by Rachel Burns
He nodded as she blushed. She turned away from him even though he had seen her before. She felt so shy at the moment.
In that time, he had positioned the chair, but he didn’t sit down on it. She looked at him confused again.
“You need to stand behind the chair and lean in and hold on to the top of the back with your hands.”
She frowned and moved behind the chair. She gave him a look that asked if she was doing it right.
“That’s perfect. This is really going to hurt, but please don’t swear or let go of the chair. I don’t want to have to repeat any. Here comes the first one.” He brought it down with only half the force he had used on Brianna.
Cathy’s shoulders shook, and she said a very sad sounding ‘oh.’ Her knees bent on the next one, and he helped her back to standing. “You are doing just great, darling.” Once she was composed, he gave her the next.
“Please, stop Scott, please, please, please,” she begged.
“You are doing so well. I’m very proud of you. You can have a break at five if you want.” He gave her the next, and she started to go down again. He caught her again.
“One more, and we will stop. Okay, just one more?”
She sobbed so bitterly trying not to cry out. He brought the paddle down on her backside, and she fell to the floor crying loudly. He sat down with her and hugged her. “I’m the world’s worst brother.”
Her crying was joined with her laughter. “I think you do just fine.” She was holding him tightly. “Makes a person really appreciate the hand spankings from back home. The only good thing here is that there is no corner time where you can’t rub.”
“Rub all you want, Cathy.” He hugged her even tighter. “I’m sorry I had to do that to you. You were only being a Good Samaritan. But the rules state clearly that no excuse can be accepted. The others would have wondered.”
“Please, be gentle with Brianna too.” Cathy snuggled into his chest. She felt so terribly tired. “Scott, bring me to bed, please.”
“Sure thing.” He picked her up and brought her to bed. He did give her a kiss as she sobbed in pain.
“This is really a terrible rotten school,” she said as she yawned.
“That’s right, honey.” He collected his things again. It was dark out in the meantime, so he flicked the lights off as he left.
Scott put away his torture devices, still mad that Brianna had made him have to hurt Cathy like that. He got out her file and dialed her father’s cell.
Charles answered right away. “Hello?” He hadn’t recognized the number. He usually did.
“Sir, this is Scott Greene.”
“Hello, Scott. Is everything all right with Brianna?”
“Mostly. She probably won’t be able to sit for a while, but otherwise, her health is just fine.”
“I see. This is a call about her behavior.” He already sounded so mad.
“Yes, sir. She came in late for curfew this evening. She had been to town with my sister. When they came back, she wanted to take all the blame on herself, because she had gotten tired on the way back and had to rest. Now I don’t have anything against the resting, but she knew she had problems with her condition before she left so she should have known that she would need a rest on the way back.”
“Hear, hear.”
“The thing is the whole floor went to town before Christmas, and she had trouble on the way back then, but she went a little slower, and it didn’t hold us up too much. So I’m guessing they were cutting it closely to begin with and then she tried to run to make it back on time, and then she needed a break.”
“That sounds about right to me too.” Brianna’s father was liking this young man more and more. He wasn’t letting her trick him.
“I had to punish not only her but also my sister because she stayed with Brianna. The way I see it Brianna has to take responsibility for herself, and if she knows that she will be having problems getting back, then she should have warned her friend instead of dragging her down with her.”
“That’s how I see it too. It sounds to me like Brianna was trying to play you. Good for you for not letting her. Once something like that starts, it’s hard to stop. You have to nip it in the bud. I’m glad you did. It will set the mood for later on.”
“That’s how I explained it to her too. Someone like her just has more limitations, and a person has a whole list of things that they can imagine what could have gone wrong. I was about to call the hospital when they finally showed up.
“The reason that I am calling is that I really let her have it for making me worry like that. If she calls and complains that she was treated unjustly, you know my side of it. I was strict, but I really wanted her to learn that lesson.”
“I hoped it worked. I really do.” Her father sounded like he’d had the same talk with her for the same reason.
“I still have a bit to tattle.”
Brianna’s father laughed. “Well, tattle away, son.”
“I put her to bed once I was finished, and I figured she would sleep through the night, so I got out her pills. She hadn’t taken the ones from this afternoon. She claimed that this was the first time she had ever forgotten them, but it seemed unlikely that the one time I check is the one time she forgets. I will be checking more often, but maybe you or your wife could talk to her about the importance of taking her medicine regularly.”
“Oh, I hope you beat her but good.”
“Yes, sir, I did. She is sleeping on her stomach as we speak.”
“I’ll give her a call tomorrow and talk to her after church. I know you feel like you are tattling, but it really is in her best interest. I appreciate the call, son. I really do. We won’t let her do anything stupid either. You acted just right.”
After they had exchanged the customary how are the folks and the wife questions, they hung up.
Charles really hoped that things would work out with Brianna and Scott. That young man had a head on his shoulders, and he wasn’t afraid to tell him how things really stood between the two of them.
Scott was just what his Brianna needed. He had spanked the daylights out of her because she had made him worry.
