Katrina spent a lot of time with Anna for the next few weeks. Anna seemed generally interested in spending time with Katrina, even though they were, in a way, required to hang out together. Katrina thought the whole hall buddy concept to be strange. It made sense on one level. It's much easier to stay accountable when you have someone helping you to stay accountable. The moral support is also a plus. However, hall buddies were expected to do everything together short of attending the exact same classes and hanging out during free times.
"Do you still speak to your hall buddy from last year?" Katrina said.
"Which one?" Anna said, and laughed. "I had about four."
"You can have four?"
"I went through most of them in the first month. It's such an intense sort of relationship. You don't want to get stuck with just anyone."
"Is that how they pick hall buddies? Randomly?"
"Oh, no," she said. "They do put thought into it. They talk to your previous RA, and they also try to put you with someone who had sort of the same problems that you did. My first hall buddy actually worked out fairly well, but then she dropped out. The other two were just a wash. They really didn't have a good attitude. I just wrote a letter to the hall buddy I stuck with recently. She transferred."
"Oh, where?"
"To a woman's college on the coast," she said. "She realized that guys were her problem." She paused, and smiled mischievously. "I don't have that problem."
"Me, neither," Katrina said, naively.
"I've been meaning to ask you because it's really not evident to me, what's your story? I mean, I know that you're on academic probation, but you don't seem like the type of kid to just blow off classes and studying. I sense you're a bit of a stickler for rules."
Katrina shrugged. "My parents were really strict. The rules at home were stricter than the ones here, except, well, they didn't spank me or anything. So when I came to college in the fall, I sort of went nuts. I started out okay, but then I started to go to a lot of parties just because I could. I'd stay out late, just because I could, but then I was too tired or hung over in the morning to go to class. I also started to slip on my school work, so when the time came to take a test or write a paper, I'd panic and either flunk or not hand it in."
"So you were thrown in the ocean without a raft, huh?"
"Pretty much," she said. "It's no excuse, but it's what happened."
"It must feel safe to have such strict parents," Anna said, thoughtfully.
"I wish they had given me some leeway to make my own decisions. I think I would have felt more secure coming to college if I had gotten a bit of independence at home," she said.
"But it is nice to have someone care about you," she said.
"Yeah, I guess so," Katrina said. "You didn't have rules growing up?"
"Well, not really. My mom always felt that children had to make their own decisions and make their own mistakes. There are some benefits to that, but I never really felt like anyone had my back. I think I would have been able to handle independence better if I had some structure growing up. Strange, huh?"
"No, that doesn't sound strange. Maybe our parents should have blended together to form the ultimately balanced super-parents."
Anna laughed.
Katrina got an A on her first short paper, and to her surprise and embarrassment, Jeannie got a cake and everyone sang to her at the weekly meeting. At the same meeting, she was promoted to level 2. Part of her was a bit scared to have a little less restriction. She felt the urge to break a rule, so she would have to go back to level 1.
A few days after the meeting, she was studying in the library with Anna. She started packing up about ten minutes before curfew to head back to the hall. Anna didn't move.
"Hey, you're coming back, right? It's almost curfew," she said, quietly.
Anna gave her a mischievous grin. "I'll be in- later."
"But-,"
"I know. It's okay," she said. "Go on. I don't want you to get in trouble for the sake of me."
Katrina gave her a puzzled look.
"Go," Anna said. "Shoo!"
Katrina shook her head and went back to the hall alone. She didn't understand, but she also didn't want to be late. Jeannie caught her as she was heading to her room.
"Where's your partner in crime?" Jeannie said.
"At the library," Katrina said, and Jeannie sighed. "I tried to get her to come back with me."
"Well, she still has about three minutes," Jeannie said.
"Are you mad?"
"No, not at all. Don't worry about it. It's her choice to come back on time. We don't hold hall buddies accountable for each other's behavior," Jeannie said.
Katrina let out a sigh. "Good night," she said.
"Good night."
"When did you come back last night?" Katrina said during breakfast the next day.
"Midnight," she said, with a grin.
"Midnight?!" she said, and then lowered her voice. "Didn't you get in trouble?"
