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

[colomale2]

Thank you for the chapter! Looking forward to see what Annie have to say

[Somebody]

Ohhh the mom explains a lot. Real nice chapter.

[Fred Key]

Ch. 13 - Faulty Premise

<THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY REMOVED. SEE NOTE POSTED BELOW. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE. - FK>

[Somebody]

So THAT was her problem. That's kinda terrifying, to think you're just one random bit of libel away from misery.

[Fred Key]

Just an FYI:

Normally, I feel pretty good about the chapters I post. This time, something feels off. I'm taking it down to edit it. The tone for part of it is wrong, and I don't want to spoil what has been a pretty decent story with a bad note. Apologies to anyone this inconveniences.

Fred

[colomale2]

Just an FYI:

Normally, I feel pretty good about the chapters I post. This time, something feels off. I'm taking it down to edit it. The tone for part of it is wrong, and I don't want to spoil what has been a pretty decent story with a bad note. Apologies to anyone this inconveniences.

Fred

I am sad I missed it
Tbh take your time. We can always wait for good story

[Somebody]

Huh, I didn't notice anything terribly off, but I look forward to reading the new version. Nobody's writing is so good that it's above revision, except that God feller.

[Fred Key]

Ch. 13 - Faulty Premise

I arrived back at my dorm room, went to my room, dropped off my things, and turned to set off for the Caf for dinner.

I made it exactly three steps. Then I was suddenly flat on my ass, everything was fuzzy, and I felt like I had walked head-first into a truck.

After a couple of seconds, the ringing in my ears subsided, and I could hear someone - Jack - swearing at me. It slowly registered that I had just been punched in the face, that I couldn’t open my right eye, and that whatever he was yelling, I couldn’t understand the words. I held up a hand, trying to get him to stop for a minute until my head cleared, but he brushed it away. For a minute I thought he was going to kick me in the ribs, but he took a step back instead and seemed to realize that I wasn’t fully there. He stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at me, waiting for me to respond in some way.

My left eye was back in focus. I put my hand to my right eye and winced immediately. Great. I wasn’t sure I could hear clearly yet, but my head wasn’t swimming any more, and I struggled to my feet. “Jesus, Jack, what the fuck?”

“I told you I would beat the crap out of you if you hurt Annie, you asshole,” Jack shouted. Okay, maybe he didn’t shout, but it sure as hell sounded like it with my head pounding. “I ought to punch you again so you have a matched fucking set. I’ll give you this - you sure had me fooled. No wonder she bought your bullshit. I actually thought you were falling for her.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa - time out!” I went to the couch and dropped onto it, ignoring the thundering in my skull and the throb in my face. I wondered if Jack had actually broken something. “What are you talking about? How did I hurt Annie? Did she talk to you?”

“Yeah, she talked to me, dickwad. She told me about how she was happier than she had been in years, and that she thought she had finally found a guy who wasn’t a total asshole. Then she told me about how you cheated on her, and how she spent three days doing nothing but crying in her dorm room.” Jack loomed over me like an angry Dad who had caught some teen boy in his daughter’s bedroom. “Don’t you ever even THINK about going near her again, Fred, or I’ll break your fucking legs.”

“Wait - CHEATED on her? I didn’t cheat on anyone! Where did she get the idea that I was cheating on her?” I was totally baffled. “Jack, you’ve been my roommate for months now. You know I don’t go anywhere. The only girl I’ve ever brought back here was Annie. Have you ever seen me with anyone else? I do my homework, I tutor, and I read - that’s been my life since I got here until I met Annie!”

Jack shook his head. “That’s what I thought, but Annie said you were hooking up with some girl at her dorm room when you were supposedly ‘tutoring’. Man, if that’s all you wanted, a cheap hook-up, why did you string Annie along like that? I told you she wasn’t like that! She’s like my little sister. You fucked with my little sister, fuckwad!”

The thought that Jack’s list of insulting names was pretty limited flashed absurdly through my head, but I shoved it aside to focus on the important stuff. “Okay, Annie thinks I was hooking up with some girl I was tutoring. Why? I can swear to you that she didn’t see me with anyone, because I wasn’t with anyone - certainly not anywhere where we could be alone and screwing! The only place I tutor is in Collins, and I’m always at the same table right by the stairwell. Unless she thinks I’m sneaking over to Delta Sigma, none of this makes sense. Did she tell you what she saw or who she thinks I’m cheating on her with? Anything specific at all?”

“No. All she said was that she found out. And that’s good enough for me - I trust her a whole fucking lot more than I trust you, asshole. You better stay out of my way. I may be stuck with you as a roommate for the rest of this semester, but I’m going to beat you like a piñata if you don’t keep your ass in your room. And don’t even think about bothering her. She doesn’t ever want to see your sorry ass again. And good luck ever finding anything as good as her.” Jack stalked off, slamming the door to his room behind him.

I sat there for a second, trying to digest what had just happened. I didn’t know where Annie had gotten the idea that I was cheating, but I wasn’t going to learn any more sitting here. There was only one person who could clear this up - Annie herself. Fuck Jack and his warnings. He caught me by surprise with that punch. I had been confused and off-balance, but now I was moving from puzzled to seriously pissed off.

I grabbed my coat and left the room, heading straight for Annie’s dorm. It wasn’t a long walk, and I was moving with purpose, ignoring the people along the way who were doing a double take at what I presumed was a significant black eye. It certainly hurt like a motherfucker.

I didn’t know what I was going to say to Annie when I got there, but I wasn’t going to leave until I had at least gotten some sort of explanation. What the hell? Why would Annie believe I was cheating on her? Why wouldn’t she even ask me? Give me a chance to defend myself?

