Story: DDR Junkies

Misc Story.  Mia is grumpy that she has to spend so much time at the casino hotel while her mom gambles.  At least they have Dance Dance Revolution in the arcade.  With the video game and the presence of her two new acquaintances, it turns out not to be so bad.  (Playful spankings and a serious one.  This story is different from a lot of my other ones.)

DDR Junkies
by Breanna Carter

The oddest place to meet someone is in the arcade of a casino hotel. My mom had a complimentary room at a riverboat casino a couple of hours away from our house and claimed that I must go with her -- nevermind I was almost seventeen and should be able to stay home alone. She didn't care about that. Of course, looking back, I have no regrets. I wouldn't have changed that night to save my life.

We arrived to the hotel sometime late in the evening on Friday, the middle of April. We had enough time to walk the bellhop to our 14th floor room before our seven o'clock dinner reservations at the steakhouse. This hotel was becoming my second home -- the hotel closer to my house was a first home. You know how casinos work: you go there, spend your money, win every so often, and they send you coupons in the mail that lure you there. "Free hotel room" or "Free dinner for two" or "free gift" in bold red letters with the false hope that you're receiving more than you're giving. But I couldn't stop my mom from going because I loved the free chocolate ice cream as much as she loved playing the penny slots. I just hated spending the weekend alone in a hotel room hours away from home. I couldn't even call my friends because it was long distance -- and the hotel didn't have MTV. So I was setting myself up for a miserable night.

"Oh, look! I never noticed the arcade before!" my mom said, pointing to a sign that identified the arcade as being in the basement.

"Oh joy," I mumbled, mainly to myself. Not that I didn't like arcades, I just knew it would be full of twelve year olds and I would be forced to stay there all night if I wanted any sort of entertainment.

We made our way to the end of the hallway where there was a cluster of restaurants. The steakhouse was secluded: it was a place dedicated to the elite or heavy gamblers (we, of course, fell into the latter category). Conversation was a dull murmur and the piano played a Beethoven tune that I couldn't place a name to. Our host was a gorgeous Latino who had an adorable accent and pulled my chair out for me. Our waiter was the exact opposite -- an old white man with gray hair who couldn't hear us and never refilled my drink.

"Mia," my mom began.

Oh great... she was giving me that look. The same one she'd given me for months, at least since she found out about my self-injury problem.

"Truthfully... Are you okay? You seem so down lately."

"Sure I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

She sighed, shaking her head at me, probably thinking about how she couldn't understand teen angst. "I don't know. You seem so unhappy."

I shrugged my shoulders and crammed the steak in my mouth to avoid further conversation.

But she persisted, "maybe they have that game you like... the dancing game, you know? I'll play with you if you'd like."

"Don't worry about it, Mom," I said. "They probably won't have it anyway." With my negative attitude, I managed to either aggravate or depress my mom enough to shut her up. I just politely finished my meal and watched her sign off for the comp meal. She then handed me the doggie bag.

"I'm going to play for a while. Here's some money for the arcade. I'll see you later." She planted a kiss on my forehead and slipped me a twenty dollar bill.

I ambled down the hallway looking on the bright side of things. At least if I got too bored I could call room service for ice cream and rent a pay-per-view movie. Besides, if the arcade had the dancing game, which was called DDR, I could play at least twenty times. That could easily kill a couple of hours.

I decided to stop by the room first to drop off the doggie bag and settle my stomach. I pressed the up arrow and waited for the elevator. I was getting anxious and feeling oddly out of place when there was a ding and one of the doors opened. I stepped inside next to a man with emo glasses who was smoking a cigarette.

"In for the night already? You must've hit a big jackpot," he said as the elevator ascended.

I looked at him.

He smiled. "I'm Jamie," and extended his hand.

"Mia," I muttered, shaking his hand, "and I'm not even old enough to get in the casino."

He didn't seem surprised. "They're no fun anyway."

"So why are you here?" I asked in an angry tone. Part of that teen angst, I guesss.

"Doctor said I needed a vacation. Almost time for finals and just got over my cat's death and a horrible breakup with my boyfriend. The jerk."

I still stared at him.

"And when my doctor found out I sliced my wrists he put me on meds and demanded a vacation."

Who tells this to people in an elevator? I wondered. But I had to look at his wrists anyway. He was wearing long sleeves.

"Not really, baby. There was a breakup and cat death, but no meds and no sliced wrists. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

I raised my eyebrows. "No, not at all." Truth was, I actually kind of liked him. He was open, nice, and fairly attractive, even if he was a gay man. Not saying gay men aren't attractive, just that they're totally off limits. A friend of mine once had a crush on a gay man... the only problem was that, well, he was gay and she was a woman.

The elevator dinged on the twelfth floor and the doors parted. "Well, nice to meet you, Mia," he said. "You seem pretty cool."

As he turned to walk away I wanted to invite him to play DDR with me and maybe even to the room for some ice cream and PPV. But I didn't -- I just let him walk off, and the doors closed and the elevator continued on its way to my floor.

I could only stand being alone in the room for about thirty minutes. I kept thinking about Jamie and wondered if it'd be weird to walk around on the twelfth floor for a little while to see if he came out... maybe to the coke machine. But that would be too stalker-ish, so I changed into my pja pants, put on some flipflops and went down to the basement.

I wouldn't have found the arcade if it hadn't been for the random signs. It was in a corner of its own, no windows, no loud noises. I almost decided to not go inside, but there was a sign on the door that said "24-hour Arcade" and I couldn't resist. I pushed it open.

It wasn't the best arcade I'd ever been in. Some of the games were old and outdated, others didn't work. I ambled through the mass of games, deciding which ones I would play and losing hope of them having a DDR machine. I was about to turn around and go back to my room when I recognized Jamie at the token machine.

"Was this part of the therapy?" I teased.

He turned around and smiled. "It sure was. I'm totally addicted to Dance Dance Revolution."

"No shit!" I squealed, taking a step back. "Me too! I love that game!"

Jamie inserted a five dollar bill into the token machine and twenty tokens spilled out. "You're on, then. There's another kid over there who's pretty awesome, too. He's probably around your age. How old are you anyway?"

"Seventeen.... almost. How old are you?"

"Holyshit, I'm old! I'm 23."

"That's not old."

"Too old to be playing DDR with a couple of sixteen year olds."

"True, but I won't hold it against you." I then put the twenty dollar bill in the machine to exchange for tokens and loaded them into my pockets. "Especially after I kick your ass."

He smirked and showed me towards the DDR machine. A boy was playing and Jamie had been right, he did look about my age. He was sort of cute, in more of a boyish way. He had dark skin, like he was mixed African American and Caucasian. His hair was short and black. He was wearing baggy jeans and a T-shirt. He wasn't chubby but not scrawny either, the perfect size. And damn, he was good. He was playing on heavy mode which is like the fourth level.

"He's being a showoff," Jamie whispered, then said, "but isn't he adorable?"

I blushed and nodded. While this kid was about my height and average build, Jamie was tall and thin with the build of someone in the military.

The song was over and the boy turned around. "That was horrible!" he said then caught my eye and grinned. "I'm Zach."

I introduced myself and nodded.

"So let's see how good you are," Jamie demanded, playfully shoving me to the dance pad. I wanted to showoff with someone difficult but not so difficult that I screwed up a lot. I decided to go with standard mode -- the third level -- and pick my favorite song. I breezed through it with all perfects and greats. Then I chose another song I was really good at called Cow Girl. For the last one I picked yet another familiar song and when it started the boys were giggling behind me. I didn't realize what they were snickering at until the steps came up and it was something totally different than what I was used to.

"What the hell..." I swore aloud.

