I was with Alexa, my flatmate, sat on our joke of a sofa with legs crossed, empty mugs and Domino’s boxes crowding the coffee table, and Taskmaster on the TV. We were both ignoring it — Alexa only had eyes for me. News of the money had blown her mind — I hadn’t told her about the spanking. Not yet. Evening had fallen on Colliers Wood by the time I got back and Alexa contrasted my interview attire significantly — pink pyjama bottoms and a loose and baggy Metallica t-shirt on her slim body. Her dyed turquoise hair was short and cropped and almost irretrievably messy, her face pale and dotted with brown moles, and her nose ring glinted when the light from the TV hit it at the right angle.
“I said I’d have to think about it.” Alexa gawped at me. “Nadine said I’ve got ’til tomorrow morning to make a decision. You think I should take it?”
“Obviously, idiot!” she almost shouted. “Sixty eight thou’?! Are you kidding?”
“It’s hard to believe.”
“Yeah — you’re fuckin’ telling me,” she sighed. “Sixty eight… mental. That’s walkin’ around money. And here I am working for Morton Council like some sorta chump.” I sniggered.
“It’s still a huge choice. Big money or not. Relocating to live on the grounds. You wouldn’t see much of me.”
“Well, I’d be a dog shit friend if I stopped you,” Alexa replied, pulling her knees up and holding her legs, and I realised now was as good a time as any to tell her.
“Then there’s the other thing.”
“What thing’s that?” I looked at her. “What?”
“So… turns out, Crownbird has this policy…”
“What policy?” Alexa watched me suspiciously. Just say it, Kelly. As if you could resist it.
“Basically, they do corporal punishment there.” Alexa’s mouth fell open. “And it’ll be my job to, like, implement it.” Her mouth fell open even more.
“What the fuck?” she asked, half-laughing.
“I know,” I replied, shaking my head.
“That’s… is that legal?”
“I looked it up,” I said, for I had, “and, yeah, it is, cause the students are adults and they consent to it to get admitted and all that.” Alexa just looked away from me, her face contorting as she fought back laughter.
“I am in awe,” she said, finally, grinning at me.
“I’m in shock,” I sighed. “I don’t know how I’ll cope. Having to spank random girls.”
“Wait.” Alexa grabbed my arm and I flinched, hard. “Spank? Spanking? You never said spanking.”
“That’s how they do it. It’s literally the rule.”
“Holy shit,” Alexa mumbled, looking past me and to the wall. “They got any more jobs going?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied, laughing nervously.
“Dang.” She shook her head. “So, to recap, you’re getting paid nearly seventy grand to spank girls… and you’re having doubts.”
“Well, when you put it that way…” I laughed. “Guess I can quit if I can’t stand it.”
“Exactly — course you can quit. Don’t see why you would — but you can.” She scratched her scalp, ruffling her hair even more so.
“I don’t even know how to spank,” I said meekly. Alexa laughed.
“How hard do you think it is?”
“Well, I’m presumably not meant to make a fist, am I?”
“No, that’s a very different procedure,” she sniggered. “But it can be tricky, I guess, if you don’t know what you’re doing. There’s a certain, I guess, code of conduct.”
“Like what?”
“Well…” She considered for a moment. “This is getting surreal very fast.”
“It is,” I said, nodding. “But go on.”
“Well, open palm, obviously,” Alexa said, demonstrating with her hand. “Keep your rings off.”
“I don’t wear rings.”
“Even better. And you’ve gotta figure out how to position them. And just go at your own pace. I suppose it’s different when it’s discipline and not kinky. I can’t imagine you dishing out discipline, like, at all.”
“Neither can I,” I sighed. “I’ll just choke on my first try. I know it.”
“Well, maybe your first try shouldn’t be when it matters. You need to get some practice in.”
“How?” I saw a glint in her eye.
“Spank me,” Alexa said bluntly.
“Is that a joke?” I asked.
“No — go on.” Casual as you like. “Let’s see what you can do.”
“Uh…” My mouth felt dry. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I’m only asking you to spank me — I’m not asking you to marry me,” she sniggered.
“I know, but, still-”
“What — scared you might like it?”
“No, course not, it’d just feel weird.”
“How do you know?”
“I…” I hesitated long enough for her to jump in.
“I’ll walk you through it. It’s fine, just trust me.” She took my hand and squeezed it, smirking. “You gotta get practice in somehow, right?”
“Okay, well, how do we start?” I mumbled. Alexa regarded me.
“Well, first of all, don’t have your legs crossed,” she instructed.
Meekly, I obeyed, my feet now hanging over the sofa, staring at her and waiting for her next move. “Okay, and then…” She stretched out and, suddenly, was lying over my lap, heavy over my legs, her pyjama-clad butt right in front of me, the hem of her shirt riding up so a stripe of bare, pale skin separated it from her waistband. Through the pink fabric, I could see the dark silhouette of a thong. My heart hammered — I can’t say I’d dreamed of this exact situation but it was close enough. Alexa was pretty. She’d always been pretty.
“Just like that, then?” I said, trying to laugh it off, my hands dangling over her, unsure where to put them. Alexa looked over her shoulder at me and grinned.
“Enjoying the view?”
“I just don’t know what to do with my hands.”
“Hold my hip with your left,” she said, and I did. Her hip was bony and I enjoyed the feeling of her weight shifting as I pulled her against me. “Gotta keep me fastened against you so I can’t get away. They’ll try and get away — trust me.”
“I see,” I said, quietly.
“You might also have to fight their hands — they might be trying to stop you.”
“Right. And my other hand?”
“Just put that on my leg. Or arse. Whichever you prefer.” She winked at me — I chose her leg. It rested on her soft thigh, cupping it slightly, warm against my skin.
“So, yeah,” she said, still looking back at me, “that’s all there is to it, really,”
“Seems simple, I guess,” I said. “But they’re not all gonna be as cooperative as you.”
“Oh, definitely not, God no,” Alexa replied. A moment of silence passed — she watched me, shifting a little on my lap.
“What?” I asked.
“You gonna stare at it or you gonna spank it?” she replied, smirking.
“I’m not staring.”
“Well, it’s waiting for you.” Alexa wiggled her bottom.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Such a sweet summer child,” she sighed. “If you wanna get your practice in and not embarrass yourself, then, yeah, it is. Go on. I promise I won’t cry.”
Tentatively, I lifted my hand from her thigh, seeing her bottom tense up a little, then brought it down on the further cheek, my palm open. The slap filled the room and Alexa flinched, her eyes slammed shut for a moment, and I quickly lifted my hand again.
“Sorry!” I cried. “Was that too much?”
“Don’t apologise,” Alexa giggled, “that kinda defeats the purpose of a punishment.” She turned her head away, crossing her arms and resting her chin on them, raising her hips so her bottom lifted invitingly nearer. “Continue.”
“Okay, just say when I should stop, I guess,” I said quietly, before bringing another smack, this time on the nearer cheek. Alexa grunted in response, then laughed at herself. Another smack — this time, I dared to grip the cheek, enjoying its plumpness, the shape easy to determine through her pyjama’s thin fabric. More smacks, each filling the room, each causing her bottom to wobble prettily, each bringing a strained breath from Alexa.