Stacey's pov

Having a curfew during the summer is like getting lectured during a spanking; completely irrelevant. If you don't have to get up for school the next morning, what does it matter when you go to bed? What's the point? By the same token, do adults really think we're listening while our bottoms are getting blistered. We simply respond yes sir or no sir because we know that's what you want to hear but believe me we haven't heard a word you've said. Anyway, I digress.

Tonight is no exception to the irrelevant summer curfew rule. It's 9pm on a beautiful cool summer night and we're already confined to our room until morning.

"It's not even dark outside, Shane. Can't we go out and play for another hour? Pretty Please." Begging is not beneath me.

"Absolutely not." Shane's having none of it. "You're eight years old. You have no business being out after 9pm."

"We wouldn't be out," I argue. "We'd just be outside. I'm pretty sure there's a difference."

Shane gives me a warning glance. One eyebrow is cocked, his hands are on his hips, and his lips are pressed tightly together in a thin line. He's practically daring me to test him. So like an idiot, I do.

"Having an early curfew and bedtime in the summer sucks. This is totally bogus!" I stomp my foot, pout, and throw my windbreaker on the floor like a toddler having a tantrum. I know, not exactly a great selling point for my 'we're old enough to stay up later' argument but I can't help it. I'm just so frustrated.

"STACEY, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Shane yells. He stalks over to me, roughly grabs my left arm, and delivers five very hard spanks on my bottom while I'm standing by my bed. "If you don't pick up your jacket and hang it in the closet in the next ten seconds, you'll get thirty more over my knee," he whispers harshly in my ear.

Knowing he means business and not wanting to sleep on my stomach tonight, I immediately pick up my windbreaker and hang it in our closet.

"Now you only have ten minutes until lights out," Shane warns all of us.

Julie unwisely mumbles, "Time flies when you're being unreasonable."

Ooh, he is not amused. Shane turns and glares at Julie before slowly walking over to where she's sitting on her bed.

Please don't test him cuz.

He bends over, placing his hands on her bed on either side of her hips. He leans in close, literally in Julie's face. I hear her gulp as she meets his steely gaze.

"Perhaps you'd like to repeat your snarky comment to my face, Julie?"

I see the fear in my cousin's eyes. Don't be a hero. Phew, I breathe a sigh of relief as I hear her say, "No sir."

"I didn't think so," Shane growls, pushing himself up and away from her bed.

After Shane leaves, I ask, "So who wants to sneak out tonight and play flashlight tag in the woods?"

"Didn't you see how mad Shane was just now? Are you crazy?" Carrie asks. She's shook.

Julie replies, "I'm in."

Lisa says, "Me too girl."

"Come on, Carrie, don't leave us hangin'. Pretty please." I can tell she's considering it. "With sprinkles and a cherry on top?"

Carrie says, "I have no idea why I'm agreeing to this, but ok, I'm in if you all are."

Lisa sings, "Awesome sauce."

"No no," Julie and I say, in unison to Lisa. "Don't be that girl," we say.

Around 11pm that night

Carrie's pov

The four of us sneak out through the one fire exit door that never shuts properly. We sneak into the woods and play a few rounds of flashlight tag. We're just about ready to switch to ghost in the graveyard when we hear someone yell.

"Hey! Who's there? You're trespassing on private property."

"Shit, it must be one of the security guards," Stacey says, in a hushed voice. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Shut your flashlights off and make a run for it!" Lisa shouts, as she's already gotten a head start running back to the center.

The four of us are sprinting through the woods in the dark, when suddenly I hear a tree branch snap behind me, followed by a thud. I slow down and look back towards the source of the noise. I see a figure on the ground and quickly deduce it must be Julie since Lisa and Stacey are ahead of me. I run back to check and I see Julie sitting on the ground clutching her right ankle.

"I tripped on a stupid tree branch and twisted my ankle," Julie says, gritting her teeth through the pain.

"Can you walk?" I ask, panicking we're going to get caught.

Julie's about to respond, when we see the security guard's flashlight beams scanning the woods, getting closer by the second. I grab Julie's hand, yanking her up off the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" she curses, as soon as she puts weight on her injured ankle.

"You there, STOP!"

Oh no! It's the security guard and he's spotted us. Luckily we know these trails by heart, so it won't be hard to lose him, except for the fact that one of us is now crippled. "Come on, Julie, we gotta go!" I grab her arm and start running.

Julie doesn't want to get caught any more than I do so she uses the adrenaline from her fight or flight response to power through the pain and keep running. I could hear her cursing with every other step but she managed to keep up. Soon we see Stacey and Lisa waving us in while holding the fire door open.

"What took you guys so long?" Stacey asks, mocking us.

Julie gives her a look that could kill as she balances on her left leg, bent over, hands on her knees, desperately trying to catch her breath.

"My .... ankle.....," she huffs out, gasping for air.

We help her limp back to our room. Once inside we each collapse in our beds reveling in the fact we didn't get caught.

But alas our celebration is short lived.