The Tutor, Volume II (ch. 15, 7/4)

[HankHill33]

Oh man!!! Violet being given such a brutal wedgie. I do wonder if she will take that out on anyone else? I’d love to see Violet get two other people somehow tied into a big wedgie. Great job with the chapter. Always one of my favorite authors.

[WingDing]

I go looking for some smut and find a really great story.
I'm very much enjoying this and I think the punishments for the students have been fiendishly clever.
Keep up the excellent work, I'm looking forward to what's next.

[Fred Key]

Ch. 14 - Significance

Note: Because of character limits, this chapter will be posted in two segments, one after the other. It is, however, intended as a single chapter.

I got to Collins at 7 PM. Call it too many thriller novels or something, but somewhere in my head I had the idea that if you were going to a potential trap meeting you should be there an hour in advance to scout and be prepared.

The ridiculousness of attempting to apply spy novel ‘tradecraft’ to a public meeting with the girl you dated for less than a month was not lost on me. I felt like a complete idiot taking a back stairway up to the third floor of the library, coming out deliberately at the opposite corner to the stairwell I usually took and my regular table. I felt even dumber peeking around the corner of the stacks to make sure that table was unoccupied. Not that I had any idea of what I would do if it wasn’t.

But the table was empty, and the floor was empty, as far as I could tell, except for me. I didn’t check the bathrooms, but if Annie was hiding in a bathroom on the third floor of the library with some plan, we were well out of relationship and well into psycho territory.

Am I seriously thinking Annie might KNIFE me? What the hell was wrong with me?

I sat down at the table to wait. I didn’t bother to pretend I was going to do work or pass the time with anything else. Instead, I tried to cut through all the frustration, anger, and hurt of the last week or so - but also through the rose-colored glasses of the weeks before. The honeymoon phase of the relationship, where the other person is perfect and wonderful and new and exciting.

Look, I have nothing against people who have one-night stands. It happens. Some people want it to happen. Good for them if it works for them. I’m not one of those people. Does sex matter? Of course. Do I want to have sex with women I find attractive? Of course. But at the same time, I don’t want to have sex with women who I only find physically attractive. Not on a rational level. That’s a level of intimacy (and risk!) that I don’t want to cross with someone until I know there’s something there beyond sex. The one time I crossed that line, I regretted it bitterly the next morning. Not because anything bad came of it - nothing did - but because of how I felt about myself afterwards. I felt like I had used the woman - like I had done something really dickish (okay, obviously I had, word choice says it all) by being that intimate with someone I had no intention of following up with in any way.

I told myself I was being stupid, given that the woman had no qualms about what had happened and no regrets about getting up the next morning, getting dressed over “that was great, thanks” platitudes, and heading out the door without looking back. It didn’t work. You are who you are sometimes, and I just wasn’t wired for that. I decided it wasn’t going to happen again - not on my end.

Maybe that’s why I was okay with Annie’s pacing while we dated. It never really felt like we were going all that slowly to me. It felt like we were exploring each other in lots of ways, and that was my idea of a good relationship. I didn’t know it at the time, because I didn’t have much in the way of dating experience, but I think that looking back from where I am now, it was also a rare relationship where both Annie and I were on the same page from the start.

All of this explanation is meant to help you understand why, despite everything that had gone wrong, and despite how much rubble there was between the two of us, I was sitting in that chair at the table in Collins Library, asking myself what I really wanted, and why the answer I kept coming back to was Annie Jenkins.

Not that coming to that conclusion helped me in the least. If anything, I was more tense about this conversation than before, because I had realized just how badly I wanted this to work out.

Annie came out of the stairwell door at ten minutes to eight. If she was surprised to find me there already, her face didn’t show it. She was in a sweater and jeans, and the colors were typical Annie-bright, but they just seemed loud on her as she stood there - not lively and energetic, but like someone was trying to salvage a bad party with an overly energetic Spotify playlist.

I give her full credit for looking me straight in the eye. She didn’t flinch or look away. Annie just walked over, pulled a chair out across the table from me, and sat down. “You came,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, I did.” Her hands were picking at the edge of the sweater. “I didn’t want…”

“Can I go first?” Annie cutting me off wasn’t new, but doing it as quietly as she did at that moment was. “I promised I’d let you say what you need to say, and that I’d listen, but I need to get this out, and I’m not sure how long I can hold it together.” Her eyes were suddenly a little liquid, and I could see her hands shaking. She means it literally,, I thought, and then hated the part of myself that felt a twinge of satisfaction at that.

I nodded and sat back, hands in my lap. I kept my eyes on hers, hoping she would see that I was sincerely listening.

“Remember that first paper I showed you? The one about the middle school conversation thing? I know it was awful.” She looked away for a second, then back at me. “In the first paragraph I said I had no secrets. That I was happy with who I am. But I was lying to myself when I wrote that, and that means I was lying to you, too. I’m sorry. And I want to say this because I owe you honesty - I owe you that much no matter what you did or didn’t do.”

“I fell in love with you, Fred. You were the guy I was looking for. Every time I waited for it to go wrong, for the other shoe to drop like it did with the other guys I believed I was in love with, all I got was another day with you. And after three weeks, I finally gave myself permission to think past a week or a month.”

She smiled weakly. “I got that email, and it all came crashing down. Every single thing you had ever done right became a moment of Annie being stupid again and getting played. How many times are you gonna be stupid, Annie? How many guys are gonna have you as a notch on their bedpost? The guy is working for a sorority and can strip the pledges naked if he wants to! What does he need with you?”

A tear fell from one eye, and she wiped it away quickly. “And the answer was ‘he doesn’t need you, you stupid, stupid girl.’ That’s all I could hear in my head. Stupid, stupid, stupid, over and over. And I broke.”

She stopped talking for a moment. I didn’t know what to say or do. A moment later, she continued. “I should have told you about the email. Let you defend yourself. Stupid, stupid Annie, as usual. But I couldn’t. I knew that if I heard your voice I’d believe anything you said because I wanted to believe it so badly, and I wanted this so badly, and so I did the only thing I could manage. Slammed the door. Cut you out. I blew it all up, Fred, because I didn’t trust you. I don’t know if you cheated on me or not, Fred, but it didn’t matter, because some part of me didn’t trust you enough to even consider the question.”

“And that’s why it doesn’t matter if you did or didn’t cheat,” she said, and I could hear her voice crack. “How do you fix that, Mr. Tutor? If I couldn’t trust the guy I was in love with, how can I ever trust him after all of this - when he has just as many reasons to leave or more?” She looked at me hopelessly. “I really did want this to work, Fred. I’m sorry.”

Annie took a deep breath. If I had to guess, she wanted nothing more at that moment then to run away as fast as she could - but she didn’t. She sat there, just like she said she would, and waited for me to say whatever I needed to say.
“I just don’t understand why you think I’d cheat on you, Annie. That’s the part I can’t make sense of.” I leaned forward on the table. “Did I give you some signal that made you think I was anything but interested?”

“No,” she said. “Nothing. But…”

“But what?” I pressed.

“But what the email said? It made sense to me. I saw those girls you were tutoring. Why would you want to bother with me when that was right in front of you?”

I’ve seen TV shows where girls say things like that, and it always sounded like the writer was trying to force the dialogue. When Annie said it to me, for the first time in my life, I actually believed that the person who was saying the line really believed it. It wasn’t even like she sounded sad when she said it. She sounded resigned. Defeated.

“How many?” I asked.

“How many what?”

“How many reasons do you want me to give you? Because I promise you I can give you as many as you need. Annie, if I had known that tutoring for DSig was bothering you, I would have quit. I mean, you were the one who gave me the whole idea for this, remember?”

She sighed. “How could I forget? Another dumb Annie move. ‘Hey, Annie, you have this awesome guy you like! Why don’t you encourage him to make hot girls undress?’

“You should have told me!”

“I know I should have, but I already was making you wait on everything, and go slow, and I thought that if I added telling you to drop the job I pushed you to take on top of it that you’d just give up on the crazy girl!”

I stood up. “So is that it? Everything on the table now?”

“Yeah. That’s it. You can go,” she said. “I’m sorry, Fred. I know it doesn’t matter, but I’m sorry.”

It took two steps to close the distance between us and for me to kneel down next to her. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter. There’s only one thing that does. Do you still want this? Because all I’ve been doing since you cut me, off, Annie, was trying to figure out how to get you back and how to fix this.”

Annie’s hands closed around my face. Her forehead touched mine. “Don’t do this, Fred. Don’t.” Tears were starting to flow again.

I pulled back. “Do you want this, Annie? This is me, looking at you, telling you I fucking choose you. With the messy and the crazy and the wild colors and the tears and everything else you can throw at me, I’m right here choosing you. So fuck ‘don’t do this’ and ‘you’ll get tired of me’ and ‘I’m too extra’ and whatever else you can come up with as an excuse. Do. You. Want. This?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

Okay, no. What actually happened was that Annie lost it completely in the middle of the library. Neither of us had anything like a tissue, and there was really a pretty impressive amount of biohazard going on, which resulted in me running to the men’s room, grabbing a roll of toilet paper, and running back while giving thanks that we were on an empty floor and I didn’t have to explain any of this to someone else. Somewhere in there, Annie choked out a “yes”, and I sat there, holding her against my chest and rubbing her back until she finally just petered out, exhausted.

“Come on. Let’s get you home,” I said, helping her up. “Is your roommate going to give me another black eye if I bring you there like this?”

Annie shook her head. “She left to stay with another friend.” If the last half-hour was any indication, I had a pretty good idea why.

We walked back to Annie’s dorm in silence. I was scared. Really, honestly scared that I would say something or do something to blow apart what had just happened and destroy it permanently. It started to dawn on me just how much worse I could make everything in my life by walking down this path. Annie was holding on to my arm with a death grip, though, and I don’t think that anything could have convinced me in that moment not to take that risk.

I was prepared to leave her at the door to her dorm, but Annie didn’t let go. She pulled me through the door with her and onto the elevator, then down the hall to her room. “Can you please sleep here tonight?” she asked me at the door.

“Sure. I can sleep on the couch,” I said, but she shook her head.

“No. Next to me. Please? I need to know you’ll be there when I wake up.”

I took off my shoes at left them at the door. Annie let go of me long enough to pull her sweater over her head and toss it on the floor, then unbutton her jeans. Then she climbed into her bed in the camisole top and panties she was left wearing, leaving space for me next to her. I took off my own shirt and jeans and crawled in next to her in my boxers. She curled into me, tucking herself under my arm and laying her head on my chest. It felt like she was asleep in seconds.

