Alice's Education: strict discipline in a girls' college

by Susan Thomas

  "Why are you so late back up, Alice?"

  "The Dean stopped me, Mark. You know how he likes to talk to a girl every evening."

  "Very well; now I am introducing a new feature. If a girl is to be disciplined at the weekly review she will wait outside her room, hands on head and facing the wall. I will deal with those girls first, so if you are to receive discipline there is no waiting while other girls are seen. Several supervisors are trying this system. You must get into your nightwear and stand outside your room as they are. I am about to visit Kathleen. I'll give you time to get ready by going to Melissa but then I'll come to you."

  Alice's heart sank. She had tried really hard with Mrs. Liang all week and had thought she must have got better than C for her weekly assessment. She quickly prepared for bed putting on a short nightdress that would only require Mark to lift it a little before he was able to spank her. She knew now that for her last discipline she had been going down with the bug that sent her to the infirmary, which was why she had not taken her discipline well. Even so, no girl liked being spanked with the hairbrush and now Alice was dreading that long minute and maybe some other spanking as well. Nevertheless she was going to take her discipline well to show Mark it really was illness that had made her fuss so much.

  She went into the corridor, standing against the wall as ordered with her hands on her head but resting her forehead against the wall. The sounds of Kathleen's hairbrush spanking had already faded but now the sound of the belt landing on her bare bottom could be heard. Kathleen's cries made Alice feel edgy as she remembered her own long session. Kathleen must have done several things wrong to be getting this. Kathleen's sobbing could be heard after Mark finished but that was normal for all of them.

  Mark came out and told Melissa to go into her room. Alice watched his broad shoulders disappear into Melissa's room. She was disturbed by Mark and couldn't work out why. At first she had thought he didn't like her but then he had been so very kind and caring when she was ill. He'd even held her while she was heaving her guts up... that surely wasn't usual with a man? The other thing that bothered her were her feelings on the first two occasions she had been spanked; not the time she had been going down with that bug... that was different, but that first time. She had been scared of course, it had hurt and she had cried. But it was the feeling that she had as she went over his knee. It had felt almost erotic as if she wanted to be spanked which she most definitely didn't. So what was it? She wondered if she would feel it again.

  Melissa's cries had died down now as her spanking was clearly over and Mark was talking to her. She was better than the first time she had been spanked but probably the most nervous and noisy of all the girls. If it had been at Alice's school, the others would have tormented her about it but in the house everyone understood she just had a low pain threshold and too much imagination. Mark walked out of Melissa's room and Alice's stomach lurched. Time for her sore bottom.

  "OK Alice, hands off your head, in you go."

  Alice went into her room. Each student room had identical furniture: a built in wardrobe; a wash hand basin enclosed inside a large cupboard with shelves above and storage underneath; a long built in worktop/desk with a great many electric sockets; a bed and a bedside cabinet; a chest of drawers; a comfy chair; an office or student type chair for work; and a plain solid wooden chair. This last the girls called the spanking chair, for it was on this the supervisor sat when putting a girl over his or her knee. The girls had also to bend over the back of it if getting the belt. Alice's spanking chair was set out in the middle of the floor as Mark preferred that done before he came in.

  Mark sat down and Alice stood in front of him to receive her lecture in her short nightdress, standing so submissively waiting first for the telling off for whatever she had done or not done, and knowing that what followed would be a trip over Mark's lap, should be horrible. However, Alice found a strange sensation creeping over her that she had felt during her first experience of discipline, an oddly erotic feeling that she felt should worry her and make her ashamed but was so pleasant she just wanted it to carry on. She knew she would hate the spanking. It hurt after all, but this vulnerable submissiveness was another experience altogether.

  "Alice, are you paying attention?"

  "Yes Sir Mark."

  "Alice! For pity's sake! Please don't go back to all that."

  "Sorry Mark, it's just you are about to spank me. Sir Mark sounds more like a disciplinarian. Mark is the man who read to me when I was ill."

  Mark shook his head. Girls! They all frequently bewildered him with their odd way of looking at the world, but none more than Alice. Who else but Alice buys a spanking romance when what she wants is a story about a girl being cared for?

  "OK, now how do you think you've got on this week? First of all the whole issue of lateness."

  "I haven't been late and I think I've improved. I read your email with the strategies and followed them. I think I have improved on how close to the mark I am."

  "You have. That twenty second near the mark has improved a lot. The closest, although there are a lot like that, is two minutes - a big improvement. So no discipline for that but I want to see another improvement and if there isn't I shall discipline you. Constant improvement until I decide it is safely satisfactory. Understood?"

  "Yes Sir Mark."

  He sighed at that but said nothing.

  "I suppose Mrs. Liang is not satisfied again. I have tried since I've been back, honestly. I don't like her. She is so abrupt and I don't like psychology either but I have tried harder."

  "I have spoken to you about the likes and dislikes thing before. If I hear that nonsense again I shall have to discipline you. Mrs. Liang is a fine teacher and just because you don't like her at the moment does not excuse you failing in that class. However, you are wrong. Mrs. Liang noted your improvement and gave you C+ which is an improvement on your last grade. She also suggested no discipline this time, but an expectation of further improvement."

