College Boy's Difficult Choice

Thomas rang the doorbell and waited nervously. He knew his colleger professor, Ms. Parker, was not going to be happy with him, but he figured he could talk his way out of it like he had grown accustomed to doing, having been a pretty good sweet-talker his entire life.

Ms. Parker greeted him at the door and invited him in.

"Well well. Look who it is. I wasn't expecting you at all tonight, Thomas. I suspect that you're here for your weekly tutoring session?"

"Ummm, yes, Ms. Parker. I'm really sorry I've been MIA the last couple times. I caught a terrible case of the flu that really knocked me out the last couple weeks. It was just awful. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. But I'm feeling much better now. The doctor said I'm not contagious, so no worries on that front."

"Well, to be honest, I'm very surprised that you decided to show up here tonight. We had an agreement and you violated it. When you were failing my class, we agreed that you'd come to me for tutoring every week. You were doing so well up until 2 weeks ago. Since then, you've missed 2 class sessions along with 3 tutoring sessions on top of that. I haven't heard a word from you in nearly 2 weeks. You now say that you had the flu, but none of these absences were excused and you gave me no notice ahead of time."

To that, Thomas replied, "Yes, about that. I did type an email to you. But I actually just realized today that I must never have pressed 'send,' as the email was still in my draft box. Regardless, I figured that I owed it to you to just show up here and explain this all to you in person."

Striking a more somber tone, Ms. Parker continued, "I'm very sorry Thomas, but it's far too late for this. You've broken our agreement and I don't really have much of a choice but to fail you in my class. It's very unfortunate too. You've wasted thousands of dollars to take this class and you're going to have to pay to take it all over again. I guess now you'll just have to learn the hard way."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry Ms. Parker. I'd never had a worse the flu before in my life. I could barely get out of bed. I understand that you're upset about not getting an email from me, which I admit was totally my fault. But in the grand scheme of things, it was only 2 classes."

Thomas was making all of this up. He was never sick. The truth was that he just got lazy and gave up going to class. This was blatant disrespect.

"Only 2 class sessions?! We only have class once per week. And you failed to even mention the 3 tutoring sessions you missed. I don't buy your story about the email either. Your failure to reach out to give me notice about any of this was completely rude and disrespectful of you, not to mention, totally irresponsible. Regardless, we had an agreement in place that you would have weekly tutoring to try to catch up and get back on track with your lousy grades. You are far too behind to catch up now."

"But it's not like I missed any tests or anything. I got the notes from one of my classmates and I read the chapters that we covered. Can't I just make up the tutoring sessions? Like I can stay longer or whatever...."

"I honestly cannot believe what I'm hearing right now! I can't even believe you would have the nerve to show up here tonight. Do you seriously think I should just drop everything and take time out of my busy schedule to accommodate you and make up for your utter carelessness?! You act as if the world just revolves around you. I'm over here trying to help you, out of the goodness of my heart, and you're just taking advantage of me. You must think I'm some sort of fool. According to university guidelines, I shouldn't have ever given you a second chance to catch up like this after your grades suffered so miserably, but I did. And then you went ahead and burned that bridge."

Selfishly, he didn't fully realize how much of an inconvenience he truly had caused her. None of this was easy for him to hear. He felt quite guilty, especially hearing the way she phrased it.

"Ms. Parker, you're so right. That was very rude of me. I'm really REALLY sorry! I totally should have reached out to you. I really do appreciate that you were trying to help me out. I understand why you're upset and you have every right to be. Is there any way you can possibly give me just one more chance? Like, if I miss one more class or tutoring session, then you can fail me right away, no questions asked? And I'll do whatever I can to catch back up on my own? I really can't afford to take this class over again! And I really need to complete this class because it's a prerequisite for the internship I have lined up this summer. If I fail, I'll miss out on a golden opportunity. I really want to work for this employer after I graduate. Please, just one more chance?"

"So I'm supposed to just accept your apology and work extra for you? Rearrange my schedule and cut into my free time, in order to make up for your selfish behavior? No penalty to you at all? You are certainly not grasping the gravity of this situation, Thomas."

