Leah 16

Leah was ecstatic to have been invited to a party...a real party. Almost everyone in her grade would be there, and the best part...no parents. A girl named Natalie was having the party at her house...her parents were away on vacation and had actually trusted her to be left alone. Leah knew that her sister Meredith wouldn't let her go, so she and her best friend Sarah told their parents that they would be staying over at eachother's houses. It seemed like a brilliant plan at the time. John or Meredith would drive Leah to Sarah's house, where they would be picked up by an older friend who could drive, and was also attending the party.

It was a Saturday, and both Leah and Meredith spent the day at home. Leah was working on a book report and a math assignment, and Meredith was just so happy to have the day off that she didn't move from the couch, except to make another pot of coffee. In the early afternoon she noticed that a movie was coming on that both she and Leah had wanted to see.

She excitedly made her way upstairs, with their German Shepherd dog Shep at her side, and poked her head into Leah's room. Leah was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed, laptop sitting infront of her, surrounded by books.

"Soo.....guess what movie's coming on in a few minutes" Meredith said, strolling into her thirteen year-old sister's bedroom.

"Ummmm I don't know" Leah said without looking up.

"The Other Boleyn Girl!" Meredith exclaimed. Leah looked up and smiled.

"Really?"

"Really."

Leah glanced over to her tidy, strictly organized bookcase and saw her copy of The Other Boleyn Girl sitting next to The Queen's Fool and The Virgin's Lover. She was now onto The Constant Princess. This was probably her favourite series of books ever. She looked back at her computer and considered her homework. She was almost finished, and would have all of the next day to work on it.

"Sooo.....can you tear yourself away from your homework and come watch it with me?" Meredith asked hopefully.

"OKAY!!" Leah exclaimed, and got up. Together they went downstairs, stretched out on the couch, and waited for the movie to start.

This was how Leah and Meredith's relationship was normally like. They were friends, and loved eachother and being in eachother's company more than almost anything else in the world. But, on the odd occasion, they would disagree about something, and Meredith would have to play the "responsible parent" card. It wasn't something that she enjoyed, but she knew she had to do it.

They sat side by side, stretched out on the oh so comfortable leather couch in the livingroom and watched the movie. They snacked on popcorn, and discussed what was happening throughout. When it was over Meredith turned to Leah.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed.

"What? No! It completely missed the point!" Leah said.

"And just what point is that?" Meredith asked her.

"It's called "The OTHER Boleyn Girl!" Soo...the point of the book is to take notice of all the sacrifices that Mary makes for her family and for Anne. The movie was ALL about Anne!"

"But it was a good movie!" Meredith argued.

"As a movie on it's own, yes, it was good. But it missed the point of...itself!" Leah exclaimed, trying to hold back her laughter. Meredith didn't even bother trying. She burst out laughing and gently pushed Leah's arm, causing her to fall over and start laughing herself. John appeared in the doorway, and as they looked up and saw him, soaking wet, covered in snow and ice, and looking extremely serious, they laughed even harder.

"What happened to you!?" Meredith exclaimed, trying to control herself. John softened and smiled.

"It's snowing, it's raining, it's hailing, there's ice everywhere. I almost died like a hundred times on my way home" he said, shaking chunks of ice out of his hair.

"Really? Are the roads bad?" Meredith asked.

"They're horrible...like I said...I almost died"

"Leah, I think you should stay home tonight" Meredith said, looking at her sister.

"Nooo" Leah whined. "She only lives like 15 minutes away....it'll be fine"

"No, really. It's bad" John said. "I'm not going back out there"

"I'm not either" Meredith said. "Why don't you go to Sarah's tomorrow?"

"No, I HAVE to go tonight!" Leah exclaimed dramatically. "I'll see if her Mom can come pick me up."

"No, sweetie, you'll have to stay here. I don't want you out there at all" Meredith said.

"JOHN!" Leah cried desperately, looking to him for help.

"I agree, you can't get into a car, the roads are horrible. It wouldn't be safe." John confirmed.

"You guys are jerks" Leah said, and stomped out of the room.

