Teaching Her a Lesson

Part Eighteen: Quarterly Reports

"So let me get this straight," said Tabitha, seated across from me in my living room. It was just the two of us now, the other girls -- and boy -- having been banished to Megan's house until I was ready to deal with them. "You bought this Serenex compound to make Taylor be a better student. You say. Then you accidentally had her, then her sister, ingest it, and discovered its indoctrination properties. Through a series of snowballing missteps, they both become infatuated with you, though in the process also alert Mrs. Brown next door. To find out it's her that's attempting to blackmail you, you poison Officer Barbour and, somehow, her girlfriend? Is that right?"

"It's not poisonous, and... yes."

"Correction: you

drug

Officer Barbour and Ms. Salata. You misidentify Cassie as the perpetrator," she said, leaving no doubts as to how probable she found that prospect, "allow your brainwashed sex slaves to turn her into

another

brainwashed sex slave, then go on to use her to poison -- sorry, drug -- her own mother. Whom you subsequently turn into, again, a brainwashed sex slave."

"I'm not sure I'd categorize it all like that."

She tucked her hair back neatly behind her ears. "Let's not get bogged down in semantics, Mr. Canon. So then you erroneously believe you've cowed Officer Barbour, and that Ms. Salata shares your predeliction for -- oh wait, I skipped where you compelled her to put on a sex show with... was it Abbie? or Taylor?"

"Abbie."

"Sure. So Ms. Salata then makes you believe she's also into that, the two of them reel you in with an offer of a threesome with two women you know to be avowed lesbians...? And you bought that?"

"Cut me a little slack, OK? I had a lot on my mind. And let's not make it sound like I'm the only bad guy here. They're the ones who tried to poison my food to turn me into some... soulless husk of a man!"

"Right, so suddenly it's poison. But you manage to evade the trap, use three highschool girls as a distraction for the armed police officer so you can slide into Ms. Salata's DMs, compel her to betray her partner in order to allow you to squelch what's left of her independence, such that now the two of them are, for all intents and purposes, your brainwashed sex slaves."

"Hey, they dosed me too, remember -- that wasn't me!"

"Of course. After Abbie snared Cassie Brown and her own sister for you, who could have predicted such an event," she retorted dryly. "So then, you say without your knowing, they proceed to continue to recruit other members of the student body to be, as I understand it, your brainwashed sex slaves. At the very least myself and Justin Diggs, plus an unknown number of others."

"We don't know that there are others. I'll get to the bottom of it, though. This was never my intention, and I'm not going to stand for it."

"Respectfully, Mr. Canon?" When she waited for permission, I gestured for her to proceed. "When was any of this ever

not

your intention?"

"I know how it looks, Tabitha. And I can't even imagine how you must feel, what you must be thinking of me. But I got snared up in all this, too. Abbie put all this macho nonsense in my head."

"Ah yes, the 'don't be a pussy' thing you mentioned." She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the term.

"Yes. But that's not all. She's made me allow her to use the stuff whenever she wants -- which is fine -- I mean it isn't, but I can't help... But yeah,

she

did that. Not me."

"And so far, she's exclusively used this stuff to bring you more brainwashed sex slaves? Would that be a fair summation of her endeavors?"

"Look, I don't know what all is in my head, frankly. I shouldn't need to tell you, considering what happened earlier, that it all

feels

very normal when it's happening. It's hard to step back and be objective."

At last, the skeptical mask Tabitha was wearing showed a crack, if only slightly. "All right, I'll grant you that. When they told me there was a study session here tonight, I thought it sounded crazy, but I figured worst case scenario, I surprise you on your doorstep, pay a compliment and leave with an awkward apology. It becomes a funny little incident, ha ha. Then when I got here and she said..." Her lips twisted downward. "Well, I certainly played the part they intended me to play, didn't I."

"And again, my apologies. I swear, I barely understand myself how you got wrapped up in--"

Tabitha forestalled the rest of my repetitive apology with a gesture, then folded her hands in her lap, smoothing out the pleats in her skirt. "You've already apologized. Keep doing it if it makes you feel better, but it's really unnecessary." From her tone, I inferred that it was unnecessary less because an apology wasn't merited, and more because she was tired of hearing it.