"I totally understand where you are coming from Ms. Parker. Everything you said is 100% true. I really feel awful asking you this. I know it would be a huge inconvenience for you and that I don't deserve another chance. But it would mean the world to me! Maybe I can pay some extra money for your time or something?"

Ms. Parker was very conflicted. While she could be rather stern, she did have a soft spot for her students, especially when it came to failing them. She wanted to see them succeed and she enjoyed influencing their lives in a positive way. She also had a tendency to see the best in people. Despite Thomas's actions, she felt bad for him in a way. In her mind, he was very immature, he clearly stuggled with self-discipline and perhaps it wasn't fully his fault. As an 18 year old, he was still very much a boy in her eyes. Maybe he wasn't raised properly. It wasn't too late for him. Boys this age are still quite impressionable. Maybe he could learn a valuable lesson from this experience. Yet, she didn't think that giving him another chance under the terms he proposed would be beneficial for him. She certainly wasn't going to let him think he could just walk all over her like this. That's no way to go through life, thinking you can just talk your way out of things. Plus, she was very upset that he wasted her time and acted with such impunity.

If she had it her way, she would have loved nothing more than to give this boy a good, old fashioned spanking. In fact, Ms. Parker often thought about spanking many of her students over the years. She had a little bit of a sadistic side and spanking was quite a guilty pleasure of her's. There was no better candidate than Thomas, and no better opportunity either. She knew this was an extremely risky proposition that could have serious implications for her career, however. On the other hand, she also knew that Thomas was in a terribly desperate situation and that this was a rare instance where she had a strong likelihood of getting away with something like this. Plus, it would be completely his choice after all. She decided that it would be harmless for her to at least feel him out a little further before ultimately deciding what to do.

"Take a seat on the couch over here, young man." Ms. Parker stood there with her hands on her hips about 5 feet away, looking down at him.

"Thomas, the fact that you have the audacity to show up here, expecting me to bend over backwards for you like this, leads me to believe that you don't have a very good grasp of the notion that there are consequences for bad actions in this world. Quite honestly, you come off as a spoiled, entitled little brat. Most reasonable adults in your position wouldn't even bother coming back to ask me for a 3rd chance, yet here you are."

He looked down at the floor, acknowledging that he didn't have an adequate response.

"Is this the way you were raised growing up? Did your mother allow you to walk all over her and talk your way out of things like this?"

The truth was yes, his mother had always let him get his way. It felt like she could see right through him. He hated to admit this to Ms. Parker, but he reluctantly conceded, "Ummm, yeah, I guess maybe a little bit."

"Well it is quite obvious, to say the least! Your mother and I are very different people. I never tolerated this type of behavior from my 2 boys growing up. In my house, if my boys behaved like this, there were very unpleasant consequences. It's a shame that you didn't grow up with more structure because this behavior has clearly followed you into adulthood."

He still remained in place, taking it all in as she spoke. He sensed that maybe she was leaning toward giving him another chance as long as he didn't say the wrong thing and allowed her the satisfaction of continuing to berate him like this.

"Thomas, the last thing I want to do is fail you. I don't get any satisfaction whatsoever in doing that. I sincerely want to see you succeed. I think you're a very bright student and I know you're capable of doing very well in school when you put in the proper effort. But you don't seem to be motivated to try your best. And you have some serious issues with taking responsibility for your actions. You don't seem to know how to conduct yourself like a mature adult. Again, you have been terribly disrespectful and you deliberately disobeyed my rules pertaining to the agreement we had in place. You knew this was wrong, yet you did it anyways. And I'm sorry, but giving you another chance is not going to teach you anything. The only way I believe you'l will learn is for you to face real, meaningful consequences. Allowing you to pay your way out of this by compensating me extra for tutoring does not cut it. If I were to even consider giving you another chance, the consequences would need to be just about as harsh as having to pay the money to retake this class. But I honestly don't see what kind of realistic consequences I could possibly come up with in order to truly teach you a lesson."