She went upstairs to call Sarah, and together they came up with a plan. Tell Meredith and John that Sarah's mom had to come this way to pick something up anyways, and that she'd be stopping. Meanwhile, Natalie would pick Leah up on her way to pick Sarah up and nobody would know.

Leah waited until Meredith called her for supper. She wanted them to have plenty of time to feel bad about making her stay home. She sat down at the table and started eating. She waited for a lull in the conversation, and tried again.

"So I called Sarah to tell her that I couldn't come" Leah said.

"Thanks sweetie, why don't you invite her over for tomorrow?"

"Well, she said that her mom was out and is coming back this way and that she'll stop and pick me up" Leah said quickly.

"Which part of "no" exactly, did you not understand?" Meredith asked slowly.

"But she's coming this way anyways!"

"Leah....it has nothing to do with the convenience of picking you up. The issue here is that the roads aren't safe, and I don't want you out on them."

"Meredith!!" she whined.

"No, the answer is no....so call Sarah and tell her to tell her mom not to bother stopping" Meredith said firmly.

"No" Leah countered.

"Well then, that's fine. When she gets here we'll just have to tell her that she stopped for no reason because you aren't going" John said.

"Please!!!"

"No Leah! I'm sorry, but you can't! It's not that big of a deal honey, you two can do something tomorrow" Meredith said soothingly, trying to help.

Leah made a loud noise of frustration, stood up, picked up her glass of water, and purposely dropped it on the ground. The glass shattered, and water flew everywhere. John and Meredith just stared at her, too shocked to say anything. Leah left, went to her room, and slammed the door. John looked furious. He stood up, about to go after her.

"No, just leave her" Meredith said, taking hold of John's hand and pulling him back down. "Give her some space. I'll deal with it later" she said.

Later that night, after John had settled into his regular football watching, Meredith sat alone in their large bedroom on her bed, legs pulled up to her chest, with her head resting on her knees. She hated to say no to Leah, and hated it even more when, on the rare occasion such as this, Leah didn't accept her answer. She closed her eyes and a memory from her own teenage years popped into her head. A memory that she hadn't thought about in years, but it was strikingly similar to what she was dealing with now concerning Leah.

1996

Meredith was 17 years old. Leah had just been born, Addie was 10. The three girls and their parents sat around the kitchen table enjoying a late lunch together. They were all laughing and joking with eachother, and having a good time...until the phone rang. Their mother Courtney got up and answered it, and left the room to have a private conversation, while Matthew, their father, continued to entertain his girls. A few minutes later Courtney re-emerged, and sat back down at the table looking more serious than she had when she left the room.

"That was your teacher Meredith" she said.

"Oh yeah?" Meredith answered, not entirely sure where her mother was going with that.

"Yeah. She wanted to talk to me about your grades" she said.

Meredith's heart skipped a beat. She had been warned that if her grades had been affected by her numerous clubs and sports that she would be in trouble. She had been so busy lately that she hadn't bothered to study for several tests, and failed to hand in several assignments.

"What about them?" Matthew asked casually.

"Meredith, you failed two tests and didn't hand in three assignments in the past two weeks" Courtney said.

"Meredith?" Matthew asked, looking to his daughter for an answer.

"I....I was just really busy, I'm sorry Mom" Meredith said.

"What did I tell you about your grades?" Courtney asked. At first Meredith thought that the question was rhetorical, but when her mother didn't speak after several minutes, she thought it would be best to answer.

"I know, if my grades aren't good I can't do anything else" she sighed, with just a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

"That's right" Courtney said. She was never mean or harsh...just firm. "So instead of going to the football game tonight, you'll have to stay home and study. If your grades don't come up soon you'll have to quit a few things."

"Mom! I HAVE to go to the football game! I'm a cheerleader, they need me!"

"You should have thought about that earlier Meredith. I'm sorry, you'll have to miss it"

"Mom. You don't understand. If I don't go, everything will be messed up. We all have a place to be, and if I'm not in my place, everything will be off."

"I'm sorry" Courtney repeated.

"Mom!!"

"Meredith, your mother's right. You know the rules. You'll be spending your night in your room studying." Matthew said, with a sternness that sometimes scared the girls.

Meredith stood up.

