A Student's Lesson

Standing on the plush carpet in front of the headmaster's oak desk, the sweating teenager was given the bad news. Clad in tight maroon gym shorts and sleeveless white tank-top she had listened in silence as the Head declared her doom. The dark haired man had deliberately not mentioned the matter of referring to an independent expert. He had only said that "If a suitable punishment cannot be agreed upon, expulsion would be the obvious consequence." Sally's mouth dropped open at that.

Standing on each side of the desk, both men were now staring at her solemnly. Of course it may have been due to her size 30 E* breasts straining the material of her slightly damp shirt. Or it could have been the tanned and slightly glistening bare legs that were on display. It most certainly couldn't be the form fitting gym shorts that left no curve of her hips and buttocks to the imagination. They were so tight that even a hint of her... The Headmaster, clearing his throat after pausing for a bit too long, dismissed the now suspended teenager.

* DD in U.S.

She had hurried from the Headmaster's office to the gym changing room and dressed quickly. After collecting her school bag she made her way to the parking area not looking at anyone along the way. Sally had not wanted to have to explain to anyone that she had been suspended.

The drive home had been an uncomfortable journey. Since leaving the school, Collin had been thinking of ways not only to broach the subject of the discipline option proposed by the head but also of how he was going to get Sally to accede to whatever was considered to be a "suitably severe" punishment. Sally, he knew with absolute certainty, had never been subjected to corporal punishment. At least not during the years he had been responsible for her upbringing. He stole a glance at her every so often as he drove the short distance from the school to their comfortable home.

Sally, sitting in the front passenger seat of the BMW, stared out the window silently. The Headmaster had told her that the boys were to be punished later and had said that they were lucky not to be expelled as well. Why had she agreed to forge the letters? That was stupid! To make things worse, the Headmaster had now uncovered previous instances of her having skipped school. Dammit! Why did Collin have to come home so early yesterday?!

"It could well be boarding school for you," Collin started. "And don't think I won't go that route."

She sat there still looking out the window. Boarding School. With her luck one with a strict religious background with an even worse disciplinary regime. "You know I don't want that," she finally replied. "The Headmaster said there was something I could do?"

"I need to speak to someone," Collin said cryptically. "He is apparently an expert at dealing with poorly behaved school pupils."

Sally looked at him askance.

"I can only hope that he agrees to help us." Collin was laying the foundation for 'persuading' the seemingly subdued eighteen-year-old to accept what he considered to be a deserved punishment. Taking into account the girl's earlier behavior, Mr. Montgomery had noted the headmaster's implicit desire for Sally to receive a punishment greater than that of her male co-conspirators. Yes, he thought with more than a touch of anger, the more severe the better.

"Who are you going to speak to?" she asked apprehensively. "What kind of punishment was The Headmaster talking about?" The first inkling of what may lay in store for her began to descend upon her.

"Do you know...are you aware of what is shortly going to happen to your friends?" he put it to her. "Your male friends?"

"They'll probably get cuts. That's what normally happens for serious things." Now she was getting very nervous. "Why? Does that mean that you're going to give me a spanking?" she asks incredulously.

They had reached the house and Collin pressed the button of the remote door-opener. "They are both going to be severely dealt with," he said curtly. "Both of your cronies are on the verge of receiving eight - yes, eight - strokes with the heavy cane. They had special permission from their parents for the maximum punishment." Sally listened in silence as her guardian steered the car through the driveway and pulled inside the garage. "Oh yes, and don't forget," he added to the load of what he hoped was an already overburdened conscience, "their posteriors will not be afforded the protection of pants or underpants."

Stunned, Sally made no movement to get out of the car. She remained in her seat with safety belt still in place. Her face had paled somewhat, more because of the implication that the boys' punishment would have on her own predicament than on any genuine concern for their well-being. What worried her was the mention by the headmaster, and the agreement of her guardian, of the need for a 'suitable punishment' for her.

Collin had already unlocked the front door by the time Sally had gathered her composure sufficiently to get out of the car. Once they were both inside the modern house Collin told her to take a seat in the lounge. He needed to speak seriously with her.