They giggled louder and I noticed they had changed my level without my knowledge. I cussed them as I attempted to play, then the game stopped and the screen was black for a split second until it said FAILED in big blue letters. I stomped on the pad in frustration and glared at the boys. No hard feelings, though. The three of us took turns playing together and picking hard songs we knew the other person would do badly on. Jamie and I were about the same level and it was obvious that Zach was better than us both. After about an hour playing, Jamie wanted a cigarette, and I wanted some water, and Zach wanted to rest. So we went back outside, found a coke machine and plopped down against the wall, talking. I learned that Zach and I had met before because his father worked at the hotel and he was there all the time. He was fifteen years old and had an older half-sister from his mother's previous marriage, but she was in college in Boston. Jamie was adopted, had a younger sister and older brother in his adopted family. Most of his family was okay with his homosexuality. He loved acting and writing and was majoring in English to be a high school teacher.

"So what's your story?" Jamie asked taking a long drag off his cigarette.

I took a deep breath in, wondering where to start and how much to say. "My mom has a gambling problem so she has loads of complimentary shit. I'm uber cynical. And I'll be glad when high school is over so I can go far away for college."

"What are you going to be when you grow up?" Zach asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno. I know I want a lot of money, that's for sure."

Jamie finished smoking and the mood got lighter when we pushed the door to the arcade back open.

"I have an idea," Zach said when we once again arrived by the game.

"Do share," I replied and Jamie nodded encouragingly.

"We could make it a competition," he said, then glanced at his watch. "It's nearly one so no one will be coming in probably. We can play on our comfortable mode and choose random songs."

"What's in it for the winner?" Jamie asked.

"After every game, winner spanks the loser."

My heart skipped a beat and weird things happened inside my body. I began to feel nervously excited. The thought of either of them spanking me brought about some weird emotions. I wasn't sure if I wanted it or feared it.

"Sounds like a deal to me," Jamie said, and I seconded it. I volunteered for Jamie and Zach to go first. Zach was a math whiz and had the determining factors all figured out. I just wanted to see one of them spank the other.

I sat back, watching them compete. They were really getting into it. Truthfully, neither did that well on the first two songs, but the last one, Zach kicked ass and later calculated his win. Jamie didn't seem too worried.

My heart began racing as Zach smirked at Jamie then sat down patting his lap. "Come over my lap," he said and winked.

You've got to be kidding me! I thought. Jamie was eight years older than Zach, not to mention waay taller! But he smiled back and made a suggestive "ooo!" noise, then leaned over his lap. My throat was so dry, I couldn't speak. Even after Zach said "tell me when two minutes is up" all I could do was nod. He lifted his hand and slapped Jamie's bottom mildly a couple of times and they were both laughing a little until Zach began to hit harder and Jamie said, "damn! that kinda hurts!" And that did it. I think after that we were not only competing to win DDR, but also to see who could spank the hardest.

"Okay," I said, though I hadn't wanted the spanking to end. Or maybe I did -- it was getting me a little too excited.

Jamie pushed off of Zach's lap and rubbed his bottom. "That so didn't hurt," he said and pulled me up to compete. I was so nervous that my heart was racing and I was shaking a little. I took a deep breath and pretended to be cool. I definitely wasn't going to lose on purpose, but it sure was on my mind.

I lucked out on the first song -- the game just happened to pick a song that I was familiar with and Zach was terrible at. Of course, the second song made me so nervous that I did horribly, and the final song was one that I'd never been able to play.

"I win again," Zach teased, and took a seat on the dance pad.

"Hey, that's twice in a row... I think he's cheating!" I protested to Jamie.

"Oh stop your whining. He doesn't spank *that* hard."

Zach gave Jamie an evil look and pulled me over his lap. I wanted to make more protests, but curiousity kept my mouth shut. My heart raced more than it ever had before and my throat was dry with nervousness. All of these thoughts kept running through my head: what if someone sees? What if it hurts? What if I like it? Am I supposed to like it? Will he like it, too?

I felt his warm hand rest on my pajama-clad bum. He was breathing heavily from having played so much. I felt his other arm wrap around my stomach and he shifted a little when he asked Jamie about timing it. Then he said, "Jamie thinks I don't spank hard, but we'll see about that."

I opened my mouth to assure him we didn't have to prove anyone wrong, but I was unable to speak. And then, without warning, he delivered the first blow. It caught me by surprise and I think I yelped a little. I thought about backing out and claiming I didn't want to participate, but my pride wouldn't allow it. Not to mention that even through the sting, I was enjoying myself. He smacked me good a few more times and before I knew it I was squirming like crazy. Jamie was liar! Zach did spank hard, especially for a fifteen year old! Not to mention I was in a thin pair of pjs and he showed me absolutely no mercy.

I was a little relieved, a little sad, when Jamie announced it'd been two minutes. I sprang up and rubbed my bum. It smarted like crazy! Jamie stood and inserted his tokens and then dragged me over to put in my own tokens. I gave a pathetic look, still rubbing my bottom.

"Awww, you're too adorable. We'll go easy on you," Jamie said.

Yeah right, I thought and began the next game. Needless to say, Jamie kicked my ass and then spanked me -- which on top of my previous spanking, hurt so good. By the time he finished with me, I was thankful to have a break and winced when I sat back down on the floor.

We continued like that until we all ran out of money. Of course, technically that couldn't happen since Zach's dad could find some tokens for us... but we really didn't want to stay there all night and we were getting tired and sore (in more than one place..).

"You guys want to come by my room and watch a movie or just hang out?" Jamie asked. "It's only 2:30 and I'd love the company."

"That'd be awesome, as soon as I leave my mom a note and get something from my room."

"Yeah and I should talk to my dad."

We walked with Zach to speak with his father and introduced ourselves. His dad was pretty cool... a lot like Zach in different ways. I idly wondered if he spanked like Zach... or spanked Zach, for that matter.

Then we took the elevator to my floor and they chatted while I wrote my mom a note (as if she'd be back before me anyway). Before I left, however, I dug through my duffle bag and stuffed my pipe and some weed in the pocket of my pj pants. I somehow managed to do that without them seeing.

We arrived to Jamie's room and joked around for a while until I said, "we should go outside and smoke."

At the same time Jamie said, "this is a smoking room" and Zach said "but you don't smoke."

I blinked. "Then, um, I'm going out on the balcony."

I watched them exchange glances before I turned around and took the pipe out of my pocket.

"What the hell..." Jamie said.

"Mia... you smoke weed?"

"Like hell she does!" Jamie exclaimed then ran towards me, blocking my way outside.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You're not smoking that shit," he told me.

I blinked. "Excuse me?" I said and folded my arms. He didn't budge. "Fine, I can just light it up in here..."

Without warning, Zach snatched it from me.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I growled, but I really wasn't that angry. Actually, I thought it was kind of cool they were being so protective. As an only child, I wasn't offered that much of the time.

"Flushing this shit down the toilet," Zach said. His face was all serious now -- no jokes.

"Don't do that.."

"Mia, you don't need marijuana. It's more trouble than it's worth... trust me, I know," Jamie said.

I turned to him and back to Zach who still had my weed. "I won't smoke it now," I pleaded.

"Maybe a spanking will change her mind," Zach said over my shoulder to Jamie.

"Now wait a sec..." I began, feeling that nervousness again inside of me.

"Maybe it will," Jamie observed and walked past me, grabbing my wrist in the process and leading me over to the bed.

"No no no..." I begged. "It's okay... really, I won't smoke it now."

"You're right you won't. Not now, or ever, when I get finished with you."

I gulped audibly.

He tossed me over his knee. "Jamie... please... I'm not going to do it!" I begged.

He ignored me and slapped my backside rhythmetically, starting out mild but getting firmer by the second.

"Jamie!" I howled. This hurt so much more than the playful "loser" spankings we'd given each other earlier. Of course, my ass still hurt from those anyway, so that probably contributed to the pain. "Please stop."

I'd begun kicking by this time and holding my face in my hands bceause I didn't want to cry out too loudly. Jamie sure knew how to spank! I wondered if he'd had tons of practice or what. It was killing me.

After spanking for what felt like hours, he finally stopped. "Looks like a pants-down spanking is what you're in for," Jamie told me.

I squealed and squirmed when he grabbed the waistband of my pj pants. "Nooooo... you can't do that!" I objected.

He slapped a sitspot forcefully. "Stop squirming!" he ordered, then slipped my pants down to my knees, taking my panties with them. I shivered and squirmed some more, reaching my hands back to protect my backside from assault.

