✅ A Dose of Humiliation

16. First Boost

"I'm sorry, Lorna," Mum shrugged and gave a sheepish shrug as the syringe bleeped in her hand and she pulled it away. "But everyone tells me that we need to be consistent with punishments if you are to learn. Your father told you yesterday that you would have your punishment extended if you are late for school."

"I haven't been late!" I yelled. "What the hell are you doing?" I could already feel the dull ache of the drug rushing through my veins; from my arm up to my heart, and then spreading out in a starburst through my body. I shivered for a second, the muscles contracting as the wave of pressure passed through them, before it settled down in my abdomen. It didn't really hurt this time, and the tingling faded in five or ten minutes, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the feelings of betrayal.

"Don't lie to us, baby," Dad's voice overruled any attempt to explain or discuss. "We went to your school this morning. To find what had happened to you after last night. You cannot believe how worried we were."

"Why? It's not like I've never–"

"Things are different now we know all the things you've been getting up to and the youths you spend time with. So we had to be sure you are safe. We went to your school, and we spoke to your form tutor. He told us that he hadn't seen you. And although I hate to punish you so soon, we have agreed that we will follow through on our promises. Any time you are late to school, your punishment will extend by two weeks. And remember that even after your graduation, you do not have adult autonomy as long as an ongoing punishment lasts. So you need to start behaving. How many times have you been late or absent from your classes without our knowledge?"

"I can't remember any times. But as you don't believe anything I say, why don't you call the school?"

"You don't talk to me like that young lady. We have given you every freedom, and you turn around and spit in my face. Well, no longer. How about you tell us right now every time you have missed a class this year. Then we will call the school, and if there are any you neglected to mention, you get your punishment extended by one week for each incident. Will you agree to that as a fair situation? You agree to your punishment? I thought not."

"Sure," I said with a shrug. "I was one period late yesterday morning, because of a medical appointment. There was one where I had to leave school early for my eye screening, because there were no appointments available outside school hours. And I think–" I racked my memory, trying to recall if there were any other times. "I can't remember any other medical ones this year, but you usually call the school with those so you should know as well as I do. I think there might have been one time... I ran to the shops to pick up the right kind of medicated dressings after one of the girls found poison ivy on the way to school. I missed morning registration, and if I'd gone to the nurse's office for a permission slip I would probably have missed twenty minutes of economics as well. Not sure, but I think I might have forgotten to get the record corrected later."

"And that's all? You didn't mention missing this morning yet. What's your excuse there?"

"John, please," Mum tried to calm him down. "We've already given her one penalty. I don't think this will accomplish anything more."

"Tomas, call the school," Dad barked, shutting down any argument instantly. There was a brief pause while his phone did whatever it did to make sense of a spoken command, and then an electronic voice came from the car's speakers, sounding somewhat tinny compared to Serena's high-end audio system.

"School colours are the colours chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. Most schools have two–"

"Tomas, shut up," Dad snapped again, while I managed to giggle a little even in my current situation.