Lisa's pov

"For the love of all that is good and holy, make it stop!" I hear Stacey groan loudly.

In my post drinking fog, it takes me a minute to register what she's referring to.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Someone's knocking on our door. I try to shout come in so I don't have to get out of bed, but my cotton mouth betrays me. Instead, I just moan and bury my head under my comforter.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Ughh!" I lift my head as I hear our door open.

It's Mike.

"Get up, we're going to nine o'clock service (church)."

Stacey stupidly replies, "You have got to be joking," her tone laced with hangover induced attitude.

Mike swiftly gets within two inches of her face and replies in an icy tone, "I would tread very lightly if I were you. Go ahead and test me if you think I'm kidding!" He waits to see if Stacey is stupid enough to test him. Thankfully, she isn't. "Care to rephrase your reply to my earlier request, young lady?"

I cringe when I hear an adult call one of us young lady.

"Yes sir," Stacey responds, having sobered up quickly due to Mike's very credible threat.

Note to self: last night's events do not yet fall under the "someday we'll look back on this and laugh" category.

"You have twenty minutes," Mike says, as he walks out of our room, slamming the door behind him.

At church

Dr. Curtis takes Mike and Shane aside as we walk into church. I wonder what that's about.

Neil's pov

Good, they're finally here.

"Michael, Shane, I'd like a word with both of you." I pull them aside, where we can have some privacy. "After church, I want the two of you in my office to discuss what occurred with the girls last night," I say sternly.

Mike and Shane exchange a look.

"You're not the only one with connections at the police force, Admiral Donovan."

After church, in Neil's office:

Mike's pov

"Did the two of you SERIOUSLY think I wouldn't find out about this?" Neil booms.

Oh oh, Neil's pissed.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question, gentlemen. START TALKING!"

It's time for damage control.

"We weren't trying to keep anything from you, Neil. It was late, we figured we could discuss it today."

"So that's why you came to me first thing this morning?" Neil asks, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"We were going..."

Neil cuts me off mid sentence.

"Be careful how you finish that sentence, Michael. Don't you dare lie to me."

Judging by his harsh tone, I know he means business. I don't even consider testing his limits right now.

"I'm sorry, Neil. We should have come to you right away," I say, with sincerity.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD HAVE!" Neil shouts, pounding his fists on his desk.

It's worse than I thought. Neil is really furious.

"Anything that could damage the reputation of this Center and in turn the Foundation is cause for immediate concern and I CERTAINLY THINK THREE UNLICENSED UNDERAGE DRUNK CHILDREN STOPPED BY THE POLICE AT 2AM QUALIFIES. DON'T YOU?" The veins in his neck are bulging. His face is beet red.

"Yes sir," Shane and I say in unison.

"Since I'm seriously starting to question your judgment..." He stares at both of us. "I will handle the girls' discipline in this case."

I stare down at my feet, thoroughly humiliated by the ass beating Neil just handed out.

"I want the five of you back in my office in exactly one hour. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," we reply, defeated.

"I need some time to cool off. You're dismissed. NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE!" Neil waves us off.

We leave Neil's office with our tails tucked between our legs.

The girls room:

Julie's pov

Sitting through church on three hours sleep and a beaten ass was brutal. I have Norco and ibuprofen to thank for me surviving those eighty minutes. I'm so grateful to Stacey for saving some of her pain meds from her tooth extraction. God bless hydrocodone (and the chickpea). We were all happy to be back in bed. Stacey was still nursing her hangover. Lisa was trying to sleep off her headache. I was trying to find a position that was less excruciating than praying for death.

Lisa asks, "I don't want to jinx us or anything, but when's the shit gonna hit the fan?"

There's a knock on our door.

"Nice job, Beetlejuice," I say, only half joking.

"Don't make me laugh," Stacey begs, holding her head.

Mike walks in.

"Dr. Curtis's office, now!"

The three of us exchange looks of horror as we immediately get up to follow Mike. That was his don't mess around voice.

Lisa says, "Wait, Mike, I have to tell you something." She looks to me as if silently requesting my permission to continue.

"NO, Lisa, don't. Please!" I plead.

Stacey says, "Lisa is right. We should tell him."

I shake my head no as tears come to my eyes, reliving last night's side trip to the park with Shane.

Mike steps fully into our room, closing the door behind him.

"Somebody tell me what the Hell's going on RIGHT NOW! Dr. Curtis already took me to the woodshed once today. I don't need any surprises revealed at this meeting."

"Julie, I have to," Lisa says sadly.

"Please don't!" I beg, the tears now streaming down my face.

Mike, oblivious to the fact I'm crying, says, "We don't have time for this, girls. Come with me now!"

He leaves and I quickly follow before Lisa can open her big mouth again.

Once he parks the car, we all follow Mike as he's rushing to Dr. Curtis's office. His office door is open. He and Shane are waiting for us to arrive. Dr. Curtis makes a point of looking at his watch before shooting Mike a look that could kill.

"Sit!" he commands, looking at the three of us while motioning to the couch in his office.

"I'm so disappointed with the choices you girls made last night. It was one incredibly poor decision after another. Sneaking out, breaking curfew, driving without a license, underage drinking, grand theft auto and the clincher, driving under the influence. You should all be in juvenile detention right now but in order to protect the Center and the Foundation, our friends on the police force have been kind enough to let me handle this in-house. HOWEVER..." Dr. Curtis pauses long enough to glare at each of us before continuing, "when I'm through with the three of you, you'll wish you had the protection of the bars on that jail cell."

