The next morning

Julie's pov

After hearing Mike's ultimatum last night, I realize I'm caught between a rock and a British hard place. On one hand, I really don't want to give Shane the satisfaction of hearing me confess my sins to Mike. On the other hand, I don't want to find out if Mike can successfully spank the truth out of me. What to do? What to do? I'm trying to decide while lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, and tossing a tennis ball in the air.

Lisa says, "Girl, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't."

"I know, right. It's so not fair."

Carrie asks, "If Shane already punished you, why doesn't he just tell Mike? I don't get why he wants you to do it."

"I think he knows I kinda played him."

"Ooh, this just got interesting." Stacey comes over and sits on my bed. "Do tell."

"There's nothing to tell really."

Stacey grabs the tennis ball mid-air, taking away my mindless distraction.

Lisa says, "Yeah come on, Julie. Dish."

"Ughh, fine." I sit up on my bed. "I made Shane think I couldn't take anymore when he had me over his knee, but I was faking and I think he figured it out. So his payback is making me tell Mike, so Mike can whip my ass big time."

Carrie asks, "But why doesn't Shane just tell Mike? The result is the same."

Stacey explains, "It would make him look weak."

"Bingo," I say, tapping my pointer finger on my nose and pointing to Stacey.

Lisa adds, "And it's more humiliating making you tell Mike, 'cause then it's like you brought it on yourself."

"Ok, so now that you're all caught up, what do I do?"

Stacey states, "I think the power move is coming clean to Mike on your own. Go to him alone and confess everything. Take the beat down without complaint and never say a word about it to Shane."

Lisa agrees, "Bold. I like it."

"Yeah 'cause you're not the one getting your butt blistered."

Lisa nods. "True, but I still like it."

"You know what? You're right." I slap my hands on my thighs and stand up, gathering my nerve to march into Mike's room and sign my own death warrant. "If I'm gonna get my butt beat either way, I might as well take the high road and score the moral victory."

Stacey says, "Amen sister."

Lisa adds, "Preach."

Carrie joins in, "Testify."

"You guys suck," I say, chuckling as I walk out the door heading to Mike's room.

Mike's room

Julie's pov

I take a deep breath to settle my nerves before knocking on his door.

"Come in," he yells, sounding far away.

He must be in his bathroom. I open the door cautiously, wondering if he assumes I'm Shane. I don't see him right away, so I say, "Mike, it's me Julie."

Mike comes out of his bathroom pulling on a black polo shirt. His hair is still wet from his shower, I'm assuming.

"Oh, hey. I just got out of the shower. Give me a sec." He goes back into the bathroom and dries his hair with a towel, then I see the reflection of him combing his hair in the mirror. "Man, I feel a million times better after getting some sleep and taking a hot shower," he says, walking over to me. "So what's on your mind? Did you come to take me up on my offer?" He winks at me and smiles.

I'm glad to see he's in a good mood but I know it won't last when I say what I came here for.

"No, that won't be necessary," I say, referring to his very generous offer from yesterday to spank the truth out of me.

"Oh, and why's that?" Mike asks, raising one eyebrow, viewing me with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"I came to tell you what happened while you were away." I'm starting to lose my nerve now that I'm actually standing in front of Mike, under his watchful gaze and well developed biceps stretching the sleeves of his polo. I can't help thinking, those muscular arms could inflict a lot of pain.

"Okkkaayyy..." Mike says, prompting me to continue.

I guess I was lost in thought a little too long there.

"You were saying..." his voice intentionally trailing off.

I can do this. I can do this. I'm giving myself a little internal pep talk. I just won't look at him and his arms. Keeping my head lowered, looking at the floor, I start my confession.

"I overslept one morning and Shane had to drive me to school and..."

"Julie!" Mike interrupts me, mid sentence. "Look me in the eye when you're speaking to me please."

Shit. I mentally curse myself. So much for the 'just don't look at him' strategy. As I meet his stern gaze, I realize this is going to be much more difficult than I previously thought. I take a deep breath and power on.

"I made Shane late for a meeting with Dr. Curtis and he yelled at Shane in the car on the Bluetooth and then we both had a lousy start to our day. Shane got yelled at again in Dr. Curtis's office and..."

I lower my chin and my gaze but it doesn't go unnoticed.

"Julie," he lifts my chin. "Continue."

"I got in trouble at school a few times that day and..."

"How many is a few?" Mike asks sternly.

"Four." I hang my head down, not wanting to see the anger on his face. "Ow!" Mike smacked my right buttcheek hard. That one caught me by surprise.

"I'm not going to tell you again to look at me when you speak to me. Understand?"

"Yeah."

He smacks me even harder on the same exact spot.

"Yes. Yes sir!" I rub my stinging buttcheek. I'm afraid this preview is just a drop in the bucket compared to the upcoming feature film starring my ass.

Mike crosses his arms and squares his stance.

"Continue."

"I was given four notes explaining my behavior, to bring back the next day with Shane's signature and ..."