"Of course I did," she said.
"I don't understand."
"There's nothing to understand. Sometimes, you've just got to be bad," she said. "I told you before that sometimes I feel that the rules are a little too restrictive. Sometimes I feel inclined to break a rule or two."
"I still don't understand."
"Remember when you went to the library and didn't leave Jeannie a note?"
"Yeah," she said. She hadn't broken one rule since that day.
"Why didn't you leave her a note? You had already read the handbook," she said.
"I don't know. I forgot."
"You're not really a forgetter, Kat," she said.
"I forgot that day."
"Well, there was a part of you that wanted to push the boundaries. Test your limits," Anna said. "Lots of people on both halls do things like that, only subconsciously. Like by forgetting to leave a note, or arriving late to a meeting. I just happen to do things like that consciously."
"You've got guts. Doesn't Jeannie get mad?"
"Well, not any angrier than she gets at anyone else who breaks the rules," she said.
Katrina took a deep breath and fidgeted a bit. She tried to push the thoughts that kept popping in her head. She felt her face flush as she tried to stop thinking about Jeannie spanking Anna. More than once Katrina had caught herself glimpsing at Anna's shapely bottom, trying to imagine the sight of it bent slightly over Jeannie's lap and quivering slightly in anticipation. It had been the central image in her late-night masturbation fantasies. She tried to shame herself from thinking about it. Anna was her friend, and it wasn't right to have sexual thoughts about her friend being punished. All the shame in the world wasn't stopping her, however.
About a week after Anna's open rebellion, Katrina started to feel restless. One of her friends told her about a party in the senior quad. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to keep herself from skipping the required social event on the hall to go.
"So do you want to go and not be caught or go and be caught?" Anna said.
"Huh? I can't go," Katrina said. "It's against the rules."
"But you look like you're going to go anyway," Anna said. "So do you want to be caught or not?"
"I guess I don't want to be caught," Katrina said.
"Okay, there is a way you can work it that you might not get caught," she said. "There's no guarantee. I did it twice last semester and it worked only once."
"Okay-," Katrina said.
"Tell Jeannie you're not feeling well after dinner on Saturday," she said.
"Won't she send me to the Health Center?"
"No," Katrina said. "Just play down your "symptoms." Tell her you've got a bit of a headache, that you're tired, and that you want to go to bed early. She won't feel compelled to send you to the Health Center. If you use these excuses to miss a class, which I don't recommend, she would send you to the Health Center. She doesn't make as big of a deal about the social events."
"Okay," Katrina said, listening raptly.
"Then when they've all gone off, sneak out," Anna said. "Leave your door unlocked and set up your bed so it looks like someone's sleeping in it. I'll lend you some pillows. And come in after Jeannie's sleeping. That's usually one or two a.m."
"That works?"
"Again, it's fifty-fifty. It worked once for me. I wouldn't recommend doing it every weekend because Jeannie's sharp. You can fool her once, but you sure as hell can't fool her twice."
Saturday night came fast. Katrina hands were shaking when she told Jeannie she didn't feel well. She hated to lie, especially to Jeannie, who had been so proud of how well she was doing on the hall. She hated to think that she might lose Jeannie's trust, but as soon as she said she didn't feel well, she knew she couldn't get out of it.
"Do you want me to walk you to the Health Center?" Jeannie said.
"No," Katrina said. "I just want to relax tonight and go to bed early."
"Okay," she said. "Leave me a note if you end up going to the Health Center, okay?"
Katrina nodded and went to her room. When she was sure that Jeannie and most everyone else on the hall was gone, she quickly changed. She thought for a moment about just staying in, but the pull of the party was too strong.
As soon as she got to the Senior Quad, one of her friends put a bottle of beer in her hand and swept her away to meet a couple of guys.
"It's so good to see you! I felt like I haven't seen you in ages. Where have you been?"
"Studying, mostly," Katrina said. "I'm trying to do a little better than last semester. I don't want my parents to make me commute."
"Ugh. I hear you," she said.
One of the guys started to flirt with her, but she wasn't interested.