I waited until someone was walking towards the front door to Annie’s dorm, and then caught the door when they entered and followed them inside. I made a beeline for Annie’s room, where I knocked loudly on the door. “Annie?” I called out, trying not to let my anger and frustration seep into my voice. “Annie? It’s Fred. We need to talk.”

There was no answer from the other side, so I knocked again. “Annie? I don’t know what you think happened, but you’re wrong. Just hear me out!”

I thought I heard a noise from the other side of the door. “Annie?” I knocked again. “Annie? This isn’t fair! You can’t just shut me out without even talking to me!”

I heard Annie’s voice for the first time in days. “Go away! I have nothing to talk to you about, you cheating asshole! I never want to see you again!”

“I don’t have even the slightest idea what you’re talking about! I haven’t cheated on you! I don’t want anyone but you! Why would I cheat on you? You at least owe me an explanation, damn it!”

“Go away, or I’ll call campus security!”

I banged my head against the door, which was a mistake, because my eye exploded in pain again. “Fuck!” I swore. “At least tell me who I supposedly cheated on you with!”

There was silence for a moment. Then a piece of paper slid under the door. “Now get the fuck away from me, you asshole!”

I grabbed the paper off the floor. It was a short note, computer-printed, and with no signature:

Your boyfriend is a cheating bastard. He wasn’t just ‘tutoring’ the girl I saw him with yesterday. He had her up against the stacks and was fucking her, and she was enjoying every second of it. He isn’t worth your time. Thought you should know before he REALLY hurts you.

I read it a second time, trying to digest it. I took a step back from the door and stared at the peephole. “This is bullshit, Annie. It never happened. Someone is screwing with you.”

“No one’s screwing with me! You’re the one who apparently is doing all the screwing!” Annie’s reply was angry, and her voice was quivering as she spoke. “How many times did you do it, Fred? You needed her because I wouldn’t put out for you?”

For a moment I felt a wash of frustration and shame. Then it was replaced by an unexpected wave of anger. When I get angry - really angry - I don’t get loud. I get quiet. I’ve been told that my face goes blank, but that my eyes are where the emotion really shows. Tara once called it my “serial killer face.” I don’t know if that’s how I looked right then to Annie, or if she was even looking, but when I spoke again, it was with a quiet, dangerous calmness. “This? This is why you wouldn’t talk to me? Blocked my phone calls? Shut me out completely? An anonymous note?”

There was no reply.

“I’ve been sitting in my room, racking my brain to figure out what I could have possibly done to make you do this. Trying to come up with something I said or did that would have hurt you so badly that you would cut me out completely. It’s been the most miserable week I can remember.”

I shook my head as I continued. “I always thought I was good at reading people. At putting myself in their shoes and seeing their point of view. Turns out that I was wrong. I was looking for what I had done wrong. I didn’t even consider the possibility that this was your fault, Annie. That you were the one who did something wrong.”

“I’m not the cheating asshole!” The door flew open, and a red-eyed, blotchy-faced Annie was shouting at me. “I thought you were the right one, you bastard! I really did! And you ran off chasing a piece of ass!”

My voice was level. “You thought I was the right one? That I was a good guy?”

“Yes! I was dumb enough to think I was in love with you!” Annie spat.

“I didn’t push you or try to rush you. I told you that I was happy to take things as slowly as you wanted. And you say you thought you were in love with me.”

“I was an idiot not to see this coming! You and your ‘special’ tutoring!”

THAT was the last straw. “Annie, you were the one who thought I should go into business! You found Jenny and brought her to me! You say you were in love with me? That you thought I was the right guy? And then what? You get a goddamn anonymous letter, without a shred of evidence or proof, and without even giving me a chance to defend myself or even telling me what was going on, you shut me out completely, and are totally convinced.”

I saw her face change as it sunk in - the enormity of the assumptions she had made. The reaction on my face to the accusation. But I kept going. “You think that I’m the one who treated YOU badly? That I cheated on you and am a fucking asshole? You instantly believe some unsigned bullshit note and ignore everything that happened between us? Everything you know about who I am and how I’ve treated you? None of it means anything? Wow. You really were in love with me, weren’t you, Annie? So much that you didn’t give me a single fucking bit of credit or faith.”

I stared at her coldly, even as I could see the reality dawning on her. “You want me gone? My pleasure. Fuck this, and fuck you too. And you did get one thing right, Annie - you were a total idiot.”

I turned and walked away without looking back. I didn’t want her to see my face. Not with the pain I was feeling at the moment. I thought that finding out why Annie had cut me off would give me a chance to fix things, but how do you fix something as fundamental as faith in a person?

I didn’t go back to my dorm. I didn’t want to see Jack or anyone else. I thought about going to the Bean, but my head was hurting, and I didn’t want to be around people. I walked around for a little while, then stopped at the movie theater. I bought a ticket - “one for whatever is about to start, please” - and took it numbly. I found a seat near the back of the theater and just sat in the dark, closed my eyes, and tried to pretend that today never happened.

“Dude, wake up. You gotta go. Theater’s closing.” My eyes snapped open. It took me a moment to focus on the lanky guy in front of me in the vest, and to realize I must have fallen asleep. The lights were on in the theater, and it was empty except for him.

“Sorry. Do you know what time it is?” I mumbled, grabbing my coat and getting up.

“Around one. I let you sleep through the last couple of shows - figured that anyone with a shiner like that one had a good reason to be hiding in here. You okay? I could call you an Uber or something.”

“Thanks. That was cool of you, letting me sleep. I’m good, though. Just had a hard day,” I said. “I’ll get out of your way.”

“No problem,” the guy said. “But you better put something on that eye.”