I guess I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was either, because I was right behind her. When my eyes opened again, it was still dark outside, but I was groggy enough to know I had been asleep for a few hours at least. I raised my head enough to see the alarm clock - 3:24 AM - and then let my head drop again and closed my eyes.

“I thought I could handle it,” she said quietly. I hadn’t realized she was awake. “The whole tutoring thing, the Delta Sigmas, all of that stuff.” She shifted against me.

“If I need to walk away, I’ll walk away, Annie. I won’t regret doing it, either.” I kissed the top of her head. “We’ll talk about it in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” she murmured. We went back to sleep.

At 6AM, like usual, I awoke again. Annie had rolled over and was still asleep, so I slid out of the blankets carefully. The minute my feet hit the floor, though, her eyes popped open. “Fred?”

“Right here,” I said, and reached back to brush a stray wisp of hair off her face. I hadn’t noticed how messy her usually tight braid had become, but in the morning light I could see that Annie was a long way from the girl that I was used to. Her eyes were red and puffy, and the floor was covered with dirty tissues. Jack had said she was upset, but I didn’t imagine anything like this. “I’m right here.”

Annie sat up groggily. I tried not to notice that she had apparently skipped a bra when she came to talk yesterday, and that the tank or camisole or whatever she had been wearing under her sweater wasn’t very thick. Concentrating on the thin sliver of bare skin at her waist when she stretched wasn’t much better, so I looked around the room instead. “Want me to run out and get a couple of coffees from the Bean while you wake up and get dressed?”

She looked down and her state of undress registered. For a moment, I thought she would slide back under the covers or pull them up, but then she gave a half-shrug. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, right?” She kicked the blankets clear and swung her legs over so she was sitting next to me, feet dangling. “So now you’ve seen the whole range. You got the Annie who spends half a day making her room look just right and picking out exactly what she wants her boyfriend to see if he gets past the sweatshirt, and you’ve got the Annie who looks like she’s been in a mental ward for the last year. Run while you can.” She may have meant the last bit as a joke, but it sounded like she didn’t think it was.

“Not gonna lie - I’m only helping pick this place up if you have protective gear,” I replied, poking a layer-deep pile of crumpled tissue with a toe.

She snorted and stood, picking up her jeans from the floor. “Thanks for staying. I was a total mess last night, but I’ll be ok.” She pulled the pants up without looking at me. “I appreciate you making sure I was safe.”

“Hey!” I said, putting enough emphasis behind the word to make her turn around and meet my eyes. “Don’t even THINK about going there. I meant every word I said last night. I didn’t stay to make sure you were safe - I stayed to make sure you were next to me this morning.” My arms started to move to pull her to me, but I stopped, uncertain if they were welcome. I let them fall back to my side. “Look, we have a lot we have to fix, Annie. I’m not going to pretend that everything can just go back to the way it was for either of us. But unless you’ve changed your mind since last night about wanting to try, we’ll just take it one step at a time. Maybe start with that cup of coffee? We can sit and talk. That’s as good a place to start as any, right?”

“I am so desperate for coffee right now that I would buy it from the corporation that would sue me if I named them,” she said with a tiny smile. “Ok, not quite that desperate, but we’re getting there. And when a girl lets you watch her have a complete meltdown and then drags you home with her so you can see her in her very worst pair of underpants, dripping snot, and looking like she’s been hit by a bus, the very least you should do is buy her coffee.”

My heart jumped. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I heard Annie make a joke. It felt good. No - it felt great. We pulled on shoes and coats and made our way downstairs and out to the street. I offered her my hand. After a second, she took it, and we walked to the Bean in the early morning sunshine.

Coffee in hand, we found a small table in a corner where we could sit. For a few minutes, we sipped the most important meal of the day, making small talk that neither of us really wanted to make. Finally, I decided to push off from the edge into the deeper water. “So. The last week happened. Someone decided they would tell you I was cheating on you, clearly to wreck things between us.” Annie made to interrupt, but I held up my hand. “I know you think you screwed things up, Annie. I think I screwed up some stuff too. But that doesn’t change that someone sent that email. I can’t make you believe me when I tell you it’s a lie, but since I know it is, I have to ask myself who would want to do that, and why. That’s one side of this to deal with.”

Annie nodded cautiously. “I do believe you, Fred,” she said. “I should have at least given you the benefit of the doubt back then, but after everything that happened this week, seeing how you reacted when you showed up at my room, and then last night? I don’t think anyone would go through all of that if they were lying.” Her fingers brushed the bruise from Jack’s punch, where the purples were now fading to an ugly color that looked like overripe avocado. “I told Jack yesterday that I believed you. He does, too. He’s going to apologize next time he sees you, but wanted me to let you know you weren’t going to get sucker punched again if you go back to your dorm.”

“Good to know,” I said wryly.

“And the other part?” She gripped her mug with both hands as it rested on the table.

“Figuring out how we fix us. A week ago, we would be sitting on the same side of the table and holding hands while we drank our coffee. Now we’re both nervous about even touching. I honestly don’t know where I am with you, Annie - like, what’s okay and what isn’t anymore. Where our boundaries are. I know it’s going to take time, and I’m not pushing, but we’re both going to have to trust the other to communicate.”

She took a sip of coffee before she responded. I pushed ahead. “How about this - let me just tell you where I am, okay? I’ll go first.” I put down my coffee and put my hands on the table. “Right now, I want to be able to touch you again without worrying that you’re going to flinch or be uncomfortable. I’m not talking about sexual stuff - I mean things like sitting next to you, holding your hand, or putting an arm around you. Those things are all important to me, but it would be way worse to do something like that and have you pull away - that would feel like you were still afraid I was going to hurt you somehow, you know? And I need you to know that you can take as long as you like for the other stuff, but I really need to hear you say that you trust me, and I need you to be the one who makes the move to touch me for a while - at least until I get over worrying that I’m going to cross a line I don’t know about or push you unintentionally.”

I watched her taking all that in, and added one more thing. “You have a green light with me, okay? If you somehow find a limit I don’t know about, I’ll let you know, but as far as I’m concerned, there is no such thing as too much physical contact or emotional contact with you. My feelings for you — nothing changed. I think that’s why all of this hurt so much.” I sat back, taking a sip of my coffee to let her know I was done speaking and ready to listen.

Annie reached across the table and took my other hand with hers. “Okay,” she said, a ghost of the Annie smile flitting over her face. “Touch the boy. Got it.” She squeezed my fingers. “It means a lot that you put that ahead of the other stuff. It did before, and it matters even more now. And I’m not scared of you - I was the one who pulled you into bed with me, remember?” A shadow crossed her face, though, and the smile faded as quickly as it had come.

“I want to trust you, Fred. I do trust you. It’s me I don’t trust,” she continued. “I don’t trust myself to control my jealousy. So even if this is a dealbreaker, I have to ask it.” Now she looked me nervously in the eyes.’ ’I need you to give up the whole ‘special’ tutoring thing. At least for now.”

“Done.” No hesitation at all. None. I was a little surprised at how fast I answered, to be honest.

She was, too. “Just like that? You’ll give up a cash cow that comes with free hot girls because your crazy girlfriend who says she trusts you says she wants you to?”

“On two conditions.” I held up a finger. “I can’t just cut and run this second. I made a commitment to Laura, Annalee, and Violet, and it would be wrong to leave them in the lurch when their success is so important to their futures. Annalee and Violet could get tossed from Maxwell entirely if they don’t get their grades up. I get them to the midterms, then I move them to straight-up, ordinary tutoring if they need it for the rest of the semester. But you can sit in on any session you want, anytime, without warning. Fair?”

“More than fair. I didn’t think about what this might do to them.” Her hand went to her braid nervously, and when she realized it, she tossed it over her shoulder and bit her lip instead. “What’s the second condition?”

“Say that other part again.”

“Other part?”

“The one where you called yourself my girlfriend.”

THERE! There it was at last. That damn smile that made everything worthwhile. “I said crazy girlfriend,” she corrected.

“I’ll take the crazy if the girlfriend goes with it.”

Annie stood up and grabbed my hand. “Come on. I’m going to kiss you pretty damn thoroughly in a minute, and I don’t want to make anyone here jealous.”

As she pulled me towards the door, I hadn’t forgotten that first part of fixing things, though. I was going to find out who sent that email. But I was willing to postpone that for at least an hour or so.

* * *

A couple of hours later, I was walking Annie back to her dorm. We had spent the time, for the most part, walking around the city and people-watching, and it felt like sliding back into a pair of comfortable shoes. Letting Annie take the lead physically made a huge difference for me, at least; I was relaxed with her and more than happy to just enjoy her laughing again, and her body next to mine on a bench on the street or as we rode the T back to Maxwell had a rightness to it that I had missed more than I realized.

“So,” I said, “awkward moment time.”

“I specialize in awkward moments, fortunately for you,” she said cheerfully, but I felt her hand tense just a tiny bit where it held mine.

“Tonight is a mixer at DSig that I’m supposed to attend. Laura earned some penalties that are being enforced there.”

“What penalties?” The question was short, but again, smile or no, I knew this was exactly what Annie was afraid of.

“She and the other pledges are helping to host. Specifically, she’s serving drinks. Her penalty was that she would do it short a piece of clothing for every assignment she was late on or missed since her last consequence.”

“How bad is her night going to be?” Annie asked.

“By my count? I think she’s going to be down to her underwear. They’ve assigned someone to make sure she isn’t groped, but if I had to guess, Melissa and Jenny have picked out a bra and panties that will ensure maximum exposure for Laura.” I stopped walking for a moment to make sure that I could watch Annie’s face carefully when I continued. “They asked me to come, and I was planning to be there, but now I don’t think it’s a good idea — unless you come with me. I’m sure that they wouldn’t object to me bringing a date, if you’re willing. And you wouldn’t have to worry about what I’m up to if you were right there.”

Annie started walking again, a little more slowly, and chewed the idea over in silence. I let her, quietly keeping pace, but firmly maintaining my hold on her hand. A couple of blocks later, we were at the dorm.

She dropped my hand and put hers on her hips. “What time?”

“I was going to go around 8 or so.”

“All right. I’m in. If I walk in with you, it’ll send a message to all of those girls that you’re off the market. I’ll make sure of that. This isn’t anything formal or fancy, is it?”

“Just a backyard mixer, as far as I know. I was planning on a polo and some khakis.”