"Move your hands," he said, and when I shook my head, he moved them for me and delivered a sharp smack. I squealed like never before and continued to wiggle, trying to free my hands from his tight grip. In fact, I wiggled so much he actually stopped for a moment to reposition me. "Zach, you can have your turn," he said.

"No no no!" I begged. "No more! I've had enough! You can throw it away!"

Like always, they ignored me. Jamie helped me over Zach's lap. The only problem was that Zach was probably less experienced so when I began squirming, I was all ove rthe place. Jamie warned me to be still... more than once. Finally fed up, Zach stopped. "I have a better idea," he said. I felt myself being lifted and practically thrown on the bed (on my stomach of course). Zach proceeded to sit on my lower back, legs on either side of me like I was a horse or something. The sad thing is, I was actually really enjoying this. I can't help that I reached back after that... and then wouldn't move my hands. "Will you hold those for me?" Zach asked Jamie, referring to my hands.

Jamie grabbed both of my wrists and held them tightly in front of me. Zach spanked as hard as he could and I was so restrained I couldn't move. The control was out of my hands -- I couldn't get out of it. These boys meant business. And that's when I began to cry. I cried because I couldn't make them stop. I cried because I barely knew them and they still cared enough about me to try and prevent me from doing something illegal and unsafe. I cried and cried and cried until Zach was next to me instead of on top and Jamie's arm was thrown around me. Someone was rubbing my backside and it was so soothing. We lay there forever, my pants on the floor but my panties up. I was startled when there was an angry knock on the door. I rushed to claim my pants and Jamie opened the door. My mom was standing there, hands on hips.

"Let's go," she said angrily.

I didn't have the chance to try and get their numbers because she was dragging me away, muttering obscenities. "The nerve!" she was saying. "How dare you spend the night with two boys you don't even know!" and went on to accuse me of everything from sex to drugs. I just ignored her, remembering the night. She made me pack up my stuff when we got back to the room and we left right away.

Needless to say, I didn't see the casino much after that. I usually found her complimentary hotel rooms in the trashcan. We never spoke of it after that morning -- she'd asked and I'd told the truth: no sex, no drugs, only watching tv. I doubt she believed me, but it didn't matter.

I thought about that night almost everyday. Of course I never saw Jamie or Zach again, even though I tried a couple of times. I always wondered how it would have turned out if we'd exchanged numbers. Would I have adopted an older and younger brother? Would we go to the arcade every weekend and play? Would I eventually beat both of them? Would I be spanked all the time?

The cool thing is, I never smoked again.

Story: Molly - Chapter 12

Molly - Chapter 12
by Breanna Carter

After finding out that Molly was serious in her wishes to spank me, I didn't know what to say. She had a point, because no matter how old she was, I really would spank the daylights out of her for using such disrespect towards her mother. It's weird, though, thinking about how this adorable 12 year old thought she should spank me. What could I say?

"Okay," I said. "When we get home, you can spank me."

She blinked, trying not to look too shocked that I'd said that, but it wasn't working. "R-really?"

I nodded.

She nodded back. "And it's going to be a good one, too!" she said matter-of-factly.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. In less than twenty minutes, I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex. The cold air hit our faces as we headed towards the building. I inserted the keys, unlocking the door. I followed Molly inside. It was obvious that she was a bit nervous.

"Y-you want me to do it now?"

"Whenever you want, MollyCakes," I told her, taking my jacket off and throwing it over a dining room chair.

She thought for a moment. "I think I should spank you with your belt."

I nodded, taking my belt off and handing it to her. "Would you like me to take my pants down, too?" I asked, teasingly.

"Um, no thanks," she said, blushing furiously. It was pretty adorable seeing her blush like that. Her face was as red as her hair!

She took my upper arm and led me to the end of the couch, helping me over. The whole situation was actually quite amusing, but I didn't want Molly to know that's how I felt, so I kept my mouth shut.

"You shouldn't cuss at your mom, Brian," she scolded, though I have to admit, she wasn't very intimidating.

"I know, MollyCakes."

I heard her lift the belt and then swing, crashing it on my backside. For a twelve year old administering a spanking, I'll have to give her props! I actually felt it! She swung it again, then just started laughing.

"Hahaha... I can't do this, Brian," she said, then helped me up.

"Oh? You can't?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Because I know that you knew it was wrong to do that and I don't think you really meant to anyway. But believe me, if you do it again, I'll go a lot harder on you!!!"

I smiled and hugged her, ruffling her hair. "You're the sweetest kiddo ever," I said.

"I know it."

I glanced at the clock, seeing that it was nearing eight. "What do you want for dinner?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Anything good."

She flipped on the tv, plopping down in front of it.

"What about pizza?" I asked as I shuffled through the freezer.

"No, not pizza. I said something *good*, Brian."

"You sure are mouthy this evening!" I said, searching through the cabinets. "Spaghetti O's?"

"How 'bout something non-Italian? We just had Olive Garden for lunch!"

"Well, that was your choice, and I'm not cooking anything spectacular."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm lazy. If you want something good, come cook it yourself!"

"Fine," she said, getting up. "Didn't wanna watch tv anyway."

She dug in the freezer for a second, ignoring the fact that I was watching her. To be honest, I was just kidding when I told her to cook for herself.

She took out a package of chicken and sat it in the sink.

"What are you doing?"

"Cooking something spectacular," she said, shooting me a glare.

"Molly, it's nearly eight... you don't want anything spectacular this late, do you?"

"Yes, I do," she assured me, then shooed me away. "Now, go watch tv and let me handle the cooking. I'll call you in here when I'm ready."

I blinked. "You don't really wanna cook, do you?" I asked.

"YES... now, go away!"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine fine, I'm gone.." I said. "It'll be ready when I get out of the shower?"

"Maybe," she answered, pushing me away.

I took the hint and grabbed some pjs on my way towards the shower. Yeah, it was Friday night and it was only eight, but I wasn't planning on doing anything anyway. I decided to take my time in the shower so I wouldn't walk in during the middle of Molly's recipe and ruin it all. At least she made it seem like by going in there during the middle of it I'd ruin everything.

After about fifteen minutes in the shower, I couldn't say in there any longer, no matter if her food was ready or not. I dried myself off, put on my pjs and opened the door.

"Damn it's hot in there," I told Molly as I entered the living room.

"Almost ready!" she said.

I shrugged, pretending like I was uninterested, even though it was a lie. I was *very* interested in what she was cooking. I wasn't going to let her know that, though.

I halfway watched tv until she started putting stuff on the dining room table. At that time, none of my attention was on the television. She kept glaring at me when I looked towards her, so I just stared out of the corner of my eye.

"Okay, come on," she said.

I almost jumped with joy, but contained myself. Finally I could see what she was cooking!

"What's this?" I asked, sitting down at the table.

"That's *not* what you're supposed to say," she insisted. "You're supposed to say, 'Wow, Molly, this looks great!'"

I giggled. "Wow, Molly, this looks great!" I mocked. "But what is it?"

She sat down next to me, smiling. "It's a Molly original. Try it and see what you think."

I glanced at it. Chicken, corn, green beans, carrots... all stirred into one. Then she'd made some cornbread and mashed potatos. It actually looked really good, especially for a twelve year old!

She piled it up on her plate, taking half of the pan of Molly's special chicken surprise stuff, then half of the mashed potatos and about three pieces of cornbread.

"Hungry?" I asked, taking a small portion for myself.

"No, I'm just braver than you," she said, winking at me.

"I wouldn't call it bravery," I said, taking a bite of the food. "Hey, this is really good!" I said.

"Told you," she answered, mouth full of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth food," I told her, my mouth full.

She giggled, digging in.

Within thirty minutes, we were both stuffed, but she wasn't finished yet. About halfway through our meal she'd put in a chocolate cake, and it was finally ready. The crazy part is that she somehow managed to find *green* icing. Yes, it had already been green...

"Let's call this a celebration meal," she said, cutting the cake.

"Celebration? For what?" I asked.