Reluctantly and in typical Sally fashion she did so. The girl all but drug her feet with school bag over the shoulder into the room. The teen casually plunked herself into the lush sofa and the blue-green plaid skirt flipped up momentarily revealing her tanned thighs. Seeing him looking at her legs she hurriedly tugged the hem downwards.

Collin's eyes narrowed at the girl. She was doing it again; but not so subtly this time. She was trying to make him feel that he had done something wrong. If she didn't want him seeing something she should take more responsibility. Seating himself in his comfortable leather chair opposite her he asked her whether she remembered Thaddeus Cox.

"Oh?" She remembered him all too well and not too fondly. "Everyone called him the 'Baldy Man'," she revealed. "He was ugly and fat. And bald. He wasn't very nice."

Collin's eyebrows shot up. "Is that how you talk about your teachers?" Then he broke the news to her. "He is the person I am going to contact in connection with your punishment." Her furrowed brow and mouth hanging ajar said all that Collin needed to know.

Sally remembered Thaddeus Cox vividly. He was the sort of teacher that frequented the nightmares of school pupils. The old man was the archetypal schoolmaster, both in appearance and conduct. Gowned and serious, he tormented his pupils at every opportunity. "Boy! (or Girl!) You will report to me after school today," was a phrase feared by Cox's pupils. Especially the males. Such an utterance generally meant a dose of The Cane as well as an hour period of detention. He would prowl his mathematics class, spouting forth the theorems of Pythagoras and others, all the while appearing to uncover some poor adolescent wretch's omission to do their homework. If he were unsuccessful, he would adopt another means of 'selection' be it talking in class or a uniform infraction.

The boys suffered at his hand, or rather, the cane in his hand while the handful of girls in his classes were spared. Spared at least in the ignominy and discomfort of being caned. Cox left them in no doubt that he would do the same to them were he allowed to do so. He developed a knack for incorporating an element of humiliation into a luckless boy's punishment. It would sometimes occur that a boy and a girl would be instructed to report to him for punishment together. Attached to his classroom was a small storeroom. The girl would be made to sit at the desk closest to the entrance of this small room and ordered to get on with whatever written punishment Cox had prescribed for her. He would then take the boy into the room, close the door, and proceed to administer the caning. The girl outside would hear everything, from the instruction to bend and count the strokes, to the actual impact of the rattan on its target. The boy was then, despite being in considerable discomfort, required to commence his lines or whatever else Cox had ordered him to do.

In addition to his strictness, Sally also recalled how Thaddeus Cox would sometimes spend part of his free time watching the senior girls do physical education during the summer term. It was after he had announced his retirement from the school and it seemed he didn't care what the staff thought about him at this point. He would always look up from his book whenever one of the seniors stretched, bent, bounced, climbed, jumped, and vaulted through the forty-five minute class. Every so often he would exchange light banter with the gym mistress who did not seem to object to his being there. She should have since the small number of girls required their own class and no boys were allowed. Sally even recalled the old man saying to the mistress 'That he wanted to keep a close eye on his former students'.

Shortly before he left the school he also found it necessary to subject her and a senior boy who had been talking to her in class to a detention period. True to form and in keeping with his modus operandi, she had had to listen to the sound of the boy, who she was drawn to at the time, receive a severe thrashing from Cox. The schoolmaster had obviously come to the conclusion that their mutual body language and persistent hushed conversation coupled with the smiles at each other revealed more than a small degree of attraction between the two pupils. By caning the boy within earshot of his well-endowed classmate, Cox had simultaneously asserted his own authority as well as considerably denting the self-image of the young man. Well, it seemed to have worked as the boy wouldn't even look her way the rest of what little remained of the semester. It left what was an enduring perception that Sally had of Thaddeus Cox, school teacher and disciplinarian.

Noticing that Sally had grown quiet, Collin continued. "Mr. Cox won't be a stranger, then, will he? He stands between you and expulsion from Warrington High. It's as simple as that."