Annie gave me a look. “I’ll call Jack and tell him to help you pick clothes. It’ll give him a chance to apologize. You are NOT walking in with me wearing C Tier clothes when I’m trying to make a statement.”

The idea of Jack going from angry assailant to wardrobe consultant sounded iffy to me, but I couldn’t dodge him for the rest of the semester. Better to let Annie reinforce that she and I were okay again. “I’ll come get you around 7:30, then?”

“I’ll be ready. Probably. If I’m not, you’ll forgive me when you see me.” Annie gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you for telling me, Fred. And for today. It almost felt like nothing had changed. Maybe there’s hope yet.”

I watched her go inside, and then I walked back toward my own dorm, thinking over what I had in my closet. My wardrobe was what could generously be called “intro to college style” - I had one suit, a couple of dull dress shirts, and a few polo shirt. I think I had an extra tie rolled in the closet. I had considered rushing a frat before I came to Maxwell, but that thought died when I got here. It wasn’t my thing, and I hadn’t been to more than a couple parties this year, so I hadn’t worried about it. Maybe I needed to hit a Target or something?

As it turned out, Annie was right about Jack apologizing. “I didn’t really think that you did it, man,” he said. “I mean, yeah, I thought you did it after I saw what a wreck Annie was, but I couldn’t believe it at first. You’re not that guy.”

“You threw a hell of a punch for someone who had doubts,” I said, a little annoyed.

Jack’s face hardened a little. “Fred, you now how you feel about Annie?” I nodded. “To me, Annie’s like a combination of little sister and ex-girlfriend. It was part of why we didn’t connect when we went out, yeah? Couldn’t tell you why, but messing around with her would have been like, incest or something. But she also felt like she had always been there, like a family member or something, so it just made sense. Whatever. Bottom line is that I fucking love her like she’s family, and I’d fuck up someone who hurt her.” He looked sheepish for a moment. “I guess I’d also fuck up someone I thought hurt her, huh?”

“Hey,” I said, “it’s bygones, okay? You were defending her, not attacking me.” And honestly, I felt like I understood what Jack was saying. I would probably have done the same thing in his shoes - just with a much weaker punch.

Jack had looked at my khakis, then my shirts, and had gone back to his own closet. He came back with a dress shirt (that probably cost more than all three of mine put together) in a shade of purple I didn’t know existed but was named for a plant or an asteroid or something. He then made a call, ducked out, and came back a few minutes later with a pair of chocolate suede loafers that were only a half-size too big. Surprisingly, I liked the combination. Usually, I avoid bold colors and stick with muted stuff, but that’s more because I don’t trust my own taste.

Armed with expert wardrobe help, I laid everything out for the party and then ducked out to get some dinner. I spent some time online trying to find ways to minimize black eyes, but it was probably too late to do anything about it except try to cover it with concealer of some sort, and I didn’t have anything like that. At least the party was outdoors and at night, which would both help hide it.

Shaved, dressed, and ready to go, I got Jake’s approval at the suite door. “You look like you’re actually going out to a party, not an accountant’s meeting,” he said. “If you’d get a decent haircut, you might get a second look from a couple girls sometime.”

“I’m only looking for one to pay attention to me tonight,” I said, grabbing my jacket.

Jake was at the door before I could take another step. “No. Absolutely not. You are not going to wear a ratty-ass North Face jacket.” He snatched it away and tossed it onto the couch. “Hang on.” A moment later, he came back from his room with a dark navy jacket. “Harrington. If anyone asks. Do NOT call it a bomber jacket, or you’ll look like a total idiot. Don’t lose it.”

I slid on the jacket. “Thanks, man.”

He held out his fist for me to bump. “We good now?”

“We’re good,” I said, returning the bump.

“Sweet,” he grinned. “Because I was counting on your math help for March Madness pool betting, and it was suddenly looking pretty grim there.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure we break even on the watch parties,” I said. “Maybe make a little extra to buy one of these not a bomber jackets. I like it.”

“A nerd can be taught some taste? Who knew?”

It was a quick walk to Annie’s. I texted that I was downstairs and asked if she was ready, and she surprised me by texting back “OTW”. I stood next to the wall by the doors, feeling a little like a mannequin outside a men’s shop, and I got a couple of smiles from women I held the door for. Everyone seemed to be on their way out for a party or something else; I watched a group in cocktail dresses make their way out to a waiting Hummer, clambering in awkwardly as bass thumped from the inside. Two more women exited the dorm right afterwards, and both of them were dressed to the nines. Another small group followed on their heels, these more casually dressed, but still clearly put together for a night out. I wondered if any of them were going to the DSig event.

I was reaching for my phone to see if Annie had texted again when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned, and it took me a moment to realize that Annie had been one of the two women who came out between the groups, and another to process that she was absolutely fucking gorgeous. She was wearing a short, deep green dress and a pair of strappy heels that made it very, very hard to look at anything but her legs and the curve of her ass. An modest amount of cleavage peeked from the neckline, but didn’t take away from Annie’s face, which was glowing with that perfect smile, and her hair, which, while still braided, was twisted up and held with a gold pin.

“So,” she asked me. “Whatcha think?”

“Holy crap, Annie - you said you wanted to make a statement, but this? I’m going to have the most beautiful woman at a Delta Sigma party on my arm. IF I can get your attention while every guy there is drooling.”

She smiled wider. “You don’t look shabby yourself. Jake?”

“Yeah. He has pretty good taste, doesn’t he? Between helping me not look like a refugee from a high school semi-formal and introducing me to you to begin with, he’s done me a couple of big favors.” I held out an arm. “Shall we unleash the full power of Annie Jenkins on an unsuspecting sorority party?”

“Lead the way,” she said happily, threading her arm into mine.

I wasn’t lying about how good Annie looked. She had clearly gone all-out for this, and I wondered how much more stunning she could get for something formal and with more than five hours’ notice. If she was really worried about me being distracted by another woman, she could certainly put those fears to rest in that outfit. If anything, I would need to keep my eye on her to make sure she didn’t get TOO much attention from the frat guys. Huh, I thought. Maybe I’m a little jealous myself.

At Delta Sigma, the party was already in full swing. We were met at the door by a sister who recognized me and waved us in. “Drinks are out back, upstairs is off limits,” she shouted to us over the din. We weaved our way through the crowded rooms to the back door, and then out into the blessedly cooler night air. I looked around, hoping to spot Melissa or Jenny, but it was far too crowded, and I quickly gave up and just concentrated on staying with Annie. I secured us two cups of beer, and we moved farther out into the backyard where it wasn’t quite as crowded or loud.

“The music is decent,” Annie shouted to me, “Finish your beer and then we’re dancing!”

Contrary to the stereotype, I actually can dance reasonably well, so I was happy to oblige - especially since the beer was pretty awful. Annie was all energy, and her bouncing style make her skirt flip dangerously. Fortunately, I was there to observe and ensure that she remained unexposed.

Suddenly, there was some feedback as a microphone was turned on. “Is everybody having a good time?” The familiar voice rang out over the crowd’s cheers. “Here at Delta Sigma, we take pride in being gracious and welcoming hosts.”

Now I could see Jenny with the microphone, making her way from the back door to a small raised platform that I hadn’t noticed before. It was visible now, however, as people had moved away from it to make room; I suppose it served as a stage or a place for a band to set up if they had live music. Jenny waved as she climbed onto the platform, dressed in a sleek electric blue dress.

“In fact, that value is such an important part of our culture here that we always make it a focus for our pledge class,” she continued. The crowd was parting again, this time making way for a line of young women who were coming towards the platform. Each was wearing a Delta Sigma sweatshirt and a pair of running shorts. I could see Annalee, red hair flashing, wearing a huge smile and waving along with the other pledges; Violet, somewhat taller, was a little further down the line. Her toned legs stood out even in this group of attractive women, and I was sure she would be getting her share of attention from the male guests. Finally, Laura was last in line, dark hair loose and falling over her shoulders. She was waving like the others, but she wasn’t smiling, and I was pretty certain I knew why.

Jenny waited until the pledge class was lined up in front of the stage. “For the rest of the evening, these young ladies are going to be providing beverage service for you. They will be circulating with trays, so please don’t hesitate to take a drink from them or to have them take your empty cups. Of course, they ARE pledges, so some of them may be providing a little additional entertainment tonight if they earned demerits.”

Laura left the line and climbed up on the stage with Jenny. She had a smile plastered on, but I didn’t need to be terribly close to see that it was a fake one. Annie took my arm as we watched her cross the stage to stand next to Jenny.

“Laura here is a lovely girl, for example - isn’t she, guys?” There were cheers and some whistles. “Unfortunately, Laura has been a teeny bit behind on her academics this semester, and tonight we are going to have to motivate her to get back on track.” She gestured to Laura, who stood there clutching her sweatshirt hem nervously. “Laura will be providing her beverage service tonight in a SPECIAL uniform. Show everyone your uniform, Laura!”

Hoots and cheers broke out from the crowd as they anticipated what was about to happen. For a second, I thought Laura might bolt, but she stiffened, took a breath, and pulled her sweatshirt off over her head.

Laura wasn’t wearing the running shorts - she was shorter than most of the other pledges, and the sweatshirt had been loose and long, so I figured it was just covering them when she came in. Instead, Laura was wearing a lacy red push-up bra and a matching pair of lacy panties. I had seen Laura in her undies before, and I knew she had a nice figure, but the sexy underwear only drew more attention to her chest and her ass. She was already blushing as she gamely dropped her sweatshirt on stage to the cheers of approving male guests. “There is no way I could do that,” Annie said to me, leaning up to my ear. “She’s got to be mortified right now.”

“That’s the idea,” I reminded her. “Embarrassed enough that she’ll work harder to avoid anything else. Jenny said they would have a Chi Alpha Delta brother behind her at all times so no one takes liberties.”

But Jenny apparently wasn’t finished with Laura. “Like I said, we’re helping Laura here tonight by making sure she understands that she’s been letting her sisters down as well as herself.” She pulled a black marker out of her pocket, and tucked it right between Laura’s breasts in the front of her bra. “Laura, you are going to serve your drinks tonight with a big smile, and with LOTS of care. Everyone, if Laura spills a drink, we want to know. Make sure she uses that marker to put a tick mark right there on her chest so we keep count, okay? A little later, we’re going to call her back up here to see how she did. Trust me - she is really going to want to do a good job. Go get your trays, ladies!”

The line of pledges left, Laura at the tail end once again. “What’s that all about?” Annie asked me.

“I don’t know - it wasn’t part of the program I set up. I guess it’s something the sisters added in?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” she shrugged. “Do you need to go talk with Jenny?”

