by Mike London
Fifteen-year-old Julie Parker hurried along the school corridor hardly looking where she was going. She had loitered by her classroom until most of the girls had left, but now it was six minutes since the bell for the end of school had gone and she knew that she needed to hurry. Julie felt sick. She could feel her heart pumping away at twice its normal speed. The next half an hour or so was going to be awful in any case but at least she didn't have to make it still worse by being late. She hadn't wanted anyone to see where she was going, but now she realised that she might have waited too long.
"Hey, Julie! Wait for me!"
Oh, god. It was the voice of Sheila, a girl in her class. The last thing that she wanted was to talk to her now. Julie lowered her head, pretending that she hadn't heard and continued to hurry along the corridor. It was no use. The other girl ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Julie! Didn't you hear me? Come on, let's walk home together."
Julie carried on walking quickly along the corridor and shook her head, not looking into Sheila's eyes. "Um, no. I can't Sheila. I'm sorry."
"What's the matter, Julie? Is something wrong?" asked Sheila, concerned at her friend's unusual manner.
Julie decided that she would have to tell her. After all, Sheila was her friend and she could trust her not to talk about it. It wouldn't be so bad if Sheila knew - she'd been in the same position herself, after all.
Rather dramatically, she drew a small red envelope out of the pocket of her blue school blazer. "Look!"
Sheila immediately understood the significance. Red envelopes were given to the girls who had been told to attend one of Miss Drake's weekly punishment sessions in the school gym. They contained the recommendation as to how many smacks from the gym mistress's plimsoll or strokes of the cane the naughty girl should receive. They had to be delivered with their seals unbroken.
"Oh, Julie! I'm sorry... I never guessed. You kept that very quiet."
"Yes. I didn't want anyone to know. You won't tell anyone, will you?"
"No. Of course not. Don't worry. It's your first time, isn't it?"
Julie nodded.
"Well, you'll be okay. Just do everything Frances tells you straightaway. It's horridly shameful and it does hurt but you'll soon get over it. You'll probably get the slipper, as it's your first time - that's not so bad. And you're right. You'd better hurry - she'll take it out on you if you're late!"
Julie nodded and scurried on towards the gym. She knew that Sheila knew what she was talking about. Her friend had gone through a phase a couple of years earlier when she had attended more than one of Miss Drake's punishment sessions. Sheila walked off more slowly in the opposite direction.
As Julie neared the gym she saw a queue of girls lined up outside the changing rooms under the eye of the young gym teacher. She was in time! Thankfully, she joined the end of the line.
The teacher looked at her watch and grunted. "Just in time! What's your name, girl?"
Julie answered her, rather surprised that the teacher didn't recognise her. She had taken her class for PE the year before. Miss Drake made a mark against her name in a list she was holding.
"Right! That's it!" she announced. "It's five to four. One girl's still not here and she'll be regretting that before too long! The rest of you file into the changing room and stand by the benches."
When they were all in the room the gym mistress addressed the naughty girls.
"Right, girls! You are all here for punishment. Most of you have been here before but I can see some new faces, so I'll just explain a few things.
"First, you are here because you have broken school rules in a particularly outrageous way or have misbehaved over a long period of time after warnings. You all deserve punishment and every one of you will leave this school today with a very sore bottom. When I punish a girl I make sure that she feels it. So if any of you were hoping to be let off, you can forget that idea right now!"
"Next, you each have a red envelope which contains the recommendations made by the teacher who sent you here. But it is I, not he or she, who decides how many smacks of the plimsoll or strokes of the cane your backside will feel. I have authority to double the suggested punishment or, if I feel that the girl's demeanour justifies it, I can reduce the number of strokes by a third.
"So if a teacher recommends four strokes I can administer between three and eight strokes."
She smiled grimly. "All fractions are rounded up, you see!"
After a pause she continued. "If eight or more smacks with the slipper have been recommended I can change the punishment to a caning, and I can also vary a recommendation of the cane to a dose with the slipper. Teachers recommend up to twelve smacks of the slipper or eight strokes of the cane, but in their wisdom the governors limit me to twelve with the cane and twenty with the slipper! So a recommendation of eight strokes of the cane allows me between six and twelve. And, as those of you who've been here before know, even three or four smacks from my plimsoll is not a pleasant experience.