"Hm.." she thought for a second. "For you and your mom talking again, even if you did go crazy on her, and a good luck meal on your finals next week, so you can hurry up and graduate, and for letting me stay with you for all this time... I promise I'll make it up to you."

I'd stopped eating for a second. "Molly... You know I love having you here... why would you make it up to me?"

"Cause you're giving up so much for me."

"I am?"

"Yes... you could have a girlfriend and you could be going out tonight and partying it up with the guys.. but instead you're here with me."

I blinked. "Molly... I'd rather be here with you, trust me."

"Anyway, and we'll have the cake to Ireland Pride! We gotta take a trip to Ireland one day!"

"Of course we will... when you're sixteen, okay?"

"Sixteen!" she shrieked. "But that's like... far away!"

"By then I'll have the money to take you.."

She smiled. "Fair enough," then put a piece of cake on my plate. "Oh, and this is for Shawn Mullins! Everything's gonna be all right!"

I grinned, staring at my chocolate cake with green icing. Only Molly would think of putting that on a cake...

"Where'd we get this green icing anyway?" I asked her as she put a huge piece on her plate.

She giggled a little. "You don't remember buying it?"

I shook my head, then realized something was up. "Heyy! Where'd you get it?" I was beginning to think that she'd stolen it or something...

"Calm down, Brian!" she said. "I threw it in the buggy once while we were at Walmart. I can't believe you didn't see me..."

I glared at her, but ate the cake anyway.

"Admit that it's good and you're glad I threw it in there!"

I smiled. "Okay, I admit it, but don't do it again!"

She didn't promise anything, just ate her cake and finally took our dishes into the kitchen and began washing. "Hey, hey... go watch tv... I'll do that."

She didn't stop.

"Well at least let me help you," I said, shoving her aside and rinsing off the dishes after she washed em, then drying them off and putting them up. "Thanks for dinner," I said afterwards when we sat on the couch with full stomachs.

"No problem. I owe it to ya."

"Stop talking like that. You don't owe me anything."

"I'm ready for the sleepover tomorrow night!" she said.

"That makes two of us," I teased.

"I'm ready for Christmas, too! After next week are you going to start working more so you can make more money and buy me loads of presents?"

"I dunno about that... Do you really think you've been a good girl this year?"

"Of *course*! I'm always a good girl."

I laughed. "Yeah right!"

She stuck her tongue out at me and we watched tv til she fell asleep right there on the couch, snuggled up next to Bonkers, her cat. It was really an adorable sight... her head on my lap, arm thrown over the cat. I flipped the tv off then carried her to bed, kissing her forehead and tucking her in, then placing the cat next to her. It was her only comfort, the only piece of her father that she had left.

I went back to the living room and lay there for a little while, thinking, like I always did. I wondered why bad things had to happen to kids like Molly... or any kids. Why'd parents leave them? Why'd they have to have it so hard? Molly had the best intentions in her heart. She wanted to make sure everyone else was happy, and she loved everything with all of her heart. There's not a doubt in my mind that she still loved her mother even after what happened with her. But the unhappiness was still there... like it was impossible for her to really be happy. Like she was just putting on a show for everyone.

I rolled over, staring at the blank tv. Would it really make any difference if I did the guardianship thing? I mean, it'd make a difference in a legal sense, but would it with Molly? I'd never be able to replace her dad, but would she at least feel like someone was finally giving her back the love that she offered?

My head started to hurt from all this thinking and I finally dozed off after a while. The worrying that I'd been doing about Molly was getting old, especially when I started dreaming about it. It was something I couldn't help, though. When you care that much about someone and you've taken as many psychology and philosophy classes as me, you tend to think about stuff too much.

"Brian!" I heard.

"Hmm?"

"Wake up! It's getting late and you've gotta go to work soon."

I opened my eyes to see Molly standing in front of me in her pjs. I glanced at the clock. "Molly, it's only ten," I said.

"So? You gotta wake up anyway!"

"Why's that?"

"Cause I'm bored?"

"Entertain yourself," I said.

She poked out her lower lip in a pout.

"Well, how can I help you not be bored?"

"Take me to the mall?"

"What's at the mall?"

"Stores."

"Yeah, I know... but what do you need from the mall?"

"Some new shoes," she said, holding up her green Converse shoes. "These are getting kinda old."

"And with what money do you think we're going to buy these?"

"I don't knowwwww... but let's go somewhere. Maybe we can see a movie?"

I sat up. "Okay, we'll go see a movie," I said. A movie was definitely cheaper than a new pair of shoes. "Go get on the 'net and decide what movie you wanna see and what time it starts and then get ready and we'll head out."

"YAY!" she exclaimed, latching onto me in a hug and scurrying off.

I knew Molly well enough to know that she'd want to see one of those stupid scary movies, but unfortuantely, they were all rated R so we had to settle with a PG13 movie that was a comdey. I think she still enjoyed it, even if it was a little stupid. Since the movie theater was in the mall, I decided we could go looking around anyway, even if I didn't have the sixty dollars to spend on a new pair of shoes.

"I don't want any new ones anyway," she explained, "I just wanted to get out of the house."

After a little while at the mall, we went to the skating rink. It wasn't too busy, just a couple of parties for some little kids. The first thing Molly did when we got there was bug Brad, the DJ, to play some Irish music. I knew that it wouldn't take long for him to be swayed by her pleading blue eyes. I, on the other hand, went to my office to check on the money and stuff, just to hang out away from some kids for a little while. I didn't say long, but when I came out, Flogging Molly was blaring over the loudspeaker. I grinned.

"Hey, Molly... let's go get your stuff from the house and I'll drop you off at Ciara's."

"She was going to meet me here," Molly said, not wanting to get away from a group of her friends.

"And your stuff?"

"We'll get it later. Please?"

I sighed. Softie kicking in again! "Okay, that's fine," I said.

She smiled and went back to hanging out with her friends. I sat up with Brad in the DJ booth for a little while, nothing exciting happening. That wasn't such a bad thing, though... no excitement was great! That meant that nobody was causing trouble.

Ciara and the rest of the sleepover bunch came in after a while. At that time, all of the twelve year olds were hanging out in a group. Kinda funny how it works... because all of Molly's friends were sooo different. But it was good that they could all hang out in a group and get along okay.

About nineish, one of Molly's gang came over to the DJ booth, staring up at us with pleading eyes. "Can you pleaseeeee play KoRn?"

"Play with corn?" Brad teased, acting in all seriousness. "We don't have any corn up here in the booth or we'd probably play with it. I don't like corn so much, do you, Brian?"

"It's okay, so I wouldn't play with it... I'd eat it," I replied.

The girl giggled. "I mean the band!"

"The band?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, there's a band called KoRn!"

"Who would name their band after a vegetable?" he asked, looking at me.

I shrugged.

Brad just laughed. "What KoRn song do you wanna hear, babe?" he asked.

Before she had the chance to answer we heard a big gush of laughter from over at the payphone and noticed the group of twelve year olds over there. They noticed we were looking and Molly just waved and kept giggling.

"What do you think they're up to?" Brad asked me after assuring the girl that he'd put on a good song by the mysterious KoRn band.

"No idea. Probably making prank phone calls."

It wasn't a minute later that we heard sirens outside and glanced at each other wondering what had happened. The nosey person I am, I hopped down from the DJ booth noting that the sirens were getting closer. I wanted to catch them before they passed us to see if I could tell what was going on, but I didn't have to worry. Know why? Because they were coming straight towards us.

Not a second after I made it outside did a firetruck pull into the parking lot.

I blinked. "Can I help you?" I asked, a little confused.

"We just received a 911 call from this location.." the fireman said.

"You did?"

He nodded.

For a second there, I was so angry I thought I wasn't going to be able to contain myself. "I apologize, sir... it must have been one of the kids making a prank call. I assure you that I'll take care of it..."

He seemed to understand and called off the emergency.

Ohh man, I was LIVID... I rushed back into the skating rink and up in the DJ booth then called out the name of every twelve year old I knew that was at the skating rink that night and hanging out in Molly's group. They could tell that I was upset. I finished off with telling them to all meet me by my office. It didn't take that long before they were all standing in a group beside my door. I unlocked it and told them all to follow me.