“Nah,” I said. “I’m here to observe tonight. And I have a much more entertaining option for spending my time right here in front of me. Back to the dance floor?”

“Excellent response, sir. 5 stars, would recommend.”

[Fred Key]

Ch. 14, part 2

We danced for a while, got some drinks (non-alcoholic; the beer was total crap), and were about to find a place to sit and rest for a few minutes when Violet passed by us with a tray. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she spun around like she was going to hit me with the tray before she registered who it was.

“Fred! Shit. I’m sorry - we’re supposed to have guys watching our backs, but so far all I’ve seen are guys watching our asses. If one more asshat tries to get a free squeeze, I’m going to level them.” I didn’t doubt she could do it, either. Violet was lean, but her whole body was rock-solid.

“It’s ok. No harm done. You remember Annie, right?”

Violet eyed my date for a second. “You’re here with him? And I thought Delta Sigma pledges had it bad. That’s brutal.” She bumped a shoulder into me to make it clear she was joking, and I almost fell sideways.

“He’s got some perks,” Annie said. “And he’s fun in the bedroom.”

I choked on my drink, which immediately made both Annie and Violet break out in uproarious laughter. “I like you,” Violet said, offering Annie a fist bump.

“Morris!” Jenny’s shout made all of us turn in surprise. “What the hell are you doing, pledge?”

“I was just saying hello to Fred,” Violet began, but Jenny cut her off.

“What were your instructions?”

Violet stood up straight and put her arms to her sides. “To serve guests and provide entertainment, ma’am.”

“And are you serving guests at the moment?” Jenny asked sharply.

“No, ma’am,” Violet said, still staring straight ahead like a soldier being called out by a drill sergeant.

“Well if you aren’t serving, Morris, then you MUST be the entertainment.” Jenny waved three large guys over. Each of them was carrying a large pitcher.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Violet said. She put her tray down and pulled off her sweatshirt. Underneath was a Sigma Delta T-shirt. She took a pitcher from the first guy, and without another word, poured it straight down the front of her T-shirt.

It was clearly ice water, and it wasn’t warm out, so it was impressive that Violet didn’t show any obvious signs of the cold bath she had just given herself. “May I have another pitcher, ma’am?”

“You absolutely may,” Jenny said sweetly, and winked at me.

Violet took the second pitcher and poured it down the front of her shorts. Cheers and applause broke out from onlookers as she stood there, empty pitcher by her side, still staring straight ahead. Her T-shirt was all but transparent now, and while she was wearing a sports bra under it, the cold water had made her nipples go hard. It wasn’t very difficult to imagine the landscape under that sports bra at the moment; I looked at Annie, who was looking somewhere between amused and horrified, and raised my eyebrows to say “I had nothing to do with this!”

“May I have the third pitcher, ma’am?” Violet asked stoically.

“No. That one’s for me, sweetie.” Jenny took the third pitcher and slowly poured the water all over Violet’s head, making sure that not an inch of the poor pledge was still dry when she was done. “There. Now get back to serving, or I’ll have to find some more ways for you to entertain everyone. And try not to poke anyone’s eye out.” She gave Violet a hard spank right on her soaked running shorts, and Violet winced, but she didn’t make any sound. Instead, she took the three pitchers and put them on her tray, carrying them off back to the house as partygoers laughed and applauded her performance.

“Sorry about that, Fred,” Jenny said, turning back to me. Then she did a double-take. “Annie Jenkins? Is that you? Holy fuck, girl, you’re on fire tonight!” She eyed my date’s outfit, then looked at me with a big smile. “Careful, Fred. Reel this one in too quick and she’ll snap your line right off.”

“I can promise you that Fred has no issues with his fishing technique,” Annie replied, a little edge to her voice. “He’s never been interested in big bobbers or flashy lures.”

“Right,” I said, smelling the blood in the water. “Hey, Jenny, what was up with Laura’s punishment? The marker?”

“Right—just a little something extra,” the pledge leader replied. “To keep our guests entertained. You’ll see. Oops - gotta run! I see a pledge over there who needs to be reminded about her responsibilities!” Jenny took off like a shot for another part of the crowd and the unknowing and soon-to-be-highly-unhappy pledge there.

I turned back to Annie, who was glaring after Jenny. “I thought you two were friends,” I said. “What set that off?”

Annie scowled. “Didn’t you hear that crap about breaking the line? Jenny’s okay, but sometimes she takes the jokes a little bit past the line if you give her an inch. And if you don’t push back, she’ll sense weakness and pounce like she’s a cat and you’re lunch.”

“Good thing I’ve never been into big bobbers, then,” I said, squeezing Annie against me.

“Are you suggesting that my equipment is undersized?” she said, giving me a mock glare.

“You’re going to make a pole joke next, aren’t you?”

“Hey! Annie knows all. Fred doesn’t know all. Stay in your lane, buddy.” Annie peered back over her shoulder, then tugged me further away from the dancing partiers. We found a space next to one of the fences surrounding the backyard, and Annie whirled and kissed me hard, tongue probing and fingers clamping in my hair.

I was taken a bit off guard, but I didn’t need much encouragement to kiss my new crazy girlfriend, and I responded with just as much passion. After a long minute, she pulled back from my lips with a gasp, smiling brightly.

“What was that for?” I asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“You watched a private wet T-shirt contest from a foot away and the first thing you did was look at ME. That deserves a reward.” She straightened my collar. “I really was dumb to doubt you, wasn’t I?”

I put my hands around her waist and pulled her closer. “I’m just glad we’re back on track.”

Annie put her head against my chest and leaned into me. Her hair smelled like lemongrass. “Me too.”

We danced some more, and then I excused myself to get a bottle of water. I turned back to see Annie still dancing away. A couple of guys had come over to dance with her, and she seemed to be having a great time. For a second, I felt a flash of jealousy of my own, but then Annie saw me watching her dance. She looked back at the two guys, then at me again, and I understood immediately. She suddenly was thinking about whether I would be upset and accuse her of flirting with other guys after she had blown up the relationship with no actual evidence of my guilt. Her face had a look of dawning horror, and she started to pivot to run to where I was standing, but I smiled and I waved my hand at her, making a “run along and have fun” gesture.

It took a second for her to process it, but when she realized I wasn’t upset at all, her expression went from concern to surprise and then to the kind of happy usually reserved for kids opening the really big package on Christmas morning. She blew me a kiss, and then threw herself back into dancing with anyone and everyone nearby. How could I not enjoy watching her? She was dancing, happy, smiling, captivating everyone around her - and best of all, she was dating ME.

I watched Annie dance for a while, enjoying the occasional flashes of thigh when her exuberance made her dress flutter as she twirled. As I was idly wondering what the chances were that I might get another invitation to sleep over, I was roused from my thoughts by Jenny’s voice once again as she took the microphone once again.

“How’s the party, people?” Her question was answered with a roar of approval from the gathered college students, many of whom were apparently completely unconcerned about the quality of the beer and totally focused on the quantity they could pound down one cup at a time. “Fantastic! It’s time for us to check back in on our naughty little pledge. Laura? Come on up here for your big moment!”

The crowd parted to make way for a very reluctant looking Laura. Her “bodyguard” frat brothers, the ones who had been assigned to keep people from getting too handsy, were escorting her, and she apparently wasn’t moving fast enough for their liking, because one of them reached over and laid a hard slap on her ass. Laura yelped and hurried forward, looking angrily back at the grinning jackass. She said something I couldn’t hear to Jenny, who had apparently muted the microphone for a moment. Laura pointed at the frat boys and was clearly agitated, but Jenny shook her head and clicked the mic back on. “All right! Laura’s back from serving drinks as part of her punishment for failing to follow the rules. Let’s take a look at how she did. Hands behind your back for us, Laura!”

Laura looked at Jenny angrily for a moment, and I thought that she might just stomp off the stage right there, but instead she put her hands behind her back and stood there glaring at the blonde. Jenny made a big show of leaning over to take a close look at Laura’s chest and the tick marks, but then popped back upright and said to the crowd, “Oh my gosh! I’m such a ditz. I totally forgot to tell everyone! You guys remember that if Laura spilled a drink, she had a marker that she was supposed to use to mark it on her count, right? But I never told you OR Laura here what that count was for! Annalee? Where are you? Come up here and join us, please!”

Annalee had apparently been waiting for this, because she appeared almost immediately. She had a grim face on, because she was carrying her least favorite thing about Maxwell University with her - her sorority paddle. “Oh, crap,” I said quietly. “She must have really mouthed off this time if they’re doing this in public.”

Jenny waited for the redhead to climb up and join her, then held out her hand expectantly. Annalee handed her the paddle. She was trying to look stoic like Violet had, but I knew she was probably already thinking about how mortifying this was going to be. “Thank you, Annalee. Now, you’re pretty well acquainted with this paddle, aren’t you, honey?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Annalee said, her voice tense.

“In fact, you had several encounters with it in your first week as a pledge, right?”

Annalee’s face flushed, but she answered, “Yes, ma’am.”

Jenny turned to the crowd again. “Annalee came close to setting a record for consecutive days standing at dinner at the start of the semester,” she told the onlookers, and they responded with laughter. “But I have to tell you folks that while she got off to a rough start, Annalee has done a great job turning things around here. She’s our most improved pledge over the last couple weeks, and we thought that she might be happy to see someone else up here on stage in trouble instead of her this time! Everyone give Annalee a round of applause, please!”

The crowd cheered. Annalee stood there, uncertain how to react, but finally decided that looking down at her feet was probably safest. Jenny, meanwhile, was already moving on. “No, today Annalee is getting a reward for her hard work. You see, she’s going to be the one giving the swats for a change, not receiving them!’ More laughter from the crowd, but a look of confusion on Annalee’s face and a look of sudden terror on Laura’s as she realized what was happening. “Laura, for each tick mark you have there for a spilled drink, Annalee is going to give you a reminder with her paddle that Delta Sigma expects the best from their pledges. Why don’t you go ahead and assume the position, facing forward towards the crowd? We want them to get a good view of your face so they know you’re learning the lesson,” she said with a vicious smile.

Laura stood staring at Jenny, then the paddle, and then Annalee. I couldn’t hear the words, but I could read her lips clearly enough to see “no way.” Whatever else she said, I couldn’t catch it, but Jenny clicked the mute on the mic again, then stood for a moment with her back to the crowd as she said something to Laura. When she stepped back again, Jenny’s smile was back in place, and she resumed her speech. “Go on, Laura - don’t keep everyone waiting!”