"These guys bothering you?" she heard Anna say, and she nearly dropped her beer.
"Anna- what are you-?" she sputtered.
"I was invited, too," she said, with her trademark grin.
"Anna, nice to see you," one of the guys said.
She just nodded and smiled. "Come here," she said to Katrina, taking her hand. "I want to show you something."
She led Katrina through one of the buildings and up the stairs. They kept taking twists and turns. Katrina knew she wouldn't be able to find her way back out without Anna. Soon they reached a locked door. Anna took out her bank card and fiddled with the door until it opened.
"We're not going to steal anything, are we?"
Anna laughed. "You'll see," she said, leading Katrina up a flight of stairs. They reached another door that opened to the outside.
Once outside, Katrina could see the stars and the lights of the city off in the distance.
"Wow," Katrina said, looking all around her. "Wow."
"Amazing, isn't it? I discovered how to jimmy the lock in my freshman year. I come up here a lot when I need to think."
"Don't you ever get caught?"
"Nope. I know when to come."
"Wow," Katrina said. "It's so beautiful." She sat down.
"Can I have a sip of that?"
They shared Katrina's beer, and talked a little bit.
"There's something I've been wanting to tell you," Anna said.
"What?" Katrina said, feeling lightheaded from the beer.
"I like you."
"I like you, too," Katrina said.
"No, I mean-," she said, quietly. "Oh, what the hell," she said, pulling Katrina into her arms and planting a kiss on her lips.
Katrina stiffed with surprise. She pulled away.
"I'm sorry," Anna said, jumping up.
"No," Katrina said. "I'm sorry. You surprised me. Please sit. Please don't leave. I was just surprised, that's all."
Anna tentatively sat down.
"I've never been kissed before," she said, quietly.
"Really?" Anna said. "Not even by a boy?"
"Not by a boy or a girl," she said, quietly. "It's embarrassing."
"No, it's not," Anna said. "I'm sorry that your first kiss was a surprise. Can I- give it another shot?"
Katrina nodded slowly. Anna leaned in and brushed her lips against Katrina's. Katrina's whole body tingled. She closed her eyes and felt the tip of Anna's tongue on her lips. She pulled Anna closer and Anna's tongue caressed hers. Katrina began to feel an ache between her legs. She longed to rub it, but kept her hands on Anna's shoulders. She felt Anna's hands on her hips, and she longed for Anna to touch her breasts and stroke her thighs. She was too overwhelmed by her feelings to ask for any more than kisses. Until that moment, she had never considered intimacy with a woman as an option. She always assumed she would end up with a man, even though she had never been terribly interested in men.
They stayed on the roof for the duration of the party, only coming down to go back to the hall. Even though they both came back onto the hall as quiet as mice, they didn't notice that Jeannie's door was partially open and her light was on.
"Welcome back, ladies."
They jumped at Jeannie's voice.
"Would you both join me for a moment?"
Katrina's heart leapt into her throat, and Anna did all she could to suppress her smile. As soon as they entered Jeannie's room, Jeannie closed the door behind them.
"Make this easy on me, okay? Tell me that you were both at the Health Center and that you forgot to leave a note," Jeannie said.
Katrina shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice shaking.
"The party in the Quad?" Jeannie said.
Katrina nodded solemnly.
"What's your excuse?" Jeannie said to Anna.
"Party at the Quad," she said.
"This is the second time this week, Anna," she said.
"I know, but you know it's hard for me to pass up the Quad parties," she said.
Jeannie frowned. "I'm disappointed," she said. "Katrina, your record has been pretty much spotless, outside of the two minor infractions at the beginning of the semester."
"I'm sorry. I know I deserve to be back on level 1," she said in a shaky voice.
"No, I'm not putting you back to level 1," Jeannie said.
"You're not?" Katrina said, surprised.
"I have no reason to," she said. "Your grades are excellent. Do you think you're the only person who's ever snuck off the hall to go to a party? Some even do it while they're still on level 1."
"Sometimes you've just got to be bad," Anna said, nudging Katrina a bit.
