She seemed lost to the world, and there was a slight tinge to her cheeks as she stared wide-eyed at the in the old book she was reading. I wondered what it was that could absorb her like that. She was so engrossed, she didn't notice me approaching until I was right next to her. Her head shot up, and a squeal escaped her lips. "Oh! William! H-how nice to see you," she said, trying in vain to seem calm as she hid the book behind her back.
I wondered what on Earth Little Miss Manners could be reading that would embarrass her so much, and whether it was something that was not permitted on school grounds – which would surprise me from someone like her. Curiosity overcame me, so I reached around her and grabbed the book from her hand. She made no attempt to stop me, but she seemed deeply uncomfortable.
When I looked at it, it turned out to be nothing that was against school regulations; in fact, it WAS the school regulations. One of the prefects was hiding behind the bike shed, secretly reading the rules. What was going on?
Absently, I noted that there was a bookmark in the section about corporal punishment. I raised an eyebrow as I handed it back to her. "Brushing up on the school rules? Don't worry, I can't imagine you've broken any," I said, smiling.
She grabbed the book, clutching it as if afraid I'd snatch it away from her again. Tucking it away in her bag, she turned as if she wanted to leave, but she suddenly changed her mind. "Did you know prefects at this school are authorized to sp – " She paused, blushing. "To sp – To employ corporal punishment?"
"To spank?" I said, guessing the word that had she seemed to have some trouble speaking out loud, for some reason. "Yes, that was on the rulebooks in the seventies and eighties, wasn't it? The rules were changed in the nineties, I think."
She shook her head. "No. It fell out of favour, but it's still on the books. The rules never changed."
"Huh. That's an interesting piece of trivia. Might be good for a quiz or something, that," I said, smiling gently.
She bit her lip, somewhat annoyed with how lightly I took this revelation. "But you could sp… spank people if they misbehave!" she announced, finally overcoming her difficulties with the scary word.
I shrugged. "Maybe that was acceptable in the seventies, but I cannot imagine it would fly today. Do you?"
She stared at the ground, seeming lost in thought, before suddenly meeting my gaze. "Have you ever been spanked?" she asked, once again taking me by surprise. When I shook my head, she continued, "Me neither. But have you never been curious? Or have you ever wanted to spank someone else?"
"… I can't say I've thought much about the subject," I said, wondering why in the world we were discussing this.
She regarded me thoughtfully, seeming to size me up. Finally, she came to a decision. Taking a deep breath, she said in a quiet, slightly trembling voice: "Would you spank me if I deserved it?"