by Mike London
"Go on, Sue, wear them!" urged Beverley. "You told me that all the girls at your school were wearing hot pants!" It was the summer of 1970 and hot pants were the height of fashion. It was not quite true, as the sixteen year old Susan Bridger had told her cousin, that all the girls at her school were wearing them, but a good few were - despite the clear and repeated warnings of the headmaster and of Mrs Powell, the senior mistress. And Susan was very tempted to break the rules for once and wear her new hot pants. She had been trying for some time to attract the attention of David Babcock, a sixth former, and she knew that her new red hot pants would show off her curvaceous bottom to good effect. Many of her friends had worn the newly-fashionable clothes, and the boys had certainly been interested. Susan decided that she would wear the hot pants to school on Monday.
The day started at first like any other. Only one other girl in Susan's class, Diane Ferry, was wearing the banned garments - in her case white and even briefer than Sue's own revealing shorts - but she had noted that a few girls in other classes had them on. It was a bit of a coincidence, though, that Stephanie Whinnett, who had worn hot pants every day of that term so far should have decided to wear ordinary - and permitted - trousers on the same day that Sue first wore the outlawed shorts.
But just before Assembly, Mrs Conway, 5B's form teacher, came into the classroom and ordered all the girls to stand besides their desks. After they had done so Susan and Diane were told to go to Mrs Powell's office.
It was obvious that it was because they were wearing hot pants. Stephanie congratulated herself mentally on her prudence and turned to her neighbour. "I knew that something was going to happen after that speech Nobby made last week. I wouldn't be surprised if they got the cane! It's a pity for Sue, though, I think this is the first time she's ever worn them!"
As they walked along the corridor the two girls were also speculating as to the outcome. Unlike Sue, Diane was one of the naughtier girls in the class and had made personal acquaintance of Mrs Powell's cane on two previous occasions. She was sure she was going to get it again and told Sue that the important thing was to hold your hand up as high as you could get away with, so as to reduce the cane's swing. Sue was still hoping that it might not come to that. She said that if dozens of girls were wearing the hot pants Mrs Powell would not be able to cane all of them and might just give them a final warning or perhaps make them stand in disgrace in the vestibule. But Diane was not so optimistic. "Maybe," she said. "But if we're the only two in our class there probably aren't so many altogether. I nearly wore jeans myself today. And even if there are loads of us she doesn't have to cane us all at once. She could do some now, some at break and some at lunch hour!"
When they reached the senior mistress's office three girls were already waiting outside. Susan recognised Jean McDonald, a Scottish girl from 5A. Short and slim, with tightly curled brown hair and metal rimmed glasses, Jean was wearing tightly fitting lime-green hot pants. She grimaced at the other two fifth formers and explained that Mrs Powell had asked them to wait outside. The other two girls were both fourth years whom Susan did not know except by sight. Susan was depressed that there were so few of them; it seemed to increase the probability that they'd all get the cane.
"Do you think it'll be the stick?" whispered Jean.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," said Diane. "It'll be my third time!" she added, showing off.
"Powell caned me last week!" said one of the fourth years, coming forward.
This was Julie Peters. Although she was the youngest of the girls, only fourteen, she looked older than her age with big breasts wobbling under her cotton top and long brown hair hanging loose. Her hot pants had been 'home made' from a pair of denim jeans by cutting the legs off. She showed them the palms of her hands, and the other girls, clustering around, could clearly see the remnants of the marks left by the cane.
"Does it still hurt, Julie?" asked Sheila Penman, the other fourth year, nervously. She was taller than Julie but looked much more frightened at the prospect of getting the cane. Her hot pants were a bright mixture of colours: a black base with flashes of brilliant yellow, red and green.
"No, not any more," Julie answered, "but I'm not looking forward to getting another dose on top of this lot." Sheila bit her lip and looked down at her shoes.
The girls heard footsteps coming down the corridor. They turned round to see that another culprit was joining them. It was Dawn Hollet of the Lower Sixth. Julie Peters couldn't help grinning as she saw her walking towards them in her black velvet hot pants. Dawn was a sub-prefect and had given Julie fifty lines earlier that term. Julie was not displeased to see that Dawn was to get her own comeuppance, but she didn't say anything, only grinned.
"Are you the only one from the Sixth?" asked Susan.
"Yes, I'm the only one," answered Dawn with a rueful smile. "Last week everybody seemed to be wearing them, but today I was the only girl mad enough!"
At this point the girls heard a sound from the office and fell silent. The door opened and Mrs Powell came out.
"You are all very silly and disobedient girls," she said. "I'm going to the Assembly now and I'll deal with you all when I come back." She walked off down the corridor and left the girls standing there.
