Katrina was wide-awake at 6 am. She hardly ever slept well when she was first away from home. It had happened at sleep-away camp ever since she was 10 years old, and it had happened last semester when school started and right after Thanksgiving break. It always took her a few days to adjust to a new environment. She lay in bed for a little while and watched the darkness fade outside of her window. The cold air felt good on her face. She always kept her window open at least a crack, even in the winter, because she always felt like she was suffocating if she didn’t have fresh air while she was sleeping. Her mother had a terrible habit of coming into her room in the middle of the night and closing her window, insisting that she will “catch her death” if she kept it open like that in the winter.
She finally got up and took a shower. The hall was silent, and she couldn’t help but think how eerie it was to have so many people living on the hall and yet it being this quiet. She comforted herself that it was probably the last time that she would be awake at 6 am. She got dressed and read for a little while. At around 7, she decided to go on the walk, figuring again that it would be the only time that she would be up early enough for it.
Jeannie was there with a man, who Katrina assumed to be David. To her embarrassment, she was the only student to show up. Even though she wasn’t surprised, she couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed.
“Katrina, this is David,” Jeannie said, and Katrina extended her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Katrina said.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” David said, shaking her hand. “It looks like you’re the only one who will be joining us this morning.”
“I guess so,” she said, feeling the color creep into her cheeks. “Does anyone typically come to the early morning walk?”
“Not in the beginning,” Jeannie said. “After a couple of weeks, people start to get up on the early side.”
“It’s all that rest and proper nutrition,” David said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
“You laugh, but there’s a lot to be said for being on a decent schedule.”
David was definitely younger than Jeannie, but Katrina wasn’t sure how much younger. She was too timid to ask. Katrina didn’t talk much, just enjoyed the cold air of the early morning. David lit a cigarette at one point and Jeannie teased him about defeating the purpose of the walk.
“Katrina, how do your classes look this semester?” David said, and Katrina snapped out of her own thoughts to answer.
“Oh, okay. I’m worried about Calculus,” she said.
“Well, you have nothing to worry about if you have Jeannie tutoring you,” he said, nudging Jeannie. “See? Your math major does come in handy,” he teased.
“What are you talking about? Math is a handy major. What was your major? Oh, yeah… Philosophy.”
Katrina giggled a little in spite of herself.
“Katrina, you take French, right?” Jeannie said.
“Yes.”
“Okay, we need to get you an outside tutor for that. Will you walk up to Student Enrichment today and pick up an application for language tutoring?”
“Sure,” Katrina said. “Do they open at nine?”
“I’m pretty sure. Do you know where they are?”
“Cogman building?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s a first,” David said. “Usually people on the hall are shocked to realize that there is a Student Enrichment service.”
“I had a tutor last semester for Calculus,” Katrina said. “She really helped. She kept me from failing during the first half of the semester.”
“What happened during the last half?” David said.
“I stopped seeing her,” she said, shyly. “It wasn’t a wise decision.” She was too embarrassed to add that she had also stopped going to class.
“Live and learn,” David said, kindly.
They got back to the dorm at 7:30, and Katrina was at a loss for what to do. She played Solitaire for a little while. When she got bored, she decided to read a couple of the magazines that she had bought at the bookstore the night before. At nine, she headed up to Cogman and filled out an application for a French tutor. She went back to her room and waited for Anna.
Anna knocked on her door promptly at ten.
“Don’t forget to leave Jeannie a note,” Anna said, and Katrina wrote,
“Went to breakfast with Anna Shulman at 10 am. Katrina Halaway.”
“She is a stickler for the rules,” Anna said. “What time were you up this morning?”
“Six.”
“Wow,” Anna said. “I don’t think I’ve seen 6 am in years.”
“I don’t sleep well my first night away from home in general. I’ll probably be getting up later when I settle in more.”
"Did you do the morning walk?"
"Yes, actually."
"I bet it was just you and the wardens," she said, nudging Katrina a little.
"They're very nice," Katrina said.
"I know," Anna said. "I like to piss Jeannie off by calling her a warden. It usually gets her going for about thirty seconds. And then she yells at me."
"Did you come to school early?"
"Huh?"
"How do you know Jeannie so well?"
"I was on the Hall last semester," Anna said.
"Were you? I thought that you only had one chance on the Hall," Katrina said.
"You do only have one chance," she said. "I made the Dean's list last semester. I'm here completely by choice."
"You can do that?"
"I'm the only one who was crazy enough to want to," she said.
"Is it hard? Living on the hall?" Katrina said.
"Are you worried?"
"Yes."
"You seem like a good kid. I'm sure you'll be fine."
"I'm not so sure about that," she said.
"Naw, really," she said. "I mean, you've already been spanked once and it wasn't so bad, was it?"
"How did you know about that?" Katrina said, her heart jumping into her throat.
"I was on the hall last year, and you were 15 minutes late to our first meeting. I told you, Jeannie's a stickler for the rules. It doesn't take much to put two and two together," she said. "I figured that was why she wanted to see you first."
"Have you-," Katrina started to say, but then stopped herself. "I'm sorry. That's none of my business."
"I don't mind answering, and yes, I have, many times. Sometimes I find rules rather restrictive and feel this compulsion to break them," she said, with a mischievous grin.
Katrina didn't say anything, too surprised at Anna's willingness not only to admit that she had been spanked more than once, but also at her bravery for purposefully breaking rules. Katrina imagined she could never have that much courage.