Whatever Jenny had said to Laura must have been impressive, because Laura slowly bent over with her hands on her knees, blushing furiously as she stuck her ass out in those tiny lace panties. The angle gave everyone a full display of her cleavage as well, as her breasts were barely contained by her bra. I had no doubt at all that Laura was painfully aware of that, especially when someone asshat from the front of the party yelled “Let’s see those babies bounce!”

Jenny now turned to Annalee, handing her the wood paddle again. “Annalee, how many tick marks does Laura have?”

Annalee obediently walked in front of Laura and leaned down to count, her running shorts tight over her own backside as she counted. She stood up and went back to Jenny before speaking into the microphone. “Eight.”

“Then you’re going to give Laura here eight swats. Now this is a reward, Annalee, but let me also be clear about one thing - I’ll be watching those swats from right here. If you don’t make sure that Laura gets this message clearly, I will. And if I have to do that, I’m going to bend YOU over right after her for some instruction of your own. Get me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Annalee took up position behind Laura, hefting the paddle first with one hand, then two, trying to find a good grip. It looked like she was saying something to Laura while she was doing that, but Laura’s face didn’t change, and she didn’t respond as far as I could see. I had to imagine that Annalee was trying to apologize for what she was going to have to do, but Laura didn’t seem to be in a mood for apologies with her ass about to be publicly roasted in a most humiliating manner.

I felt a body bump against me and looked down to see Annie had slid in next to me against the fence. “Oh, my god - are they seriously going to paddle her? In public?” She looked at me like I knew the answer, but I could only shrug. “What if they bare her ass? I’d have to transfer if that happened - can you imagine thinking every time someone looks at you they were imagining you bare-assed and on display? Forget the whole screaming in pain from having your butt flattened by a solid piece of wood part of it!”

“All I can tell you, Annie, is that this isn’t anything to do with my tutoring. Public embarrassment is one thing, but this is extreme even by that standard. And having Annalee paddle Laura? That’s just going to drive a wedge between the two girls, even if neither of them are at fault for it.”

Annalee was lined up behind Laura, waiting for Jenny to tell her to start. Laura had her eyes closed as she stood bent and vulnerable, everyone’s eyes on her. After reminding Laura that she was to count the eight strokes out loud, Jenny waved at Annalee and gleefully cried “go!" into the microphone.

Annalee hesitated, probably trying to find a balance between a swat hard enough to satisfy Jenny but soft enough that Laura wouldn’t suffer more than she had to. She also clearly had never been on the giving side of a paddling, as she didn’t really pull back to swing into Laura’s full target. The paddle smacked against Laura’s bottom, making a popping sound, but it couldn’t have traveled more than a foot and a half. Laura’s eyes popped open, and she let out a pained ”ooh!”, then called out “One!” loudly.

Jenny was clearly not impressed, and she said something curt to Annalee. This time, the redhead lifted the paddle to waist height before swinging it like she was trying to hit a golf ball. This wasn’t a great angle, and the paddle came in diagonally and upward. This, for Laura, was a much worse result than if she had been spanked full on the cheeks. Instead, the paddle bit into the tender undercurve of her butt, right where her thighs and the fleshy globes met. Annie winced. “Sit spot! Oh, that’s going to suck tomorrow almost as badly as today.”

Laura must have agreed with Annie, because both her hands shot to her bottom and clutched at as she popped upright in a short hop. “Yeowch!” she cried out, “Goddamn it, Annalee!” Jenny glared at her, however, and Laura quickly called out “Two!” before her tormentor could declare that the swat needed to be repeated. After shooting her own glare at her fellow pledge, Laura bent over again. I could see she was gritting her teeth now. She still had six swats coming, and those lace panties couldn’t have been doing anything at all to protect her.

Say what you like about Annalee, but one thing you have to give her - she’s quick to learn. That is, as long as you can convince her that it’s in her interest to do so. Having seen how unpleasant the result of her previous swing had been for Laura, she changed the angle at which she was holding the paddle. This time, she looked like she was swinging a tennis racquet, keeping the wood level and perpendicular and landing the spank squarely on the crowns of Laura’s ass. The crack was louder than it had been previously, and Laura grunted loudly, then called out “CRAP! THREE!”

“What do you think, people? Hard enough?” Jenny asked the crowd, and chants of “Harder! Harder!” came from a few places. Laura looked at the crowd with a pleading look, shaking her head “no!” From what I was seeing, she wouldn’t find much mercy there. Annie was transfixed, eyes locked on Laura. I wondered if Annie had previously had personal experience with a paddle given her reaction to the scene.

Annalee drew back and landed another swat across the meat of Laura’s backside. It was hard to tell with all the cheering and shouts, but based on Laura’s face and her jerk forward when the spank landed, this one was a little less of a stinger. “OW! FOUR!” Laura called out. She started rubbing her bottom frantically, but Jenny swooped in and grabbed her hands, pinning them behind her back. “We’re only halfway there, Laura,” she chirped. “Stay in position!”

“Do you think we should do something?” Annie whispered. “Could you step in as her tutor?”

I understood why Annie felt that way, and for a moment I thought about it, but then I shook my head. “Laura’s an adult in a very public situation. If she wanted to walk out of here and quit the sorority, she could do it. If she yells for help, I’ll try to step in, but I don’t know that I’d be doing her any favors if I intervene. She might end up getting a worse punishment later.”

The fifth swat cracked against Laura’s ass, once again overlapping the previous blows. I imagined that the skin under those little red panties was approaching the same color at this point. “FIVE!” Laura cried out, her voice starting to waver a little bit. She was trying to grit it out, but I doubted she would make it through eight swats without breaking into tears. Being forced to endure a public spanking might not break her, but the additional shame of being reduced to a blubbering mess in front of hundreds of cheering people? That could make anyone consider running for the hills.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Annalee had lowered the paddle, and had one hand on Laura’s back. Jenny was scolding her, but Annalee didn’t respond. Instead, she held out the paddle for Jenny to take. When Jenny pointed at Laura again, Annalee just put the paddle down on the platform and took a step back. Good for you, Annalee, I thought. I didn’t know what the norm for a sorority was, and I had heard frat hazing could be pretty brutal, but entertaining people with Laura’s pain was over whatever line I would have imagined to be there.

Jenny seemed to be taken off guard by Annalee’s refusal. Her face grew angry and hard for a moment before she put the sweet smile back on. “Well, this is unexpected,” she told the crowd. “Our pledge here thinks that she knows better than her older sister, and that she can just ignore instructions. I thought we were past that, Annalee. But since you’re so concerned about your fellow pledge’s well-being, you can join her and get some attention of your own.” She picked up the paddle and pointed to a spot next to Laura.

Annalee must have expected this, because she walked to the spot with her head high and no surprise at all on her face. When she bent over next to Laura, she turned her head and smiled at her fellow pledge, and Laura smiled gratefully back. It was a gesture of solidarity that clearly meant a lot to the smaller girl, and I was suddenly proud of Annalee for standing up for her friend, even if it meant facing another round with the paddle.

However, Jenny wasn’t going to let Annalee get the upper hand without a fight. “Uh-uh, honey. You want to stand by your sister? You’re going to do it the same way. Strip to your underwear first. Doesn’t that seem right, folks?” she said, appealing to the crowd for support. Unsurprisingly, she got plenty of cheers from the frat guys and from semi-drunk Delta Sigma sisters, all eager to either see Annalee taken down a peg or to see another good-looking pledge in her underwear.

I knew that this was one of Annalee’s worst fears - public nudity was one of the highest negatives she had listed on her survey. Her modesty and dignity were two things she held dear, and the idea of losing both publicly must have been horrifying to her. I wouldn’t have been shocked if she had backed down in the face of the threat, and I don’t think Laura would have blamed her, either.

Annalee stood back up calmly and pulled off her sweatshirt. She was wearing a simple cream-colored bra, probably with more coverage than the average bikini, but this wasn’t a swimming pool. Everyone was staring, and yet she was undressing without complaint. If anything, she seemed...

“Oh, Jenny - she misread this one big time,” I said quietly to Annie.

“What do you mean?” Annie asked, confused.

“Jenny knows that Annalee values modesty as part of her faith. She thought that forcing her to undress in front of this crowd would either humiliate her utterly or make her back down. But she didn’t realize just how seriously Annalee takes her faith. Jenny just made this a test of faith for her - would she be willing to sacrifice her own modesty in order to help her friend? For Annalee, that’s something she’d embrace without hesitation, because it validates everything she believes about her own faith and values being superior.”

Annie nodded her understanding. “So she sees this as being a martyr?”

“Or something close. If Jenny thought this would put her back in line, she’s mistaken. This is going to have the exact opposite effect.”

On the platform, Annalee dropped her running shorts without hesitation, leaving her in just the bra and a pair of simple white panties. She looked defiantly at the crowd as she bent over, deliberately making eye contact with as many of them as she could. Her smile hadn’t budged, and why would it? This was a moment she had been waiting for for years.

The redhead’s lack of any sign of reluctance or embarrassment clearly made Jenny even more frustrated. She put down the microphone so she could hold the paddle with a two-handed grip. “Count them!” she yelled at the pledge, then unleashed a forehand to Annalee’s ass that would have made a tennis pro proud. The slap of wood against the flesh was loud and sharp, and while Annalee managed to keep from crying out, her eyes popped wide for a moment as the pain blossomed like fire in her backside. She breathed deeply, then called out “One” in a calm voice.

Jenny was merciless. She didn’t just spank Annalee; she was stepping into the swats, driving the paddle into the girl’s bottom with everything she could put into the swing. The crowd had been behind her at first, but by the fourth swat, there were far fewer cheers. Annalee’s eyeliner had started to run, as she was unable to hold back the tears, but she was still smiling as she called out each painful swat.

After the fifth blow, Melissa came up to the platform and whispered something to Jenny, who reluctantly backed off and lowered the paddle. Picking the microphone up, Melissa looked first at the pledges.“All right, you two - get inside. You’ll be on cleaning duty after the party is over.” Then she turned to the crowd and said in her most cheerful voice, “How about we get the music going again? We just tapped a fresh keg if you’re thirsty!”

This brought a round of shouted approval from the partygoers, and soon people were dancing again. I turned to Annie. “Hey- want to get out of here? I think I’ve had enough of Delta Sigma’s hospitality tonight.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I don’t really feel like dancing anymore.”