Mike exhales loudly and rubs the back of his neck out of frustration.

"There's more?" He shakes his head in disbelief. "Go on."

"... on the bus ride home I..." I don't know if I can say this to his face. He's already pissed. He's giving me a look that says I dare you to stop talking so I say it really quickly, like somehow that will make it less reprehensible. "I forged Shane's signature on all the notes."

Mike's eyes widen in surprise at my latest revelation before turning very dark. His jaw becomes rigid.

In an icy, incredulous tone, he asks, "YOU DID WHAT?"

I don't avert my eyes but I do remain silent.

Mike steps closer, so close I can smell the coconut in his hair from the shampoo he used in the shower.

"Tell me I misheard you. TELL ME YOU DID NOT FORGE HIS SIGNATURE ON THOSE NOTES!"

God he's scary when he's mad. I was right. He is definitely scarier than Shane. I'm afraid to move. I'm afraid to speak. Afraid whatever I do will push him over the edge.

He steps away and turns his back to me. He takes a few deep breaths while rubbing his forehead. When he turns around, his right hand is clasped over his mouth and he's taking slow deep, hopefully calming breaths, through his flared nostrils. He narrows his eyes and moves his right hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose before speaking.

"You know how people say you might as well tell me because it can't possibly be as bad as what I'm imagining?" Without waiting for me to respond, he continues, "Well, they're wrong. This is worse. This is SO MUCH WORSE, Julie, than what I imagined!" He walks over to his desk and slams his hands down on the hard wooden surface.

I jump, startled by the loud noise.

"UNBELIEVABLE!" He slams his hands down again.

Hmm, I think Shane said the exact same thing.

"HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO DISHONEST, JULIE? HOW?"

Why I said what I said next is something I will never know, nor will I ever forget. Maybe someday in a psychiatrist's office we'll figure it out. Maybe I just have a death wish. Maybe I'm a masochist or maybe I'm just a smart-mouthed seven-year-old who has no filter.

"Geez, Mike, it's not that big a deal."

As soon as the words left my mouth, it was almost as if I could see my entire funeral playing in slow-motion.

I could hear the mourners walking by my casket, solemnly shaking their heads, whispering, "What a dumb-ass."

Mike turned around so fast, I'm surprised his neck didn't snap.

"What did you just say to me?"

His tone sent a shiver straight down my spine. Seeing the anger in his eyes, I started backpedaling. Gulp.

"Uhhh, nothing. I didn't say anything." My heart was beating fast and strong. I swear I could hear each beat echoing loudly in my ears.

"You really don't want to lie to me again," Mike hissed in a scary whisper, as he grabbed his desk chair and slammed it down in front of me. In one swift move he had me over his lap with my legs and wrists pinned and he started spanking hard and fast.

He was spanking me so quickly, I couldn't keep count. I could feel my bottom stinging and burning. Mike only paused once to pull my pants and underwear down to bare my bottom then the assault continued, with each smack landing harshly. I could feel the heat radiating off my extremely red buttcheeks.

"You want to repeat what you said now?" Mike spanked my thighs five times hard. I would have squirmed to avoid the pain but he had me immobilized. Five more swats on my sit spots. "Go ahead, Julie, say it." He delivered five more strokes on my lower back just below the coccyx. "SAY IT!"

"NO!" I shouted, fighting back tears and gritting my teeth. Sadism is not a good quality in a surgeon, Dr. Horton.

Mike spanked my left buttcheek hard at least ten times, landing the same spot each time. The pain was becoming unbearable. I couldn't hold the tears back any longer.

"Tell me, Julie. Go ahead and tell me, it's no big deal." Mike continued to goad me but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He started raining down swats in the same fashion on my right buttcheek.

"You want to tell me it's no big deal now?"

"No, please stop." I was sobbing at this point.

Mike concentrated the next ten spanks on my sit spots.

"Are you starting to think it might be a BIG DEAL now?"

When I didn't respond, Mike started spanking my upper thighs relentlessly. I dug my nails into my palms, clenching my fists so tightly my knuckles turned white. He kept spanking me until I finally broke, for REAL this time.

He pulled my pants up and stood me in front of him, between his knees.

"Do you want to admit dishonesty is a big deal now or do you want to go back over my knee? The choice is yours, Julie."

There was no way I could tolerate another spanking at this point. I was hiccuping and sobbing to the point of being speechless.

I was afraid Mike would mistake my silence for obstinance so I tried choking out an apology, "I'm, I'm..." I couldn't even form a sentence.

"Julie, take a few deep breaths and calm down." Mike's tone was gentler now that I no longer had a defiant attitude.

I did as he said and was finally calm enough to speak. As much as it pained me to say what Mike wanted, the pain radiating off my bottom was much worse.

"Dishonesty is a big deal and I'm sorry," I said, reluctantly but sincerely.

Mike wiped the tears from my cheeks and pulled me into his warm embrace, thankfully using his strong muscular arms for good now, instead of evil.