They had breakfast and then spent some time chatting in the lounge. Katrina liked Anna right away. She liked the way that Anna gestured when she talked, and she especially liked the way that Anna would frequently tuck a tuft of her curly dark hair behind her ear. Of course, the tuft of hair never stayed behind her ear for longer than a second or two before it fell back and brushed against her pink cheek. They talked for so long that they ended up having lunch together as well as breakfast, and after lunch, Katrina realized how tired she was. She hadn't slept well, and she had been up early.
"Please forgive me, but I have to go lay down," Katrina said.
"Hey, I wouldn't hold something like that against you. You were up at 6 am, after all."
Katrina went into her room and closed the door. She locked it, but then unlocked it, remembering the rule. She lay on her bed and started to doze. As Katrina's inhibitions began to fade, she started to imagine Anna's perky breasts. She imagined cupping them in her hands and feeling their supple softness. In her half-asleep daze, her hand drifted between her legs, as the heat and moisture grew. Suddenly, her fantasies began to merge and she imagined Anna lying across Jeannie's lap, her bottom over Jeannie's thigh. Katrina felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she half-imagined, half-dreamed Jeannie spanking Anna in front of her.
When she woke from a blissful nap, she felt ashamed, almost dirty, for allowing Anna into her fantasies, even if she was half-asleep at the time and couldn't help it. She had planned to avoid Anna, but then Anna invited her to dinner. She couldn't necessarily say no. She didn't have anyone else to have dinner with.
"Something on your mind?" Anna said, since Katrina couldn't bring herself to look Anna in the eye.
"Oh, no," Katrina said. "I'm just tired, that's all."
After they got back, Katrina told Anna that she was going to the library to get a head start on her classes. Perhaps she had an unconscious desire to be punished, because she forgot to leave Jeannie a note about where she was.
She got back in time for curfew. Soon after she got in, Jeannie knocked on her door. She looked a bit upset, and Katrina was a little confused.
"Could you follow me, please?" Jeannie said.
Katrina nodded, mutely, her heart pounding in her chest. She followed Jeannie to her room and Jeannie locked the door.
"Have you read the handbook yet?"
"Yes, I did last night," she said, nervously.
"Then you understand that in level 1, I have to know where you are at all times," she said, and then it dawned on Katrina. "Fortunately for you, Anna knew where you where, otherwise I would be more upset than I already am. You have to remember to leave me a note when you go somewhere during your free time."
"I'm sorry."
"I hate to do this, since this is the second time in two days, but I have to spank you again."
Katrina sighed. "I understand," she said, quietly. She lay obediently across Jeannie's lap, her stomach fluttering. She knew what to expect, but that didn't make her any less nervous.
Jeannie's hand came down firmly on the seat of Katrina's pants. Katrina jumped, a bit startled by the force. She was spanking harder than she had the day before, and Katrina quickly felt a warmth spread across her bottom.
"Okay, I want you to stand up and pull down your pants," Jeannie commanded, in a gentle tone. She was expecting an argument, and was surprised when Katrina immediate complied.
"Sh- should I take down my panties, too?"
"No, just your pants," Jeannie said, gently.
Katrina pulled her pants to her knees, her face burning with shame. She took her place across Jeannie's lap again, and Jeannie immediately resumed the spanking. Her hand fell hard and stung Katrina's bottom, so much so that she began to cry.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed.
"I know you are. I just want you to do your best to remember the rules, and I think this will serve as a good reminder," she said. Katrina began to squirm under Jeannie's striking hand, but Jeannie held her tight.
"I'm going to take your panties down now," Jeannie said, slipping her fingers in the elastic of Katrina's white cotton panties.
"No, please," Katrina sobbed, afraid that she wouldn't be able to take much more.
"I know it hurts, honey," she said, gently, as she lowered Katrina's panties to her knees. Katrina didn't make an attempt to cover her bottom or hold her panties up, as most other girls did. Jeannie wasn't sure how she felt about Katrina's lack of resistance. She had expected so much more resistance from her. Every other girl she had to spank always fought and argued about it, especially when they had to be spanked on the bare. Katrina lay across Jeannie's knee, obediently, only using words to protest.
Katrina's bottom was blushed pink, and was soon covered with red, then crimson handprints from Jeannie's striking palm. Katrina bucked, cried out, sobbed, and begged her to stop, but didn't try to cover herself up. Part of her knew that she deserved to be lying across Jeannie's lap, her bare bottom exposed and reddened by Jeannie's striking hand. As painful as it was, it was comforting, cleansing. Her tears soaked Jeannie's comforter, and Jeannie set her bottom ablaze with her palm. Katrina was crying so hard, that she hadn't realized that Jeannie had stopped spanking her, and was rubbing her back.
"Let it out," she said, quietly. "It's okay."
She cried her eyes out while still laying across Jeannie's knee. Jeannie didn't make her get up right away, and Katrina didn't volunteer to get up. Jeannie rubbed her back until her tears started to subside into hiccups.
"You can get up now if you'd like," Jeannie said, softly.
Katrina sat up, slowly, feeling a bit of a head rush. She stood and pulled up her panties and her pants. Jeannie handed her a tissue and a glass of water.
"Thank you," she said, quietly, and she wasn't just thanking Jeannie for the water and the tissue.
Katrina felt as if she was floating as she walked back to her room. She lay on her bed and fell right into a calm, blissful sleep.