Jia which she found weird considering how they had been apart for a while. What started as a petty playground teasing turned into a full-blown prank war. Jia was unsure why it bugged her but it had gotten to her so badly that she'd plotted pranks against him too. Bad move. It only riled up his interests. Now, she felt like she was caught in an endless loop of a cat and mouse chase. When Arden started dating him, he had left her alone. It painfully dawned on her that she was now his coping-mechanism for his breakup. This was exactly why Arden dating this childish monster had surprised her. Then again, she felt like she was the only one who saw this side of him. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her but everyone was busy minding their own business. Of course, the fun parts were over.

"Thank god, you're alright." She heard Mina say.

"Wow. I knew you were scared but I really didn't expect you to faint. It was fun to watch." Jungkook smiled smugly next to her. Jia had never in her entire life wished so desperately to ram someone's head against a wall.

"Dude. Not cool." Namjoon shook his head disapprovingly. "You don't play with people's phobia. You wouldn't like it if she locked you up in a room because she knew you're claustrophobic, would you?" Namjoon was her other classmate. He was assumed to be Jungkook's closest friend but Jia never really understood why. He was the exact opposite of everything that Jungkook stood for. Namjoon was studious and mature for his age. He was also incredibly nerdy. He was her main competitor when it came to academics in class. Someone she often went neck-to-neck with. Now, he was the typical nerd you read about in books; too busy to care about his permanently messy hair, occasional glasses and a cute dimpled smile.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" Jungkook asked indignantly.

"When have I ever been on your side?"

"You have a point."

"I always have a point."

Jia closed her eyes and massaged her temples, trying to shun away the continued bickering.

"Why" she asked looking up at Jungkook. He was still immersed in his conversation but Namjoon noticed her and nudged him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Jia asked.

"Easy. Because it's fun." Jungkook replied.

Jia clenched her teeth. "You're supposed to be sad. You just had a break-up. Go back to being sad and leave me alone, please? Get your coconut head out of my sight."

Mina nudged her at that, looking alarmed at the bluntness of the words.

"If you thought you could get rid of me, you're so naïve, Princess." Jungkook retorted back, ignoring her statement.

Princess. Jia hated that word with her whole heart. Most guys meant that as a term of endearment and most girls loved to be called one. But in their case, it was the opposite. The way he said it, laced with sneer and smugness, Jia simply hated it. Technically, she'd won the nickname round. Because let's face it, Coconut head was a dope name. And she knew how much he hated it. He'd called her princess at the spur of a moment, knowing full well that it couldn't possibly match up to her name but it stuck. Lucky for him, it worked out well that she hated it.

He leaned down closer to her face. "So, if you want to survive this semester. I suggest, you start getting used to it, alright?"

Jia said nothing and simply glared back at him.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a class to get back to. See you around, yeah?" He winked at her. "Oh, and one more thing..." He added.

"Jungkook – 1; Jia – 0"

With that, he walked away, dragging Namjoon along with him. The other boy mouthed a silent apology before hurrying away.

"That's it." Gritted Jia. "I'm going to bribe Arden into taking him back."

"Relax. It's just his coping-mechanism. I'm sure it'll water down soon." Mina tried to cheer her up.

Jia groaned and looked around again. "Be honest, Mina. On a scale of one to ten, how embarrassing was it this time?"

Mina bit her lip before putting on a pity face. "I'd say around 8.5. Everyone looked when you screamed. The startled jump and the added fainting got a lot of laughing but they're all back to ignoring now. So, it's okay."

"Ugh great. One semester. One semester of peace is all I ask for. Why am I his punching bag?" Jia whined.

Mina did not have an answer to that. And apparently, neither did Namjoon or Jungkook.

***

Jia spent the rest of the day sulking while Jungkook was a changed person, all smiling and giggling. She walked out the school's main building and waved to Mina as they part ways to go home. A familiar car was parked outside. Jia's mood suddenly perked up and she hurried her steps, practically jumping towards it. Her promise was about to get fulfilled.

"Dad!"

"Good evening, kiddo." He smiled at her. Jia instantly found herself smiling.

They drove to the nearby Ice cream chain with Sinatra blaring loudly on the stereo. She ordered a double scoop Belgian chocolate and her dad settled for strawberry.

"How was school?"

"Boring." Jia said, trying not to bring it up but her sulking face must have given it away, for her dad raised his eyebrows.

"Everything okay?"

Jia sighed. "Remember that kid who used to annoy me all the time last year?"

"Yeah. Jeon something. The kid who hung out with you in third grade."

'Wow'. Jia thought, 'he remembers'. "Yeah Jeon Jungkook. He's annoying me again. He threw a spider on me."

Her dad's eyes widened. "Real one?"

"No. A fake one." Jia quickly corrected.

"Oh." He said, relaxing. "That's funny." He said, scraping the edges of his bowl. He was chuckling.

"Dad, that's not funny. You know how much I hate spiders."

He paused and corrected himself. "You're right. You're right. Not funny. Very bad."

Jia frowned. "You think it's silly. Never mind."

"No, I think it's very serious. It's not cool." He nodded solemnly. "Didn't you have a funny nickname for this guy?"

"Coconut head." Jia replied, laughing at the thought.

"Ah yes, the infamous coconut head." Her dad finished his bowl clean. "You know, the best way to avoid these people are to ignore them. If you react, you only feed more to their joy. If it bothers you, try acting like nothing happened the next time he pulls a prank on you. They'll get bored and eventually leave."

Jia pondered on it. This was not something she hadn't thought of before. But every time he annoyed her; she simply felt the need to annoy him back. She didn't like to admit it, but somewhere deep inside, she enjoyed the attention. And let's be real. The successful execution of a prank and their reaction to it was priceless. She shook her head as though to wipe away the thought. For now, she decided to concentrate on the ice cream.

***

"Dad? read to me?" Jia begged as she walked upstairs to her room.

Much to her delight, he agreed and they hurried into her room after she wished her mother goodnight. She climbed onto the mattress and pulled the blanket over her. Her dad pulled out a chair and settled beside her bed.

"Which one do you want to hear?" He asked, shifting pages through his book of poems.

"O Captain! My Captain!" She replied excitedly. He had read it to her for over a hundred times but she could never get enough of it.

"Alright." He chuckled before turning the pages. He cleared his throat and began gliding through the words of the poem.

"O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won..."

Jia loved the way he uttered every word. It contained so much passion and elegance. He had the right intonations and knew exactly when to pause and when not to. She listened intently as went over the lines. She loved hearing him read it so much that she'd developed the habit of calling him 'captain' at times.

"...Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

But I with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead."

Her skin erupted with goose bumps and she sniffled lightly. The poem held an emotional connection between them that she just couldn't fathom.

"Shall I move on to the next one?" He smiled. Jia nodded her head in reply.

"How about Shelly?"

"O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing..."

He began reciting and Jia found herself slowly drifting off to sleep.