  "Oh. So why am I getting spanked?"

  "Dr. Clark is not so pleased. You were a safe A the last time he assessed you but he said you fell away this week and were only a B."

  "Oh, I see. Well I suppose that's fair. It's like a water bed isn't it; you push down on one bit and another bit pops up. I'm finding it hard to balance everything. The standard is higher than school, which is right of course, but you know it's like jumping in the deep end when you can't really swim."

  "You can do it Alice. You are going through much the same as all students do... adjusting. That's the beauty of this college. We apply a little external motivation to help you along and now is the time to apply it. Over my lap, Alice."

  She sighed, the erotically submissive feeling disappearing like smoke in the wind and replaced by a sick feeling. The minute's hairbrush spanking wasn't really long but it certainly felt it. She placed herself over his lap and felt her nightdress raised and lifted right up. He tugged it gently until her bottom and lower back were uncovered and rested the hairbrush on her bottom.

  Mark always began with all the girls, with a strange little double tap on one of their bottom cheeks. The taps only stung very slightly and they never reacted, but all wondered just why he did it. It was almost as if he were some sort of old fashioned clockwork toy and winding himself up. Now the little double tap stung Alice's right cheek and then the spanking began.

  The smacks of the brush on her bottom were fast giving no time to absorb the smart and on only the third smack Alice began her chorus of yelps. Her legs began to jerk around in time with the crisp smacks of the brush and she clung hard to the chair leg not wanting his belt as a dessert. Determined not to cry and to take it well she tried so hard to contain her noise but it hurt and she found herself straightening her arms lifting her body up as if somehow to escape from the smart of the brush.

  She failed to contain her distress. As always the escalating smart of the brush on her bare bottom made her first begin to cry out more loudly an
d then the sobs came, restrained jerky sob-like sounds as she writhed around on his lap. As Mark sped up towards the last part of the minute her sobs became a continuous wail, telling the whole house that her spanking hurt. It was a sound that all of them made. Mark let her stand and she put trembling hands to her bottom which stung, burnt and throbbed horribly.

  "More effort in Dr. Clark's sessions, Alice."

  "Yes, Sir Mark."

  When he had gone Alice examined her bottom in the mirror. Both her cheeks were completely red with the centers like some sort of bull's-eye, a rich mixture of darker colors. She sighed and washed her face free of the inevitable tears.

  Alice's bottom was sore after her spanking, sore enough to lay awake for a while. It was still a source of amazement to her that she was in this college with what to the rest of the world were strange customs. That she could actually have her bare bottom spanked at her age was extremely odd she knew but here she was with her bottom still burning. She realized that all the girls had a similar problem. It was trying to meet the standards set for them on so many different fronts. If you tried hard at something you were bad at then you often neglected something else and still got spanked.

  She had no desire to leave even with her very sore bottom. She could easily leave at any time but she felt very safe and relaxed in this college. She knew it wasn't the real world and that at some point she would have to face that real world again but it was a place where she could heal up and grow strength to face that real world. Normal university life would have been too much for her. That did not mean however, that she wanted to get spanked and none of the other girls did either. She began to work out in her head a scheme for them to work in pairs and teams to help each other plan their work and priorities so as to meet all their targets and avoid discipline.

  The next day she called a meeting in the common room of the other girls in Mark's house. She outlined her ideas of teams working on similar issues and pairs working as they did on the manual. Her ideas were taken up eagerly and the ten worked happily together, their common goal to avoid as many spankings as they could.

  Chapter 9

  It is my hope and prayer that even after a very short time at the college the young women will demonstrate the improvement in their characters even when away from that influence. Rev Charnock Amos Jones addressing potential donors in 1908.

  Alice had nowhere to go for the short Thanksgiving break but was deeply reluctant that anyone should know that. Even if she had been able to return home to England it was too short a break to justify the expense. She had planned in advance, and Mrs. Sullivan of the Bright Spring Guest House would take her at full board. She mainly only did bed and breakfast but she had two permanent guests and agreed Alice could join them for Thanksgiving at the same lower rate.

  Mrs. Sullivan showed little real interest in her, but her two guests, both in their late fifties, were fascinated. Mr. Apslund appeared more interested but Alice could see that Miss Baudin was the one who was really driving all the questions though she was not obvious about it.

  "So is it true," asked Mr. Apslund at the first evening meal, "that they use corporal punishment on you girls at the college?"

  Alice was well aware that the entire town knew the answer to that, as enough residents worked there for it to be common knowledge. She guessed he just wanted details.

  "Perfectly true. It isn't carte blanche to beat us however and whenever they want. It's restricted and controlled, but yes, corporal correction, as it is called, is used."

  Other than confirming that corporal correction was used Alice gave no details, she managed to turn every probe off in another direction and eventually they tried a different tack. Miss Baudin finally taking center stage.