We made our way towards the door back into the house, weaving through the crowd. Just inside the door, we ran into Jenny, who was holding a cup of beer and talking to two sisters about how much trouble Annalee was in. When she saw me, she excused herself from the other women. “Are you guys bailing?” she asked, taking another swallow from her cup. “The party’s just getting going!” She poked me in the chest. “I was hoping to get a dance in with you. We gotta talk about the pledges.”

“Sorry,” I said as diplomatically as possible. “I’ll have to take a raincheck on the dance. We’ve been at it for an hour and I’m a party lightweight. Totally out of energy for tonight.”

“Boo!” Jenny playfully scolded me. “Annie, tell him to stay! You can’t be tired of dancing already. You’re like the damn Energizer bunny!”

Annie shook her head. “I have lab work I have to do tomorrow. No late night for me tonight. I just came along to keep him company for a while.”

“And to make sure none of the sisters snatches him up, either,” Jenny laughed. “I hear you’re pretty possessive of this one! You never seemed all that concerned with all the other guys you’ve been with - he must be a catch!” She turned back to me. “Give me a call tomorrow and let me know when we can meet. Melissa wants an update on your students with midterms coming, and I can fill you in on how things are going with them at the the house.”

“Sure, no problem,” I said, gently pushing Annie ahead of me towards the front door. I wanted to head off any arguments, and from the look on her face, Annie had taken something Jenny said as a backhanded insult. “See you!” I took Annie’s hand and held it firmly until we were out on the sidewalk in front of the sorority house.

“She is such a bitch!” Annie growled, stalking away from the house and leaving me to hurry after her. “Did you hear her? ‘All the other guys you’ve been with’?”

“I thought she was talking about other guys you’ve dated.”

“You don’t say ‘been with’ if you aren’t implying sex, Fred. And for the record, that number is NOT…”

“It doesn’t matter what it is, Annie. Forget it. I don’t care who you’ve dated before. All I’m interested in is who you’re dating now.”

“Hmph,” she groused, but the corner of her mouth inched upward. That was apparently the right response. It was also true. I didn’t care about Annie’s dating history. She slowed down to a normal walking pace, and we walked back towards campus in comfortable silence. It was the start of spring, and while the air was chilly, it wasn’t really cold, and the night was comfortable and peaceful once we left the furor of the party behind.

She was the first to break the silence. “Fred,” she said, “did you find that as uncomfortable as I did? I mean, I know that we talked about the whole idea of using embarrassment as a protocol for behavior modification, and it isn’t that far off from what we’ve tried out with those three girls, but it felt totally different. It felt pretty extreme even for hazing.”

I waited, listening. I didn’t want to cut her off, and I’ve learned that people like to fill empty space in a conversation. After a minute, she continued. “Like when you had me down to my underwear over my essay, and when Jenny ended up topless? That was embarrassing, but it was like losing at strip poker or something—kind of awkward, but nothing that would linger or bother me for years to come. What was happening with Laura and Annalee, though? That felt like an effort to make them suffer just for fun.” She shuddered. “I’m glad we left.”

“Annie, can I ask a personal question?”

“I might not answer, but sure.”

“Have you been paddled before?” I watched her out of the corner of my eye. “I know that’s kind of a weird question, but the way you reacted to it, and the stuff you knew about it as a punishment? It made me think you had personal experience with it.”

Annie didn’t respond right away. After a moment, she answered, “I was spanked when I was a kid—not abused in any way, but my parents weren’t shy about heating my seat if I was misbehaving badly or if I was disrespectful to them. But…yeah. I got paddled once. It was last year, actually. When I got here, I wasn’t sure how to fit in. I didn’t know anyone. So I decided to try rushing a sorority—you know, to get an instant friend circle, right?”

I nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah. Well, it was fine for a couple weeks, but then after we had more or less settled in, we were all called together at the sorority house and told what rules we would be abiding by as pledges if we wanted to stay in the sorority. One of those rules was that we could be paddled for infractions by the established sisters. They lined us up and had us drop our pants and put our hands on a wall so they could give us a “demonstration” to serve as a warning. Each of us got two good hard swats.” She looked at me with a grin. “It hurt like fuck. I could barely sit through class the next day. I had dropped out of the sorority by dinner that next day.”

“Can’t blame you for that. It sounds pretty unpleasant.”

“Anyway, that all reminded me of that afternoon when we got our first taste of ‘discipline’. But what about you, Fred? Ever been paddled?”

“No, I haven’t had that experience. I skipped the whole Rush thing, and my parents weren’t big disciplinarians.”

“Lucky. But I was a handful when I was a kid. Always in trouble.” She laughed. “I guess not much has changed, really. But I’m glad that you didn’t like what happened at the party. Clearly some of those guys liked it a lot.”

I kept silent. I agreed - it had been really uncomfortable - but I had also spanked Annalee myself, so did that make me a hypocrite? I didn’t think it was the same, but the idea still niggled at me.

Annie was still talking, and I tuned back in to hear her finish, “were cool with it,” and look at me expectantly.

“Sorry—I zoned out for a second there. What was that?” I asked apologetically.

“I said that it was really nice that when I started dancing with those guys that you didn’t get upset. It was just dancing and having fun, but other guys I’ve dated would have flipped out. You were just totally cool with it,” she said. Then she squinted thoughtfully. “Hmm. Maybe I should be insulted that you aren’t jealous when I dance with other guys.”

“Maybe I was just hiding my raging jealousy so that I don’t scare you away with the intensity of my desire,” I said teasingly.

“Does that mean that when you get me alone you’re going to suddenly get angry and possessive? Wait—that came out wrong. I don’t mean stalking abusive boyfriend, I mean broody desire that ends with you ravishing me. Shit! That sounds like rape! Wow, could I make this any less sexy? And would you please stop me from talking now?”

Of course I obliged her by pulling her in for a nice long kiss, which she deepened immediately. I was acutely aware that her breasts were pressing against my chest, and that I was responding in kind down below. I guess Annie noticed that part too, because she looked at me with a satisfied grin. “Someone is having a good time,” she laughed.

“Are you kidding? I started having a particularly stiff good time when I saw you in that dress before the party, and I feel like I’ve been having a good time non-stop since then. You look amazing tonight, and watching you as you danced? All those guys staring at you? I wasn’t jealous. I was thinking that they would kill me if they knew I woke up next to you this morning.”

Annie cocked her head at me. “You know, I can’t decide if you say stuff like that spontaneously or if you work on lines before dates to make me think naughty things about you and me.”

I shrugged. “Maybe you just have that effect on me.”

“Stop that! You’re being all romantic and it’s making me want to ravish you!” Annie laughed, but she pulled me closer. “You know, I wasn’t planning on you staying over last night, but you ended up staying over. I wasn’t planning on you staying over tonight, either, but I’m reconsidering.”

“Yeah?”

“I think you should come up with me and help me decide.” She looked up at me with excitement brimming in her eyes.

“I can be pretty persuasive,” I warned. “All that essay practice.”

“I guess I’ll have to be careful.”

She turned to open the dorm door, but I pulled back. “Hey,” I said.

Annie turned back to me. “Did you forget something?”

“Seriously. I want you to know that if you’re inviting me up because you think that I’ll be hurt or angry if you don’t, please don’t feel that way. I’m definitely not going to say no, but I’m just fine taking our time to get back into the physical stuff. If you’re worried about that, don’t be.”

Annie put her hands on her hips. “What if I’m just horny as all fuck?”

Sometimes life is good.

[colomale2]

Thank you for this chapter! I can tell the dialogues are well thought. Love it!

[Fred Key]

You’re welcome. As Neverdoubted said, a little positive response goes a long way in giving a writer encouragement to finish a story—especially a long one.

Last time I put out a longer story, I had no real plan for how to finish it, and it petered out before I got there. Fortunately, I know where this one is going, and I feel good writing it.

[Somebody]

Amazingly well written. Somehow in all the fun of humiliation, I forgot that sororities are kind of awful. I think I have a decent idea of who sent Annie that note now.

[Fred Key]

For those of you who were wondering (the few but happy few):

I have been away from this project for about a month due to home issues. Today was the first time in weeks I had some time alone to write. Rest assured that there will be an end to the story, and that the next chapter is about half done.

-F

[colomale2]

No worries! Take your time Fred. We all can wait

[Fred Key]

Ch. 15 - Outliers

“Good morning.”

Annie rolled over and looked at me with sleepy eyes. “We’re obviously not compatible if you say that before handing me—”

I reached down next to the bed and pulled up the mug of coffee, handing it to her. It wasn’t great - dorm coffeemakers are never amazing - but it was coffee, with her sugars, the way she liked it. I had snuck out of bed a few minutes earlier to make it when I realized she was still asleep.

I had put my boxers on again, but that was all. Annie’s clothing and the rest of mine was scattered on the floor where it had fallen after last night’s hasty removal. That had been followed by some very pleasant naked kissing and touching, and then by a brief awkward moment when Annie stopped us mid-fondle.

“Fred…” she had said (gasped, actually, since she was out of breath at that moment), “I…I want you. I really do. I want you so badly - but…”

“You aren’t ready yet,” I finished.

“Not for all of it. This is so fast - we just got past this huge fight, and it isn’t even a half-day later and we’re in bed again, and I just don’t want to screw this up again,” she said, a look of distress on her face. “Please don’t hate me!”

“I don’t hate you, Annie. I told you, it takes however long it takes. Hell, you’re naked in bed with me. There’s a lot I can do that doesn’t involve actual intercourse, and a whole lot of gorgeous naked woman I can appreciate and touch. I’m not complaining.”

“About that…” I must have gotten an ‘uh-oh’ look on my face, because she hurriedly continued. “No, it’s a good thing! I was…would you like me to do you? I might not be ready for everything yet, but I’d really like to give you something. If you want.” She kissed me again.

“You don’t have to,” I said, “but only a complete idiot would turn down oral sex from Annie Jenkins.”

She smiled and pushed me back onto the pillows, and began a slow, steady bath of my cock and balls from tip to base and back again that had me grabbing the sheets with rigid fingers to keep from pushing the back of her head down further and getting more stimulation. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Annie was as spirited a lover as she was in everything else she did, but the way she slowly and teasingly drew out every swirl of her tongue and every gentle suck was the most overwhelming thing I had ever felt. It was like I was straining every muscle in my body to reach for something, but finding it just out of reach - but in a good way? Whatever. It was fucking amazing, and that was before she even started really working on me.