Charles had to smiled to himself. That young man was just what he would have picked out for her too.
Cathy got up in the middle of the night. She slipped into her pajamas and went to the bathroom. After she was finished, she knocked very softly on Brianna’s door.
The door opened, and Scott stood there looking at her, not Brianna.
“Is she sick?” she whispered. She moved on the tiptoes of her feet so she could look around him and into the room. She saw Brianna sleeping in bed.
“No, just sore.”
“Then what are you doing in here?” Cathy asked.
“I was just checking on her.” His eyes told her that he was lying.
She gave him a sly smile. “Do you do that often?”
“Cathy, it’s a big responsibility having someone like her on the floor. I take that very seriously.”
Cathy smiled and nodded. “How long do such check-ups last?” Her eyes were dancing with delight. She loved the idea of the two of them getting married one day.
Scott looked over his shoulder at Brianna. Great, now that Cathy was here he couldn’t give Brianna a kiss before he left. He closed and locked the door. He grabbed Cathy and pulled her into her own room.
“I wasn’t doing anything to her. I just like to look at her. I hardly get a chance during the day. Besides, her parents asked me to check on her.”
“Does she ever wake up and see you?” Cathy was full of questions and choosing just one at a time was really hard.
“No, not yet. Except when she was sick, and I had warned her that I would be coming by.”
“Scott, when are you going to tell her?”
“After she is finished with school here. That is if she will still want me?”
“What do you mean by that?” Cathy squinted her eyes and stared him down.
&
nbsp; “After the spanking I gave her today, she may not want me anymore,” Scott admitted.
“Scott, want did you do to her.”
“I gave her the spanking of a lifetime for making me worry. I really don’t think that she will want to see me anytime soon. I even called her father. He wants her to call him tomorrow. He was mad at her too.”
“But she was only a half an hour late because she got a little dizzy?” Cathy protested.
“Brianna was dizzy because she didn’t take her medicine this afternoon. She got dizzy when we into town before Christmas too. She knew it could happen, and she can’t let us worry like that.”
“So that was a spanking that will teach her exactly where her place is, not only now but when you are married?”
Scott smiled to himself. He liked that Cathy thought about them as being married one day.
“Scott, wake up.” She waved her hand back and forth in front of his face. “This could backfire. Brianna isn’t yours yet. She is still incredibly embarrassed that you had to save her life. She never wanted anyone to see her scars, and apparently, it was your fault that she slept in one morning so she had to shower with the others. Since then, they all treat her like a sick baby. She hates that and blames you for it. Whatever you feel for her she isn’t ready for it. Punishing her like you are already her husband just isn’t okay.” Cathy bit her lip, thinking he was ruining everything.
“Good night, Cathy.” He left not wanting to hear what she had to say. Brianna would be his wife one day. He’d show Cathy.
He stepped in the hall and saw Hannah. She stared at him shocked and then went into her room.
It took Scott a moment to realize what she had thought. She would have been right too if she had been out in the hall five minutes earlier and had seen him coming out of Brianna’s room.
He smiled to himself and knocked on her door.
She opened and gave him a disgusted look.
“May I come in?” Scott asked Hannah.
She nodded, but she was still repulsed. He walked in and pulled out the desk chair and sat down. After she sat down across from him, he smiled at her. “Do you know why Cathy is here?”
“Some guy was stalking her.”
“Yes, that’s right. And as her big brother, I see it as my job to protect her.” He let that sink in.
She looked relieved, and then the light bulb went on. “So you know Brianna from home too.”
“No, I met her here. I had no idea about her until I was doing CPR on her. No one had told me. Everyone assumed I knew, but I didn’t. She and I misunderstood each other in the beginning. I thought she was here because she liked to skip class, and I said something to that effect, and she thought that I knew.”
He smiled thinking back to her hanging her head ashamed. She could be so silly. He longed to go back into her room and stare at her some more.
“Please don’t tell anyone that Cathy is my sister. It would make her life here more difficult. The move here was to make things easier for her.”
“I’m sorry I thought that. I should have known better. She looks a lot like you, and you both have the same last name. It is really obvious now. I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Hannah promised.
“Thanks. Go to sleep now.”
“Umm, Scott. I was wondering, maybe when I graduate – that maybe we could see each other privately this summer.” She was blushing red, but the thought of not having him in her life anymore scared her too. He seemed to really understand her, and he kept her on track, and she really needed that.
She felt she needed him so she could be herself. When she saw him coming out of Cathy’s room, she’d thought. She had been more jealous than anything else. Cathy who had just showed up here. No, that wasn’t fair.
“I’m really sorry, but I can’t.”
“But I wouldn’t be at school anymore. There would be no unprofessionalism going on.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m practically engaged to a girl back home. Our families even spend the holidays together. It’s a sure thing, pretty much.”
“That didn’t sound so sure.” Hannah was a little confused.