Which was itself curious, her attitude. "You know, I have to say, considering what they did to you, I'm surprised you're so... yourself. Normal, that is. The rest of them -- and me too -- we all caved pretty hard, pretty much instantly. But you're... well, you're..."

"I'm... what?" Tabitha arched one of those high narrow brows inquisitively.

"Let's just say the others applied a lot less scrutiny than you are."

A derisive laugh emerged from between her lips. "I imagine it was a shorter trip for the Stern sisters to become gigantic sluts."

I couldn't help but laugh. Tabitha had made little secret of her contempt for Taylor all year in class. "Sure, but take Cassie. She was a virgin before all this, and the moment those girls put it in her head that she liked, you know, um--"

"Being your brainwashed sex slave."

None of the ideas I'd formed for how to phrase it sounded better, sadly. "Yes, well, she rather embraced it. Hard. Major porn addiction brewing there. But you, according to Abbie afflicted with a need for my approval..."

"Yes?"

"Just that you don't seem to be trying very hard to win it is all. Which is fine! Only that it's surprising."

To deepen that sentiment, the young woman merely shrugged. "I already have your approval though, don't I?"

Something in her tone made me hesitate. "Are you asking me, or was that rhetorical...?"

She explained, "My lowest grade in your class this year was a hundred and one percent. 'Pleasure to have in class,' 'exceeds expectations' every quarter. Well, no, last report card you wrote a whole paragraph praising me, which I did appreciate by the way; my parents were beside themselves. Still, it basically said the same thing, how great you think I am. Heck, you just said not that long ago that I was the perfect student, Mr. Canon."

I did remember writing that paragraph. SchoolWays let us check boxes to insert the more repetitive comments. For a student of Cassie's caliber, the stock comments had come to feel inadequate. I did not recall that last bit, however. "Perfect? When did I say that?"

"You were having us do our vocab study tools. I'd already done mine before class like usual, so I was studying for a quiz seventh period. You reprimanded Justin, Taylor and Savannah for not working on theirs and being their usual annoying selves. Justin said, 'why aren't you yelling at Tabitha, she's not working on hers either' and you said if I'd ever missed a question on a vocab quiz, you might be more concerned about me, and then I showed you I was already done, and you said--"

"Right, right." It rang a faint bell. Taylor and her posse whining and being lazy pains in the butt were hardly remarkable, nor was Tabitha over-achieving. The specificity helped jog my memory though. "I suppose I hadn't counted on that approval extending to all the rest of it, though. Approving of you as a student isn't the same as approving of you as a woman."

She paused. "Shouldn't it be, though? I've been thinking about this past week -- for reasons that are only just now becoming obvious -- but we did that whole unit on women and feminism, and you said -- over and over again, I might add -- that women ought to be unbeholden to the patriarchy. After we read 'Woman in the Nineteenth Century,' you said you wanted to dig up Margaret Fuller's bones and ask them out on a date. Remember?"

The things those young minds retained. "I did say something like that, yes, though I was mostly trying to spice up a dry read, Tabitha."

"Personally, I really enjoyed that essay. Remember that line, something about men and women coming together as a 'ravishing harmony of the spheres,' or something close to that, anyway. I loved that." She tilted her head at me inquisitively. "Isn't... isn't that the sort of woman you prefer? Approve of? Feminist, progressive, strong-willed and independent?"

"I... did say that. And that's true!" Then again, she wasn't as wrong as I wanted her to be about my harem of brainwashed sex slaves. Up until this afternoon, I certainly hadn't had many complaints about that aspect of the Seerenex proceedings. Feminism suited me just fine in the classroom and the voting booth, but when it came time to put my lesbian lovers to work begging for permission to suck my cock, I was leaving it at the door, and happily so. I amended, "At least on a macro level."

"Macro level? What does that even mean?"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Why was I even having this discussion? If she thought continuing on as a smart, woke woman gave her my approval, why muddy the waters?

Tabitha crossed her long, slender legs, her brief pink and yellow plaid skirt rising up despite her efforts to guide it back in place.

"It means that what's best for people out in society isn't always what makes them happiest in their private lives."

"So you're saying... what? Be a hypocrite when it's convenient?"