"Okay, someone tell me why I've called you all in here."

Everyone looked at everyone else, not speaking.

"Today," I urged on, narrowing my eyes at them.

They still didn't answer, so I decided to initiate it. "In case you're not aware, a firetruck just pulled into the parking lot claiming that someone at this address called 911.."

"Oh wow... why'd you call 911?" one of the girls asked.

"*I* didn't call them... one of you did, and I expect someone to tell me before I look at the cameras and find out for myself."

They looked at each other again before a boy raised his hand. "I did it," he said.

"Cole," one of the girls said, I guess not wanting him to fess up.

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

He looked back at his friends and nodded.

"Very well, the rest of you are dismissed."

The crowd dispersed and Cole stood there in front of me.

"What possessed you to do that?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Just wanted to see what would happen."

"And do you realize that's a federal offense?"

"A federal offense?"

"Yeah, you could get thrown in jail for that."

He hung his head. "No, I didn't know."

"Well, no one's going to jail tonight, but I expect we'll have to call your parents.."

He winced. "Do you have to?"

I nodded. "And I don't want to see you back here this weekend, okay?"

His head was still hung, but he nodded at my statement.

"It could be a lot worse, believe me. I'm going easy on you."

"I know," he said.

I picked up the phone asking him to recite his number. The poor boy looked like he felt so bad for just playing an innocent joke, but I had to make him an example to the others or they'd think it was okay for them to do the same. I made small talk with the boy's mother who assured me that she'd pick him up as soon as possible and that nothing like this would happen again. We sat in my office until Brad called over the walkie talkie that someone was here for me. Cole followed me out of my office and I released him to his mother who could not have been more apologetic.

"Don't worry about it, ma'am. I've never had any problems out of him before, but I wanted to make sure that the others knew they couldn't get away with something like this."

"I understand. But it won't happen again, will it, Cole?"

"No, ma'am," he said, staring at his toes.

She walked her son out and I went back up to the DJ booth. "He did it?" Brad asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't believe it."

"Why not?"

"Cause he *never* gets in trouble. He comes in here and plays with the hockey team... he's always been a good kid."

I shrugged. "Well, he admitted to it..."

Ciara's mom came to pick up the sleepover kids about thirty minutes before we closed. I told her that Molly didn't have her stuff, but she said that it'd be fine if she borrowed Ciara's pjs to sleep in.. it's not like they'd sleep much anyway. She was a nice woman. Molly waved goodbye to me as she left. Something about her looked different, but maybe she was just sad because of that Cole kid getting kicked out. As far as I knew, he was crazy about her and she liked him, too. Hopefully that's all it was...

Story: Anastasia's Birthday, Part I

Part of the Terrence/Bri and Ashton/Ana series.  It's Ana's 16th birthday and Terrence is out of town.  So Bri decides to take her best friend out for the day, avoiding the fact that they're supposed to be at school. And then there's a party in which the birthday spanking is administered!

Anastasia’s Birthday
Part I
by Breanna Carter

“Brianna!” Terrence called one hot evening in June.

“Yeah?” I answered, walking into the living room where he stood, a wad of cash in his hands and bags surrounding him.

“Have a seat.” I nodded and sat down on the couch in front of him. I was ecstatic... this was the first time Terrence had left home since I’d had that party and I was finally getting the house to myself. Hey, I don’t care if it isn’t a smart thing to do, I was excited! “Okay, I know summer’s coming up... You only have a week and a half left of school... and trust me, I’ll be back before the week you take finals, okay?” I nodded. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking, Anastasia’s birthday is next Friday, and I know you want to do something special, take her out to dinner, throw a party, I have no idea what you kids do for birthdays, but I know you intend to spend a lot of money, am I correct.”

I grinned. “Of course!”

“Right. Well, don’t spend too much, okay? I’m giving you this money, it might seem like a lot, but it has to last you for the rest of the summer, and if you spend it all this week then every time you ask me for money I’m going to give you a swat with the paddle for each dollar, understand me?” I shuddered but nodded anyway. “So if you spend it all this week, you won’t be able to sit all summer or you’ll have to get a job. Anyway...” he said, handing me the wad of cash, “here’s 500 dollars -- it’s for food, gas, and Ana’s party, okay? I wouldn’t go eat a fancy dinner every night... there’s some pizza rolls in the freezer and some sandwich stuff, okay?”

I giggled with happiness.

“I trust you, Bri, okay? Don’t let me down. You know the rules, no guys in the house, NO parties, which means no more than two or three people over at a time, in by 10 on school nights and midnight this weekend unless you talk to me and ask me, okay? I have the neighbors watching and if you violate ANY of these rules you won’t be sitting for a long time, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” I murmured. I remembered the last spanking I got and I definitely didn’t want anything like that to happen again.

“If there’s an emergency...”

“Terrence,” I whined, “I know. Go on,” I began, standing up, “have a great trip, I have the number, the number 911 is embedded into my brain and I won’t burn the house down, okay? Geeze! You’d think I was 7 instead of 17.”

“Oh, you’re 17?” he teased, ruffling my hair. “Okay, okay, I’m out of here. Be good, okay?”

“I will,” I promised, giving him a hug and practically shoving him out of the house. FINALLY! A whole week to myself.

The first few days were entertaining... I listened to my music loudly and ate popcorn for dinner while watching a movie that I’d rented (thanks to my summer allotment) and I stayed up late every night, though I tried to get in bed by 2am on the weeknights. On the weekend, however, I managed to stay up until 5 or 6 in the morning, either watching a movie or talking to friends on the net or something. Anastasia told me how lucky I was to get the house to myself, and I agreed, telling her that she could spend the night. But we didn’t dare tell anyone else that I had it to myself... they’d have wanted to throw a party for sure.

After a while, it got kinda boring and I found myself falling asleep on the couch while watching Brady Bunch re-runs. And somehow I managed to make it to school late everyday. I was even threatened with detention.

Friday morning, however, I had another plan. Since Terrence was out of town and Anastasia’s dad was IN town, it would be the perfect time to celebrate Anastasia’s birthday. And besides, the day before it had been announced that I’d be next year’s team captain. Go me!

“Ana!” I squealed, for some reason getting to school before the tardy bell rang. “We HAVE to go celebrate! Look, just write a letter in your dad’s handwriting and I have one from Terrence saying that we can leave school and we’ll go to the mall and eat lots of food and go shopping and all this fun stuff!!!”

She blinked. “Are you okay?”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” I screamed and tackled her in hugs.

She struggled to get loose. “Geeze, Bri, have you been doing drugs or something? You’re crazy!”

“I know,” I said, finally allowing her to breathe again. “I’m serious, though. It’s such a nice day outside it’d be a waste to stay at school all day. And besides, since the seniors already left, Ashton won’t be here and he won’t know you’re gone. Come onnnnnn,” I begged.

She considered the thought. “I guess you’re right... Ashton’s gone, Dad’s in town, Terrence’s gone...”

I nodded. “Yup, come on!” I grabbed her arm and dragged her to the end of the hallway then shoved a piece of paper and pencil in her hand.

“What do I write?”

“I dunno. Say you have a doctor’s appointment or something.”

She nodded then scribbled something down on the paper. I could barely make out the words, but it said something about letting her check out of school because she had a dentist appointment. Perfect.

We decided to meet in the office after second period, so it wouldn’t look as suspicious. I waited anxiously through the morning, wishing that the time would come because I had such an amazing afternoon planned for us.

Finally, the much awaited time approached and Anastasia and I ran out of office giddily. We were holding hands and skipping. It was such a nice day.

We drove to the mall listening to Ana’s choice of music. After all, it was her birthday and that’s what we were celebrating! As we pulled into the mall, I discussed our plans.

“Okays, so we’ll eat at Chick-fila,” I began.

“Ooooo!! Chick-fila!” she interrupted, mouth watering.

“Yes, Chick-fila... and then we’ll go by the CD store and you can pick out any three CDs you want, and I’ll get them...”