  "Not far away there is another good school, Lancaster Fields College. It too is a Christian college that takes only girls and runs on very similar lines, but does not use corporal punishment. Why didn't you chose that one?"

  "That's a good question Miss Baudin. Back in England when I started looking for strict Christian colleges I found loads from Bangladesh right through Asia, Africa and particularly here in the USA. Refining it was hard but eventually I narrowed my search down to the USA because I felt that Christian colleges here were much the best. I might be wrong but it's what I thought. Of all the ones proclaiming strict discipline Lancaster Fields and Charnock were the two strictest; I guess because there are only girls in them and generally girls are more obedient than boys."

  Miss Baudin loved that comment and smiled, something she clearly didn't do often.

  "So I took a week off school and came here and visited both. At Lancaster Fields they use CTC which means 'confined to campus' a bit like detention at school or grounding at home, as well as chores. When I went around there was a girl who had to do two hours of dead-heading the flower beds. It was incredibly boring and tedious and I felt such a waste of time. I know myself - I would just get very frustrated, angry and resentful at that sort of thing. It wouldn't work with me at all. It does for some and clearly the girls there are very happy. Then I came to Charnock which is just as strict but no CTC and no chores. Break a rule or slack in your work and you get disciplined with the back of a hairbrush or a belt. I met several girls who had recently been disciplined and yes they were sore but it was all over. I liked the quick decisiveness of it ... nothing protracted or irritating like Lancaster. I read The Education of the Young Christian Woman with several of the sermons and lectures. The Rev Jones is very persuasive so I chose here."

  That was all they ever got out of her. Alice spent a lot of time reading for psychology. Her attitude she knew had not been good and with her illness she still lagged behind and if not careful would fail her target of an A grade overall. That was not something she wanted to do. She did go out for a walk each day in a nearby park and did a few exercises in her room but other than that it was a sedentary time. It was when she was returning from one of her walks that she heard the voice behind her.

  "Alice! Alice is that you?"

  She turned to see Mark gaping at her and knew she must get in quickly to avoid cross -examination. "Mark, how lovely to see you. Are you having a great time with your family?"

  "Yes. Yes I am but..."

  "Wonderful, wonderful, but I am sorry no time to chat, I am in a dreadful hurry. Goodbye."

  Alice hurried away as fast as she could, making sure that Mark did not see where she went. What the dickens was he doing here in town? His family lived ten miles away.

  ---oOo---

  Mark was terribly disturbed by seeing Alice. He stewed over what she was doing in town. She should have gone back to England, so what was she up to here? In a hurry but for what? Why did that wretched girl occupy so much of his thinking? He stormed into his mother's kitchen to find her baking.

  "Hi Mom. I just saw Alice Watson in town. What is she up to? She has no business being here. She should have gone to celebrate Thanksgiving at home."

  His mother looked at her eldest with the patient mildness that comes to a woman who has had six children. "They don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England."

  Mark felt foolish all over again. "Oh, of course. Still she should have gone home."

  "It's a long way to go for a short break."

  "OK but what is she doing in town? What is she up to?"

  "Staying with relatives? Maybe that's why she came to your college because she has relatives in town."

  Mark felt foolish all over again. A simple explanation that he should have thought of himself. "Even so there is something about that girl that really disturbs me. I can't get her out of my mind. I wish I knew why." With that he stormed off to do some work sneaking a hot cupcake as he went.

  "Mind you don't burn your mouth..." But Mark was gone and his mother sighed. All those brains and he couldn't see what was as obvious as the sun in the sky to her.

  Chapter 10

  It is my hope and my prayer that the young women who attend the college will make firm friendships such as
will last a lifetime. Rev Charnock Amos Jones addressing potential donors in 1908.

  After Thanksgiving, Alice returned to college knowing she must work hard before Christmas and the interim assessment which, if below target, could earn her a very sore bottom. All the girls returned in much the same mood. But girls are girls and when Zoe came into her room and asked if she'd like a cup of coffee and some of her aunt's home-made cookies she had no hesitation saying yes. She walked into Zoe's room and when the coffee was made Alice sat in the guest chair and expected that Zoe would curl up on the bed and they would talk. She was very surprised when Zoe picked up the spanking chair, put its back to the door and sat on it.

  "What are you doing, Zoe?"

  "You are now my prisoner, and I'm keeping you here until you talk."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean," said Zoe severely, "all the other girls get phone calls, text messages, e-mails, use social media, even receive letters and parcels, but not you. You never get anything and you never do any of those yourself except to us. I want you to talk about yourself."

  "About me?"

  "Yes, I want to know about your mom, your dad, your aunties, your uncles, your grandparents, even your friends and your boyfriends. I want to know everything about you... all the things you haven't told us."

  Alice's heart sank. This was the moment she had dreaded and avoided. She didn't want to talk about the past. She wanted to leave it right where it was and live her life now.

  "All very boring, Zoe."

  "Alice you're my friend, in fact all of us in Mark's house are your friends. We know nothing about you except you're English. It's not going to be boring so talk. You're not leaving until you do."