Sally had been fed diverse pieces of information over the past hour or so. Expulsion or punishment. Canings for the other two boys on the bare bottom. Her friend Susan being handled by her parent. Boarding school. And now, Thaddeus Cox in charge of her being able to return to school. She shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. Was her old math teacher, who still gave her bad dreams, going to be in charge of punishing her? "Are you...you can't be serious?!" she exclaimed, still not believing what she was hearing.

"I regret to say that I am. You have forced me into this," her guardian replied angrily folding his arms. "The initial choice still rests with you."

Now she was sure this was not good. Not good at all! "What choice?!"

"Boarding school or Mr. Cox. That is assuming he wants to help out," said Collin. "Heaven knows why he should even bother to deal with the likes of you!" It was probably the cruelest thing he had ever said to Sally.

Sally couldn't believe her ears. The boarding school option was not tenable. Being separated from her friends and an even worse discipline regime wherever she ended up made it a non-starter. Anything but that. But a voice in the back of her head whispered, "Even if it meant having to endure the "Baldy Man?" She tried to ignore the memories of the boys being caned now being dredged up. Yet how bad could it be? Baring her ass to the old man? Pretty bad. Getting it over with in a hurry. A little better. Far better than nine months getting caned for the slightest of transgressions. "I suppose it will have to be him," the girl tried to say nonchalantly.

Collin wasn't fooled. He could see his charge realize, finally, what kind of situation she was in. Her hands on her lap were now tightly clasped. Her constant nervous shifting had let her dress ride up which was now getting dangerously close to showing her panties. Lower down, her dark blue cotton mid-calf socks and black leather t-bar buckle shoes completed the unsettled picture of a troubled young woman. A schoolgirl, who legally was an adult, now struggling to come to terms with the control and regimentation imposed upon her free spirit by the rules, regulations and traditions of Warrington High School.

That she considered her behavior to be 'free spirited' was a matter of considerable dispute. Her guardian, headmaster and others in the know would have used other, less complimentary adjectives to describe her transgressions. The word 'delinquent' would come a great deal closer to what these people would consider an apt description. Yes. Collin was happy to agree with her choice. Not only to simplify his life but to knock her down a notch or two.

But before the discipline of the teenager could become a reality, one important phone call needed to be made.

*******

Thaddeus Cox would approve, the Headmaster thought to himself. It was a certainty he would take this task on. He had felt equally confident that the girl's guardian seemed to be onboard as well. Well, it would be quite telling if he agreed to all that Thaddeus might require.

Immediately after the girl and her guardian had left his office, he had lifted the receiver of his telephone. His secretary picked up. "Mandy. Please get hold of Mr. Thaddeus Cox for me. His mobile number is listed on your PC in the 'contacts' file." He replaced the receiver and sat back to ponder the situation. Contrary to his stated earlier intention of waiting until Mr. Montgomery contacted Cox to confirm the placing of Sally under his 'disciplinary care', the headmaster was now more determined than ever to bring his former colleague up to speed. After few moments his secretary reported that Mr. Cox was on the line.

Thaddeus had answered his phone promptly. Despite being no longer an employee of the school, the former teacher still displayed the same respect for the Headmaster that he had had during his teaching days. "How are you, Headmaster?" Thaddeus said. Never informal, that was just his way. Of course his pupils addressed him as 'Sir'. What they called him behind his back was well known. When he had left the school, to the relief of many a pupil, the names had continued into lore.

The mathematician (that was how he mainly described himself professionally) had never married. Some said that he had probably been unable to find any partner by the name of Pythagoras or Euclid. Looking at the man now, it was hard to imagine him having ever been young. Of course from the moment he had recognized the Headmaster's voice Cox knew what the reason for the call was. The only question in his mind had been 'who'?

"Can you recall a female pupil by the name of Sally Yeager?" the Headmaster began.

Cox did remember. Memories of the girl sprung to mind very quickly. She had been one of his 'problems'. He had always been firm with her, but somehow he had always considered that she got off too lightly. Boys had been attracted to her in class. Frequently she had allowed this fact to interfere with the good order in the classroom. "Vaguely," he said. This was of course a gross understatement and both of them knew it.