"I wouldn't make light of this. You are both in fairly considerable trouble," Jeannie said. "Anna, I'd like to see you in here again before you go to breakfast tomorrow," she said.
"Stay strong," she said to Katrina who gave her a hangdog look.
When Anna left, Jeannie locked the door.
"I hope you won't be too hard on her," Katrina said. "I told her about the party."
"We all make our own decisions in life, Katrina," Jeannie said. "Just because you told her about the party didn't mean that she had to go." She took a flat-backed, wooden hairbrush off of her dresser. "This is going to be a fairly long spanking. If you would rather do this tomorrow after breakfast-,"
"No," Katrina said. "Now, please."
"Tell me something before we start. Did you have a good time?"
"I had a wonderful time," she said, in a bit of a dreamy voice.
"I'm going to ask you to lift your skirt. If it's uncomfortable for you to have your skirt around your waist, then feel free to just take it off. It's your choice."
Katrina nodded slowly. She unzipped her skirt and pushed it over her hips until it fell at her ankles. She stepped out of it and lay across Jeannie's lap. If she had not felt the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach, she would have been aroused by the caress of Jeannie's soft cotton comforter on the front of her thighs and by Jeannie's firm thighs underneath her abdomen. She felt Jeannie smooth her black cotton panties over her bottom. She tensed in preparation for the first slap, which came quickly. As soon as Jeannie's palm began to strike her thinly protected bottom rhythmically, she began to relax a little bit. She knew this spanking was going to hurt, and she had an idea that Jeannie didn't intend to brush her hair with the wooden hairbrush. That feeling of comfort had overtaken her again, and she lay quietly, drinking in the mild spanks that were falling on her bottom.
She didn't begin to squirm until Jeannie's mild spanks became firm. Her bottom quickly went from pink to red as Jeannie increased the force of her spanks. When Katrina felt she couldn't take any more spanks, Jeannie stopped for a moment.
"I'm going to take your panties down now," she said, gently, rubbing her back. "I'm going to spank you with my hand on your bare bottom, and then I'm going to spank you with the hairbrush a bit. Don't be alarmed if you're still a bit sore in the morning."
Katrina whimpered into the comforter but didn't argue. Jeannie began spanking again when Katrina's panties were bunched around her knees. Katrina was soon squirming and gasping under Jeannie's striking palm. Her bottom felt as if it was on fire, and Jeannie hadn't even gotten to the hairbrush yet. Katrina kicked a bit, and she was even tempted to jump off Jeannie's lap or beg her to stop. She didn't. She grasped the comforter and started to cry.
"Okay," Jeannie said. "I'm so proud of you for taking this so well! I'm going to switch to the hairbrush now."
Katrina's bottom ached and throbbed. She wasn't sure if she could take the hairbrush.
"No, please," she said into the comforter.
"Just a little more," she said, gently, stroking her back.
She felt the cool, smooth back of the hairbrush on her bottom and clenched her cheeks together. The first crack was a true jolt. She bucked and kicked, letting out an involuntary cry.
"It's fine to cry out, Katrina. Make as much noise as you need to. No one will hear you," Jeannie said, gently, applying medium-hard swats to Katrina's crimson bottom.
Katrina kicks and yowls were punctuated by the solid smacks of the hairbrush. She started to bawl, wondering how much more her bottom could take. Jeannie finished off with ten slow, solid strokes before she let Katrina cry herself hoarse across her lap.
"You can get up now," Jeannie said, after Katrina had calmed to the point of hiccups.
"I'm sorry," Katrina said, after pulling up her panties and zipping up her skirt.
"I forgive you," she said. "Just remember that you're not here for me. You're not following the rules for me. This is all for you."
"I still shouldn't have lied to you," she said, quietly.
"No, you're right. But it doesn't change my opinion of you, if that's what you're worried about. I mean it when I said that you're not the first person who has snuck off the hall for a party."
"Thank you," Katrina said.
Katrina felt the achy throb in her bottom with every step she took. Other than that, she felt as light as air. All of the stress that had been building for a couple of weeks was gone, plus, she was intensely happy about Anna.
She fell asleep thinking of her first kiss.