Bad Girls (22 page)

I stopped and looked down at her. She remained over the desk, making no move to get up, her body shaking gently with quiet sobs and her ass a glorious mixture of blacks, blues, reds, pinks and whites. I could only assume that the bruising from the previous spanking would be nothing compared to this. Additionally, I imagined she had a few days of serious soreness in store for her. Looking at her, inert over the desk, made me realize she'd lost her own volition entirely. She was so deep into her submission that she would do nothing unless I told her to.

‘I'm very proud of you, Ashley,' I said, a bit officiously. ‘You handled your first paddling admirably. I'm sure you hope it will be your last. Now you can go stand in the corner until you're ready to return to class.'

She did as she was told, walking towards the corner with a bit of a waddle since she hadn't been told to raise her panties. Her skirt inevitably fell to cover her ass and I requested she raise it so I could enjoy the view of my handiwork. She obeyed without hesitation and I sat on her couch. I looked at my watch to make sure she remained in the corner for an adequate period of time, and when ten minutes had passed I summonsed her so we could talk about her behavior.

‘How did that feel, Ashley?'

‘It was horrible, Mr Harris. It hurt worse than anything.'

‘I'm sorry it has to hurt so badly, but I'm afraid that's the only way some people learn. Have you learned your lesson?'

‘Yes, Mr Harris, and thank you… for everything.'

‘You were a kind principal, Bruce,' Ashley said, after we spent a few minutes letting the scene fade away.

‘How do you mean?'

‘Well, I always fantasized about cruel principals. It used to turn me on to think about them doing awful things to the girls sent to their office.'

‘Like what, Ashley?'

‘It's really embarrassing.'

‘It's okay, Ashley. I'd like to hear.'

‘Well, I imagined principals who would forbid girls from going to the bathroom and spank them so hard it made them pee. I imagined principals who would make girls strip nude for their spankings and then invite the whole school to watch. There would be this big assembly and anyone who was going to get spanked would be naked and on display to all their classmates. Sometimes the girls would be offered a chance to pee in front of everyone before the spanking, but if they refused and then peed during their spanking they got twice as many strokes. I dreamt about all kinds of things, Bruce, and I never told anyone before. Sometimes, when sitting on the toilet, I would imagine doing it in front of the whole school before my punishment, the toilet made of clear plastic so everyone could see everything. Whenever I thought these things it would get me so horny I'd have to masturbate.'

‘I guess I was a kind principal, wasn't I?'

‘Yes, you were.'

‘Were you disappointed?'

‘Well, it hurt so much I don't know how I stood it. But I thought you might do something worse to me.'

‘I think you might need something more, Ashley. Only now can I see how much you need.'

‘Yes, Bruce.'

‘You see, Ashley, a punishment isn't over until the ones you've hurt have had a chance to see you've paid the price for what you've done to them. So I plan to invite some of the victims of your cruel whims, gossip and cliques to bear witness to your punishment. I'd like to see what time suits them so we can best arrange the logistics of your ordeal. In some matters the timing is quite crucial. Now, where's your phone?'

‘But, Bruce…'

‘Mr Harris.'

‘But Mr Harris, you don't mean…'

‘I don't mean what, Ashley?'

‘You don't really mean that you're going to let anyone see me?'

‘I'm only delivering the punishment you yourself requested, Ashley. I find that deep down girls know what they need. It's just that most are too afraid to admit it. I've found that a paddling can sometimes jar those secrets loose, and I'm glad to see it did so in your case. Now I have a better idea of what you crave, I can serve your needs more effectively. Certainly you can't deny that having an audience is an essential part of all your fantasies?'

‘No, Mr Harris, but—'

‘I'm sure the thought of anyone seeing you like this horrifies you, but not as much as you terrify them, so your anxiety will at best equal theirs. Moreover, as circumstances forbid us from really gathering together a substantial audience, I'm afraid we'll have to settle for one particular intimate I have in mind, one who you can't deny deserves pride of place among witnesses to your shame… Rebecca.'

‘No, Bruce, you can't. This isn't a game.'

‘Where's your phone? Or do you require another paddling to pry this secret from you?'

‘It's not like you can do whatever you want to me. It was a fantasy, Bruce. I didn't mean it like that. I'm not going to play this game if you're going to be like this.'

‘Did Rebecca have a choice when you toyed with her? Did you stop your cruel games when she complained? Have you ever, once, faced any consequences for the humiliation she suffered?'

‘I hate myself for it, Bruce. Isn't that enough? I know what I did. I knew what I was doing even then. It's just that I was the bad Ashley then. I'm better now. I really am.'

‘Like the other day in the grocery store?'

‘I didn't say I was perfect. I've let you spank me because I'm not perfect. But now you're asking too much.'

By then I'd found her phone and was searching in the phone book, and could tell Ashley's continuing protests lacked conviction. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, she didn't want me to involve Rebecca in her shame, and most of all she didn't want to think about another spanking, but that didn't mean it didn't all excite her. She couldn't hide from herself – even facing the worst humiliation and pain of her life, she was turned on by it. It was her fantasy and she was helpless against it.

I found the number I wanted and dialed. ‘Hello, Rebecca? Hi, this is Bruce Harris. Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it? I've been okay. What about you? Hey, the funniest thing has happened. I'm over at Ashley's house. No, no kidding. Anyway, we were talking about you and hoping you might be able to come over for a bit. No, we're serious. It's not what you think. I think you'll be glad you came. Yeah, I promise. Do you know where she lives? Yeah, it's the same house. Her husband moved out. Great. An hour? It'll be good to see you too, Rebecca. No, I promise. It'll be fine, you'll see. Bye.'

