Small town girls: life in the 1950s (for RussianBunny)

[Renton]

"Right, right," Jordan said, feeling a bit silly, having already forgotten how close the school was to their home. Directions were never his strong suit. "Have a good day, sweetie," he said, returning Olive's kiss with one on her cheek before seeing her out of the house. He felt very pleased that she'd made a friend so quickly. He knew his profession made it harder for her to socialize at times, and he was grateful that someone like Becky had emerged who didn't seem to care a lick.

~~~~~

Becky was glad her mother didn't mention the incident last night at the breakfast table, and she kissed her father goodbye before heading to the car. She was quiet but smiling the way over, enjoying the warm September morning, and when she arrived at school she glanced down the street and saw Olive approaching. "Morning, Olive!" she shouted, walking up to her friend and walking with her to the front staircase. "We've got a few minutes, so hows about we play a game?" she said. "We both close our eyes and count to 10, and the first guy we see is the one we have to marry." It was a joke, of course, and just a silly way to pass the early morning minutes before school started. Tammy and Lizzy took the game quite seriously at times, and some all-day squabbles had started over who had "chosen" the better looking future husband. They seemed to be late-comers today, no doubt having stayed out too late at the dance.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Olive was excited to finally see her friend - friend, such a lovely word - and when Becky parked, they both happily sat down on the steps. It felt good to be here early, with Becky by her side.

"That games sounds... rather frightening," Olive said, looking confused. After all, what if she got stuck with somebody deplorable? Still, she agreed to do it, and both girls shut their eyes.

One.

Two.

Three.

"Hey!" That was a familiar voice, and both girls opened their eyes to see Stanley lording himself above them, with a girl on his arm. Wait, Olive had seen her before. Wasn't that the girl Becky had said was her 'sworn' enemy? What was her name again?

Well, to be honest, Olive didn't really care: her face was already forgettable.

"What is it that you want, Stanley?" Olive inquired, her voice less than pleased.

[Renton]

Becky could see the look of slight worry in Olive's eyes. She wrinkled her nose as she grinned. "It's just for fun, sweetie," she said. She closed her eyes and counted, facing a different direction so she'd see a different boy.

One.

Two.

Three.

"Hey!" came an all too familiar voice. "Oh God," she said, rolling her eyes, standing up. "Good morning, Stanley. And Becca," she said, nodding at her rival with the all too similar name.

"I just wanted to show off my new girlfriend to the one that got away yesterday."

"I think I got the better of that evening," Becky said. "Considering that you got to the meet the end of your father's strap," she said loudly. It was a guess, of course, that he had been punished, but there was no way a league mom would let their child get away with the sort of behavior Stanley showed last night, and the Mortimers were a "father handles the discipline" sort of family.

The instant redness on Stanley's face gave away that that, indeed is what had happened. Laughter from those who heard ensued, and he looked livid but beaten. But Becca was not about to let her new man be torched like that without a fight.

She leaned in close to Becky and whispered "You really are an icy bitch," she said.

And suddenly Becky's hand made firm and very loud contact with Becca's face, and suddenly Becca pulled Becky's hair, and suddenly they were on the floor as a very excited circle formed around the fighting girls.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Olive felt furious to see this boy coming up on her and Becky so calmly after how rude he had been the night before, but she was glad - in some, meaner part of herself - that Becky called him out and embarrassed him. And given how angry he looked, she had won.

The pastor's daughter hadn't heard what Becca had said, but given how angrily Becky reacted, it must have been horrible. And suddenly, they're both on the ground, and kids around them are shouting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" And Olive is doing her best to get Becca away from her new friend.

"Get off of her!" Olive shouted more than once, and - when Becca was not letting go and reached around to land a smack to Olive - she found herself in the scrape herself, delivering a punch to Becca over the nose, which helped get her away from Becky. Just as a loud voice came over them all:

"STOP! STOP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

And the noise immediately died down, and the circle parted and the principal stepped up, glaring at the trio: Becky, Olive, and the currently-bleeding Becca, who was clutching her nose desperately.

[Renton]

Becky had broken rules before, but never something like this. She hadn't really been thinking when she'd slapped Becca, nor was she thinking now, tussling with her on the floor. It had been a bad decision, truth be told; Becca could clearly hold her own, and was on the verge of pinning Becky when Olive suddenly threw herself into the mix. At first Becky was happy to have Olive distract Becca as she landed a punch and got off the ground. But then Becca turned to Olive, and the pastor's daughter, on the second day of school, landed a perfect right cross right on Becca's nose.

And that was when Principal Bertrand Silver's unmistakable baritone voice thundered over everything.

Becky suddenly snapped to her senses. She realized that not only was she in trouble, but that Becca was clearly worse off. Never mind how it started or the circumstances. It was two against one, and the one was the one sobbing with a bloody nose.

Just then, a very confused looking Tammy and Lizzy appeared, and Becky was almost grateful they were late. Even she would admit that a four-on-one situation would be unfair, and she knew they'd have fought for her as Olive had.