I couldn’t decide which was more of a turn-on - Annie’s ability with her mouth, or the sparkle in her eyes as she watched me while she pushed me closer and closer to the edge, then backed off just enough to keep me there. It was maddening, and I was grabbing the comforter, the bed, anything within reach, and then finally, I grabbed her. I didn’t push, but I held her head in place on my cock so she couldn’t move away this time. All the while, I was looking into Annie’s eyes, those mischievous eyes, and I imagined the corners of her mouth were turned up because she had me, she had gotten me to the point of no return, and made me give up and finally take the orgasm she had teasingly been denying. She started doing something with her tongue again as I held her, and I could feel the explosion coming, so I let go of her head and groaned “I’m coming!” so she could pull off if she wanted, but she didn’t. She sucked on me as I finally went over the edge, like she wanted to get every drop from her drink, and I felt myself spurting into her mouth.

Annie nursed my penis until the moment was past, and I was able to move again. She licked my shaft one more time, then pulled off of it, swallowing. She looked up at me, naked, beautiful breasts grazing my thighs as she moved higher to kiss me again, and I didn’t think about anything anymore but Annie Jenkins. The kisses were tender and slow, not the frenzy from earlier, but kisses that reassured that there were no regrets.

Annie’s head against my shoulder brought me back to the present. She was sitting up, nursing her coffee with both hands, perfect breasts still drawing my attention even as I kissed the top of her head. She was either too sleepy to care that she was still naked or had decided that we were official enough that it didn’t matter; either way, I wasn’t going to complain about the view. “You made me coffee,” she murmured.

“I did.”

“You remember how I like it.”

“I do.”

She smiled and kissed me on the cheek. “Good boyfriend. You can stay.” Her brown eyes met mine as she looked up at me. “You’re going to stay, right?”

“Of course I am, Annie. What idiot would give up waking up to this?” I tucked an arm around her and pulled her even closer to me.

“Too many,” she said. “Wait - I didn’t mean that there were MANY. There weren’t many. Only two. Shit. Shut up, Annie.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t think you were a nun. And I know you had a couple of bad experiences.”

Annie relaxed a bit against me. She sipped her coffee quietly for a minute, then said quietly, “Two guys here at Maxwell. I dated in high school, but nothing beyond a little fooling around. The first guy here I met during orientation week. He was so cool - charming, from the big city, and he seemed like he knew everything about everything. He took me out to a new restaurant every night for a week. And I was scared that I was ‘behind’ what other girls did on dates. I didn’t want to look like I was still a high school kid.”

“At first, I just let him take a little more. Let him under my bra, which was a big deal for me. I hadn’t ever let a boy past my bra, let alone my panties. He made everything feel so good - he was gentle, he told me how amazing I was, and he made me want more. By the end of that first week, he had me convinced I was in love, and that we were meant to be together, and I let him undress me, and then I wasn’t a virgin anymore, and I went to sleep next to him, thinking everything was perfect. And woke up alone the next morning.”

“He just left? What a complete piece of shit! Did you find him and kick his ass?”

Annie laughed. “Sort of. He ghosted me - didn’t return calls, emails, or texts, wasn’t ever in his dorm room - and I was so embarrassed. The last time I went to his dorm room, his roommate told me that the guy was sick of me stalking him, and that if I didn’t stop, he was going to file a report with campus security. I just about lost it right there in the hallway.”

“You said you sort of kicked his ass, though,” I asked. “Did you catch up with him?”

“No. But I put his photo up in every women’s restroom on campus that I could find with a warning that he was a manipulative creep who was only looking for one thing. I only saw him once after that. He walked into Buzzy Bean, saw me, I saw him, and he turned around and walked right back out.”

I would have preferred to hear that she had kicked him in the nuts or something, but she seemed satisfied, so I let that lie. “Am I allowed to punch him if you point him out to me?”

Annie laughed. “After Jack decked you with one swing? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Hey! He caught me by surprise,” I said, a little embarrassed. “I can throw a punch.”

“Okay, Rocky - if I see him, I’ll tell you,” she said, kissing me again.

“Do I want to know about the second guy?” I didn’t want to pry, but I wanted to know if it had been worse. I wasn’t planning on bailing on Annie, but a smart boyfriend knows where the land mines are and stays away from the field.

Annie frowned. “I...I don’t talk about him. It was a party and I was drunk and made a really bad decision. I got lucky, honestly, that nothing worse came of it.”

“That sounds pretty ominous.”

She didn’t answer, and I let it go. If she didn’t want to share that, I wasn’t going to press. We sat quietly for a little while as she finished her coffee, then set the mug on the floor and curled up against me again with her head on my chest. “Promise me something, Fred?”

“If I can,” I said.

“If you decide that this isn’t going to work, promise me that you’ll tell me face to face. I deserve that.”

“I promise,” I assured her. “But I also promise that right now, leaving you is absolutely the last thing I want to do. I’m not going anywhere.”

“No, you aren’t,” she said, climbing on top of me and pressing her naked body against me. “I’m not finished with you yet.”

We stayed in bed most of the morning, finally getting up and getting dressed around noon. After a quick brunch at the cafeteria, we said goodbye, agreeing to meet up again after dinner. I needed to change clothes and get a shower, and I figured I should check on my three charges as well. I wondered how Laura and Annalee were doing after getting their asses roasted the night before.

THAT made me remember that Jenny wanted to talk to me, and that I hadn’t set up a meeting. I wanted to talk to her too, if only to tell her that I thought she went way too far the night before. She might just tell me to stay out of Delta Sigma business and focus on tutoring, but at least I would feel better for having tried. I pulled out my phone and called her, and was surprised when she answered on the second ring.

“Fred! I was wondering if you had forgotten me!” Her voice was bright and cheerful, which was impressive considering how late last night’s party must have gone. Maybe she had steered clear of the alcohol and avoided a hangover. “Annie must be distracting you pretty seriously.”

I avoided that remark. “Hi, Jenny. You said you wanted to meet with me about my students? Is everything all right?”

“Well, you were there yesterday—you saw that we have some issues with the girls. They seem to look for ways to ignore rules. You’d think Annalee would be tired of getting her ass thrashed by now.” Jenny chuckled. “She’s probably having trouble sitting today. Violet and Laura are better behaved, but their grades are still right on the borderline. Do you think you’ll be able to keep them in line and get them through the semester? Do we need to do more on our end?”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about…”

Jenny cut me off. “I’m sorry, Fred - we have a problem I have to take care of here. Could you just come by this afternoon so we can talk? Maybe in an hour?”

“Sure,” I agreed. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

Jenny hung up quickly - off to handle the crisis, I assumed - and I decided to get that change and shower before I went to Delta Sigma. I probably smelled like last night’s beer and sweat, and I know my clothes were rumpled and dirty. Girlfriend or no, I wasn’t going to show up at a sorority house looking like I had rolled out of last night’s kegger and straight into a gutter.

I approached my dorm room with less apprehension than the past few days, and was actually pleased to see Jack’s gym bag sitting on the couch. Now that things were settled again with Annie, my next priority was making sure Jack understood that and that we got things sorted out. I liked Jack—heck, I even liked how fiercely he had defended Annie, even if it had been at my expense. And I really didn’t want to be on pins and needles every time I walked into my room for the rest of the year.

His bedroom door was closed, so I knocked quietly. “Jack? It’s Fred. Can we talk for a second?”

The door flew open, and I instinctively ducked and threw up my arms to try to block the punch. When it didn’t land, I looked up and saw Jack looking at me with a big grin on his face. “Dude, did I punch you that hard? You look like you’re expecting a broken jaw or something!”

“I take it Annie called you?” I said wryly, putting down my arms and feeling only marginally less like a complete wuss than the last time I got decked. “Since I’m not being greeted this time by your knuckles?”

“She texted me yesterday. Said you two were going to a DSig party and that you had worked things out, and that I shouldn’t punch you any more because “you weren’t a cheating scumbag piece of shit” like she had originally thought. So congrats on not being a piece of shit!” He looked away for a moment, then said, awkwardly, “Sorry about jumping you like that, Fred. I should have known that you weren’t like that. I’ve just got a soft spot for Annie, and when she called me all flipped out, I just sort of lost it.”

I clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m glad she had someone to count on, honestly. Could have done without the punch, but it wasn’t your fault that someone screwed with us. You just got caught up defending your friend.”

Jack relaxed a bit, seeing that I wasn’t going to hold a grudge. “Thanks. So what do you mean, screwed with you? I thought this was some sort of misunderstanding.”

“I thought so too,” I said, dropping into one of the chairs in the common space. “I figured Annie must have gotten angry about something with the Deltas, but I didn’t know what. Then she showed me this note someone sent her accusing me of cheating with one of the DSigs I’ve been tutoring. They told her they SAW me fucking her in Collins. That’s not a misunderstanding. That’s someone trying to fuck with one or both of us.” I grimaced. “It really hurt that Annie believed it, too. I almost quit trying completely after she showed me the note, because I couldn’t get past her taking the word of someone who didn’t even sign their name over the guy she was dating.”

“Yeah, that would be hard to swallow,” Jack said ruefully. “I should have asked more questions, man. Had your back.”

I waved him off. “Don’t. Like I said, not your fault. Annie and I talked this out, and we’re gonna be okay. And you and I are good, too, yeah?”

Jack stuck his hand out, and I clasped it. “We’re good, man. And Evan and Ian are going to be glad to hear it, because they’ve been trying to avoid both of us until this shit blew over. Room balance will be restored!”

“Sweet. Listen, I gotta change and get to the DSig house for a meeting. Talk with you later?”

I ducked into my room, grabbed my stuff, and hit the shower. It felt amazing. Never underestimate the power of a hot shower to restore your outlook. I pulled on clean clothes - a polo and chinos - and, texting ahead to let Jenny know I was on the way, headed for the Delta Sigma house.

Unsurprisingly, when I arrived at the sorority, I found the yard full of pledges picking up after last night’s party. Girls with trash bags were picking cups and cans off the ground, while others were washing down the patio and cleaning the stage area. None of my three charges were among them, however. I made my way past the girls, who politely smiled and said hello, then promptly got back to work before they could attract the attention of an irritated and hung-over older sister.

Inside, I found other pledges hard at work on the interior of the house. I stopped one who was mopping the entry foyer and asked if she knew where Laura, Violet, or Annalee were. “Violet’s somewhere out back - I think she’s got window cleaning. Laura and Annalee are in the great room. Trust me - you can’t miss them.”

