Chapter-28: Unofficial Club Meeting

Currently, we're discussing permission for the film club and the requirements set by the Principal. However, observing Haley's guilty expression, Jim had some questions.

"So, what happened? Why do you look so guilty, Haley? Are you hiding something from me?" Jim asked with narrowed eyes. His gaze, though skeptical, showed trust, intensifying Haley's guilt.

"Um, well, I am sorry," Haley apologized, bringing the table to a halt. This was Haley's first time seeking forgiveness from someone in front of them, even her friends. And, Jim's confused expression also drew everyone's attention, eager to know what had embarrassed Haley and made her guilty as well.

"What happened?" Jim inquired, having a slightly puzzled and concerned look on his face, earning nods from everyone.

Haley thought to herself, 'Well, Jim is already dealing with the review bombing on his novel, and now, because of me, he has even more work.' She looked pitiful as she gazed at Jim and said, "I think the principal assigned you this extra work was because of me when asked about club creation, normally it is quite easy to do. If you had asked someone like Alex, it would have been easy," her eyes downcast.

"Huh!" exclaimed Jim with an amused face. "And here I thought you wanted to confess to something serious, like you killed someone and blamed me. Huff, I guess I'm safe," Jim replied dramatically, looking visibly relieved. His statement made everyone erupt in laughter, and even Haley smiled a little at his way to say 'no problem' to her.

"Now, about the task the principal assigned us. We already needed to create something after the club's creation, so, what's the worry in that? After or before club establishment, we are creating this club for filming, and that's what Principle wants, then that's what he will get. You can also prove to the school and especially teachers that you're reliable. It's a double bonus situation for us, right?" Jim said with a smile, looking at Haley, who felt relieved that Jim didn't blame her. She smiled in return, regaining her spirits.

"Hey, Haley, if you don't want him, can I have him, or ~ just give me some days with him ~~?" whispered Sam from the side in Haley's ears seductively showing her purpose for the request. Her words were heard by her friends, disrupting the emotional moment for Haley.

Sam looked expectantly at Haley with optimistic face waiting for the confirmation, while her friends giggled at Sam's remark. Haley was left amused with Sam's act, but ignored it by looking away from Sam.

"Anyway, let me introduce myself again. My name is Jimmy, but you all can call me Jim. I'm the and leader and the one handling director role in the club," Jim stated, redirecting the topic from Haley's earlier emotional moment, allowing her some breathing space before facing more questions.

" - Name's Jackson, you all can call me Jack, - introduced Jack in short and precise way, without adding any information more then his name.

A girl with short hair, who appeared tomboyish, introduced herself first, "Hi, Anna here. You can call me Ann, or just Anna. I wanted to know if I could join your club. Nobody told me about it, and from Haley, I learned that you write really good scripts. I also wanted to join, and my talent is in filming, so don't worry about me freeloadin'," she said to Jim, expressing her desire to join and highlighting her video filming talent.

Anna even glanced at Haley when she sharply mentioned nobody mentioning her about the club showing her displeasure.

"Well, there is no problem from my side, the more, the merrier," replied Jim to Anna and looked at others.

"Hey, I wasn't the one that forgot to mention. When I called you three times during vacations, you didn't listen, saying that you are not interested in the new club or they are not up to your standards. Don't blame me for that," retorted Haley, feeling wronged about Anna's accusation, and her reply made Anna blush when she remembered doing just that. Just then, the break clock sounded, reminding everyone that only 5 minutes of the break are left.

Anna, not waiting for everyone, as time was nearly up for lunch break, introduced everyone else, "Well, the one with big tiddies to my left is Brenda, and the one on the right is Rose, and ~ she's loaded~." As she finished the introductions in haste while standing up from the table, the bell rang, and they all walked back to class together.

Jim and Jack engaged in a conversation as they walked back to class, and Jim gently reminded Jack of the commitment he made about joining the club. Jack readily agreed, acknowledging that while he might not be directly involved in the crew, he could contribute as a helper for various club-related tasks, such as reporting on club activities, and more.

Jim remembered the task and realized the need to select the genre for the first film they want to create. Reminding everyone, "Hey, everyone," which got everyone's attention, "After school, why don't we meet to decide the genre for the film we'll be shooting? We can meet at the school garden," asked Jim.

