Linda I

Linda trudged to the 11th grade principal’s office. She was in serious trouble and she knew it. After a spotless discipline record her previous 10 years in school, she had been sent to Mr. Merrick’s office three times this term for silly things like tardies and talking in class. Each of the previous times, Mr. Merrick had given her detention, but he warned her last time that there had better not be a next time or he would make sure that she was a very sorry junior.

It was bad enough that Mr. Merrick had told her she better not get sent back to his office, but this time, she had done something really stupid. Linda knew better than to pass a note in Mrs. Anderson’s class. Old "battle ax" Anderson had a reputation for intercepting notes, reading them, and then taking action. Of all the notes to get picked up, Linda had described what she wanted to do in Gary Schmidt’s pants, using language that would make a sailor blush. The day after Mrs. Anderson had picked up the offensive letter, Linda received her summons to Merrick’s office.

As she made her way down the hall, Linda thought about what he might do this time. She knew it wouldn’t be detention, unless maybe he gave her a week or more. Probably she would get suspended. Linda could envision her mother exploding when Linda gave her the suspension notice. "I’ll be grounded for the rest of the school year," thought the hapless teen.

Suddenly, Linda had a bright idea. If Mr. Merrick suspended her, she would just tell her mother the next morning that she felt too sick to go to school. Her mother had never questioned her before about being sick. All Linda would have to do then is forge her mother’s signature on the suspension notice the same way she had done with the detention notices. Sure, it would be embarrassing for Linda to have her teachers know that she had been suspended, but her mother would never find out, and that was what counted. Linda felt almost carefree as she reached the office.

Mrs. Garvey, the secretary, told Linda that Mr. Merrick was expecting her and to go on in. Linda opened the door and entered the office. As she turned to close the door, her face fell when she saw her mother sitting in one of the chairs.

"After reading that note that you wrote," Mr. Merrick stated, "I felt that your mother and I needed to have a conference. I told your mother that I was very disappointed that three trips to my office and detention had failed to straighten you out. Your mother was quite surprised and told me she knew nothing about your previous punishments. What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" he questioned.

"I n-ne-never told her," stuttered Linda. "I forged the notices so she wouldn’t find out. I’m sorry sir. I’m sorry Mom. It won’t happen again."

"Linda," began her mother, "I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in you. It’s bad enough that you tried to deceive me about your earlier trips to the office, but the language in that note is just filthy. You know that your father and I don’t approve of such talk. When I get you home, you are going to get your mouth washed out with soap. You can count on that," her mother added. "I also want you to know that I perfectly agree with the way Mr. Merrick intends to punish you, so I don’t want to hear any complaints from you. You’ve earned everything you have coming to you, young lady," warned Mrs. Trent.

"Linda," began Mr. Merrick, rising from his chair, "as you probably know, school board policy allows the use of corporal punishment in cases of severe misbehavior. As much as I dislike paddling girls your age, I believe that your conduct is exactly the kind of thing the board had in mind when they gave us authority to paddle. As your mother has already stated, she is in complete agreement with my decision to paddle you. Do you have anything to say before you receive your punishment?" he asked.

"Oh, please, Mr. Merrick, please," the teen pleaded, "please don’t paddle me! I’m too old! I’ll never do anything like this again, I promise, just please don’t paddle me!"

"Linda!" thundered Mrs. Trent. "I thought I told you to accept your punishment without complaint! And believe you me, the paddling Mr. Merrick is going to give you will not be the only spanking you are going to get today. If you don’t take your earned punishment with some degree of dignity, I won’t wait to get you home to bare your bottom and spank you; I’ll do it right in this office. Do I make myself clear?" asked her mother.

"Yes ma’am," replied Linda meekly. She knew that her mother didn’t make idle threats. Linda hadn’t been spanked in years, and she was mortified to find out that her mother intended to spank her, too, but she would have simply died if her mother spanked her at school. As her world collapsed around her, it was hard to believe that she had been happy and carefree just a few minutes ago.

Linda gasped when she saw the paddle Mr. Merrick had retrieved from a cupboard. It was approximately 24 inches long, 4 inches wide, 1 inch thick, and had several holes drilled in it. To make matters worse, Linda was wearing a thin dress. It had never crossed her mind when she got dressed that morning that she might get paddled for the note, otherwise, she would have worn jeans and several pairs of panties.

"All right Linda, let’s get this over with, shall we," stated the principal. "Bend over the back of your chair and hold on to the seat. You are going to receive 5 swats, and you are to remain in position until told to stand."

Trembling, Linda did as she was told. She tried to steel herself for the first blow. SWAT! Linda took in a sharp breath and gritted her teeth. SWAT! Linda squeezed her eyes shut in a vain effort to hold back the tears. SWAT! "Ooh," she cried out. The tears began to trickle down her face. SWAT! "Ouch," yelled Linda. She stamped her feet and almost stood up, but she caught herself just in time. SWAT! Linda collapsed over the chair, openly sobbing.

"All right, Linda, you may stand," Mr. Merrick said while putting away his paddle. The seventeen year old slowly pulled herself up from the chair, tears streaming down her face. Mr. Merrick handed her a tissue and a pass back to class.

After a quick stop in the restroom to wash her face, Linda hurried back to class as fast as her sore bottom would let her. She didn’t want to give Mrs. Anderson another reason to send her back to the office. When she arrived back to the classroom, she handed the teacher her pass. Mrs. Anderson took a look at Linda’s puffy eyes and red face. "I see Mr. Merrick got to the bottom of your problem," she said rather loudly. "Go take your seat."

Linda sat down gingerly She had three more classes to make it through and another spanking waiting for her at home. It was going to be a long day.