I wouldn't say I was manipulative. I just happened to know what to say to get people to behave the way I wanted them to. It was a skill I was born with. I knew what people wanted to hear. I knew the right words to trigger the right emotions, reactions, etc.

Except for Ashley Edwards.

With her, I couldn't talk my way out of anything. That was because she was also born with a skill. A skill that made her immune to mine. She knew the motives behind people's words. She knew where they came from and the purpose for which they were said. Wasn't that nice.

So that's why I was alone on my bed with the door wide open.

If Ash had her way, I'd be standing with my nose to a corner, but she gave up on that a while ago. She couldn't get me to stand still no matter what she threatened me with, so she told me that I was to sit on my bed. 'Sit,' she always emphasized. I wasn't allowed to stand or jump or walk or . . . you get the idea. Being on my bed was a lot more entertaining than staring at a wall, so I didn't push those rules. There were rare occasions where she thought I'd been especially bad and made me stand in the corner. I avoided those situations at most costs. I couldn't always help it.

In case you were wondering, my room had 327 floorboards, including the ones under my bed. I had to hang off the edge and count before all the blood rushed to my head or Ash caught me. Thankfully, neither had happened, and I got an accurate count. I even checked the number the next day. A soccer ball made forty-three different appearances in my room. I owned seven different soccer jerseys. Everything there was to count, I counted.

At some point, my thoughts always wandered to what I was supposed to be thinking about. In this case, I had a lot to think about. Everything had started in geometry class. No surprise there. Geometry was a spawn of the devil. One thing led to another. My whole day ended up just being bad.

I wasn't sure what Ash was going to punish me for. I had gotten a detention. A very much undeserved detention might I add. I wasn't exactly sure how she'd go about one. It was my first. On top of that, I walked away from her and Coach. If there was one thing Ash hated most, it was disrespect. I'd probably be benched tomorrow. I also didn't tell her where I was going. I made the whole team worried.

Ugh. It was all just stupid.

"Alright, kiddo, let's talk." Ash pulled over my desk chair and sat across from me.

I fell backwards and let myself sprawl across my bed. "Do we have to?" I mumbled.

I could here a hint of a smile in her voice. "Yup, so sit up."

"I'll sit up, if I can play tomorrow."

The smile disappeared from her voice. "Amily."

I pushed myself up. "It's the first game of my high school career! I can't miss that. It's my first game. I—"

She cut me off. "I have to talk to coach about it, but you should've thought of the consequences."

I rolled my eyes. "No one thinks about those when they're mad. That's not normal. Normal people just be . . . mad." I huffed and crossed my arms, bringing my feet onto the bed.

Her eyebrows rose challengingly. "I'm not liking this attitude of yours."

"I don't have an attitude," I almost said. I managed to keep the words down my throat. "Plus, you don't have to like if," I also thought but never voiced. Instead, I murmured, "Kay."

"I'm serious."

I rolled my eyes.

She eyed me sternly. "Do you need more time in time out?" Her text tone went off. She slipped her phone out of her pocket and turned off the ringer.

I glared at the sheets, blushing. It made me feel like such a kid when she called it that. Time out. I was fourteen after all. She stared at me with a look that prompted a verbal answer. I murmured, "No ma'am."

She put her hand on my thigh. "I love you, kid. You know that? But you're behavior today was unacceptable."

I nodded, bringing my knees to my chest. "I really am sorry." I played with the tapered cut of my sweatpants and added, "For everything."

She smiled softly. "I know, buddy. So here's what's gonna happen." She leaned forward in the chair and put a hand on my knee. "You're going to get a spanking for being irresponsible with how you handled everything today. Running away and not telling anyone was not okay. It made a lot of people worry and was very dangerous on your part."

I nodded, my eyes already stinging with tears. I took slow breaths to help keep my emotions in check.

She continued, squeezing my knee gently but firmly, "Next time. Talk to someone. If not me, Sarah or Sierra or Gil or anyone else."

"Yes ma'am."

"I meant to stop by Ms. Simon's room to give my two cents on your punishment, but I couldn't make it. So instead, you'll be doing what I had planned on your own time." She stood up and pulled a drawer out of my desk. I groaned internally and slumped in my spot. Sure enough, she pulled out one of my spiral notebooks noticeably worn from use. She flipped through pages of lines and essays she made me do over the past year. "I want you to write an apology letter to your teacher."