"I will not tell you how many strokes you will get, but I shall expect you to stay in place until I tell you that you may stand. You have called the tune and now it is time for you to pay the piper. If you do not stay in place I will apply extra strokes. And the maximum limits on strokes do not apply in this case, nor in any other instance of additional punishment for misbehaviour in my presence. So I strongly advise all of you to do what I say, when I say it!"
Julie had been looking around while the teacher was speaking. She hadn't really been listening to what she was saying - she had already heard most of it from the reports of Sheila and other naughty, or unlucky, girls. She also knew that the slipper was the usual means of punishment for the first two years, whereas girls in the higher years were more likely to get the cane, unless it was their first visit. Instead she was looking around to see if there were any girls she knew in the changing room. There were more girls than she'd expected - nine apart from herself. The first girl she recognised was Maxine Reynolds, a girl in her year but not in her class. That wasn't a surprise. Maxine was always in trouble and she hadn't tried to hide the fact that she was due for another whacking. Maxine caught Julie's eye and gave a rueful half-smile, welcoming Julie to the club.
But Julie was surprised at the next girl she recognised. Caroline Levy, a girl in her class, was probably the last girl in the school she would have expected to see there. She was always such a well-behaved, quiet girl. What on earth could she have done? Julie hadn't heard a whisper about it. Still, she'd done her best to keep her own punishment secret and presumably Caroline had done the same. Caroline avoided Julie's eyes and gazed down towards her shoes.
One more face was familiar - Sarah Brookes, the elder sister of Julie's best friend, Mandy. Sarah was eighteen years old and in the sixth form. Unlike most of the other girls there she was not dressed in school uniform. Instead she was wearing light brown slacks and a blue tee-shirt. Like Caroline, Sarah avoided returning Julie's glance. Julie could imagine that at her age it must be terribly humiliating to be spanked at all and that it must be even worse for her to know that her baby sister's best friend would witness her shameful ordeal.
There was another girl also wearing trousers instead of school uniform. Julie knew that she must also be a sixth former like Sarah, or else in the fifth year, as all the girls apart from seniors had to wear the uniform, but she didn't recognise her.
Meanwhile, Miss Drake was continuing with her lecture, but just as she did so the girls heard a hesitant knock on the changing room door. The gym teacher walked over and opened it. A frightened looking girl who Julie guessed to be a second year was standing outside.
"Tracey Compton! You're late!"
"I'm sorry, Miss. I was on my way, but I really had to go to the toilet and when I got here the door was already closed. I didn't know whether to knock or to go away. I've been standing there for ages!"
"Well! You made the right choice in the end. It would have been much worse for you if you hadn't turned up at all. But, now, come in and stand there! You missed the part of my introductory talk when I explained that I can award corporal punishment for other misbehaviour - such as lateness - additional to that for the reason you've been sent here, so I will allow you to experience it for yourself. You will serve as a demonstration to other girls who haven't been here before of what a slippering is like."
Tracey entered the changing room rather hesitatingly and trembling slightly. Miss Drake closed the door behind her and, telling the dilatory girl to wait, went into her office and emerged a moment or two later carrying a large white plimsoll. "Bend down and hold onto your legs below your knees!" the gym mistress ordered.
Tracey obeyed. Julie had a good view of how the girl's blue school skirt rode up as she did so; however, it still covered her bottom. She wondered if the teacher would order Tracey to lift her skirt, exposing her knickers. Instead, however, Miss Drake simply drew the slipper back and delivered an almighty whack to the naughty girl's skirt-covered rear.
Julie's eyes widened in shock. She had never seen a slippering before and she was amazed to see just how much force the tall, fit twenty-five-year-old teacher was using. There were gasps of surprise from a couple of her fellow culprits, too. But poor Tracey's reaction was still more extreme. The force of the blow actually caused her to unbalance and topple forward. She was more embarrassed than hurt, however, although Julie realised that that whack must have really stung even through the younger girl's skirt and knickers, and she soon scrambled to her feet and reassumed her position, rather red-faced.
The gym mistress delivered a further five hard smacks to the tightly-stretched seat of Tracey's blue skirt. The girl managed to stay in position, holding onto her legs, but she could not prevent an audible gasp as each of the smacks smashed down. Julie was still shocked at how hard the teacher was hitting the naughty girl. Each impact of the slipper sounded as loud as a pistol shot.
Finally it was over. Miss Drake put the plimsoll down on a shelf. "Remain in that position until I tell you to get up, Tracey," she said, "just in case I need to make use of your bottom to provide further examples for your colleagues!"
Julie could see Tracey's face, upside down and largely hidden by her cascading brown hair.
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