I pulled on my coat and made my way out of the theater. It was cold, and the streets were mostly empty as I walked back to my dorm. I hoped that Jack would be asleep by now, but if he wasn’t, at least he wouldn’t catch me by surprise this time.
Thankfully, the place was quiet. I slipped into the bathroom and got my first good look at myself since my run-in with Jack. It wasn’t a pretty sight. My eye was barely open, and was badly bloodshot. The swelling was now starting to purple in an ugly way, and spending several hours sleeping in a movie theater seat had left me looking like I had just come off a three-day party weekend. I gulped down three Advil and then chugged two glasses of water one after the other. Then I quietly went to the fridge in the main room, grabbed two cans of beer (Jack’s—it was the least he owed me, I figured) and locked myself in my bedroom again. I stuck one can of beer in my mini fridge, then popped the other one open and took a long swig. Then I thought better of it, pulled out the second can, and pressed it against my eye. I was all out of steaks and bags of frozen peas.

I sat for a while, drinking the beer and waiting for the Advil to kick in. Unfortunately, I spent most of that time replaying what had happened at Annie’s dorm. I couldn’t get the images out of my head - her anger, her accusations, and my reaction. A stupid, scorched-earth response to a stupid mistake she had made. It took all of two minutes to completely blow up weeks of positives. Fuck. What the hell had I been thinking?

I knew what I had been thinking, though. I was hurt and angry. Hurt that Annie had shut me out, and angry that she would believe so easily that I would cheat on her. How could she think that? Not even bother to talk to me about it? How could she have any real feelings for me if she could jump to that conclusion so ridiculously fast? Part of me was telling me that I had dodged a bullet; if that was how she reacted to some anonymous note, what would she do if something real came along? Set fire to my dorm?

No, that wasn’t fair. She had told me that she had a bad history with boyfriends. And while I wanted to be completely and totally pissed about how she dealt with the situation, I made myself ask the question - how would I have handled it if someone sent me a note telling me that Annie was cheating on me? I’d like to think that I’d go to her calmly and ask her about it, and that I’d give her the benefit of the doubt. That I’d want some actual evidence to support that note. That I’d ask why anyone who would have sent it to me in the first place would have sent it anonymously. I’d like to think that I was that kind of person. But could I be absolutely certain of it? Not if I wanted to be honest with myself.

Sometimes it’s really fucking inconvenient to be honest with yourself.

I pulled the beer away from my eye and took another swig, then realized it was empty. I pulled out the other can and popped it, then sipped and pressed it back in place on my face. Reluctantly, I did what I had to do—something I had been avoiding since my showdown with Annie. I pulled out my phone and turned it back on, dreading what I’d find there.

It took a minute to power up and reconnect to the network, and then another minute before I saw that I had three missed calls. All of them were from Annie’s number. All of them had voicemail attached. My stomach dropped like a rock.

I went to the voicemails and hit play on the first one, then had to mash the volume button down immediately when Annie’s outraged voice filled the room.

“How DARE you come to my dorm room and talk to me like that, you son of a bitch! After the shit you pulled? If you come within twenty feet of me again, I swear I’ll go straight to the campus police and get a restraining order against you! You aren’t gaslighting me! YOU cheated on ME and you try to make yourself into a fucking victim? Fuck YOU, you asshole! I hope you get fucking herpes from whatever you stuck your dick into!” <click>

I winced, and wondered if it was even worth playing the second voicemail. I noticed that it was timestamped an hour later, though, and it was much, much shorter - only three or four seconds. Cautiously, I clicked it. There was some noise for a moment, but I couldn’t hear anything clearly, so I clicked the volume back up a couple of steps. This time, when I played the message, it was a little clearer, but still distorted. I couldn’t understand what was being said.

I bumped the volume up once more, and tried again. This time I got it. There was a moment where it sounded like someone started to say “Fred,” and then a quick burst of sobs before the call cut off. That hurt almost as much as the hate-filled first message.

I tapped the third voicemail, unsure what to expect. Annie’s voice was still broken, but was controlled enough that I could understand her clearly.

“Fred, I don’t know what to think or believe. It’s probably too late whether you lied or not. But what you said - even if you’re a liar, I should have at least let you give your side. If I really felt something for you - and I did - I owed you that much. So if you want to ignore this, fine. I won’t say anything about you to anyone. I won’t believe you, but I won’t slander you either. And if you want to say something, I’ll hear you out. I’ll be at your table in Collins tomorrow at 8 pm for ten minutes. Then we can both go our separate ways.”

The message ended. I listened to it again, and my emotions were all over the place. I wanted to call Annie back immediately, and I wanted to block HER phone number at the same time. I wanted to grab the sliver of hope that this offered, and I wanted to throw it right back in her face and let her sit there alone and feel the same way I had when she shut off all communication. I wanted it to hurt her, and I also knew that it would only reinforce her belief that I had cheated. Either way - meet her or not - I was opening a whole new opportunity to be hurt. And for what? Closure? And what about the timing? Eight PM on a Friday night in the library would virtually guarantee as private a public conversation as we could get, but did I really want to be that alone with Annie without knowing what could happen? What if she decided to get even by making up some sort of assault or harassment incident? I couldn’t believe she’d do that, but the idea did pop into my head. I wondered if either of us could ever actually trust the other one again after this.

Every time you fall for someone, you put a little fishhook in your heart and hand that person the line. You basically give them the ability to leave and rip a little piece of you away when they do it. It’s painful and horrible and it is utterly foolish, but the only way to connect with someone is to make yourself vulnerable to them, and that means you give them power over you. And once they use it and hurt you, can you ever forget that they did it? I didn’t know the answer to that question. I didn’t know that I wanted to find out, either.

I drank the rest of the beer and sat in the dark, trying to decide what I should do tomorrow.