"What?" I exclaimed. My melancholy attitude about my impending doom was gone in a snap. "Anything but that! What am I supposed to apologize for? I can't apologize if I'm not sorry for anything."

She sent me a stern look that would put Ms. Simon's look to shame, and that's saying something. I shut up really quick. "Well you better figure it out, kiddo. If it's not finished by your bedtime tomorrow, you will stay up to finish it. And every hour you stay up past your bedtime will be repaid the following night." She turned away nonchalantly and dropped my notebook on my desktop. "And maybe you'd get a bedtime spanking. Who knows?"

I huffed. "All that just because I didn't finish a stupid apology."

She smirked. "Exactly. So if I were you, I'd just get it done."

I groaned.

She added, "And to address your attitude at practice towards me, your teammates, and your coach. That will be figured out tomorrow."

I buried my face in my hands. "My life is over."

I could pretty much hear Ash roll her eyes. "Stop being melodramatic." She checked her Fitbit watch. "It's getting late so let's get your spanking done with, so you can go to bed. You finished all your homework before your timeout, right?"

I picked my head up and rested my chin on my knees. "Mhm," I murmured.

She moved to my dresser and grabbed my hairbrush. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that when I opened them, it would be morning again. "Come on, Ams. Let's get this over with."

I opened my eyes. Ash sat herself back on my desk chair. The hairbrush was set on the space beside her, ready to be picked up at any moment. Deep breaths, I reminded myself. "Do you have to? Ashley, please-please don't."

"You'll be fine. It's going to hurt, I'm not going to lie, but you always live. Please don't make me tell you again."

I slowly slid off my bed. She was only three steps away, but it felt like a mile. When I was within arms reach, she gripped my wrist. She guided me to her right side and helped me onto her lap. Embarrassment rushed to my cheeks as she adjusted my position. Staring at the floor, I felt like the eleven-year-old me that was going over Ash's lap for the first time. Ash was a freshman at the time and not so happy when she found out I got in a fight at recess. At least I beat the stupid boy because when it came to the battle between Ash's hand and my butt, my butt definitely lost.

Three year's later and nothing had changed. Ash landed her first swat and I gasped in surprise. She continued at a quick, steady pace, lighting a dull fire across my butt. Almost without missing a beat, my pants came down. She continued, increasing the strength of her smacks gradually.

I squirmed, the burn growing more and more uncomfortable. I whined as she periodically gave me sharper swats. "Ash," I breathed. "Ashie, please. I don't like it."

"You're not supposed to like it, baby. You're doing great."

She wasn't spanking very hard, but all her swats added up to a teary-eyed fourteen-year-old. She continued, the fire growing hotter and the pain getting stronger. Then, she really started spanking. Her hand came at a medium pace with more umph. My feet started to kick more and without really thinking, my hand tried to fly back. Swiftly, Ash caught it and pinned it to the small of my back.

After what felt like forever, she stopped and shifted slightly. I would've felt relieved, but I wasn't stupid. I hiccuped for air, a sure sign that I was about to start really crying. She was grabbing for the brush.

I felt the the smooth surface rest on my bum. "I want you to think about how you're actions made everyone feel. Everyone was worried sick that something had happened to you. If you want time alone, I'll understand. You do not disappear without a word and refuse to answer any texts or calls. Do you understand?"

I vigorously nodded.

"Use your words please."

"Yes-yes ma'am," I hiccuped.

"The team cares about you too much to let you do things to put yourself in danger. I care about you too much to let that happen." The first smack sent me over the edge and I was full-on crying. Waterworks, wailing, kicking, squirming, begging the whole shebang. Ash didn't let up and handled me with grace. She targeted every part of my butt there was to target and a little bit of my upper thighs too.

I wasn't sure how many spanks had passed but I vaguely heard her say, "Last ten." In another blur of sharp sparks of pain, the end came. I sobbed into my arms. Ash patted my butt gently and rubbed my back.

I sat up and buried my head into her shoulder. "M'sorry, m'sorry, m'sorry," I murmured, struggling with my breathing.

She just whispered shushing noises into my ear soothingly. She rocked me gently, and I kept my arms tight around her neck. She stood up, my legs still wrapped around her waist. She set me on my bed and tucked me in gently. "I love you, buddy."

I couldn't remember if I said it back or not. I was too tired to remember.

A/N: If there's anything you want to see or any suggestions you have, please comment them! Don't forget to vote! Thanks for continuing to read this book it means a lot to me. Make sure you tell me what you think of this chapter.