Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 288(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 288(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
It’s not the first time Storm has gotten another girl in trouble, Penners, specifically, so this is a very believable story.
Jane gives Storm a long, considering look.
Storm looks back, hating the lie, but almost certain if she doesn’t lie then she’s going to have to suffer watching other people suffer, and though it was funny that one time with Penners, it doesn’t feel as funny now. Jane’s already unspeakably mad at her. She may as well take the punishment for all of them.
“Melissa, Penelope. Is this true?”
Both Melissa and Penners rush to agree that it is the truth, lying so glibly Storm is thoroughly impressed.
“The two of you are dismissed,” Jane says. “Storm, you can get into position over my desk. You know the routine by now.”
Storm does as she is told, hearing the departing footsteps of her fellow students and feeling ever so slightly heroic about the whole thing. It’s almost enough to make up for how embarrassing it is to bend over a stupid desk and let herself be punished. Her thighs are still an absolute mess from old Lotte’s ravaging, but her bottom is not as bad as it was after the birching. She can take some punishment, even if she learns nothing from it.
“You know, I never thought you were the sort of girl to cause others pain on purpose,” Jane says as she walks past Storm to retrieve an implement.
Storm lets out a little snort of amusement, knowing Jane is probably going for her trusty cane or, oh no, it’s a paddle this time.
“Do you think this is funny?” Jane’s question is sharp.
Storm directs her sarcasm to the polished top of Jane’s desk. “I think it’s funny to say it’s bad for me to cause pain when that’s your whole profession.”
SMACK!
A firm swat lands across both her cheeks, imparting a deep and fairly instant ache followed by a tingling stinging sensation. Storm sucks in a breath and goes all the way up onto her toes. Goddammit. No matter how many times this happens, it’s somehow always like the first time.
“I am causing you pain in the hopes of imparting some discipline. What you did to those girls was mean spirited. And that’s not like you.”
“Maybe it is,” Storm says. “Maybe I’m mean now.”
SMACK!
Another loud and heavy swat bursts across her bottom. Just like the first one, but with an additional edge of intensity, because it builds upon the first.
“I don’t think so, young lady.”
“Yes!” Storm squeaks. “I’m mean now, and a waste of your time too. Just like you said!”
Another swat catches her across both cheeks.
“I never said you were a waste of time, young lady.”
“Yes, you did!”
“No, I didn’t.”
Jane swings the paddle again, and once again, it makes infernal contact with Storm’s seat. She squirms forward, most of her weight on the desk now as her toes dash against the floor and the heat burns through her bottom.
“I did not say you were a waste of time. I did not say anything of the sort.”
“Well, I am!” Storm practically yells the words.
There is a brief pause, and then she feels fingers hooked in her collar, urging her back up off the desk and into a standing position. She is now before Jane with a very sore bottom and her self-esteem in tatters.
“What has gotten into you?” Jane asks the question with some concern.
“I was going to be good this week,” Storm sniffs, holding back tears as best she can. “I was going to do everything right. But it’s not even dinner time on Monday and I’m already in so much trouble!”
“You are in trouble,” Jane says. “But you’re not the worst, and you’re not usually mean. Where is all of this coming from?”
Storm shrugs. She doesn’t want to say where it is coming from. She doesn’t want to admit to the reservoir of dark thoughts and darker deeds all stored up inside her secret places. They leak out sometimes, but nobody needs to know about them.
There is another pause. She can feel Jane’s eyes on her, sorting through her, working her out.
“You know, I can separate the behavior from the person,” Jane says. “You might have experienced situations in which your behavior resulted in the entirety of you being judged and found wanting, but that is not how I operate. We deal with the behavior, and then it is over. Do you understand?”
Storm nods slightly, wiping her eyes very quickly with the back of her sleeve.
“Yeah,” she says in a voice that is close to breaking.
Jane wraps her arms around Storm and hugs her. There is so much tension inside Storm, so much latent fear that only seems to grow the closer she gets to fully accepting discipline rather than it simply being something that happens to her.
“You’re okay,” Jane tells her. “You’re safe.”
The words you’re safe only make Storm get even more tense. The concept of safety itself is a threat, something that cannot be trusted. She is safer when she is at a distance, where there is room for rebellion, and where rejection will hurt less.