I woke up on my bed, still fully dressed. My alarm was blaring its usual seven AM wake-up call, and I groggily shut it off, then grimaced at the awful taste in my mouth. Bad beer plus swelling around my nose left me with a full night of mouth-breathing and the resultant biohazard in there, and I desperately wanted to brush my teeth.

In the bathroom, I scrubbed away and tried to get a handle on what was happening today besides the possible meeting. I still had responsibilities, and I realized that I hadn’t even bothered to check on any of my clients since the day before yesterday. Eight PM could wait. I’d decide what to do when I had some coffee in me and a little less of a headache. A quick check in the mirror showed me that no matter what I decided, I was going to look like I lost a fight while I did it. The black eye was completely unmistakable, and while I apparently had dodged any sort of breakage, I wasn’t going to have a comfortable day.

Still no sign of Jack, fortunately. I grabbed my laptop and headed to the Caf to get some food and coffee. I ignored the look that I got from the line server and sat down with a full plate and a big mug of hot, black, crappy coffee. My stomach was telling me very clearly that I hadn’t had anything but two beers since midday yesterday, and I scarfed down pancakes and bacon as I booted up the laptop.

Annalee’s grades and assignments were up to date. We were still on to review her work tomorrow. I moved over to Laura’s portal. So far, the threat of the party this weekend had kept her on time with her work, but there were two missing assignments sitting there that I would need to check later this afternoon. I would give her a little bit of grace, but if things weren’t in place by tonight, Laura’s Saturday night was going to be significantly less pleasant.

I flipped over to Violet, and then refreshed the screen. This couldn’t be right. It had only been a couple of days since I checked on her and she was up to date. Now she had two missing assignments and hadn’t done a single notes page since Tuesday?

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Jenny asking if she could get all three of my clients to the DSig house this afternoon. Maybe I would only need to handle Violet, but even if I didn’t have two slackers to deal with, an extra object lesson might prevent the next wave of issues. Besides, I felt like it might actually do Annalee a little bit of good to NOT be the problem for a change. After hearing her mother on that phone call, my sympathy towards her had definitely increased.

Jenny’s reply came before I was finished with my second plate of pancakes. For once, I was grateful that the Caf prioritized quantity over quality. 5PM - do you want Melissa and I there again?

Yes, please. I’m going to need your active assistance this time.

You’ve got it, Fred! Am I going to enjoy this?

More than some of your charges will. See you then.

I finished my breakfast, and then took a short walk to the nearest stop to catch the T. Boston’s Metro was amazing, and today, I needed to pick up a couple items that you wouldn’t find in the Student Bookstore. I took the opportunity to swing by a Target nearby to buy an icepack. On my way out, I saw something else. It was probably a mistake, but I grabbed it anyway. What was left to lose? I could always return it.

I got back to campus shortly after 11 and got back to work on my own assignments, but I didn’t get much done. I didn’t want to go back to my dorm room and risk another run-in with Jack; even if I was pretty sure that he’d just blow by me and slam his door in my face, that didn’t mean I was going to tempt fate. There wasn’t any chance I could get things sorted with him until after I figured out the Annie situation, so instead I tried to work in Collins. Every time the doorway to the stairwell opened, however, I looked up, half-expecting to see either Annie approaching or Jack coming for round two. Eventually, I just gave up and went to work at the one place I knew I wouldn’t see either Annie or Jack - the high-priced coffee company that would sue me if I mentioned their name.

An overpriced, slightly burnt-tasting cup of coffee probably did nothing to help my jitters, but it did help me get my head working a little bit, and I knocked out a couple of problems from the current homework set for my math course. By then it was 3, and it was time to do one last check on Violet and Laura’s homework assignments. Violet’s, as expected, was unchanged. Laura had at least gotten partial credit for one of the two missing assignments, but the other one was still a no-show. I suspected that Laura would argue that her late work should count, but the rules I had set were clear - a half-done or poorly scored assignment would be treated like a missing one. There would be no reprieves for either of the two women this afternoon.

I met Jenny at the DSig house at 4:15 to make some preparations for our 5 pm meeting. It turned out that Delta Sigma had pretty much exactly what I needed behind the sorority house, so it was a fairly simple process. I took out my purchases, set things up, and then the two of us chatted until Melissa joined us.

At 4:55, Laura arrived. When she came out the back door and found me sitting there with Jenny and Melissa, she clearly knew that she was in trouble. “Shit,” she said. “I know, I know. I still have one assignment that didn’t get turned in, Fred. But I did finish the other one, and…”

I held up a hand. “We’ll talk about that in a minute. Let’s wait for the others to get here, okay?”

“Others?” Laura said, a note of surprise in her voice. “You mean the others got in trouble too? I thought it was just me!”

At that moment, the door opened again. “Please tell me that this is a mistake,” said Annalee as she came through. “I swear, I haven’t said a single rude word to anyone since the other day! I can still barely sit down—there’s no way I’d risk another paddling! Jenny, if someone told you that I said something to them, they’re lying just to get me in trouble.” When she saw me and Laura there, she turned pale. “Fred, I didn’t do anything! Honest! Please don’t use that brush on me again — I deserved it last time, but I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“We know,” Jenny said, rolling her eyes. “For once, Annalee, you aren’t the one causing a problem. You’re here because Fred requested you.”

“What’s going on, then?” The redhead looked at me warily, one hand unconsciously rubbing her bottom. “Is this about tomorrow’s mixer?”

“In part,” I said. “But not completely.”

Violet’s arrival interrupted any further explanation. She clearly had just come from a run, as she was dressed in a tank top and sports bra with a pair of nylon running shorts. Her hair was pulled back in a short ponytail, and she still had a thin sheen of sweat on her skin. “I came straight from practice,” she said. “Didn’t want to be any later, so I didn’t change.”