My eyes squeezed shut. No. I wasn't doing this. Somehow, the girl had actually listened to the best lessons I had to teach, and even retained those values in spite of the meddling of goddamn Abbie Stern. It was easy to see down the road this question laid out before me. It was one where I clarified that publicly I approved of women like Tabitha, but privately I enjoyed the company of sluts like Abbie and Taylor. That I

approved

of that sort of behavior; that I

disapproved

of little prisses who gave one unimpressive blowjob and then threw in the towel. The button was visible on her forehead, right in the same place Abbie had her fantasy slut button; right where Cassie had the booty call button; where Megan had her enthusiastic cooperation button; where Candy and her girlfriend had matching buttons that read

Degrade Isa

; where I had a

me no pussy!

button; where Taylor had...

Hmm. What button

did

Taylor have?

Never mind that. Tabitha was watching me intently for my response. "No. Forget it, Tabitha. You're absolutely fine the way you are. Better than -- you're

great

the way you are. For crying out loud, the last thing you need to worry about is whether or not you give first rate blowjobs."

"You're saying that that wasn't first rate?" I decided to take it as a joke, and she laughed with me after a brief pause.

"Come on. It's high time I gave those chuckleheads a talking to and make sure what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else. Let's go next door and--"

An engine started outside, coughing asthmatically as it wheezed its way to life. The sound of that engine was all too familiar. I darted for the front door, throwing it open just in time to see Taylor pulling out of Megan's driveway with Abbie in the passenger seat and Justin in the back.

"Hey! Stop right there!" I bellowed.

The mocking laughter of Justin echoed back to me, the more muted peal of giggles from Abbie audible beneath it. Taylor's middle finger extended out the driver window while Justin hung out his own window in the back. He pantomimed a blowjob, then called out, "C-dawwwwg! Ow ow owooooooo!" His canine howls faded as Taylor slammed the accelerator and left us in their dust.

"God, I hate that kid!" I yelled to no one in particular. Not the first time I'd yelled those words in this house, and certainly not the first time they referred to that particular student. This was the young man who made fart noises with his mouth when I sat down at my desk; who flicked paper balls at my back when I wrote on the whiteboard; who had more than once given me a dirty look when I told him to pipe down, like

I

was the one who was bothering

him

. His mother had literally laughed at me when I tried to talk to her about his behavior, then hung up. It was a hundred different things week in and week out, a steady stream of disrespect and petty abuse that raised my blood pressure just to look at the little fucker. A lazy, uncurious, stupid jerk who was going to need some sort of major life event to steer him back towards a semblance of decency. Knocking up some poor idiot girl was the most likely case, but in my darker moment, I quietly rooted for a short prison stay.

Justin was Taylor, only without the tits or the potential. He was a pretty little fellow, quick-witted and gregarious to a fault. Girls adored him. (Not girls like Tabitha who preferred a little substance between the ears, but she was far from the norm in her demographic.) Having both Justin and Taylor in the same class period had more than once made me question if I had angered a vengeful god somewhere along the line. Their class was forever behind all my other sections, and it was ninety percent due to them and another friend or two. They were the ringleaders, though. They drove me crazy nearly every day -- or they had until Serenex had forced Taylor to behave herself. Watching him grow despondent at her refusal to join in his antics had been one of the most satisfying side effects of this whole escapade. One of the things I liked best about Tabitha, in fact, was her open disdain for the two of them.

"Are teachers supposed to say things like that?" she asked behind me.

I wasn't especially enjoying her company at present, though. Bit of a nag. I'd gotten enough judgment from Isa and Candy, to say nothing of myself, to want to sit here being berated by an eighteen-year-old.

I grumbled an entirely insincere apology and sat down to think. Now what? Ever since Justin and his shit-eating grin emerged from my bedroom, my plan for the evening had immediately hardened itself as chewing out the Sterns, Abbie in particular, and finding out how deep a hole their meddling had dug. Yes, Abbie could use my Serenx whenever she liked, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to exert my influence over her on the when and the how. I'd teach her that being my fantasy slut entailed a certain amount of respect, and that her days of treating me as a subordinate to her own whims were over.

Now they were gone, and could be on their way to anywhere.

