Elizabeth was curious as she wandered along to her appointment. For the life of her she couldn't think of anything that she'd done that would explain Mr Benson calling her to his office. At least, nothing she'd done on the current day that he'd be interested in, and if he knew of older crimes, of which there'd been a few, he'd have handled them at the time. Not that he'd have had much joy out of that.
As it was, she was supposed to be down at the ground watching the football team march towards a glorious victory. If they achieved it, it would be a miracle, the way they played. She was tempted to ignore the request to see Mr Benson and head straight down to the ground but he was the type of teacher who was likely to come down to the ground to find her and make her return to his office, lecturing her all the way. Too, too, embarrassing. Better to just see him and let him get his latest bout of yelling off his chest.
Arriving at Mr Benson's office she knocked. To her surprise, instead of just yelling for her to enter, Mr Benson opened the door and ushered her in, closing the door behind her. He indicated that she should take a seat while he perched on his desk, which was also unusual. Normally he sat behind his desk and glared at his victims. He was also smiling. Elizabeth hadn't realised that the man knew how to smile. She felt uncomfortable. Nice and Mr Benson seemed to be a contradiction.
"And how are you this fine day, Elizabeth?" he asked, his smile seeming to grow even wider.
"Ah, fine," she said carefully, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Tell me, have you heard the latest rumour about me? I mean a rumour that you didn't start."
Elizabeth blushed. It wasn't her fault if people were gullible enough to believe stupid rumours.
"Um, no, not really," she confessed. Had she missed out on some exciting gossip? "Oh, wait. I did hear that you wouldn't be returning to the school next year." And I hope that rumour is true.
"I have to admit that that rumour is nearly true. To be precise I won't be returning to the school ever. This is my last day. I'm just finishing up a few odds and ends before flying away to the life of a research scientist in the sunny Bahamas. After today I won't have to bother with students or parents or stupid bureaucratic rules put in place to prevent teachers from actually teaching."
"Um, congratulations?" And what the hell has this got to do with me?
"Thank you. I probably wouldn't have made the break if it wasn't for your encouragement and the encouragement of students like you."
And just how did I encourage you, Elizabeth mused? I could have sworn you loathed me.
"How did you encourage me, I hear you asking yourself. It was quite easy. I saw the advertisement for my new position the same day you pasted newspaper to my windscreen. Yes, I knew it was you, but I had no proof, so I let it go. At the time. But that was the incentive I needed to branch out into fields anew."
Elizabeth said nothing. Mr Benson continued.
"How old are you now, Elizabeth? Seventeen, eighteen?"
"Eighteen," she admitted.
"Eighteen and in your last year here. Amazing. Tell me, have you actually learnt anything since you've been here? I know you have quite a good brain and some quite good leadership abilities but have you ever applied them to studying?"
"I've studied. I pass my exams."
"So does Jack Mangles and he's a moron on a good day. Like you, he passes because the school feels it would be detrimental to your poor psyche if we actually failed you. I know damn well that you haven't actually passed a single exam that I gave. Your marks were adjusted upwards after I marked them. You can thank your father for that."
Elizabeth bridled at the insult. She was intelligent and she knew it. She could have passed his stupid exams if she'd wanted to but why should she bother. As for Jack Mangles, everyone knew he was still at school only because he could play football.
"I thought that before I left I'd point out to you that you are the epitome of the selfish, lazy, malicious, high-school girl. You are mean and nasty. You feel free to break the rules and ignore any punishments handed out to you, depending on your father to cover for you. You have got away with everything short of murder and feel you will continue to do so. I have news for you.
Once you leave this school you will find your misdemeanours will be dealt with by the police and a judge and they won't be nearly as nice to you as the teachers. Your father isn't in a position to influence the police, no matter how much power he wields in the education system.
However, all is not lost. Out of the goodness of my heart I'm going to demonstrate to you that inappropriate behaviour has a way of rebounding on you. I will now teach you that some penalties can't be skipped by appealing to your father. For your accumulated mischief I am now going to spank you. Won't that be fun? Your father, while he may sympathise, won't be able to cancel the spanking, nor will he be able to fire me as I'll be long gone."
Elizabeth blinked, trying to make sense of what he'd said. She finally fastened upon the key word - spanking. Spank her? He wouldn't dare. She flicked a quick glance at him. Damn it. He was Mr Benson. He probably would dare. Time for little Lizzie to vacate the premises, she decided.
The thought was father to the deed. Elizabeth jumped to her feet and promptly found out why Mr Benson had chosen to sit on his desk. Her standing up put her right next to him, and he caught her arm as he slipped off the desk, turning to sit on the chair she'd just vacated. A sudden tug on the arm he was holding and she found herself sprawling across his lap.
Elizabeth found her dress flipped up exposing her bottom, enclosed in panties which, while they were very nice, weren't school regulation. Suddenly she was wishing that they were rather than the pair that made her look sexy. These were panties that were definitely supposed to be kept hidden.
Mr Benson's hand came down hard upon her bottom, being met with a small scream.
"Stop it. You can't do this. I won't let you do this," she wailed as his hand continued to come down.
"Won't let me?" asked Mr Benson, pausing for a moment. "How do you propose to stop me?"
He listened to Elizabeth splutter and mumble, not knowing what to say.