“Now that everyone’s here, Fred,” Jenny said, “would you like to take the lead? This is your show.” Laura bit her lip, while Annalee looked uncertain.

“As you all know,” I said, “I’ve been hired by Delta Sigma to tutor each of you three and to get your grades up as needed. In each of your cases, I gave you a clear set of instructions to be followed, and made it equally clear that failure to follow those instructions would result in steps designed to motivate you to work harder next time. Annalee?”

Annalee looked up, eyes wide, clearly expecting another round with the hairbrush. “Fred, I swear on the Bible that I didn’t DO anything!”

“I know. You got a pretty good lesson as to why you need to toe the line, and I haven’t heard a single complaint since. I actually wanted you to be here tonight because I thought that you should see that you aren’t the only person in Delta Sigma who is making mistakes.”

The relief on the redhead’s face was palpable. “So no brush? And no paddle?”

“Nope. You’re just here to observe,” I said. “You two, however…” I turned to face Violet and Laura. “You two have both failed to take my instructions seriously. Let’s start with you, Laura.”

The smaller young woman sighed. “I got most of my work done, but there were two assignments that I didn’t get in on time. I did turn one of them in for partial credit, and it was only a day late, though! That ought to count for something, right?”

“Laura, remember our last session? The one where you spent an hour getting tutoring under special conditions up in Collins?”

Laura blushed. “Way too clearly.”

“Apparently, not clearly enough,” I replied. “Remember what I warned you would happen if you didn’t stay on top of your work?”

Now Laura went from red-faced to pale. “You…I thought that you were just trying to get my attention. You don’t seriously—” She whirled and looked at Melissa. “Do you realize how much trouble this could get our sorority into? You aren’t really going to let him do this, are you?”

“Clearly, Laura, you do remember what I said. That for each assignment you missed or got a poor grade on, you’d have one fewer piece of clothing to wear when you serve drinks on Saturday night at the mixer. You were already down four pieces at that point - which I assume would be your shoes and socks. I did warn you that you had run out of freebies or easy options. Now I find that you had two additional assignments that you didn’t complete properly. Is that the case?” I looked expectantly at my client, waiting for her to acknowledge that this was indeed the case.

Melissa looked at Laura with a bemused expression. “You must really want to get those guys to pay you some attention, Laura - if it was MY clothing on the line, I’d have been damn careful to get things done.”

Jenny grinned. “So if she was already down to blouse, skirt, and underwear, and she missed two assignments - well, I guess Laura gets to make that call for herself, but it sounds like we’re going to have a server in nothing but her undies tomorrow night! Better choose something cute, Laur.”

“Really? You’re going to actually make me do this?” Laura looked at Jenny and Melissa in horror. “Stand there in my underwear in front of an entire party of frat boys serving beer? Why don’t you just hang a sign around my neck that says ‘Free gropes!’ while you’re at it?”

“This was entirely avoidable, Laura,” I interrupted. “You could have either gotten an extension or warned me that you were having a problem. Instead, you went right back to the mistakes that have cost you all semester. Now you’re going to have to deal with the consequences. And remember - if any other assignments turn up as missing before tomorrow night, you’ll be giving those frat boys an eyeful.”

“No one is going to touch you,” Melissa said firmly. “You’ll have a brother standing next to you at all times, and he will ensure that while staring is allowed, touching will not be permitted. Anyone who tries will find themselves leaving the party with more damage than Fred here - and that’s one big black eye you have there, Mr. Tutor.”

I ignored the implied question. “Are we clear on this, Laura?”

“It isn’t like I have much of a choice,” Laura said bitterly. “Quit the sorority or be completely humiliated.”

“Sounds to me like this will make an effective lesson,” I replied. “But let’s get one thing straight: if you think that this is embarrassing, believe me when I tell you that if you continue to miss assignments, this punishment will look like a breeze compared to what will follow. You will keep up with your assignments, or you’ll be bagging groceries stark naked at the local supermarket.”

The look on Laura’s face said it all. She was really on the verge of walking out of the sorority. We were at her boundary, and I needed to pull her back. The point of this wasn’t to lose a client - it was to help them achieve their goals. “Laura,” I said, “Right now you’re thinking that telling all of us to go fuck ourselves is a really tempting option. You’re facing what you see as a significantly horrible consequence, and you can avoid it by just walking away. I get why you’d believe that was the best choice, but I’m telling you that it’s the worst choice you could possibly make.”

That got her attention, at least for the moment. “And how do you figure that standing in front of a bunch of drunk, horny guys in nothing but a bra and panties is a better life choice than leaving, Fred? You’re smart - I’ll give you that - but I can’t wait to hear how you argue this one.” She gestured for me to continue.

I was about to answer when I noticed that Violet and Annalee were both watching intently. Even Melissa and Jenny seemed to be leaning forward. Uh-oh, I thought. Suddenly, my job and my reputation seemed to be on the line. Why would any of them continue if I couldn’t justify the process?

“You don’t need me to argue it,” I said. “You need to look at the results.”

“What are you talking about?” Laura scoffed. “The result, at best, is that I’m a laughingstock. And whatever Jenny or Melissa says, the worst could be pretty damn bad.”

“I’m not talking about the party. I’m talking about your actual results, Laura. Go back to last week. How many assignments were you behind on?”

Laura paused before she replied. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Almost all of them. It’s why I was in trouble to begin with.”

I nodded in agreement. “And as of today? How many are you behind on?”
“One,” she said. “The late one is done with, even if I only got half-credit.”

“So you went from being behind in all of your classes to having almost everything done in about a week and a half? And what impact did that have on your grades?”

Again, Laura paused. “I guess they’re better - I mean, I got credit for all the stuff I turned it, and anything is better than a zero, right?”