It was then that Dr. Curtis reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a long wooden paddle. Our eyes grew big as he swung the paddle swiftly through the air, warming up like a baseball player in the batting circle. I heard Lisa gulp. I'm pretty sure Stacey cursed under her breath. I simply wondered if it would take two strokes or only one before I would pass out from the pain. There is never a spare fentanyl patch lying around when you need one.

"What do you have to say for yourselves, girls?"

We remain silent, except for Lisa, as we're all pretty sure that question was rhetorical.

Lisa foolishly responds, "Technically, it wasn't grand theft auto since we weren't planning on keeping Shane's car permanently."

The look on Dr. Curtis's face upon hearing Lisa correct him was priceless. He was so pissed. I'm surprised Lisa's face didn't melt off, like the guy in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Dr. Curtis glared at her. She did shrink back further into the couch, trying to become one with the cushions though.

Mike simply closed his eyes and sighed, while Shane shrugged and shook his head in disbelief at Lisa's bout of verbal diarrhea.

"Obviously your guardians have failed to teach you proper manners and respect for authority. If they had, you would know your place, Lisa, and you would have kept your mouth shut. Perhaps I need to provide them more guidance and training in delivering proper discipline. Your first lesson begins today, gentlemen."

Gripping the paddle tightly, in a steely unnervingly calm tone, Dr. Curtis says, "Front and center, gentlemen."

Due to his military background, Shane quickly stands ramrod straight, hands at his sides, in front of Dr. Curtis. Mike then falls in line.

"Bend over my desk and assume the position, gentlemen," Dr. Curtis commands our guardians.

What the literal fuck!? Did he just say what I think he said? Is he seriously going to paddle Mike and Shane?

"Neil please," Mike pleads, in a soft whisper. "Not in front of the girls."

Dr. Curtis leans in close.

"From now on, I will hold the two of you responsible for their behavior. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?"

"Yes sir," Mike and Shane respond respectfully, but not before turning to glare at us, their three delinquents, sitting on the couch.

The three of us can't believe the scene unfolding before our eyes. Dr. Curtis walks out from behind his desk and proceeds to deliver five extremely hard strokes of the paddle to Shane's and Mike's behinds. If that paddle was a baseball bat, Dr. Curtis would have been swinging for the fences. He drew his arm way back before slamming that unforgiving piece of lumber into their backsides, each and every time.

I hear Mike hiss as he sharply draws in a breath and bends his right leg in an effort to tolerate the pain Dr. Curtis has just inflicted on his bottom.

Shane, however, doesn't even flinch. The fact that he can withstand that much pain without even batting an eye, terrifies me to my very soul. There's so much unknown about this man, it's frightening.

"Let this be a wake-up call to you both," Neil says sternly. "Your girls are out of control and until you rein in their behavior, I'll be holding the two of you accountable for their actions. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." Mike and Shane sound like petulant children attempting to appease daddy.

Dr. Curtis focuses his attention solely on us. "Now it's your turn, girls. Stand up and bend over the couch."

We obey, now aware of what to expect based on the ass beating we just witnessed. We don't dare anger him any further. I just pray he goes easier on us than he did our guardians.

He started with Lisa, moving from right to left. I heard the crack of the paddle against Lisa's rear end. She inhaled sharply in reaction to the stinging pain. My heart skipped a beat. Stacey was next. CRACK

The sound of the paddle striking her bottom echoed off the walls. I gulped, terrified as I anticipated my turn. After the paddle smacked harshly against my bottom, hitting a fresh welt born from Shane's belt, I saw stars and collapsed on the ground.

Neil's pov

"What the..." As Julie hit the ground, the back of her shirt rose up, revealing angry red welts on her back. "Oh my God!" I gasped. I knelt down and lowered her pants and underwear so I could survey the rest of her injuries. I saw multiple welts and bruises on her back, buttocks, and legs. I heard her groan softly in response. I angrily turned to question Mike and Shane, with fire in my eyes.

I had my answer. Mike's mouth hung open in shock. Shane, however, averted my gaze, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Girls, ask Mrs. Curtis to drive you back to the Center. We'll pick this up later. Right now, I need a word with your guardians." My blood was boiling as I glared at Shane.

Stacey and Lisa helped Julie up, redressing her, they quickly made their way out of my office.

"I want an explanation and I want it NOW!" I growled at Shane.

Before Shane could answer, Mike asked, "Is that why you wanted only Julie to ride with you? Had you planned this?" Mike looked to Shane for answers, trying to understand. "No wonder we beat you back here. Where did you go?"

"Answer him, Admiral Donovan." I'm becoming angrier by the minute.

"I took her to the dugout at Memorial Park."

"And you beat her with your belt?" Mike asks, truly appalled. "You were so angry. You were in no state of mind to punish her. You were out of control. You took it too far, that's abuse. How could you do that, Shane?"

Shane yelling heatedly, says, "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG. SHE DESERVED EVERYTHING SHE GOT AND MORE. Her lack of judgment could have KILLED someone. She could have FUCKING KILLED one of the girls or herself. I had to make sure she would never get behind the wheel while under the influence again. I needed to teach her a lesson she would NEVER forget!"

Shane's indignant.

"You, of all people, should know why I did what I did, Mike, and why I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Mike looks stunned. He doesn't know what to say, so I step in.

"There's no excuse for this, Admiral Donovan. You have to understand what you did was wrong. I'm going to recommend to the Ethics Committee, you be expelled from the program."