*Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I just finished the semester and started working my second job last week so I've been really busy* - K.A.

NAOMI'S POV:

I decided to amble behind him, trying to delay my punishment as much as I possibly could. Judging from his walk, I was in for a long, long night with whatever he thinks best to inflict on me. I know I should be focusing on how to make my situation better but right now all I cared about was convincing him to give me back my book. I kept my eyes on it, angrily seeing that he was carrying it tightly.

Despite my efforts, it wasn't long before we reached his office. He opened the door and stood to the side, motioning me inside. I rubbed my forearm, desperately trying to rescind the goosebumps as I meandered forward. The loud clash of the door closing behind me caused me to jump and move to the side as he transitioned.

After removing his suit jacket and draping it over his desk, he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up. I noticed my breath had increased significantly with the silence growing, there was not a sound in the room besides the pounding of my heart. It's only been two days since three punishments I received from Mr. Davis and I know this is going to be much worse. Mr. Patry was a more precise man, his bite was worse than his bark, he didn't spend his time idly chatting. He preferred to get right to the punishment.

"Come." He signaled me over as he curled his arm under the back of another wooden chair and brought it towards the center of the room.

I glanced down at his waist and noticed that he wasn't removing his belt. Thankfully.

"Fours." He said coldly.

Fours. Fours. Fours. There was nothing worse than when that five-lettered word comes out of Mr. Patry's mouth. I tugged at the bottom of my nightgown, trying to keep it down as far as I could but that was only just below my sit-spots.

"Naomi you had better be in position by the time I come over there." He threatened as he went to his cabinet.

I slowly walked to the chair and studied its basic features: hard wood with no arm rests. I grabbed the backrest for balance and first put my left knee forward before climbing on it. I could feel the pressure of blood circulation forming at the center of my knees as I bent over and put my hands flat on the available section parallel to them. This was the horrible four-position. You had to face the pain from the punishment while bearing down on hard wood.

I could feel my nightgown rising up near my back because I had no choice but to reach to put my hands down. Mr. Patry will more than likely pull it up anyway. I turned my head and saw that he was rummaging through his cabinet so I tried to pull it down further but it returned to it's original spot as soon as I turned away. His slow footsteps only increased the uneasy tension circulating in my head.

Without warning, Mr. Patry delivered a sharp smack on my bottom with his hand. It wasn't nearly as painful as the ones I received on Friday but it was a cruel reminder of the stinging force. I sneakily put my head down and turned only for my eyes to witness a wooden spoon. It was crippling to see how easily he would deliver the punishment while I was in this position. Buckling my knees slightly, I clenched the side of the seat and leaned forward to decrease the blow.

"This disrespectful attitude of yours better change otherwise you'll find yourself taking this punishment for the next week." He brought the spoon down and I yelped.

My eyes instantly welled up with tears as he brought down another one. SMACK. SMACK. I could feel the heat re-emerging from Friday as newer welts would appear soon. I pinched my eyes and nose, instantly giving myself a headache but there was no other way to cope with the pain. SMACK.

"Disobeying orders, rolling your eyes, and shouting is not appropriate behavior and certainly not behavior that will be tolerated."

SMACK. SMACK. I put my hand over my mouth to silence my sobbing but that didn't do much. Tears were falling on my chair, inadvertently causing my hand to become wet. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

The hardest part of this punishment was the position. There was no way I could turn or buckle to escape the pain, and then there was the added pain in my knees. The more and more you fastened your grip onto the sides, the heavier your body felt and the more pressure was applied to your knees.

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. He began hitting right in the center of each of my cheeks, alternating between the two. SMACK. SMACK.

"How dare you speak out against me." SMACK. SMACK. "I expect you to act responsible and respectfully when addressing others." SMACK. SMACK.

"I'm sorry." I hiccuped.

SMACK. "No, you are sorry you're in this position." SMACK.

I started breathing heavily because the spoon was brought down so quickly. He paused for a second at the end to let me gain my breath, or so I thought.

"These last final strikes will be for swearing. You're to spell out the word, letter-by-letter with every strike along with 'Swearing is inappropriate.'"

SMACK.

"B, swearing is inappropriate."

SMACK.

"U, swearing is inappropriate."

SMACK. SMACK.

"L, L, swearing is inappropriate."

SMACK. SMACK. I started wheezing from the double blows assaulting my behind and the words were becoming increasingly hard to get out.

"S, H, swearing is inappropriate." I whispered.