“Would it surprise you to hear that you went from a D minus average to a C minus average?” I asked. “I track your grades, Laura. You were behind on a lot, but fortunately, you had only missed a couple of major point assignments, and no more than one in any class. The perfect scores you got this week had a big impact because you were starting from such a bad place, but there’s no denying that there was a real difference. So why was that?”

Now it was Laura’s turn to squirm a bit. “I did the work this week because you made me undress in the library. The thought of having to do that again, and in front of people? It was a pretty strong motivator. I only had those two assignments slip.”

“And both of them came AFTER our meeting in the library, where you started out by losing four articles of clothing for the mixer to begin with. If you take that bad start out of the picture…”

“I’d be serving beer in sandals, not half-naked,” Laura finished sheepishly.

I turned to Annalee. “I know how much you hated our last meeting, but would you agree that it got your attention? That you understand what has to change, and that you’re motivated strongly to make that change now?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “I don’t care how many times you have to use that brush on my backside, Fred. I’m not going home and letting my mother gloat. I’d rather spend the entire semester standing.”

Jenny nodded approvingly. “I believe you. I know it’s only been a day or so, but you’re different. And I like the change.”

Violet was watching all of this silently. “Before I ask you what you think, Violet, you should know that you’re facing consequences today as well. I have an email that made your feelings about the punishment from last time pretty clear.”

“It sucked. And that stupid nickname is going to stick all season, at least.” She shrugged. “So does this mean that I lose two pieces of clothing for my missing assignments, like Laura? I’m not going to be missing anything else before the mixer tomorrow, so I just go without socks. No big deal.”

“No, I have a different consequence for you, Violet. This is the second time you’ve done this, and as much as you hated that first consequence, it apparently didn’t have the desired effect.” I pointed to the wall of the sorority house - specifically, to the yardstick that had been taped there. “That’s your consequence.”

“A yardstick? Am I supposed to do jumps and touch the top of it or something? I can handle that,” the lithe girl said confidently.

“That’s not what the yardstick is for, I’m afraid. Jenny?”

Jenny jumped up with a grin and ran inside. After a moment of uncertainty while the others looked around, wondering what was going on, and I waited patiently, a window above the patio opened, and Jenny leaned out. “Hang on,” she called, and after a moment, the rope and carabiner that I had bought from the home improvement store this morning dropped down. The other end of the rope went over the pulley that was attached to the wall outside the window - the one that was used to hang a clothesline during the spring.

“Okay…so what is all this?” Laura asked curiously.

“This is a significantly unpleasant consequence waiting to happen,” I replied. “Violet, come over here, please.” I indicated a place about a foot from where the rope hung, and she took the spot with a confused look. “Now face away from me.”

When Violet turned, I took the carabiner end of the rope in hand. I pulled open the back of Violet’s running shorts and reached inside, getting a handful of her underwear.

“HEY!” Violet yelped, surprised by the sudden presence of my hand in her pants - not an unreasonable reaction. She tried to spin and swat my hand away, but I was already pulling my hand out, still holding a handful of underpants.

“Hold still,” I admonished. “This will only take a second.”

“What are you doing, Fred? Get your hands off my panties! Groping is NOT part of the tutoring agreement!” Violet’s protest was cut short by Melissa, however, who grabbed her by the shoulders.

“You heard him. Hold still, pledge. He’s not groping you. You’ll understand in a minute — and then you’ll probably wish he was.” The older woman peered past Violet’s shoulder to where I had hooked the carabiner around the waistband of the athlete’s underwear - a pair of navy blue ones, athletic cut, that looked like they were made of some kind of durable blend designed for the stress of sports. They looked very sturdy to me, which I had hoped would be the case.

Back when she filled out the survey, Violet’s responses had led me to the conclusion that of all the things I could do, consequences that involved public embarrassment and loss of control - particularly ones that might undermine her image as a tough girl who can handle anything - were going to be the most effective. Violet would simply accept most punishments or consequences and endure them without bothering to change, because in her mind, it showed her mental toughness and determination. Now, if a teammate or a coach told her she needed to do something, she’d do it in a heartbeat, but for academics, she wasn’t going to do anything that she didn’t want to - especially if it involved taking time away from her practicing.

The kiddie run I had put her through earlier was my first attempt to get at that effective spot. By making her look and feel silly in front of her teammates, I wanted to make her work hard to avoid having that happen again. The “Care Bear” nickname had definitely gotten under her skin, so I thought I was on the right track, but apparently I was wrong - a short week later, she was already backsliding into bad habits. If I couldn’t break her of those habits, she wasn’t just going to wash out of Delta Sigma - she was going to end up at risk of losing her college scholarship. I didn’t want to see that happen, client or not - I liked Violet, and I wanted her to be successful.

So what could I do to make her feel that combination of vulnerability and embarrassment? I had already made her look silly in front of her teammates once; doing it again might do actual damage to her reputation with the team, or worse, turn her into a joke that even her athletic skills couldn’t overcome. No - the logical place to go next was to the sorority, another place where her image was important to her. But I needed the right way to embarrass Violet, too - just having her serve drinks in her underwear like Laura wouldn’t faze her. She was too confident, and she would still feel like she was in control - that she was choosing to do it so she got what she wanted, not actually paying a penalty.

Then I thought about last year, and how things had gone with Tara’s friend Jessica. Jessica had been a lot like Violet, actually - a tough-minded competitor. It had taken one of the most creative wedgies I had ever come up with to make Jessica say uncle. Maybe that was the way to go with Violet. I decided, however, that it wouldn’t be enough on its own. No, I wasn’t going to give Violet her consequence - I had a much better idea.

“All right, Violet,” I said, stepping away and holding my hands up. “Done. Just needed to get that into place.”