"A difficulty at the school has arisen," explained the Head. "One similar to the other I referred to you in the summer term." He went on to give an account of the violations only recently detected. The poor grades and attitude did not surprise Cox in the least. When the Headmaster mentioned the truancy and the forgeries Cox gave an audible gasp of disbelief.

Cox was actually smiling inwardly. "Now I remember her, Headmaster," he exclaimed. He proceeded to paint a not-too-complimentary picture of his former pupil, recalling the need to punish her repeatedly because of not being allowed to discipline girls effectively.

"That's why I have called you, Mr. Cox. Would you be prepared to help the school? And her guardian as well?" the Headmaster added.

"How old is she?" asked the former schoolteacher. Although eager to accept these challenges, he applied certain selection criteria to safeguard himself from possible legal repercussions. He refused to accept any pupil below the age of eighteen, which admittedly did leave a narrow window of opportunity. In addition he needed written consent of the parent or guardian as well as the pupil for the disciplinary measures to be applied. There were other factors he took into consideration including the 'qualities' of the student in question. Not every girl deserved the intimate instruction he had to offer.

The headmaster knew very well the requirements of Thaddeus Cox. "No problem on that score. The girl has been eighteen years old for some months now. Her grades just barely managed to get her into her senior year."

"I'll see what I can do, Headmaster," he promised trying not to let his glee show over the phone. "Will the father be contacting me today?"

"I do believe so. I hope so for his daughter's sake," he replied. "Sorry, she's his stepdaughter. I mean he's the guardian. It's a complicated affair," the Headmaster finally conceded.

Thaddeus Cox tried to keep his excitement under control. He generally thrived on the imposition of his techniques on certain problem teenage subjects. He did it well and the response from parents and the Headmaster had always been positive at the school. Now he could deal with the ladies in the same way. Actually, he could do quite a bit more. School regulations permitted the corporal punishment of boys but only with the parent's permission could the Headmaster use it to full effect. Now, having only been away a few months, this was beginning to look like a going concern. Well, one could hope. "Of course, headmaster. Thank you for your referral and I will let you know if we can come to a satisfactory resolution to this matter."

After hanging up Thaddeus nearly spun his plush office chair in elation. The Yeager girl! He had punished her to the extent permitted at school but it looked like it wasn't enough. He recalled making her listen to the caning of a certain senior behind a shut door in the detention room. He knew she didn't like him; more than likely despised him after that little incident. And yet still she didn't give proper respect even after that! It would be a challenge supreme, and a pleasant one at that, to impose his special brand of punishment upon her."

Chapter Three

Thaddeus had spent the afternoon getting organized and prepared at his place. The anticipated (and eagerly awaited) call came just after four. Mr. Cox, sensing the nervousness of the step-father, agreed to conduct an interview at the guardian's own home. The old man smiled when he heard Collin request that he come immediately if that was at all possible. He certainly seems motivated. Jotting down the directions, Cox affirmed that he would arrive early that evening.

*******

Sally had gone to her room but could hear faintly her 'caregiver?' talking on the phone. She had resigned herself to some form of retribution for her deeds. It now appeared as though Thaddeus Cox, The Baldy Man, would have a lot to do with whatever punishment she was going to receive. What would that involve? That was what was perturbing her. Would he make her write out 'I must not skip school' thousands of times? It didn't seem likely. The Headmaster could just as easily have done that. No, the more she thought about things, the more she realized that her punishment would include something which could not be done by the Headmaster himself. That pointed in one direction. Collin had come to her after making the call to say that Mr. Cox would be seeing them soon.

After he left, Sally immediately changed out of her school uniform. Her perception of the ex-mathematics teacher as a lecherous old man led her to selecting clothing items of a less revealing nature. Not that the school uniform could be considered overtly suggestive or skimpy, she simply preferred to keep as much of her anatomy as possible from that man's leering eyes. Stripping out of her uniform she noticed her tan lines had shrunk noticeably since she had bought her new swimsuit. Wearing a fairly narrow bikini had forced Sally to trim and shave nearly everything off. Revealing so much in front of her friends had made her feel excited and liberated just a couple of days ago. Looking in the mirror at the nearly bare spot the girl became worried. Shaving down there just wasn't one of her better ideas under the current circumstances.