“Any??” she interrupted again.

“YES! Any... stop interrupting me!”

“Oh, sorry,” she giggled.

I pulled into a parking space and turned the car off. “Then we’ll go into Dillard’s and Rave, and yes, I’ll even go into the Limited with you, and you can pick out a stellar outfit to wear tonight 'cause Jayna’s having a party for you... And then we’ll just get whatever else we want.”

She blinked. “Do you honestly have the money for all of this?”

I nodded. “Yup,” and opened the car door.

“You don’t hafta, Bri...”

“Shhh, I’m going to anyway, okay? And then after we buy tons of stuff from the mall, we’ll go to Chuck E. Cheese and play and then we can go catch a movie or go out to eat, your pick. Then we’ll go to the party that Jayna’s having... and we’ll be back home by midnight or so...”

We began walking towards the entrance. “Yeah, but isn’t the party for both of us and the end of school?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, but that’s not the point.”

She shrugged. “Whatever, Bri. Let’s just have fun.”

I smiled, glad she was finally seeing my point.

We did everything that I had imagined and more! She found three CDs she wanted, and I found three I couldn’t live without. She bought a new outfit and I bought two. We even tried on homecoming dresses for the next school year. I considered buying it, but since it was $200, I decided I’d wait and let Terrence get it. We ate ice cream and cookies and got our nails done (they were having a two for one special!) By the time we left the mall, there was an obvious dent in the money that Terrence had given me.

“Maybe I should start getting job applications,” I commented as we arrived at Chuck E. Cheese, where a kid can be a kid. And believe me, there were plenty of kids being kids... even Anastasia and I. We did, however, get many weird looks. Especially when we were crawling through the play equipment and making faces at each other. Then we played tons of arcade games and competed against each other. I won (even though she swears that she did).

By the time we left Chuck E. Cheese, it was about four in the evening. We decided to catch a movie, and it was really good. I enjoyed it at least. After the movie, we went by Burger King and got some chocolate shakes. I considered, once again, looking for job applications. Out of the five-hundred that I’d started with, I only had a mere forty bucks. Ouch. I wouldn’t be sitting all summer, no matter which way you looked at it. I’d either have to flip burgers or get paddled every time I wanted to go somewhere. Or, I could just stay home...

We arrived at Jayna’s house around 8:30. It was a nice house, if I do say so myself. It was large and spacious and beautiful. I couldn’t believe she actually let so many people come over and get wasted. If my house was that nice, I would only bring people over to brag to them. Oh well, I guess that’s the difference between the two of us.

“Birthday girl and team captain!” Jayna greeted us.

“Heys!” I squealed, hugging her.

Jayna hugged Anastasia and smiled. “Glad you’re finally here!”

“Yeah, we went to see a movie. It was awesome!” Ana said.

“Yeppers, and we went to Chuck E. Cheese... now THAT was amusing.”

“Yeah, everyone noticed that you two were skipping today,” Jayna teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Nobody cares.”

“Would you like a drink?” she offered.

I declined. “Designated driver, here. But go ahead, Ana, drink as much as you’d like. You can crash at my place.”

She giggled. “Okay, I’ll have a little,” she decided.

Jayna led us into the dining room where the table was littered with different types of alcohol. Some I’d never even heard of. Anastasia picked a kind called Hypnotic, simply because it was blue. I was craving some, but I decided not to. I’d seen all of those productions that had been done about drinking and driving... I’d heard the stories of the little kids getting killed... I wasn’t going to be so stupid.

Ana hadn’t drank that much when things started getting wild. Everyone was drunk and acting goofy, and I found it utterly amusing. I wasn’t around drunk teenagers often. We had a toast, to the end of school, to my team captain-ness, to Jayna for letting us use her house, and to Anastasia, who was finally 16. Then the guys started singing “Happy Birthday” off-key, slurring their words, and everyone joined in, including me.

“Happpppieeeee birrrrrthdaeeeee tew yewwww!” they bellowed.

She blushed madly. “Guys, stop...”

“Happppppieeeeee birrrrthdaaaeee teeewwwww yeeewwwww! Happy burfdaeee to Annnnaaaaa! Happpppy birfdaeeee ttteeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww........ yeeeeewwww!!!”

Everyone clapped and cheered and Anastasia buried her head in her hands.

“Birthday spankin’s!” someone called out.

Anastasia removed her hands and backed up against the wall. “Noooo,” she whined, but she was giggling and having a grand ol’ time, so I decided, as designated best friend, it was my duty to deliver the 17 smacks to her precious little bottom.

“Ohh yes!” I said, laughing as well. “Come on, Jayna!”

Jayna and I bolted towards her, I faster than she because I wasn’t impaired, and Anastasia instantly took off. I finally caught up to her and Jayna held her down.

I landed the first smack down and she let out a slight yelp.

“ONE!” the guys chanted.

“Geeze, Bri! That hurt!”

SMACK!

“TWO!”

SMACK SMACK SMACK!!

I kept smacking and Ana tried to wiggle but she couldn’t because Jayna’s grip was far too strong... she was practically on top of her. Everyone in the room chanted, and then I got to the final smack, number seventeen, and everyone clapped and cheered, then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up into Ashton’s face. He grabbed my upper arm as well as Ana’s, and we were both dragged out of the party.

Talk about embarrassing. I wouldn’t have been more embarrassed unless it was Terrence himself who dragged me out of there. Ashton was fuming with anger!

“In the car!” he ordered. “Both of you!”

“But, Ashton,” I began. “I haven’t been drinking. I can drive...”

“Right now, Brianna!”

I gulped and held Ana’s hand and we walked to the car. I plopped down in the back seat.

“But Ashtonnnn,” Anastasia whined. “It’s myy birfdaeee!”

He slammed the keys into the ignition. “Not anymore, kiddo. It’s past midnight.”

She whined more. “I dun wanna be in truwble on my birfdaee!”

He sighed, backing out of the driveway. “I don’t want you to be in trouble either, and you wouldn’t be if you didn’t skip school today.”

I gulped. So this wasn’t about the damn party after all? I guess I could’ve been relieved, except he found out about the fact that I’d skipped school... and that wasn’t cool. So I decided to pretend like I had no idea what he was talking about.

“We didn’t skip school...”

He looked into the rearview mirror, straight into my eyes. “Oh? You didn’t?” he said sarcastically. “Then how come a good friend of mine claimed to have seen Anastasia roaming around the mall with a friend of hers whom he recognized as a soccer player with blue eyes and light hair, fairly short, and they were both wearing school uniforms?”

“He must’ve mistaken us for someone else,” I concluded, “‘cause we were at school all day.”

“You were, huh? What was the lesson in American History about?”

“Vietnam,” I said, suddenly.

“Vietnam? This late in the year? I’d think you’d have been reviewing for the final already...”

I bit my lower lip. “We were reviewing the Vietnam part of the final. Besides, what would I know? I hate that class anyway.”

“So I guess if I called your teacher she could tell me that you were present in class today?”

I rested my head against the seat.

“That’s what I thought,” he said after a few minutes of silence.

“We were celebrating.”

“I don’t care what the hell you were doing.”

“Why didn’t you let me drive home?”

“You’re changing the subject...”

“I haven’t been drinking.”

“Because everybody in that house has been drinking and, although right now I can tell that you’re sober, at the time I couldn’t. And I wasn’t going to take any chances. Last time someone I knew drove after drinking, she ended up hitting a mailbox. I didn’t want something like that to happen to you, only it be a car instead of a mailbox.”

I felt my stomach tie up into knots. Did this mean he really cared about me? “Ashton, do we really have to tell Terrence about this?”

“It’s only fair, don’t you think?”

“It’d be more fair if neither of us got into trouble.”

He laughed. “Yeah, right. This is the second time that Anastasia’s skipped, and I’m not letting her off easy. And besides, I’m not telling Terrence... you are. And I expect him to know when he comes home tomorrow, got it?”

I sighed. “It’ll just be better if he didn’t know, that’s all.”

He pulled into my driveway. “Have him call me after you’ve broken the news.”

I opened the door. “Are you going to take me to get my car tomorrow?”