“I’m sure. I won’t be backing out. The rest is up to her. She hasn’t said yes yet, but I hope that when I do ask that she will. Her father already said, yes. We are definitely on the right track. My parents love her too. She’s perfect.” He was smiling a goofy smile just thinking about her.
“Oh, that’s great. Congratulations. I’m really happy for you. Are you going to ask her to marry you this summer?”
“No, later when she is further along at school. Maybe when I finish law school? I want to be sure that she will say yes. The timing has to be right. But anyway. You have to get your sleep. Finals are coming up. Good night.”
Brianna felt just terrible the next morning. Her backside seemed to have its own pulse as it throbbed away. She needed to take a shower, but the idea of getting up just seemed to be too much.
Today was Sunday, and she felt she had to go to church, but she just couldn’t.
Had he been trying to kill her?
She laid back down and tried to fall asleep, but it hurt too much. She was already lying on her stomach. The thought of getting up and having breakfast, having to sit for it, and then going to church and sitting through the service was too much.
She started to cry again. It was self pity crying, but it still felt like it was helping her. Eventually she fell back to sleep.
Scott woke her up. He had the phone in his hands. “It’s your parents.” He gave her the phone and left, closing the door behind him.
“Hello?” Her voice cracked as she spoke.
“Are you just now waking up?” Brianna recognized her father’s voice.
“Yes, Daddy. I woke up at the normal time. But I wasn’t feeling that well so I went back to sleep.”
His voiced softened. “You aren’t sick are you?”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Yes well, a bruised backside takes awhile to heal,” he yelled.
“Charles.” That was her mother. Great they were on the speaker phone so they could both scold her.
“Don’t Charles me, she is the one that has been pulling so much crap.”
“Daddy, I’m sorry. We almost made it on time. I just got winded and had to sit down for a spell.”
“Why were you winded?”
“Sir?”
“It was a really simple question, Brianna. Why were you winded? We know that you can take walks if you go slowly. So why did you get winded when you were walking so slowly?”
“I um. You see. We thought. Well, I thought that I could make it in that time.”
“So you lied about taking a break?”
“No, sir, I didn’t lie.”
“Why were you winded? And don’t start in lying now.” She heard his fist pound onto his desk.
“I was hurrying, and then it didn’t work.”
“I see. So you were running?”
“Walking quickly would be a much better way of putting it.”
“Well, I’m glad that it was from the quick walking and not the pills you forgot.”
“Oh, shit,” she whispered.
“We heard that. Should we call Scott and tell him to have another go at you?”
“No, Daddy, please don’t.” She was bawling. Just the thought of going over his knees again brought tears to her eyes. “It will never happen again, ever. I learned my lesson.”
“Brianna, honey, don’t cry.” Eva was crying right along with her daughter.
“Eva, our precious little daughter really needed to learn a lesson. I think that young man was more capable of teaching it than I have ever been.”
“I’m so sorry.” Brianna sobbed. “I didn’t want to make everyone mad at me. I was just feeling so normal, like the other girls. I didn’t want it to end.”
“But you aren’t a normal girl and pretending will only get you in trouble, my little treasure.” Eva wanted to hug her so badly t
hat her arms were wrapped around herself. “This is normal for you. You have to think about your medicine, and that you have to rest every so often. You are making us all worry, and you may not do that.”
“I’m sorry, Mama,” Brianna said between heart breaking sobs.
“That young man was right to punish you. I hope you didn’t try to get out of it again?”
“No, Mama. I didn’t. I think I took it very well, but it was the worst spanking I had ever gotten in all my life. I still can’t get up.” She cried into the phone, his phone.
“Good then lie there and think about what you are all missing because of your spanking. You missed church today; I gather that you must have missed breakfast too. I’m afraid to ask if you have taken your pills this morning?” Brianna wasn’t used to her mother doing the scolding.
There was silence broken only by light sobs from Brianna.
“Well, have you, or haven’t you?” Now her mother was yelling at her too.
“Not yet, Mama,” Brianna admitted.
“If I were there right now, I would take you over my knees too.” Her mother was spitting mad.
“I just woke up. I’ll take them right away. I promise.”
“You better young lady, or so help me –”
“I will, Mama.” Brianna pushed herself up and slowly moved to her pill drawer. The skin on her bottom felt like it had stretch to its breaking point. It was drawn so tight she was afraid to bend. She got out her pills and swallowed them down two at a time. “I just took them, Mama. Did you hear?”
“Yes, I did. But I still worry that you forget them more often.” Eva had her arms folded over her chest, and she was pacing up and down in her husband’s office. Her husband was leaning back in his chair, watching her and admiring her. She had always been a wait until your father gets home type, but she was laying into Brianna now. The girl needed to hear that they were all united on this. He was proud of his wife.
“I was just so excited about going out that I forgot them yesterday. It really was the first time, honest. Please don’t be mad at me anymore. He was already so strict, and my punishment isn’t even over with. I still have to write ‘I will never be unaccountable for again’ a thousand times. If I make mistakes, he will punish me again,” she sobbed.