Thomas was now starting to lose hope. The realization that maybe she wasn't going to give him another chance was starting to set in. Thomas was, in fact, desparate. "Ms. Parker, please! I'll accept whatever consequences you come up with! I cannot retake this class! I this need to get this job! I'm desperate!"

"I can certainly think of consequences I'd love to give you but they would not be appropriate and I'm afraid failure is my only option here."

"I'm all ears, Ms. Parker. Please! I'll literally do anything not to fail this class. I don't care what it is."

Ms. Parker stared back at Thomas as she nervously contemplated her next move. "I'm at a real crossroads here. I'm going to step out of the room and take a few minutes to think through whether there's an alternative way for us to handle this. Right now, it's not looking good for you. I'll be back once I collect my thoughts." Ms. Parker then left the room.

About 10 minutes went by as she sat in the kitchen thinking everything through in her head again. This was not an easy decision for her. Against her better judgment, given all that was at stake, she decided just to go for it. She then returned to the living room where Thomas was waiting patiently on the couch.

Hesitantly, Ms. Parker went forward with her pitch. "Well, Thomas. I can't believe I'm actually going to suggest this, as it's rather unconventional and I'm certain you're not going to like it, but here it goes... In my house, when one of my boys deliberately disobeyed me like you have, they received a spanking. So.... if you truly would like me to give you another chance.... If you truly need this job as badly as you say you do... Then that's what's going to happen. And no, I did not misspeak. I said 'spanking'. Now, I know this is going to be a tough decision for you, but it's going to be your only other way out. And it is going to be completely up to you whether you'd like to accept it."

Ms. Parker paused to let that sink in, carefully studying Thomas's reaction. A look of shock came across his face, as he never would have expected her to have proposed something like this. He didn't even know what to say.

Before he had a chance to respond, Ms. Parker asked, "Have you ever had a spanking before, Thomas?"

Shock turned to embarrassment. Thomas was still trying to process what he just heard. He had never once been spanked before in his life, but couldn't think of a more shameful, juvenile punishment, even for a child. Thomas was a hard-headed, stubborn young man who marched to the beat of his own drum. There was hardly any discipline at all for him growing up. Just as Ms. Parker characterized, he truly was a spoiled brat who always got his way. He also was a rebellious child who always struggled with authority figures. Thomas especially hated when a woman tried to boss him around.

As an 18 year old, the thought of being spanked, let alone by a woman, was almost incomprehensible to him. Thomas was an alpha type and far too prideful for this. He was resisting every urge not to get up and storm out of the house. But there was no way he could afford to retake that class. And he was feeling terrible about how he blew off Ms. Parker. He was really backed into a corner.

"Ugh, no Ms. Parker, I never was before."

"I very well could have guessed that," Ms. Parker responded.

"But, Ms. Parker, surely I'm way too old for something like that! Are you truly serious?"

"Of course, I'm dead serious. And no, you absolutely are not too old for this. The last time I spanked one of my boys, he was 16 years old. You're only 2 years older than that. And I should add that it was extremely effective, because he's been perfectly well behaved ever since."

Thomas's eyes were wide open. He looked like a dear in the headlights.

"I can sense that you're apprehensive right now. I know this is not going to be an easy decision for you, so I'm going to leave you alone and give you a few minutes to think carefully about it. While you do so, you should know that spankings are not enjoyable at all. I will not injure you, but I certainly will not take it easy on you. And I intend on using a wooden hairbrush and will only use it on your backside. Your butt will hurt considerably and you can expect not to enjoy sitting for a few days afterwards."

"...But the worst part for you might be the effect this has on your overly inflated ego. You're technically an adult. Obviously, spankings are normally reserved for naughty boys who don't know how to behave properly. Of course, being punished like this is highly embarrassing, to say the least. Yet I personally believe that embarrassment is one of the most effective deterrents, especially for a young man your age. So you really need to question whether your ego is able to endure something like this."

"With that being said, for what it's worth, you'd at least have some comfort knowing that this will only be between me and you. While spankings are meant to be embarrassing, it's only temporary and I have no intent to cause you any lasting harm. You have my word that nobody else would ever hear a word about any of this. It would be our little secret."