“I’m sure Terrence’ll take you to get it...”

“I want my car while I’m still able to sit...”

“I’ll think about it.”

I walked into my house and flopped down on the couch, letting the tears stream down my face. I’d really done it this time... not only had I skipped school, I managed to spend nearly all of the money Terrence had given me and be at a party where there was underage drinking and I was out past Terrence’s curfew. I was sure, though, that I’d be in the most trouble for skipping. Especially since I’d done it, what, twice before? Poor Anastasia... Ashton had been so upset with her...

My thoughts were so distorted that I didn’t even notice the phone ringing until the answering machine picked up.

“Brianna? Are you home?” Terrence’s voice was saying. I ran to the phone. “It’s me... I figured you’d be in by now since...”

I picked up the phone.

“Your curfew is midnight...”

“I know, I know...”

“Oh, there you are.”

“Sorry for the delay. I didn’t hear the phone ring.” I sniffled.

“Where were you?”

“On the couch...”

He paused. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I muttered, though I figured it must be obvious that I was crying.

“How was your day?”

“It was pretty good.”

“Really? What’d you do?”

“Went to see a movie then to Jayna’s... but I’ll explain it all when you get back tomorrow, okay?”

“Are you sure everything’s okay..?”

“No,” I admitted. “But we’ll talk when you get home.” I let another tear fall.

“Bri... you’re worrying me. Do I need to come home tonight?”

“No, no, it’s okay. I just got into some trouble, that’s all. And I feel really bad about it.”

“It’s not about being out past curfew, huh? 'Cause I basically gave you the okay to be out a little later tonight...”

“No, it isn’t that. We’ll talk when you get here.”

He sighed. “Okay, Bri. Talk to you tomorrow then.”

“Okies. Goodnight.”

I dropped the phone on the receiver and slid down to the floor, knees to chest, crying like a baby. I knew in about 24 hours, I’d be all forgiven, but my ass would be hurting more than it’d ever hurt before... probably more than it did after I got home from Chicago. I wasn’t looking forward to that.

Story: Practice Still Makes Perfect

Part of the Practice Makes Perfect mini series.  Amy's senior year in high school, she is given the opportunity to play with a college orchestra.  Little did she know that she would come into contact with Jeremy again.  They strike up a conversation about the past... literally.

Practice Still Makes Perfect
by Breanna Carter

When I was a sophomore in high school, I was admitted into the advanced orchestra class. That was an interesting year, to say the least. I became fairly decent friends with the first chair guy named Jeremy, who was a senior. In fact, by the middle of the year, he’d taught me enough that I became second chair and sat next to him in class. After that, we were even better friends.

The thing that got us close, though, was the fact that he taught me private lessons. And after getting very irritated at me for not practicing, he ended up spanking me. That was a weird and kind of delightful experience. I can’t say I’d change anything.

After Jeremy graduated, things in high school were very bland. I had talked to him a few times since he left school, found out he was going to a local college, but really, I didn’t talk to him much. I really hated that cause he was such a great friend.

By the time my senior year rolled around, I still remembered him. I kept wondering what it’d be like to run into him somewhere... what he’d say to me, what I’d say back, if we’d talk about the spanking he gave me, if he’d threaten to spank me again. All of these thoughts kept going through my mind, but I knew it’d never happen. After all, I hadn’t seen him since he graduated.

One day, though, a man came to our orchestra to speak with the class about the music program at Centenary College. Actually, he came to help us out with some Allstate music, but while he was there my teacher urged him to talk to us about Centenary.

“And if any of you want to play with the Centenary Orchestra this year, it’s fine...” he said, concluding his speech.

As the person who sits in the front of the room, I couldn’t very well pass out, though I wanted to. This man had just said that I could join a college orchestra... and you know what was going through my head? No, not that it was a college orchestra where there’d probably be a lot of hott guys (well, that was going through my head, too), but I was thinking, “wow, Jeremy goes to Centenary... maybe he’s in the orchestra!”

When I was finally able to breathe again, I noticed that everyone around me was migrating towards the door to put their instruments in their locker. The orchestra conductor and my teacher were standing in the front of the room talking. I felt bad interrupting, but I knew that I had to join this orchestra.

“Hey, girl!” my teacher said, instantly patting me on the back. “This is Amy, our first chair violist. She’s a wonderful player!”

I tried to refrain from blushing, but you just can’t help stuff like that when someone’s bragging on you.

“Hi,” the man said, extending his hand for me to shake. “I’m Dr. Golabsky.”

I smiled. “Hi. I was wondering,” I said, fidgeting because I always get nervous when I talk to new people, “if I could be in the Centenary Orchestra...”

He smiled. “Sure. I’ll just need to hear you before-hand. When is the best day for me to hear you?”

I blushed a little. “I dunno. Any time is fine..”

The bell rang dismissing us to our next class. “Okay, how about Wednesday?” he asked.

I nodded. “That’s fine. I gotta go!” I nearly fell over trying to run away from the room so I could get to class on time. I was nervous about playing in front of people, but I was morely nervous about getting to see Jeremy again. I ran through the conversations we might have in my head. Would he remember me? Would he remember the spanking? I tried to reason with myself... I wasn’t even sure if I’d made the orchestra yet or not.

Surely, though, I made it... and not because I tried out, but really because musicians are lazy and forgetful and I never really had the chance to be heard. The days he came, I wasn’t there. So he took my teacher’s word for it and relayed the message to me to be at rehersal on Monday at seven.

That Monday before practice I spent about an hour trying to get ready. I’m not the type of person to spend hours on end putting on makeup and doing my hair, but I think I was so excited about seeing Jeremy again that I wanted to make sure my hair looked a little decent. I even paid attention to what clothes I was going to wear! (Thin black pants and a T-shirt, white cotton panties, in case you’re wondering..)

At six-thirty I hopped in my car, hands already shaking. I’m not one who likes going to new places. Especially by myself. As far as I knew, I would know nobody there.

I pulled up to the Centenary parking lot about twenty minutes early. I’m also the type of person who hates to be late, but hates more to be early. So I sat in my car for about three minutes until my anticipation got to me and I had to get out. Somehow I managed to find the music building and I ambled up the stairs. I opened the huge door and stood in the hallway stupidly for a few minutes, then saw someone with a cello case and decided to follow them. Good thing they were going to the practice room else I’d have been lost. Word of advice: always get directions when you’re going some place new.

The room was nearly deserted when I got there. I saw a few chairs scattered around and about seven people were wandering around. I even recgonized some of the people that were wandering around. I stood there dumbly for a few minutes until one of the girls who plays the flute said hello.

“Hi, I’m Amanda,” she said, smiling.

“Amy,” I replied, throwing a nervous smile back.

“You play the viola?”

“Yeah,” I murmured.

Another flute player and an oboeist came and sat down, too, and introduced themselves to me. All I could think was, “wow, these people are really nice.”

“What school do you go to?” one asked.

“Are you a senior?” another asked.

“Are you coming here next year?” the first asked.

I was going crazy trying to answer their questions and look for Jeremy at the same time until finally the questions died down and I was able to ask them if the seat I was trying to sit in was taken. It wasn’t.

I sat there for a little while, heart thumping, biting my lower lip. I glanced at my watch: 6:52. Eight more minutes then I’d find out for sure if Jeremy was in the orchestra.

It wasn’t even eight minutes before I saw him shuffling inside, half-asleep look on his face, brown hair almost to his chin and fallen in front of his blue eyes. He was wearing baggy jeans, just like I was used to him wearing, and some ADIDAS sandals that looked a few years old, and he had on a polo shirt. He flopped into the first chair spot and opened his case, pulling his beautiful instrument out. It took me a minute to realize that I was staring at him. My stomach becoming uneasy, I decided to take my own instrument out and not speak until spoken to.

Minutes later, another person came in and sat down next to me, and by now I was giddy as hell. “Hi,” I said. “I’m Amy.”

