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)
“Sorry for?”
“Sorry for throwing a book and saying I wanted to jump out the window and also very sorry for saying how stupid and sexist the concept of deportment is and… ow!”
Storm yelps as Jane’s palm meets her bottom sharply.
“Sorry for not treating your class with the respect it deserves,” she says, shooting everybody who saw that little interaction a dark look. “I’m ready to try again, if you’d be so kind.”
She can be good when she wants to be. She can be very good, actually.
“Of course,” Madame Pritchard says. “Pick up a book.”
Storm sighs briefly, and gives Jane a do I really have to look. Jane gives her a yes, really look back. Storm slaps the book on her head a little harder than she probably meant to, wincing.
“Practice your walk. Notice how your body feels when you’re moving, how you…”
Madame Pritchard begins that part of the lesson over again for Storm, and Jane decides now is a good time to slip out. She has to make preparations for two of the other girls who happen to be in the room. Melissa and Penelope are doing their level best to disappear into the floor but failing quite miserably. Their guilty expressions are like lighthouse signals to a seasoned disciplinarian like Jane.
Jane has not forgotten about them, but they can wait a little longer. She will take care of them after class.
Out in the hall, Jane finds Laura waiting for her once she has ensured Storm is safely and more or less happily engaged in the art of book carrying.
Before Jane can ask Laura to what she owes the pleasure, Laura launches into a complaint.
“My note was the third on your desk about that girl,” Laura says. “How many people does she need to annoy before you will do something about her?”
“She has a name,” Jane replies. Laura’s tone can best be described as brusque and given the relatively sweet moment she just had with Storm, and the progress she feels is clearly being made, Jane is not inclined to listen to Laura’s critique.
“You spoil her.”
Laura says precisely what Jane expected her to say, further cementing Jane’s private opinion that Laura does not actually understand how to handle miscreants whatsoever.
“Maybe she needs to be spoiled a little every now and then. She certainly gets punished enough, and that alone won’t work.”
Laura does not reply. She simply stands there looking taciturn and generally unimpressed. Rather than being frustrated with Laura, Jane decides instead to be curious.
“What is making you so frustrated about the punishments a girl gets?”
“If any other student acted that way… people are talking. They think she gets preferential treatment.”
Now Jane’s tone tightens a little. “I’ve spanked her more often than any other girl here. Hardly preferential treatment, Laura. I am sure I need not remind you, I am the disciplinarian. You might want to trust that I have some idea what I am doing. One can’t cane one’s way out of every problem.”
Laura nods, her expression becoming veiled and stern. It was clear that she wanted to see Storm properly punished for what she considers to be disobedience, defiance, and rudeness. And now, denied the satisfaction of seeing a sore young lady, she has joined Frau Lotte in the deprived-of-one’s-prey club.
There’s no denying that Storm’s attitude is significantly worse with other people than it is with Jane, and Jane could possibly admit that it is something she needs to address. But for today, simply having Storm in class and somewhat happy feels like a win. She has no intention of allowing Laura’s response to sully that mood.
Neither one of the women notice that the door of the classroom is slightly ajar. And not noticing that, they also do not notice that Storm is standing next to it, pretending to adjust her book.
“Please don’t spank me! Please! I’ll do anything!”
Melissa has just walked in the door of Jane’s office and is in tears. She is a sweet young woman with auburn red hair in long plaits pinned to her head, bright green eyes, and a smattering of red freckles across her nose. She is still in her deportment uniform, and the overall effect is to make her look absolutely pitiful.
“Storm didn’t get punished, so I don’t see why we would,” Penners says. She is also in her deportment uniform, though being of a taller build and a generally more refined appearance in general, the effect is rather different.
“Storm was paddled. Thoroughly,” Jane informs her.
“Oh, please no!” Melissa melts down again. “I can’t. I simply can’t. I can’t even imagine it. I cannot even begin to think of such a…” She buries her face in her hands, as if looking at Jane is too much.
“Penelope, wait outside please,” Jane says. “I will call you when I am ready for you.”
Penelope leaves the room with something like relief. She has received a stay of execution, as it were. Though now, of course, she will have to wait to see what’s going to happen to her.