I ended the call, Ashley looking at me in disbelief. ‘You didn't really talk to her?' she whispered. ‘There wasn't anyone there, was there? You're just teasing me.'

‘Think what you want, Ashley. We'll see in an hour.'

‘You can't really think she'll be okay with this.'

‘You never really know what someone's going to think.'

‘But Bruce, this isn't something normal people do. She's going to think we're both weird.'

‘You'd be surprised,' I said, thinking of the paddle Rebecca had shown me in her dad's bedside table. ‘Now, we have some preparations to take care of. Please take off all your clothes, and behave yourself in a way appropriate to a principal's office. I won't tolerate anymore of this sniveling.'

When she'd obediently finished undressing I told her to make a pot of coffee. At first she looked at me strangely, and it was indeed an odd moment to decide to pass the time with a cuppa, but then it dawned on her what I had in mind and her expression changed to one of mortifying embarrassment and protest.

‘No, Bruce…'

‘Yes, and it's Mr Harris. Five extra strokes await your next complaint.'

‘Um… yes, Mr Harris.' She made coffee, dawdling at times but generally too afraid of the paddle to cause any serious delay, and within ten minutes she was sipping her first cup. I told her I expected her to drink at least three cups, but by then she knew the game and didn't show any surprise. She obeyed my instructions diligently, resigning herself to the inevitable. The silence was peaceful at first. She was growing more comfortable with her nudity, seemingly forgetting it at times as she bent over to pick something up or unconsciously rubbed her beaten backside. Our sudden intimacy felt nice. The sight of her ass aroused me, especially when she rubbed it or hesitated before sitting down, applying weight to the tender flesh as slowly as she could, but not without a grimace.

I don't think either of us really knew what to say, but finally there was no hiding from what was coming.

‘Mr Harris?'

‘Yes, Ashley?'

‘May I use the bathroom?'

‘I'm afraid not.'

‘But Mr Harris, I really need to pee.'

‘You'll be able to soon, Ashley, just not yet.'

‘I don't know if I can wait.'

‘If you don't you'll get twice the strokes I was planning to give you.'

‘But…'

‘What did I say about complaining, Ashley?'

She pouted sulkily, but then asked, ‘Have you seen Rebecca lately?'

‘No, have you?'

She shook her head, clearly reflecting on events long gone. ‘That was one of the worst things I ever did,' she eventually acknowledged somewhat remorsefully, and clearly expecting me to know to what she referred – which I did.

‘Did Rebecca have boyfriends when you two were friends?' I asked.

‘One or two. She was slow to trust anyone. She was sort of shy. I told her she should just fuck someone and get it over with. I didn't like it that she was a virgin and I wasn't. I thought she was judging me. Part of me wanted her first time to be like mine: too much beer, a rough jerk and then you're just rid of it, once and for all. I could have been sad, but I decided not to be anything at all. It made me worry that other people thought I was a slut though, so I wanted her to be slutty, too. I didn't think she had a right to be different from me, but she was. I don't even think she kissed a guy until college. I don't know when she finally got naked with one.'

‘I do.'

‘Really?'

‘Remember that snowstorm our senior year?'

‘Uhuh.'

‘When we had the day off school, I went over to her house and we screwed around. We didn't have sex, but it was the first time either of us had gone that far.'

‘What happened?'

‘She was too scared of you to let it become anything more. She pretended it never happened because she didn't want to be seen as taking your cast-offs.'

‘I'm sorry.'

‘I am too.'

‘Have you two made up?'

‘Not really.'

‘Wow, this really is big, then.'

‘Yeah, for all of us.'

‘A funny way to do it, isn't it?'

‘That it is, but at least now things will be different.'

‘Nothing will be the same, will it?'

‘No, it won't.' I reached over and stroked her hair. ‘I'm really glad you're being brave, Ashley. This is taking a lot of courage.'

‘No, you're the brave one, Bruce. You're the one who's forced the issue. If it was up to me I would have sucked your cock the other day and then bad-mouthed you at the club. You've brought the good Ashley back from the dead.'

‘I'll introduce her to Rebecca.'

‘She might remember her, but it's been a long time.'

‘It has.' It was my turn to reflect.

When Rebecca finally rang the doorbell I told Ashley to wait in the dining room, and warned her about letting the temptation to pee get the best of her.

I hadn't seen Rebecca in a while. Unmarried and without kids, she had evolved differently from Ashley. A bit more cosmopolitan and a bit bookish, like a librarian or schoolmarm. She made a good show of being content with herself and having made a happy life. She had a good job doing multimedia and networking for the school system. Some of the projects she'd done with students made the news when they won awards. In many ways she had probably done better for herself than most of us, but I also knew that you didn't shed who you were in high school. It stays with you, no matter how you grow beyond it. As soon as she got over the shock, her high school experiences and that paddle in her father's drawer made me judge that she would be just fine with this.

‘Hi, Rebecca.'

‘Hi, Bruce.'

‘Thanks for coming.'

‘It sounded intriguing. What's the fuss?'

‘Well, we're trying to put the past behind us.'

‘It is behind us, Bruce. It happened almost two decades ago.'

‘But there are some things where the simple passage of time isn't enough. Some things demand a different sort of reckoning.'