That sounded ominous. Thanking the pledge, I made my way deeper into the house. The great room, as it was called, was like a large ballroom - a space that could be cleared for dancing, used for a large dinner, or set up as a study room during exams. It had a wood floor that was carefully maintained and two chandeliers lighting the space. It also currently held Laura and Annalee, who were both on their knees scrubbing. With toothbrushes. I mean, seriously? It was like a bad movie.

Laura looked up as I entered. “Oh, shit,” she said. “Don’t tell me I forgot something and you’re here to punish me. My ass can’t take any more, and I’m not sure there’s anything left of my dignity to take away.”

Annalee scoffed. “YOUR ass can’t take any more? Which of us got paddled by FOUR sisters this morning?”

“Wow,” I said. “What did you do to deserve that?”

“Absolutely nothing!” Annalee snapped angrily. “A certain pledge leader decided that I was being sassy by looking at her improperly. Then I apparently took too long in the shower, was late to cleanup, and took her seat at lunch.” She pulled up the hem of her shorts to show me a couple of nasty purple bruises on her sit spots. “She’s gone nuts. I’m about to quit and just deal with my mother.”

“Jenny paddled you four times this morning? And no one did anything to stop her?”

The redhead rolled her eyes. “She did it when people weren’t there. Not much they can do after the fact, right?”

I frowned. This wasn’t just pledge hazing. This was abuse. “I’m about to meet with her. I’ll see if I can get her to back off.”

Laura looked at me gratefully, but her smile was weak. “Good luck, Fred. Jenny isn’t going to change. She’s enjoying her power too much to give it up now.” She bent to her scrubbing again.

I left the two and headed back towards the entrance, then asked the pledge who was there if she knew where Jenny was. “Upstairs. You’re Fred, right? She told me to have you text her when you got here.”

I sent a quick text - “Here” - to Jenny and leaned back against the wall to wait. It was only a few seconds, though, before Jenny appeared on the stairs, coming down to take my arm. “Fred! You made it! I’m so glad. We have a LOT to talk about. You wouldn’t believe these girls.”

I skeptically looked at her, then shrugged. “Okay…where should we talk?”

Jenny led me down the hall and opened a door that led down to what I assumed was a basement. “We have a quiet space down here. Too many pledges up here with big ears and big mouths.” Before I could reply, she was already starting down the stairs.

As I descended behind here, I saw that the space wasn’t really well-finished. It was more of a storage area, with cartons of decorations and other stuff piled in corners. There was a sofa along one side of the room, however, and Jenny took a seat on it, patting the cushion next to her to invite me to sit. I did, but at the other end of the sofa.

“So what did you need to talk to me about, Fred? You said you had something to discuss about the pledges? They’ve been a real pain in the ass this year - and I’ve provided plenty of pain for theirs in return,” Jenny smirked. “I had to paddle Annalee four times today already!”

“Yeah, about that - I think you’re going too hard on the girls right now. I’m worried that with everything they have to do, that all these punishments are going to cause us problems with their work. If Annalee can’t sit down, how can she study or do her work? And don’t you think four paddlings in a single morning is a bit ridiculous?” I tried to smile as I said the last part, but I meant it - even Annalee didn’t deserve that on her worst day.

“Ridiculous? Come on, Fred. A little bottom-warming? It’s motivational. You should know, right? You spanked Annalee, didn’t you?” Jenny laughed. “You got me topless, too. And I know you enjoyed that.”

“I admit that I use some unusual approaches to tutoring,” I said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. The fact was, I felt like the comparison between what I was doing and sorority hazing had just a little too much truth to it, even if we were clearly working for different purposes. “But when I use punishments, I use them to accomplish a goal that the client has asked me to help with, and I do it when nothing else has worked. That’s not the same as paddling someone for being sassy or for sitting in your chair at breakfast.”

Jenny leaned closer, dark eyes flashing. “You know what I think, Fred? I think that you rationalize what you do, but underneath your admirable goals and “research” isn’t a tutor looking for success. What’s really there is a guy who hasn’t figured out that he enjoys being a dom.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” she replied, smiling like she was talking to a child who was particularly dense. “You’re a dominant. You get off on women obeying you. It turns you on to be able to tell one of your clients to strip - willingly - when they don’t want to, or to spank them for being disobedient. Be honest, Fred. You like being in charge, not being a tutor. I could see it in your eyes when you stripped me down that night.”

“I’m not looking for that at all. Annie talked me into trying this after it worked with her, and then you got me the job here. And it’s not about making people do things - I’m trying to help people achieve their goal.”

“And if it happens to get your rocks off while you do it, so much the better? You can’t think of any other tutoring approach that might work in difficult cases besides strip corrections?” Jenny moved closer on the couch. “And I don’t hear you denying that you liked seeing me strip, either.”

“Of course I liked seeing you half-naked, Jenny - you’re a hot woman,” I said quickly, because I wasn’t a complete idiot. “But that whole strip thing happened because I wanted to make Annie practice, too, and it was a one-time event. You didn’t need that kind of intervention again. Annie hasn’t needed it either. Doesn’t that suggest it was effective?” Even as I argued, though, a part of me was turning Jenny’s words over in my mind, wondering if there was truth to them. Was I really more into the whole obedience dynamic than I thought? Was it sexual for me? Sure - anything involving a good looking woman and a sexual situation or activity would be a turn-on in most cases. But to go so far as say I had a fetish?

“Face it, Fred - you’re into this stuff. And what’s more, you’re GOOD at it. You create these situations where it just seems completely reasonable for you to do what you’re doing, and where you have the authority to make women submit, but you do it without coming off as an overbearing jerk or brooding bad boy. Maybe some women like that sort of guy in their “romance” porn, but in real life? Ugh. Those guys are nothing but headaches.” Jenny put her hand on mine. “You, on the other hand, have multiple girls interested in you and have the ones who aren’t happily giving you what you want anyway.”

I shook my head. “You make it sound like I’m putting together a harem or something. I don’t WANT a bunch of women chasing me. I finally got things worked out with Annie, and she’s all I want or need. Anyone else is a client, and that’s all. Nothing more.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Annie? She’s nice enough, I suppose, but she’s got screws loose. You can do better. You’ll never be happy with someone like Annie, because she’s never going to submit to you the way you need her to.”

“The way I need her to? Jenny, I don’t need anything like that! I don’t want to have a relationship like that, either!”

“Are you sure?” Jenny asked. She got up off the couch, and then sank down to her knees in front of me. “You don’t want a woman who will kneel? Who will let you set the rules? Someone who will meet your needs as a man AND as a dominant?” She peeled her top off as I sat there, stunned. “Someone who will accept your authority?” She stood, and slid down her shorts, leaving her in a matching black bra and panty set that showed off her figure perfectly. While she was still bent over, she reached under the sofa and pulled out an object, standing up again and handing it to me. “Someone who will accept your…discipline?”

The hairbrush she had passed me was wooden, heavy, and solid. It felt like lead in my hands.

“We would be perfect together, Fred - we want the same things. You love to discipline and dominate women. I do too - but I also want someone who can take charge. Who isn’t afraid of a strong-willed woman and is willing to make her behave. I could be yours, Fred - in every way possible. And the two of us? We could keep your tutoring project running here at Delta Sigma for the next three years. Imagine it - three years of having access to gorgeous women who are available to humiliate or play with at your whim. Every pledge class would be ours to pick and choose from. And if I get out of hand? You can just put me over your knee and teach me to behave.” Slowly and seductively, she slid herself over my lap, her ass lined up and ready for punishment. “Take my panties down, Fred, and show me how to behave. Teach me a lesson, Mr. Tutor. Don’t hold back. I can take anything you can dish out.”

I’d like to say I immediately shot to my feet and dumped Jenny flat on her ass on the floor, telling her she was absolutely insane, that I wanted nothing to do with her kind of games, and that I was done working with her and Delta Sigma for good. That would have been the right thing to do.

It wasn’t what I did, though. I was just too stunned to do anything at that moment. Of all the things I was expecting from this visit to DSig, the pledge captain offering to be a submissive and presenting herself for a hairbrush spanking was nowhere on my bingo card, shockingly. I don’t think it would be on anybody’s bingo card.

And what she was offering? Turning pledges into playthings to feed a kink urge? It was twisted. Forcing women to submit because they wanted into the sorority was…kind of what they already were doing here, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like Annalee was eager to get her ass paddled. She was doing it because she wanted into Delta Sigma, and would do whatever it took to get there. So was she being forced? She could walk away at any time. Any of them could walk away, couldn’t they?

No, wait. Violet couldn’t. If her grades dropped, her scholarship would be in danger. She could get bounced from the school. And Laura wasn’t in much better shape. But they could get other tutors - and they could put in more effort and time, instead of joining Delta Sigma, right?

“Go on, Fred. Let me see just how hard you can swing that hairbrush,” Jenny purred from my lap.

I looked at my hand, at the brush, and at Jenny’s pert ass, and I almost did it. Almost. Then I thought about Annie, and how much it had hurt to lose her the first time. I thought about the night we had spent together and about what lay ahead for us. I tossed the brush aside. “Get up, Jenny,” I said. “Get off. This isn’t happening.”

“Oh, it’s happening - don’t be scared, Fred. I can handle it,” she answered.

“No, it isn’t. It isn’t that you aren’t incredibly good looking - you are - but I’m with someone else, and I’m not looking for this sort of relationship.” I pulled her to her feet, standing up as I did, and taking a step away.

The blond’s eyes narrowed, and her tone became icy. “You’re turning me down? For that goofball with the stupid braid? Are you fucking kidding me?”

That was all it took to jolt me out of whatever doubts I might have had lingering anywhere. “No, I’m not kidding you. And if there’s anyone who has some screws loose here, it’s you, Jenny. I’ll let myself out.”

“You can’t be serious! I’m offering you Delta Sigma on a fucking platter, and you’re going to walk for a girl who broke up with you because she got a fucking email?”

I pushed by her, but she grabbed my arm and swung me around. “You walk on me now, Fred, and I’ll have you fired from Delta Sigma within the hour.”

“Not a problem. I’ll find other work that doesn’t require working with crazy.”

“You won’t. You won’t find ANY work at Maxwell. The pledges will report you and your “methods” to the administration, and you’ll be gone faster than you can pack your bags,” Jenny snarled. “Good luck getting into any other schools with that shit on your record, asshole.”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I made a beeline for the door and got out of Delta Sigma as fast as I could. I didn’t think that any of my three clients would turn on me that way, but I sure wasn’t going to wait and give Jenny time to cook up something to cause me trouble. My phone was in my hand the minute I hit the sidewalk.

“Annie? Listen, you aren’t going to believe what just happened to me at Delta Sigma….”