He smiled then exclaimed that his name was Jordan. He put the music on the stand and said that it was Haydn. I was excited to be playing Haydn... he’s my favorite composer. I was more excited when Jeremy stood up and walked towards the flute player, Amanda, and began talking to her. I heard her say something like, “did you meet Amy?” and I was trying my hardest to pretend like I wasn’t listening but I knew that Jeremy was looking at me and this was the moment of truth...

“Oh! I didn’t even see her!” he said.

I turned around and smiled, face red as a firetruck. “Hi,” I muttered. “I’m Amy.” I extended my hand and he his, and we shook then he pushed his brown hair out of his eyes.

“Hey, I know you!” he nearly shrieked, huge grin on his face. “Hey, Amanda, she used to go to school with me,” he explained and I desperately prayed that the next thing he said was NOT that he spanked me once because I neglected to practice. It wasn’t. “She was a pretty cool kid. We were stand partners. How ya been doin’ Amy?” he asked, punching me playfully.

“I’m okay.”

“That’s awesome! You still in high school, right? Senior this year?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s awesome. I remember my senior year. It was the shit.”

I grinned, totally glad that he remembered me and even more glad that he was being nice. I wanted to know all about how he was doing in college, what groups he had joined, the new friends he’d made, what he was majoring in, all that good stuff, but we were interrupted by the conductor who meerly tapped his stick on the stand and Jeremy hopped back to his seat.

“Hello everyone,” the conductor said, then smiled at me. “Glad you could make it,” he mouthed then addressed the orchestra. “Guys, this is Amy. She’s going to be playing with us this semester.”

Everyone looked at me and I could feel my face turning hot again.

It was an amazing practice. I didn’t know I was so good at sight-reading until that night. I played the songs really well and when I got lost, I just kept going, pretending like I knew what I was doing. And the Haydn song was amazing. It was called Miracle. The conductor even made a joke and said, “it’s called Miracle as in, it’ll be a miracle if we can perfect this song by the concert.” All in all, I liked the orchestra a lot, especially since I could stare at Jeremy the whole time.

After the practice I was packing up my instrument, watching all the people pass by me and listening to some of them murmur how much they were glad I was playing with them, when Jeremy approached.

“Heya,” he said, pushing the hair out of his eyes, again.

“Hi,” I said shyly, putting Jimmy the Viola in his case and closing him in.

“So things have been going okay lately, huh?” he asked as I stood.

“Yup, they’ve been pretty good,”I admitted, walking with him.

“That’s awesome. Keeping up practicing and all?”

I blushed. Maybe he did remember. “Yeah.”

“That’s cool.” He opened the door for me. “First chair this year?”

I smiled. “Definitely. I had the best private lessons teacher when I was a sophomore...”

He grinned back. “And what made me the best private lessons teacher?”

We were finally in darkness. I decided to fess up, especially since I wanted it again so badly. “Because,” I began, looking behind me to make sure no one was in hearing distance, “you spanked me.”

He stopped walking. “Really? You remember that?”

My face was now on fire and I was about to say, “gotta go” and run for my life, but he said something before I got the chance to.

“I remember it, too... Did you, er, like it?”

Okay, saying my face was on fire before he said that was a lie... now it was REALLY on fire.

When I didn’t answer him he said, “I did.”

“Oh my gosh,” I muttered, holding my head in my hands.

“Hey, hey, I’m sorry...” he said, and I could tell he was blushing, too. “Sorry, Amy... I just... I... Ugh, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s not that. I did, I liked it... I...” I couldn’t think of what to say.

We both just stood there for a little while, I trying to steady my pulse and regulate my breathing, and he probably trying to do the same. “Okay...” he began. “Now that we’ve both been totally embarrassed and stuff, I’d like to, once again, apologize, for putting that so bluntly...”

I nodded. “It’s okay. If you hadn’t said anything, I’d have been too chicken... but now that we know that we both enjoy it... well... maybe...” I stopped, not knowing the right way to word this.

“Maybe we could do it again sometime?” he finished.

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“So what are you doing tonight?” We began walking again.

“Nothing, just going home I guess.”

He looked at his watch. “Well, it’s only nine... I have the feeling that you probably need a little reminder that you need to practice. The concert IS in a few weeks, you know, and you gotta have that stuff perfected by then...”

I quivered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about...” I said, implying that I did, yet I was being defiant.

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I think you do, Young Lady. Come on, we’re going to take a trip to my room.”

This scening was actually quite exciting and I allowed him to lead me across the campus to the dorm rooms. We got inside the large building and he was holding my hand, waving to the various people he knew, but keeping the grip tight on my hand to let me know that he meant business. My viola was still thrown across my shoulder, and he across his, and I wondered why the hell I hadn’t just put it in my car while we were outside.

We finally got to his dorm room and he closed the door and locked it. “Do you need to call your parents and let them know you’re going to be late?” he asked.

“Yeah, prolly so,” I answered, sitting my instrument down next to one of the small beds. He handed me the cordless phone and I hurridely dialed the number to my house. I explained to my mom that a friend from orchestra was helping me practice one of the songs and that I’d be late getting home, but I’d call her before I left.

I hung up the phone and watched him turn on the cd player and turn the volume up super loud. Lucky for me, it was one of my favorite bands. “Sorry,” he said over the loud music. “We wouldn’t want anyone to hear now would we?” He grinned that famous Jeremy grin and I couldn’t help but blush and smile back.

He plopped down on his bed and pulled me over to him. “Drop the pants, Young Lady,” he said.

I gulped. “But, Jeremy,” I began, trying to think of a good way to plead.

“Right now!”

I nodded and unbuttoned my black pants then slid them to the floor. He just sat there. “Panties, too,” he said.

I wasn’t prepared for this. Last time he hadn’t asked for my panties to be lowered; he had lowered them while I was across his lap.

“I mean it, Amy.”

I put my thumbs between the waistband of my panties and my stomach then tugged them down to my knees, exposing myself. I couldn’t help but blush more. Jeremy just grinned.

“Okay, kiddo, over my lap.” He guided me into position and I couldn’t help but hear the lyrics to the song... be a good girl like you’re supposed to. Ugh, I love that band so much.

I buried my face into the sheets of his bed. I could barely hear his scolding. “You need to practice so you’ll be a great viola player,” he was saying, hand rested on my bare bottom.

“Okay,” I mumbled.

He smacked my rear end sharply. “That’ll be ‘yes, sir’ to you, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, groaning.

His hand rested lightly on my bottom again. I took a deep breath in and felt his hand raise again and an instant later it was raining down on my backside. I couldn’t help but squirm lots and bite my lower lip to keep from yelping. I knew now why he had the music turned up so loudly.

He was scolding me but I couldn’t hear. I was trying to concentrate on hearing the sound of his hand meeting my flesh. And the music that was playing.

I could feel my face flushing, but morely, I could feel the redness of my bottom. With each smack it began to sting more and more until finally I couldn’t take it and I was kicking and gripping onto the sheets of his bed for dear life. And then, after the end of the third song we were listening to, a good ten minutes into the spanking, I began crying. That must have been some site to see... a senior in high school over the lap of a college guy who was spanking the daylights out of her until she was bawling like a baby.

It wasn’t long after I began crying that he stopped spanking and began rubbing my bottom. He was rubbing in little circles with one hand and stroking my hair with the other. It wasn’t until the forth song was over and the cd stopped playing that I could hear his soothing voice telling me that it was all over and it’d be okay.

“Shhhhhh, Amy, I’m finished. It’s all over, baby,” he said in this soothing voice.

I just nodded, still crying a little. His hands felt so nice rubbing the sting away. Er, geeze, it was great.

Finally, my crying stopped and he picked me up and hugged me tightly. “That was a lot of fun,” he whispered in my ear.

I blushed. “Yeah, it was,” I whispered back.

He reached down and pulled my panties back up then adjusted them, and finally pulled my pants up, too, giving me a slight pat on the rear. “We should do this some other time,” he offered.

I smiled. “Yes, we should.”

He stood up and grabbed my hand and my viola and walked me out to my car. I unlocked the door and he hugged me. “Think about me while you’re sitting on that hott rear,” he said then winked.

I giggled. “Don’t worry, I will.”