Principal Silver was a tall, thin man whose hair matched his name. He wasn't that old, in his late forties, and he wore a trim goatee and a suit. "Nurse, see to the injured student," he said, as the school nurse lead Becca away to tend to her bloody nose. "Rebecca Simon, I'm surprised at you," he said, glaring at Becky. He then turned to Olive. "Olive Driver?" he said, almost bewildered." He sighed.

"You two, follow me to my office," he said. There was silence from the rest of the students. Trips to Principal Silver's office didn't end well. Becky bit her lip and glanced at Olive. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Becky knew the inevitable: a paddling was in store for the both of them. She'd been on the end of it a couple of times, both for dress code violations. She'd considered those to be worthwhile collateral to figuring out exactly where to draw the line with the school codes. But this? She'd gotten her new friend in trouble now. And that made her feel physically ill. As they began the slow walk to the principal's office, Becky felt profoundly foolish, and profoundly bad for Olive.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

I just punched this girl in the nose, Olive thought when she came back to her senses. When she saw that Becca's nose was bleeding, that was followed by, I may have just broken her nose. While she wasn't one to fight normally, Olive was surprisingly strong for someone was seemed so meek.

And she felt about two inches tall when the principal called her out by name, right after Becky and after Becca was pulled away by the nurse. "Y-Yes, sir," she murmured, following after the man as the first-class bell rang, forcing everyone to scatter away to their classes. As they headed to his office, Olive reached over and took Becky's hand for comfort (and she was glad when her friend didn't shake it off).

"I-It's not your fault," Olive murmured softly, and when they reached his office, Principal Silver said to his secretary, "Type up two notes - one to Jennifer Simon and one to Pastor Driver: their daughters were fighting, and they need to sign the note."

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Her daddy was going to find out about this. That was enough to make Olive cry, and she struggled not to.

"Rebecca, sit," he said, pointing to the single chair outside his office. "Olive, come with me." And as he headed into his office, Olive gave her friend a small, weak smile before shuffling into the office.

[Renton]

Becky felt utterly mortified as the ramifications of her moment of madness unfolded before her. Parent's notes were never a good thing. In the past, they were much a guaranteed spanking when she got home. For fighting at school? The question was more how long it would be before she could sit comfortably again once Jennifer was done with her.

Becky meekly took her seat when ordered to and felt utterly sorry for Olive, who looked terrified. Olive was clearly not used to being in this sort of trouble. They'd be lucky not to be suspended. She gently grabbed Olive's hand supportively before the girl was led away to her fate.

Principal Silver stood behind his desk but didn't sit down. "Sit," he said to Olive. He could see the girl was extremely nervous, but he was more concerned with the person whose nose he'd seen Olive punch.

"I hope you realize how serious this is," he said sternly. "You are lucky this is a first offense, or you'd be paddled and suspended. As it is, you're getting only the former. I just want to know what you have to say for yourself, young lady." As he spoke, he reached under his desk and removed the paddle, placing it on the table. It was fierce looking oak board with holes drilled into it to decrease air resistance. It was worn from usage, which only made it more formidable.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Olive carefully obeyed him, remaining quiet until he prompted her to speak. "I-I... I'm so sorry, sir," she said, unsure of what else to say. She was just thinking of what her father would say when she got home - and it wouldn't be even remotely pretty.

And that paddle... That paddle looked terrifying.

[Renton]

Principal Silver sighed, his expression softening. Olive was clearly upset with herself, and there was no use being all fire and brimstone with her.

"Olive, I don't know what the context of that... brawl was, but as principal, that doesn't matter to me. One of the values of this school is reason over violence, always. You were in a fight. You injured another student. I hope you realize that you need to be punished. This is not personal. Unfortunately for me, this is my job."

Olive didn't appear to be saying much, so he figured it was best to get on with it. "Stand up" he said. "Take your position over my desk. I will be giving you six swats. If that seems like a lot, it's because fighting is a serious offense."

Principal Silver almost never took the step of raising a girl's skirt for a spanking. That would only be something he'd do for a repeat offender for whom a normal paddling was not working. In this case, he felt administering it on Olive's completely clothed bottom would suffice. The paddle packed quite a wallop as it was.

Once Olive was in position he stood behind her and readied the paddle. "I'm going to begin now," he said. He then raised the paddle above his head and brought it down firmly on Olive's backside. He then stood back a moment to give her some time to recover before administering the rest.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Olive was quiet as the principal spoke, lost in her own thought and worry about what was to come. She could tell, of course, based on how disappointed he appeared - and the fact that he had brought out an old paddle, too. But she could tell that he didn't want to do this, but had to out of necessity.

Nodding carefully, Olive slowly rose from her place in the chair and half-bent over the desk, with her hands on the wood. She was glad that she was allowed to keep her skirt down: at her old school, she had heard stories from other girls who'd gotten paddled, bare. (Then again, her last principal had been a woman, so nobody had said it was as inappropriate.)

When she heard him say the paddling was about to start, she shut her eyes in fear, then let out a yelp when it came down. Having never been paddled before (although she had felt the sting of a slipper and a hairbrush on more than one occasion), this was extremely painful! Thankfully, it only lasted for six swats, but by the end of it, Olive was clenching her hands into fists to keep from crying.