Thank you to my wife and Valphund for editing this story.
***
Jack Mansfield sat behind his desk. He was waiting for a pupil. He'd been told that Karen Davis often wore inappropriate clothes. They had a dress code at college. It wasn't so important, and normally no one took much care about it. In the case of Karen he was informed by other teachers that she had stretched the rules much too far. So he had to take action to solve the problem.
He had recognized and had seen Karen often around campus. A lot of girls wore clothes that accentuate some parts of their bodies, but mostly in a decent way. It was a difference between wearing only a short skirt and a normal T-shirt, or a short skirt with a short tank top, that exposed not only the legs, but belly, arms and shoulders too. Karen normally mixed up several violations of the dress code. He admitted that she normally looked marvelous in her clothing. Karen was a beauty: slender, curvy and sporty. And she knew how to move in her clothes, he thought. She appeared to be confident, sleek, elegant and sexy, all at the same time.
It wasn't an astonishment that this displeased the conservative teachers. He should have seen this coming and solved the problem before the other teachers had to complain. Now he looked a little bit like a fool. He had to abide sentences like "We can't accept a principal who doesn't take care of the school rules himself." and so on. He regretted that he often had watched her and enjoyed her appearance without thinking further. That was silly, he knew.
Jack Mansfield normally liked his job as school principal. But watching over the dress code thing wasn't his favorite part. The school had a long tradition of their rules. Even if he was the principal, he couldn't change the rules like he wanted. In his opinion everyone should wear what he or she preferred. He didn't feel like he had the right to control it. Unfortunately, it was his job, and he didn't find a reason to argue against it.
He had thought about ordering her class teacher to reprove her, but only for a moment. It was important to show his colleagues that he was the authority. Also, he hoped it would be more impressive when he did it as the principal. And he feared that her class teacher would overact in this case. Mr. Mansfield wasn't interested in imposing penalties.
***
"Come in!" he ordered, when he heard a knock at the door.
The principal looked up when Karen entered the room. She came to stand in front of Mr. Mansfield. He had a good view to see her whole appearance. This time she didn't break any rules of the dress code. Nevertheless she dressed classy and feminine. Her clothing wasn't much in a college style. She was dressed more like a business woman. That was uncommon, but not illicit. He took some seconds to watch her critically. Somehow it would have been easier if he found some actual verification that she didn't accept the rules.
He pressed one button on his telephone to talk to his secretary: "Gabriella, I don't know how long this will take. I don't want to be disturbed. I'll get back to you when I'm finished."
Then he looked sternly at Karen, "Hello, Miss Davis. I'm not pleased that I have to talk to you. Sit down." She walked upright through the room and placed herself on a chair. She wore a light gray pantsuit with a high collar white blouse under the opened jacket. Her feet were covered in classic black pumps. She crossed her legs and laid her arms loose on the leg above. She bent forward and looked intensely at his face while he examined her further. She didn't seem to be uncomfortable, but she had to be uncomfortable, Mr. Mansfield thought. She was ordered to visit the principal's office. He sighed inwardly.
"Do you know we have a dress code at this school? It seems that you don't care about it." It wasn't a pleasant conversation he had to go through, so he had decided to go straight to the reason of her meeting with him.
Karen didn't say a word. She looked shy but confident. Normally that didn't fit together.
Mr. Mansfield shook his head. "You know that we aren't very strict. We allow a lot and we're very lenient. But you often wear clothing far from appropriate. We can't ignore this. So I have to admonish you." Mr. Mansfield said. He paused to give her room to reply.
After a few moments she opened her mouth. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mansfield. I'm not aware that I've done anything wrong." She answered with a guilty expression. "I think it's my fault I really didn't adhere to the dress code. To be honest, I can't remember it well."
Even if she looked guilty, she didn't lose her self-confidence. Mr. Mansfield was astonished that Karen didn't try to defend herself and didn't seem to be angry about being disciplined.
"I can't believe that you don't know our rules. How can this happen?" He asked.
"It's because I thought that no one really cares about the dress code. I thought, today it's usual to not control clothing at college. I've read the dress code a long time ago, but I don't remember the details. But I see now I was wrong." She paused for a few seconds and sighed.
"What are the consequences of my misbehavior?" She looked serious but open minded.
Mr. Mansfield shook his head. "Consequences? Oh, Miss Davis. It's the first time that we've talked about this misbehavior, and this isn't the time for consequences. There aren't any consequences for you right now. I'm not interested in imposing penalties. But see it as a warning. There will be consequences if you continue violating the dress code. I'm interested that we all live together as good as possible in our school life. I hope you change your style of clothes and we can be friends."