"Hey, hey we should do fantasy, where I can be the the princess..," said Sam hurriedly but got interrupted by Anna.

"Yeah, yeah, the cliché of the prince saving the princess and all," Anna said, making an obvious face.

"No, eww. I was going to say, I will be a warrior princess and save the prince. Hmph," replied Sam, looking a little flustered, as if Anna's assumption was true, but she didn't want to admit it.

Anna, seeing her reaction, knew that she had hit the nail and said, "Whatever you say," looking smug which made Sam more flustered as Sam tried to control the redness from her face from the embarrassment she felt due to getting exposed by Anna.

Haley suddenly intervened to stop Anna and Sam. Jack, using his notebook, also wrote the same thing Haley said, "Sure." With that, everyone entered the class and went to their own seats.

Classes passed by quickly, and it was finally time for the end of the classes. Everyone agreed to gather in the garden after bidding farewell to their friends for the day. After 20 minutes, everyone arrived, and they settled down on the grass in a circle, initiating the discussion. Brenda and Rose were absent as they had to leave early for some reason.

In reality, Brenda wasn't officially part of the club; she joined because of Rose. Rose, being Haley's friend, was invited by Haley to join the club, and Brenda, as Rose's friend, gradually became included in their group. Therefore, she wasn't an official member but was later asked to join.

- "So, I was thinking we should explore a detective theme, like one of those murder mysteries or something," - wrote Jack in his small notebook.

"Yeah, and I can be the detective," said Sam with excitement and a spark in her eyes.

"Huh! and ruin the character, no thanks," Anna retorted to Sam's statement.

"Well, Sam, we have to choose roles through auditions among us or based on who wants which part. It also depends on Jim's decision. Only if his choice is bad will we try to intervene, which I don't think will happen," commented Haley to Sam as she rolled her eyes.

"Alternatively, we could go for something easier like a horror story, such as a creepy entity haunting a family or a ghost in a house," suggested Anna with a thoughtful and satisfied expression.

"Hm, that could work. Horror is relatively easy to create, and we won't need much time. I already have a story ready for it; it might not be scary to read, but in a visual setting like a movie, it'll look terrifying. We just need a suitable location to shoot the scenes and some props and equipment," said Jim, considering the practicality of the scary film idea. He was confident that they could execute it quickly with minimal editing, as long as they found the right setting and created a suitable ambiance.

- "Well, horror is good and all, but where do we shoot it? I don't think this school will be the best place, not if you don't want to scare only newlywed couples trying to start a family or having kids," - wrote Jack, inquiring about the filming location.

"And, we will also need the equipment to shoot, and Jack's point is true; children in school can only give parents a scare, not everyone," added Anna to Jack's joke while also adding her point in it.

"Well, shooting will not be a problem, as it will be through footage and devices, and we can use some building cameras to make it even scarier and more realistic," said Jim, sharing his thought process on shooting the film similarly to paranormal activity, incorporating elements from some famous movies that were scary.

"Oh, my sister has all the equipment we can use," intervened Haley, highlighting the availability of the needed filming equipment.

"But, the location will still be a problem, right?" added Sam, with a little less excitement as she wanted the filming to start at this very moment to showcase how well she could perform. Her screams would prove that she was the perfect fit for the role of the heroine in the horror movie.

"Hm," muttered everyone as silence once again surrounded them, contemplating a suitable place to shoot. For the next 10 minutes, not a single person made a sound, except for some scratching coming from the pages being written by Anna, and Jack seriously considering and jotting down the names of the best-suited locations.

Suddenly, Jack clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and wrote, - "We need a house, either a villa or a common one, but with perfectly arranged rooms to make it look spooky while having camera angle which can show all of the room. We can't make changes to the place that much in a short time, so keep that in mind too." - A good suggestion came from Jack, and everyone agreed it had to be considered.

"Yeah, that's true. Well, let me also remove some names from my list," replied Anna, cutting some places she thought would not be suitable. After doing that she again fell in deep thoughts.

Jimmy who came out of his deep thoughts after being disturbed by what Jack did suddenly remembered that Gia might be done with school for today and recalled his promise to pick her up if she's late, informing everyone, "Hey, everyone, I think we should leave while we can think of the location at home or even ask our parents for a location that's not being used and can be lent to us. As for how we will contact each other."