Violet’s eyes narrowed. “Why is there a rope hooked to my underwear, Fred?”

“Because you didn’t do your assignments again this week,” I replied without hesitation. “So I decided to step things up a notch. This is your new daily check-in routine, Violet.”

“I don’t understand. Daily check-in?”

“Let me explain. You need to get your work done. A little embarrassment helped for a day or two, but now we’re right back where we were before. So I’ve decided that your sisters need to help me keep you on track.”

“What does that have to do with…this?” She pointed at the rope.

“See that yardstick I taped up? Go stand next to it.”

Violet complied, and I made a mark on it right at her waistband. “Here’s the deal, Violet. Every day, you’re going to report to this backyard at an arranged time. I will have pulled up your assignment list earlier in the day, and I’ll send Jenny here a text with the number of missing assignments. For each assignment you have incomplete and past due, your sisters are going to haul their end of the rope down until the waistband of your panties has gone upward by one foot.”

The loud “WHAT?” that came from Violet was almost equalled by the outburst of laughter that came from the other girls. “Oh, shit!” Laura choked out. “I think I got off easy after all! That’s one hell of a wedgie, Vi!”

Interrupting Laura, I continued. “So you currently have two assignments overdue, Violet. Since this is new for you, I’m going to be kind and count the missing notes for your classes as one additional missing piece of work, instead of counting them separately. That means that you’re getting a three-foot wedgie today as a reminder that your work is overdue.” I waved at the others. “If you’d all take hold of the rope, please?”

“Wait a minute,” Violet stammered. “This is excessive. I mean, fine, I get it, I need to be better about my work, but THREE FEET? That’s more than half my height! And it’s RIDICULOUS! How is yanking my underwear up my butt going to help anything? Other than Fred’s fantasy life, I mean?”

I ignored the insult. “You know that I’m pretty good with physics, right? You’d be surprised at how stretchy most fabric can be. But you’re right - at some point, your underwear is going to stop stretching, and then one of two things will happen - either it’s going to rip off, which I think will be pretty unpleasant, and which is going to leave you going home commando, or it won’t rip, and YOU’LL start going up with the underwear. Either way, I think the point is going to be made. But it won’t be me making it - it’ll be your friends here.

Violet looked around at the others. She looked for a minute like she was going to argue, but then she seemed to think better of it. “Fine. If Annalee can handle getting her ass beaten until she can’t sit, and Laura can wait on frat guys in her underwear, I can handle a fucking wedgie.”

We’ll see, I thought to myself. I’m not sure you’re ready for what’s coming.

The girls took their place on their end of the rope. “Ready?” I asked Violet.

“Whatever. Bring it,” she said, glaring at me.

“Go!” The four others began to pull against the rope, which quickly went tight, and Violet’s panties shot skyward a full foot almost immediately. With a squawk of surprise, she went up onto her tiptoes, hands flailing backwards trying to reach for the suddenly rope-like fabric.

“Shit! Shit!” she cried, “They’re already straight up my butt!”

“We’re just over one foot, Violet. Two more feet up to go.” I nodded to the others, and they began to pull backwards like a tug of war team, step by step. Violet’s underwear climbed again against the yardstick, and I leaned over past the struggling freshman to check the yardstick. “Another couple steps, ladies.”

“No! Don’t!” Violet begged, but the upward creep resumed, and the waistband inched past the two foot mark. “Oh, fuck, that’s unreal! Get me DOWN!”

“Are you going to keep up with your classwork, Violet?”

“YES! Fuck! I’ll do it! I’ll make it a priority! Just get me down!”

“Good. One foot to go,” I said, patting her arm, and she shook her head desperately.

“No, please! I get it, oka.OOWWWWWWW!” Another yank from the pulling team brought the panties to about 2 and a half feet. Violet’s eyes were wide and she was making tiny “oh!” noises. Both her hands were now grabbing her crotch like a baseball player who had just taken a fastball to the nuts.

“Six more inches,” I said.

“FRED, THEY’RE NOT JUST UP MY ASS! THEY’RE UP EVERYTHING! THEY’RE IN BETWEEN…STUFF!”

I winced. “Make it quick, ladies. It sounds like Violet is getting the message.”

The girls took two more steps back, and with a wail, Violet actually lifted off the ground, toes scrabbling to find solid purchase that was no longer there. She made a noise that was halfway between a groan and a yelp of pain, and I could actually see the underwear taut like a rope across the front of her crotch through her running shorts. It was a camel toe of epic proportions. I didn’t bother to really check the yardstick—I just called out “Three feet! Let her down!”

The girls let Violet fall - she was only an inch or two off the ground - and the girl bent over double, moaning. “Oh, fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!” she was gasping. She wasn’t even trying to pull things loose yet—just getting her breath back.

Jenny was laughing hard enough that tears were leaking from her eyes. “The look on your face, Vi! I thought you were gonna go cross-eyed there at the end!”

Laura and Annalee helped Violet to her feet, and after a minute, Violet managed a small grin, like she was trying to prove she could handle it. “I’ve heard of atomic wedgies, but that’s the first time I’ve ever felt ANYTHING like that.”

“Aren’t you going to pick it?” Annalee asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Violet said weakly. “I’m gonna need tweezers to get my panties loose. Can I go to the bathroom, please?”

“Absolutely. But remember, Violet - this rope isn’t going anywhere. It’s going to be here tomorrow. And the next day.” I looked at her pointedly. “Whether you’re on the end of it is entirely up to you. Although—I think that given the…intensity of this experience for Violet,” I said, turning to Melissa, “I suggest that you actually start her accountability on Monday. That gives her the whole weekend to get caught up.”

