Don't Scream (Complete)

Chapter 5

Jonah Whitley 

As Jonah set foot inside the familiar-looking Photography Room, a musty, month-old aroma hit his nostrils and caused his olfactory senses to kick in. Instead of wrinkling his nose at the odor, Jonah simply smiled. 

Jonah only felt truly at home in this room. After not being here for almost two months due to the summer holidays, he felt like he was meeting an old friend after a long and unpreventable separation. 

Dropping his bag to the floor, Jonah shut the door to the room, also shutting out the world outside. All Jonah wanted was to be in this room and revel in its silent companionship, and he didn't want anything else to ruin that moment. 

Walking forward, Jonah ran his hands across the tables, cleaning off the dust. Amongst all the many classrooms in the school-building, the Photog Room was the room least taken care of. But Jonah didn't mind. He wouldn't have minded even if he had to work in a midst of dust bunnies. As long as he could pursue his passion for photography, he didn't mind one itty bitty bit. 

Time to see if the computer still works. 

The computer on the desk was an old model, probably put there since the school was first built. When Jonah first founded the Photog Club back in his junior year, the administration had gladly allowed him to take the computer as his own. Meaning they dumped it on him. 

Jonah didn't mind, for he liked antique objects, in a sense. He installed all the programs he needed onto the Photog Room's computer, most of them being photo albums filled with the photos that Jonah took for the Club. So far, he was the only club member in the Photog Club, but now that there was a new injection of juniors and sophomores, Jonah hoped to be able to recruit some students who might be eager to learn more about photography. 

As Jonah switched the computer on, it whirred and buzzed loudly as it always did. After two seconds of flickering on the screen, it came into focus to reveal the desktop. 

Jonah opened up a file on the top left that was labelled: Junior Year Photos. 

Checking to make sure each and every photo was intact, he scrolled through the many photos he had taken last year. 

A picture of the cheerleading team posing and smiling, next followed by a magnificent shot of a butterfly perched on a leaf and even a bird's eye view of the football field while a match was going on. 

Jonah exited the file and began to create a new one, labelling it: Sophomore Year Photos. 

He then proceeded to upload two photos into that file, He'd only just taken those two photos this morning: a picture of his new classroom and of the hallway filled with brand new arrivals and old classmates. 

Over the year, Jonah would enter this room after school, boot up his computer and upload more photos. Then he would proceed onward to either finish up his homework, or if there happened to be none, he would explore the school, always on the lookout for some picturesque shots or picture-perfect moments. 

For example, a picture of Mr Jaymes spilling a coffee, or a picture of two cheerleaders having a heated argument. Whenever there was any form of dispute or drama, Jonah was there with his camera in hand. 

The only sounds to be heard were the clicking of Jonah's mouse and the tapping of his fingers on the keyboard in the quiet room. Only when someone knocked on the door that the silence was broken. 

Jonah jumped a little, startled. His eyes moved to the clock on the table. 

3:08 

He'd been immersed in his own little world for little over an hour. 

"Come in!" Jonah called with a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

Who could possibly be disturbing him at this time? 

The door swung open and a girl stepped in. She was short, but just about the same height as Jonah. 

Her dress choice told Jonah that she had to be a junior student; she was dressed in a checkered dress that reached her ankles in length and on her feet were Hawaiian flip flops. The girl had a brown sling-bag slung over her shoulder and her hair was tied back in two ponytails. She looked like a hippie version of Madame Fortune - in a teenage body. 

"Is this where the Photography Club is being held?" the girl asked. 

Jonah wasn't one to be sarcastic, even though he considered saying something sarcastic to the girl at that point. There was a sign right outside the door pasted on the door that clearly read:"Photog Club." Couldn't the girl read? 

Jonah bit back his comment. He knew he had to be nice, this girl could possibly be a new recruit.

"Yes, this is where the Photography Club meetings are held. Are you a new recruit?" Jonah asked. 

The girl smiled. 

"Maybe in the future. The only reason I came here was to find you." 

Jonah raised an eyebrow. He was flattered for sure, but his mind was free of any thoughts relating to sex and romance. After living out his life, keeping to his strict and demanding routine, in a sense, he had armoured his heart against any emotions that would distract him from his academics. Perhaps it was the lack of socialising that had made Jonah so foreign to the thoughts of dating girls. 

"Did a teacher send you?" Jonah asked lamely. 

The girl, instead of scoffing, very politely shook her head. Jonah saw the beginning of a smile. 

"No, I just came to - ...you really don't know who I am?" she asked. 

Jonah looked the girl up and down, scrutinisng her, trying to pair her face to anyone in his memory. At first, he couldn't place her to a name. 

But then, in a flash, the girl's name appeared in her face. As well as his relationship with her. 

"P - P - Ponnie?" Jonah stammered. 

Ponnie, as the girl was, grinned rather mysteriously. 

"So you do remember me then?" 

Jonah nodded. He remembered spending his childhood in a rough neighborhood with his father. Day after day, his father would feed him the leftovers of other people's food. Jonah hadn't been able to take living with him and fled to be with his aunt. 

But before he left, he had been friends with a girl named Ponnie, who he had befriended at a playground when his father had left him there to go deal with business. 

Jonah scratched the back of his head. 

"That - that was so long ago, I - I - I hardly even remember much about what we used to do back then." 

Ponnie looked down thoughtfully. 

"Hm, yeah. Well, at the very least, it's good to see you again." 

Ponnie held out a hand to shake. 

In a way, Jonah was grateful to her. He knew that Ponnie was aware of how she made him feel awkward and so she kept her cool and only offered to shake her hand instead of doing anything intimate, such as hugging. 

Jonah's social skills had literally been rotting away in the last 3 years due to his mundane and monotonous routine, to such an extent that even the tiny gesture of shaking Ponnie's hand sent his skin crawling with goosebumps. 

But Jonah forced down his 'animal' fear and shook Ponnie's hand. 

He had to admit it was glad to actually speak to someone his own age, as strange as it might have felt. 

After the brief handshake, Ponnie looked around the dusty Photog Room. 

"So you needed a new recruit?"