Susan now realised that they were almost certainly going to be caned. Mrs Powell's words could scarcely mean anything else. She examined her palms and tried to imagine what the cane would do to the tender flesh. The other girls were wrapped in their own thoughts.
After a while, Dawn walked over to Julie and said, "I'm sorry about the lines, Julie. We're in the same boat now!"
Julie immediately lost all her animosity towards the sub-prefect. "Don't worry," she said, "I deserved them!" Changing the subject she said, "After I got the cane last week my boyfriend told me that the thing to do is to spit on your hands and rub it in. I told him that it was a bit late to tell me that after I'd had the cane! But maybe it'll come in handy now. I don't know how he'd know, anyway. Lawson whacks the boys on their bums! Still it can't do any harm!"
The others agreed and all six of them spat on their hands and rubbed the spittle in. Dawn and Jean were wearing rings and they took these off, putting them in Jean's briefcase, which she had brought with her.
"How many do you think we'll get?" Dawn asked Julie.
"I don't know," she replied. "Maybe we'll all get the same, but you might get more as you're a sixth former and a prefect."
"I think it'll be four, two on each hand," Diane said. "I hope it's not six. I got six last time and it was absolute Hell!"
They heard the sound of the Assembly breaking up and a short time afterwards the firm tread of the senior mistress's footsteps. Susan felt quite sick.
Mrs Powell walked through the group of girls and entered her room, beckoning them to follow. She stood behind her desk and the girls lined up in front of her on the other side. On the desk was lying a crook-handled cane nearly three feet long. Julie and Diane were surprised. It was not the one they had been expecting. That had been straight-handled, shorter and thinner, and lighter in colour.
"You are very silly girls," Mrs Powell repeated. "Both I myself and Mr Lawson have repeatedly explained that the wearing of the so-called 'hot pants' is strictly against school rules. You have chosen to ignore these warnings and I now have no alternative but to administer condign punishment. I think I can guarantee that after today you will never want to wear such revealing garments to school again!
"You have chosen to wear short trousers, in some cases very short," continued Mrs Powell, glancing at Diane, "to school. As this is a form of clothing more appropriate to schoolboys than to teenage girls I have consulted with the headmaster and we have decided that you will receive a schoolboy punishment. Mr Lawson has kindly lent me his cane!"
The senior mistress paused, and there was a gasp from the girls as they realised what this might mean. Mrs Powell picked up the cane and flexed it between her powerful hands before continuing.
"You will receive your punishments on the seats of those ridiculous garments which you have stupidly persisted in wearing. 'Hot pants' will become a quite apt description! Julie and Sheila, as fourth years you will receive four strokes. You three, Jean, Diane and Susan, will receive five strokes. And you Dawn, as a sixth former and a sub-prefect, will receive eight strokes!"
Susan had admired Dawn's black velvety hot pants and, if she could have afforded them, would have bought the same ones herself. But she no longer envied the elegant seventeen-year-old!
"When you have all taken these canings you will each in turn receive a further stroke across the backs of your thighs, where it will clearly show beneath your 'hot pants'," Mrs Powell continued. "You will stand on the chairs in the vestibule, facing the wall for all break periods and for the second half of lunch hours for the rest of the week. And you will wear these 'hot pants' to school for the rest of the week so that the marks of your disgrace will be clearly seen as you stand in the vestibule! I can assure you that you will all be cursing the name of 'hot pants' before the week is over!
"Right! Fourth years first. You stay here Julie; the rest of you wait outside."
The girls grouped disconsolately outside the door. Eventually, Diane broke the silence. "Shit. That's much worse than I expected."
"It's all right for you," Dawn said, all the spirit taken out of her. "I'm going to get eight plus the one on the legs! That's twice as many as Julie and I've never even been sent to Mrs Powell before!" She tried to pull her hot pants down to give herself as much protection as she could, but it made little difference. Susan tried to listen to what was going on inside the office, but she could only make out an indistinguishable sound of voices.
Suddenly the girls heard a loud CRACK! as the cane made contact with Julie's denim-clad behind. The noise was surprisingly loud even through the door. The girls did not say a word and could not look each other in the face. Sheila, who knew she was next in line, was shivering and had placed her hands on the seat of her brightly coloured hot pants. Three further reports were heard at regular intervals, the last followed by a sharp gasp. As each stroke landed, Sheila's body quivered, almost as though she had been hit herself. After the fourth stroke there was a pause and then the door opened and Julie emerged, walking slowly.
Mrs Powell shouted, "Next girl!" and, taking a deep breath, Sheila walked into the office, looking as though she was about to burst into tears.
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