“And to get feeling back in my crotch,” the blonde said bitterly. “I guarantee that I’m gonna be caught up on Monday. There is no fucking way in hell that is ever happening again. And by the way, Fred? You’re an asshole for coming up with this.”

“You can blame me if you want, Violet, but you made the choice not to get work done,” I replied.

“That’s a cop-out,” Violet said angrily. “You went from making me a joke to a fucking hanging wedgie in a week, and didn’t send so much as a reminder that things were missing. That’s not support. That’s just punishment. If I could change easily, don’t you think I would have done it without YOU?”

Laura and Annalee looked at me uncertainly as Violet winced, shuffling slowly as she gingerly slid one hand down the back of her shorts to start poking things loose.

I thought about it for a moment, and realized that Violet was right. I had gotten distracted this week, and then had held her responsible as if I was giving her my full attention. That wasn’t tutoring. It wasn’t even helping. If anything, it was going to do nothing but make things worse.

“That’s totally fair, Violet. You’re right. I owe you an apology,” I said.

Violet looked at me with surprise at first, but tamped it down quickly. “A little late for that, don’t you think?”

“That depends,” I said. “I failed you this week. You needed more support, and I didn’t provide it. That’s on me. The question is, do you still want my help or not? Are you willing to give it another week of working with me to try to fix it, or are things past fixing now?”

“It isn’t like I get a vote on this,” Violet scowled. “Jenny and Melissa set the rules.”

I shook my head. “No. Not on this. If you don’t think working with me is going to help you, I’ll walk away. Right now. Tutoring only works if we can be on the same team. I’ve damaged that relationship. Only you can decide if we can fix it. If you say no, I’ll make sure that Jenny and Melissa know that I’m the one who chose to end the job.”

“Wait,” Annalee said. “Does that go for all of us?”

I looked at each of them in turn. “I didn’t mess things up with you two the way I did with Violet,” I said, “but….yes. It goes for you two. I’ll do what it takes to help a client who wants my help, but I’m not doing this against your will. That’s never going to be a recipe for success. If you don’t think I can help you, then I’ll back out of the deal with Delta Sigma.” I sighed inwardly. So much for having a stable source of income.

Laura looked at Annalee. “Sounds like you’re going to get your wish, huh? No more tutor over your shoulder.”

Annalee looked at her levelly. “Actually - no. I’m going to stick it out with Fred.”

Violet and Laura looked at her as if she had sprouted another arm. “But you were saying that you wanted him to be hit by a bus and…”

“I know what I SAID,” Annalee cut Laura off. “But that was before the other day. Before I actually thought about it. I don’t know if Fred is the best tutor I could get, but he was right about one thing - I didn’t know half as much about writing or arguing as I thought I did. And when we were going over my essay? He didn’t just throw out everything I said as stupid. He treated my opinion like it mattered - it just needed better support. So I’m willing to wait and see - at least for now.”

“What about you, Laura?” I asked. “We made some real progress this week. Are you willing to give it another week or two?”

Laura nodded. “Yeah. I’m willing to do that. I’m not excited about tomorrow, but if it’s the last time I have to do something like it? It’d be worth it.”

I nodded my thanks. “Up to you, Violet. I’ll let you off the hook right now. Say the word.”

For a moment, we stared at each other. Then the blond girl rolled her eyes. “Fine. At least you have the guts to apologize. And I’m not a quitter.”

“Does everyone understand now that we will do whatever it takes to make sure things change around here? That you three get to your goals?” I wanted to make sure we all were on the same page.

The young women nodded. “We get it,” Laura said. “And I withdraw any complaint I might have made about serving in my underwear. Violet’s wedgie was DEFINITELY worse than that.” Annalee agreed fervently, biting her lip.

“Then I’ll be in touch with each of you before Monday,” I said. “And thanks for giving me another shot, Violet.”

Melissa was waiting for me at the front door with Jenny. “Everything ok?” she asked.

“I think everyone understands the deal clearly now,” I said. “You still want me to come by tomorrow night to the mixer and check in on them?”

“Of course,” Melissa said. “You should see Laura taking her consequences. And it should be a good party - come have some fun!”

“I’ll do my best,” I said. “But I have to get going. I’ve got one more meeting tonight.”

“Another client?” Jenny asked.

“No.” I grimaced. “Another client might be easier.”

Jenny saw my frown. “Is this about the girl or the black eye?”

“Both.”

She looked at me with concern. “Look, I don’t mean to get into your personal business, but…actually, I’m totally getting into your personal business. Fuck it. Fred, you need to just walk away from this. First she screws you up emotionally, then you get a black eye? Take the L and walk! She isn’t worth this.”

“Maybe not,” I conceded. “I haven’t made my mind up that I’m going to meet her anyway. I’m still thinking.”

“Think hard, smart guy. You’re plenty good at kicking other people into making better choices. Take some of your own medicine, huh?” Her voice was sympathetic, but firm. “You can do better.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate the advice. And the support. See you tomorrow night.”

I left feeling like I hadn’t completely made a mess of things, even if I hadn’t been at my best, either. I had some experience with wedgies from back when I met Tara, and I was pretty certain that Violet was going to go commando for a day or two, but that she’d be laughing about it with the others before the weekend was over. The three were bonding over their shared experience, and that would also make everything easier for each of them, especially if they started helping each other stay on top of their work.

More importantly, though, I knew what had caused the issue this week. I had been distracted and upset. There was only one way to change that.

I checked my watch. 5:45. I had lied to Jenny - I knew I was going to meet with Annie. There wasn’t any other choice I could make. This had to get resolved, one way or the other.

I just had to hope that it didn’t blow up in my face.

[Somebody]

Interested, the only thing that I think I remember being different is when did the drinking. In any case, still very invested.

[colomale2]

Love it! Another great chapter