"Friends? That sounds good to me. So you're not mad at me?" Her smile was disarming, and she nibbled her lower lips like she didn't dare to say anything.
"No, I only wanted to remind you of the rules." he replied. "It seems to me that you want to say something. What can I do for you?"
He wondered why he acted so amicably. He had intended to play the stern principal, but now he had left this script a bit.
Karen looked at him with a questioning look in her eyes: "I'm in fear that I'll break the rules again, when I don't get a better understanding of them. Can you please help me to work it out?"
"No problem, that's what I'm here for." Mr. Mansfield sounded generous and pleased.
It was okay to be friendly, he decided. She didn't seem to be unflinchingly. Perhaps a stern behavior would waken her spirit of contradiction. He wasn't interested in that.
***
"You are such a cool principal!" Karen blurted out.
No one has called Mr. Mansfield cool before, but he liked it. "Thank you, Miss Davis."
After a short pause, Karen continued: "Okay, cool is perhaps not the right word. What I want to say is that I think you're a really good principal. I mean, you don't abuse your authority as a school principal, and you try to find an understandable solution. I've heard that some classmates like your style, and now I can see the reasons why."
Mr. Mansfield felt pampered, and even a little bit proud of her compliment, and smiled invitingly. "I always try to be fair to my pupils."
A thankful smile appeared on Karen face: "Thank you so much for spending your time with little ole' me. Can we have a look at the rules together?"
She had lost all signs of shyness and guilt now, like she felt comfortable in the conversation. Mr. Mansfield felt the same. The conversation was much easier than he had feared. It was the right choice to be gentle, and he was interested in not spoiling this atmosphere.
"Of course." He had prepared himself before and had sheets with the rules on his desk.
He could hand them to her, but that appeared to be a little too distant to him. So he invited Karen to sit beside him. He wanted to reduce the natural distance between a college pupil and a principal. The desk between Karen and him bothered him.
"Let me see." Karen's eyes scanned the paper. "No advertising for drugs, alcohol and tobacco. That's clear, I think. It isn't appropriate to advertise for other things too, not for drugs, not for smart phones, not for ice cream. I haven't done something like this, have I?"
Mr. Mansfield shook his head.
"It's prohibited to wear skirts that do not extend beyond your fingertips when you stand upright. What?" Karen stood up.
With her arms extended she was probing the length. "Look. I have long arms. They don't look especially long, because I'm not a twiggy. I work out and I've been a cheerleader for years. This rule means that they have to reach mid-thigh. That means that I can forget a respectable part of my wardrobe. I like short dresses of nearly all kind. Short dresses, miniskirts, hot pants and similar clothes to accentuate my legs."
She put her hands on her hips, parted her legs, pushed her pelvis forward and stared provocatively at Mr. Mansfield. In his mind the silky fabric of her trousers dissolved and was replaced by a short skirt that ended just a little bit too high. He chased away this imagination. She sat down again.
"Okay, I can raise my skirt with my hands if I want to expose my thighs." She glided her hands over the glossy fabric of her trousers and smiled provocatively.
She laughed as she looked at the irritated face of Mr. Mansfield. "Just a joke... sorry. The rule makes it clear that women won't show their legs and won't display their thighs."
Mr. Mansfield's smile relaxed. "Ehm... you know that we aren't so strict. Sometimes you could wear those things, but not so often."
What the hell drove him to offer her this? Even if other girls wore those kinds of things, he had to make sure that Karen didn't wear such clothes in the near future.
He corrected himself. "But, for the time being, I don't recommend this. Don't think about it at all. You're under special observation at the moment. The slightest offense would cause penalties. We both don't want that."
"Okay, I understand. Let's see... Further, halter tops, tank tops, tube tops, strapless dresses... Really? No one wants to see shoulders and arms? I can't believe that! But those are the rules, I see." Karen turned to look in his eyes, raised her arms in the air and stretched her upper body for a moment.
That stretched the fabric of her blouse also. She pressed her breasts forward. Perhaps he could see her nipples now if she didn't wear a jacket, he thought. Mr. Mansfield gulped soundlessly. He began to regret that he offered her to sit beside him. Perhaps a little bit more distance hadn't been a bad idea. But he had invited her, so he couldn't change it now.
She tipped on the next paragraph. "That means I shouldn't wear tight-fitting pants. Somehow it sounds boring to me; it's always the same kind of stuff. No tight-fitting pants, even if the thighs are tight and fit. But let's go further."
Yes, he knew and remembered well that she had flawless lean long legs. For him, it wasn't OK that she mentioned something like this. He loosened his tie and shook his head.