Cassie was unlikely to know anything of substance about it all, and certainly wouldn't have been the driving force behind their little "prank." The best punishment for her participation would be to ignore her and let her fester. As for the Sterns, they weren't beholden to come when I called them, and I couldn't very well pretend I'd been harboring a fantasy about smacking them upside the head for putting my penis in the mouth of one of my least favorite people on the planet. (That was to say nothing of the aggravation and confusion of... ugh.

Ugh!

That I could deal with later. Much later.) There was probably no point trying to reach them on the phone; they'd ignore, deflect, or more likely simply frustrate me for kicks.

Plus, I grudgingly admitted, I already knew what they'd say: that I deserved that little shock for what I'd done to them. After all, more than once I'd put them in sexual situations with other women regardless of their own stated feelings. Hell, I'd made Taylor lick my cum off her sister's tits. Their displeasure was understandable -- though it would be nice if they'd have simply told me as much instead of being so goddamn dramatic about it.

Could I catch up to them somewhere? They'd probably gone back to one of their houses. Not necessarily though. Should I text them? What would I say? If not tonight, when? This was only going to get worse the longer it went unaddressed. Should I dose them? Could I? I would never use Serenex on Abbie without her permission, but maybe I could get Taylor to do it for me? I wasn't sure. Where were they even hiding it? Did Abbie have it on her person, or could I maybe sneak into her place and nab it? Was it in her locker? Did Isa have access to student locker combinations, or some sort of master key? Could we--

Tabitha interrupted my musing. "Look, I should probably be going, Mr. Canon. You look like you have a lot on your mind, so I'll get out of your hair. As long as I still have your approval, right?"

She did, of course, but in that moment my mind was focused on getting answers. I only half-heard her to begin with. What on earth was Abbie up to, and why? Why create competition for herself? Justin at least made sense to make a point, but Tabitha? For all the whining she did about not getting enough time with me, why unleash a brilliant, beautiful rival to get in the way? It hadn't broken Tabitha's resolve like it had the Browns, but it sure sounded like that was what she'd meant to accomplish. I could imagine the pissed-off look on Abbie's face when Tabitha told her what she'd told me. Already a pleasure to have in class, a perfect student -- and all that before a single lick on my cock. Only...

I interjected as she opened the front door to slip out. "Tabitha, wait."

Her slender body froze in place. "Yes, Mr. Canon?"

"Answer one question for me before you go. If you were so sure you already had my approval, then why did you agree to participate tonight?"

She took a step back as if physically struck, nearly falling backward over the base of the doorframe. "I'd... rather not say."

Uh, oh. That had touched a nerve. What the hell else had those girls done? "Did they do something to you? Coerce you? Threaten you with something?"

"No! I mean, not really. They... look, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna leave."

I rose to my feet, but was careful not to approach her. She was plainly nervous and I didn't want to frighten the poor thing. Still, I wasn't above exerting a little pressure on her, either. Abbie could use my Serenex whenever she liked, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to allow her to bully and harass her fellow students. The bullying was working, though; Tabitha wasn't going to rat her out if she could help it. I'd seen this play out a hundred times.

Still, there was that button on her forehead.

With an inward grimace, I pushed it.

"Maybe you had my approval up until now, Tabitha, but approval isn't irrevocable, and it can be granted or withdrawn from action to action. Right now, you're toeing the line of my disapproval. A lie of omission is still a lie."

Her eyes shot wide. I'd struck a nerve. "What? I'm not... I wasn't..."

"Then tell me why you joined in tonight, Tabitha. Or go if you want. But know that I don't approve of your decision." Not the most artful manipulation, but Serenex often didn't demand a lot in that regard. My own button had proven quite effective, too.

Only, my button tended to make me whip my dick out and start thumping my chest like an alpha gorilla. Tabitha's button, however, evidently functioned to accelerate her breathing and make the blood drain from her face. Her body began to shake like a leaf in a storm. "I... I'm... oh shit, not... not now...!"

Oh no. What had I done? I hurried to my student's side, ushering her over to the couch before her wobbling knees gave out on her. "Tabitha, it's all right. You don't have to talk to me. I approve of... of whatever. You. Leaving. Whatever. Just calm down, OK? Deep breaths now. Deeeeep breaths. That's it. I'll get you something to drink, OK?" She didn't answer. Breathing like that, she couldn't. "I'll be right back, just calm the hell down!"