SMACK. SMACK. He delivered those final two to the top of my rear, reassuring that the welts would send a tense sting that crawled down the lower half of my body.

"I-I, T, swearing is inappropriate."

"Stand up." He went to my side, patiently waiting for me to remove myself from the chair.

I wiped my face with my nightgown and put my hands flat on my thighs so they wouldn't shake as much. Sniffling relentlessly, I turned to face the angry administrator that I had disappointed so many times. Barely glancing at me, he returned the chair to its initial place before leaning against his window.

"C-can I go?" I started sobbing.

Shooting me a look of complete dismay, he motioned his head towards the door. I took off as fast as I could, desperately trying to reach my room without a second to spare. Luckily I didn't run into anyone on my journey upstairs and I was able to retreat to my room unnoticed. Since my nightgown was soaked with my tears, I had to change into a new one. Picking up my pillow, I buried my face inside it's soft coolness and let out a harsh scream. ____________________________

"Naomi Taylor." Mr. Davis came inside without knocking, looking much more disappointed than Mr. Patry last night. "My office, ten minutes."

I quickly got changed, putting on the loosest pair of pants I could find and wearing flats so I wouldn't have to bend over and tie my shoes. Mr. Patry must have told him of the words exchanged last night because I cannot think of another reason as to why he would be so mad at me this early in the morning. I hadn't even gotten out of bed yet and I was already unwillingly being forced down to his office.

I looked in the mirror and saw that my cheeks were flushed but my eyes were a bright red from the lack of sleep and surplus of pain. Nevertheless, there was no way Mr. Davis would take pity of me if he was informed of everything that happened. I was about to receive a long lecture that hopefully will not result in another punishment otherwise I believe I'll pass out.

Avoiding all eyes during the trip downstairs, I hustled away to Mr. Davis office where his door was open. No doubt waiting for me. He was sitting at his desk with his hands folded over his desk calendar.

"Close the door."

I took a deep breath and obeyed.

"Mr. Patry told me of last night."

Nodding my head, I walked forward and gripped the back of the chair to halt my shaking.

"What in the world got into you? You got defensive when he reprimanded you for violating an Academy rule. Your respect for him should have prevented you from saying such things." He came around to the front of his desk because he noticed that I was adverting his glare.

"Sorry." I said quickly to avoid being touched.

"Respect is a value that should not be demanded, but I am positive that Mr. Patry and I have earned your respect through our authority. We discipline you along with the other attendees here at the Academy so you learn to respect the rules of this house, other houses, and of society." He began pointing at me.

"Yes sir." I answered to show my understanding.

"Therefore, nothing Mr. Patry could have done would justify you speaking to him in such ways." He put his hands on his sides.

"Mr. Patry confiscated my book." I snidely commented, tilting my head to avoid seeing his reaction.

"As he should have!" His voice increased. "Naomi, I am glad that you're enjoying the book and that you are excited for our arrangement but don't abuse this privilege. You were up well beyond your bedtime and then you rebelled against Mr. Patry's authority and swore at him. That is completely intolerable, as I'm sure you know now after receiving his punishment." He hinted, giving me a harsh reminder of my sore bottom.

"Yes sir I know but it was such a good chapter! I just couldn't help myself from reading." I attempted to appeal to his love of books so he would shift more to my side.

"I'm happy you find solace it but that is not an excuse to act unnecessarily unreasonable..."

"He was being unreasonable! He took my book and that's not fair..." I yelled hysterically.

He fixed his posture and walked closer to me, his towering tallness caused me to shrivel up like a hermit crab.

"Raise your voice to me again and you'll be over my knee young lady, is that clear?"

"Yes sir." I collapsed my chin to my chest in frustration.

He kept his piercing glare in tact before continuing, "And it was fair, you acted out by violating the curfew so he took away your incentive to do so."

"Okay." I said quickly so I could leave.

"You didn't even apologize afterwards." His voice lowered, showing his offense. "You just left. I suggest you march yourself down to his office and ask for forgiveness for your insolence. Then, and only then, can you begin to rebuild the relationship you had with him.

I nodded my head and he turned away to regain his seat at his desk.

"That and if you ever want to see your book again."

He didn't sound very reassuring in the fact that I may be able to see my book again.

"But Mr. Davis..." I whined.

"No, don't 'but Mr. Davis me'. And if I find out that you are disobeying other rules because of that, I'll cancel our book club entirely. Understand?" He pointed his finger at me.

I sighed, "Yes sir."

"You're dismissed."