"Also, I think it's only fair to disclose that this is somewhat personal for me. For one, I feel that I deserve retribution for the way you tried to take advantage of me, along with the disrespect you've shown, not only in blowing off my classes and tutoring sessions, but also with your general disrespect throughout the course of this semester. I've watched the way you act in class and how you interact with the other students. You seem to think you're the coolest guy around; always raising your hand and causing disruptions with your smart-alec comments. I've seen too many cocky, arrogant young men like you come through my classes over the years who think they can just get away with behavior like this. So, to be quite honest, there's a part of me that will enjoy punishing you in this manner. I like the idea of showing a young man like you, that you're not as cool as you think you are."

"Lastly, assuming we go forward, you will have the option of choosing to back out at any time. But if you do so, you'll receive a failing grade immediately."

"I know this is a lot to take in. I want you to think long and hard about everything I just said. You need to decide if you sincerely want to go through something like this. I'm going to leave you alone now. I'll be tending to some things in the kitchen. Before I go, do you have any questions at the moment?"

Thomas was completely dumbstruck and overwhelmed with everything Ms. Parker just unloaded on him. He was having trouble processing it all. A nervous pit had been growing in his stomach at rapid pace ever since he heard Ms. Parker first utter the word "spanking." He almost felt sick at this point.

"No Ms. Parker. No questions."

"Ok then. Take all the time you need. Please call out for me when you've made your decision."

Thomas knew he really didn't have much choice but to accept her proposal. There's no way he could afford to pay $4,000.00 to retake this class. He was already in so much debt. But the fact that this would mess up his job prospect was an even bigger factor. The offer was surely to be rescinded if he failed. And what would his parents say? His father stuck his neck out for him to get that internship.

At the same time, however, he was terrified of having to go through with this type of punishment. The shame and embarrassment was eating him up the most. Ms. Parker saw right through him and he knew it. Aside from that, her warnings about how painful it would be was so scary. He thought to himself: "Wow, I cannot believe this is actually happening! A spanking?! Really?! This is crazy, I'm 18 years old! Ugh, I've really gotten myself into a jam this time! Maybe I can think of something else.... like a different type of punishment? Perhaps I can write a bunch of papers for extra credit, pay for the extra tutoring, do a bunch of household chores? Moe her lawn everyday for a year? Oh anything but a spanking!"

Thomas' heart was beating faster and faster. Sweat beads started to form on his forehead. He had no idea what to do. He wanted so badly out of this predicament. It was already shameful enough the way she had already scolded him up to this point. He couldn't imagine how much worse it would be. And he knew it was absolutely going to get much worse.

He continued to worry and ponder to himself "I don't think Ms. Parker is going to listen to my other proposals. She really seems dead set on this. I guess I can try to talk my way out of it, and if she says no, maybe I will just go through with it. But, oh my gosh, I don't know if I CAN go through with something like this! Can I?"

Having never been spanked before, he didn't have much of a frame of reference to help him decide. All he could do is try to imagine what it'd be like. He started to picturing himself bending over the chair and this made the blood start rushing to his face causing him to blush. It made him furious thinking about how Ms. Parker, a woman, was going to boss him around and treat him like a child.

The thoughts were racing faster and faster. "Oh wow, this is going to be SO HUMILIATING! I want to die right now! Why didn't I just show up to class? I can't believe how stupid I was! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Aaaaargh! I don't know what to do!! What should I do, what should I do?!"

Despite all the back and forth in his head, Thomas knew there was only one choice. He was delaying the inevitable up to this point. 10 minutes had already gone by since Ms. Parker left the room.

"Ok, whatever, just man up and do it! Stop being a wimp! Just hurry up and get it over with. Nobody is going to find out. And its just, what? 30 minutes or however long this punishment lasts, that I have to endure this? 30 minutes of suffering vs. having to deal with the consequences of failing for the next several years and how much worse things will be screwed up for me? Having to explain this to my family? Ugh, I have to do it."