"Hmm, I will take Jack's mobile number and add both him and Haley to the chat group for our club, and she will add you all. How does that sound?" asked Jim, seeking any doubts or rejection of the suggestion. Not finding any, he looked towards Jack for the number.

Everyone, observing that it was almost time to go home and considering that addressing everything at once might be overwhelming for the overall project, agreed with Jimmy. Jack handed a small page with his number to Jimmy, who stored it in his pocket as everyone made their way outside of the school.

Once outside, everyone said their farewells and left for their modes of transport while Anna waited for her ride home, which was her mom.

Jack left with Sam, mentioning that his home wasn't far and was in the same direction as Sam's home. They had known each other for a long time as neighbors but became fast friends after joining the same club.

As Jim was about to make his way to Gia's school, Haley suddenly stopped him and asked, "Hey, can I come with you? I also told my mom to come late to pick me up, but now it might take her an hour, so I told her I would be back home with you."

Jim, not seeing any problem with this, agreed as they made their way to Gia's school. After 4 minutes of a slow walk and casual talk, they reached it and saw Gia waiting for Jim outside with her friends.

Gia, who saw Jim, said her farewells to her friends for the day and ran up to Jim, excitedly sharing, "Jim-Jim, I told your story today to the class. My friends were really happy to read it. Hehehe, even the teacher told me that I have a good taste for novels," she said, looking proud and really energetic compared to her morning self who complained about going to school.

"Well, congrats then! Now you must be the coolest girl in the class, no?" praised Jim with a happy smile, looking at Gia, who had changed so much after they moved from their old house to this community. She looked more like a kid who totally enjoyed her life than someone who had to mature early because of her environment.

"Yes, but a guy tried to say that I was lame. Hmph, I kicked him in the balls, just like Haley taught me on how to deal with irritating guys," smugly narrated Gia, proudly sharing her unconventional method of handling a boy who had annoyed her, following Haley's advice.

Jim looked shocked and immediately glanced at Haley, feeling a sympathetic cringe at the imagined suffering the poor boy must have endured. Haley, on the other hand, looked guilty once again, this time for a valid reason, and turned her head away from Jim's stare. Jim stare promised her a long lecture.

At that moment, Haley was thinking to herself, 'I told her how to handle someone who irritated her and wouldn't leave, but I never intended for her to use my advice in her school. I need to tell her that she shouldn't resort to such measures with her classmates; teachers are there to solve such issues.'

"But I couldn't hit him hard; the teacher reacted quickly. Otherwise, he would have been crying for calling me lame," Gia looked upset and balled up her fist, but Jimmy couldn't discern whether she was upset about not hitting hard enough or being called 'lame' by the boy.

"I definitely should," repeated Haley in her whispers, looking at the monster that she had created with just one lecture. It was now her responsibility to guide her back on the right path, or many boys would suffer the consequences.

During the rest of the walk, it was just Jim and Haley calming down the mini Godzilla named Gia, while also explaining to her the types of people who deserve physical retaliation and those who just need a good verbal scolding. After reaching the area of their house in the community, both brother and sister separated from Haley and went to their home.

Reaching home, they found Ava at home, working on something, which Jim assumed was related to his novel. He received a kiss on the face from Gia and their mom. His mom instructed him to rest for a couple of days while she and her friends worked on the novel.

Not in the mood to check the rankings for novels, as he still had a whole month left for the competition, Jim decided to take a small nap. Over the next three days, discussions revolved around securing the location for filming the paranormal activities and deciding which one to choose, with Rose and Branda actively participating in the group. Jim had already shared the storyline and plot with the group, and they seemed to like it, but that's a conversation for another time.

While Ava worked on the novel problem, Jimmy got some breathing time, and the AI's results also came in, providing evidence that this wasn't the first time such incidents occurred. The top 100 had some writers engaging in similar practices with many newcomers in every competition, including in the junior writer competition on the website.

Observing Ava's increasing happiness each day, Jim decided to wait until the end of the week before refocusing his attention on the matter. His mother's obvious happiness indicated that she was making progress in her plan.

With that in mind, Jim considered suggesting the idea of buying one or two houses in their community that could act like a set. Their area had big houses resembling small mansions, but near the entrance of the community, there were some normal and small homes available for purchase.

Prepared for the new day of high school, Jim kept this plan in the back of his mind.