"I hate you!! Nobody else's parents are like this!" she screamed, picked up her glass of Pepsi, and emphatically smashed it on the floor, and stormed out of the room.

2009
Meredith lifted her head.

"She learned that from me" she said to herself. "Even though Leah was only a baby, she saw me throw that glass, and she must have somehow remembered. Hm. What goes around comes around" she thought to herself, and once again rested her head on her knees.

1996

That night Meredith waited until her parents were busy with her two little sisters, and snuck out of the house. She made it almost halfway through the football team before she spotted her dad standing on the sidelines. When he saw that she knew he was there, he waved to her to come to him, which she did.

"Let's go Meredith"

"Dad...."

"Let's go" he said again, with a little more emphasis. She nodded her head, and followed him to the car. He yelled at her the entire way home, and once they got there, Courtney yelled at her some more. As she sat on the couch in the livingroom with both of her parents standing in front of her lecturing and scolding, she thought about how there was no way life could ever get any worse.

"I think you're in desperate need of some discipline Meredith" her mother lectured. She rolled her eyes, thinking that she would be grounded yet again, but stopped immediately when she noticed her father unbuckling his belt. Her eyes widened and she probably stopped breathing momentarily.

"It's been a long time since we've spanked you Meredith" Matthew said. "But you've shown us tonight that you're still immature and irresponsible. So I guess we'll have to start punishing you like this again" he said as he slid his belt through the loops of his pants.

"WHAT?! No way! You can't, I'm 17!!" she cried. She hadn't been spanked since she was probably thirteen or fourteen.

"Yes, you're right. You are 17, and it's a shame you can't act like it" Courtney said. "And as long as you live under our roof, we'll punish you however we see fit"

"I don't think so" Meredith countered.

"Oh, I know so" Courtney said, taking hold of Meredith's arm and pulling her up off the couch, practically against her will. She sat down and forced Meredith over her lap, fighting and screaming all the way. Courtney flipped her cheerleader skirt up and started to land sharp stinging spanks to Meredith's pantied bottom. Meredith continued to fight her mother to the point that she had to stop, twist Meredith's arm behind her, and Matthew had to sit beside her and firmly hold Meredith's legs so that she wouldn't kick her mother any more than she already had. At this point Meredith realized that she really had no choice in the matter, and that maybe if she started crying hysterically, her parents would feel sorry for her and stop. So she started crying hysterically. But her parents didn't stop. Courtney spanked Meredith's bottom until it was bright pink, and then stopped to pull down her panties.

"What are you doing?!" Meredith screamed. "Noooo!" she cried as her mother peeled the blue silk panty-shorts down to her knees.

"Meredith, I suggest you stop fighting with us and accept your punishment....unless you'd like to be punished tomorrow for fighting with us" Matthew said sternly.

"But I want you to stop!!!" Meredith cried.

"Oh we're only getting started young lady" Courtney said, and began to spank Meredith's rounded bottom. Although Meredith was outraged that her parents were spanking her, she did want it to stop because it hurt really badly, and before long, as the slapping sounds of her mother's hand making contact with her bare bottom over and over again resounded in her ears, she was crying genuine tears, and begging her mother to stop.

Finally the spanking stopped and she felt her father release her legs, and her mother lossen the grip she had on her, and helped her to her feet. Her hands immediately shot back and she started to gently rub her bottom, in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the pain. Courtney rubbed her back and Matthew smoothed her dark brown hair, and tucked a stray piece behind her ear.

"We love you Mere....we only want what's best for you" Matthew said.

"I love you too, I'm soo sorry!" she said, allowing herself to be pulled into a three-way hug. When her parents released her, she bent down to pull her panties back up.

"Not yet" Matthew said, gently catching her hand. "That was for your little glass-breaking outburst this afternoon. You have be punished for sneaking out as well Meredith. It was wrong. You disobeyed your mother and I, and we won't have it" he said. "Bend over" he said, leading her around do the arm of the couch. She reluctantly did, and, as she gripped one of the pillows on the couch for comfort, thought about how childish and exposed she felt. She was rather short for her age, so her toes didn't touch the floor, and her bare bottom was sticking up for the entire world to see. Horrible.

"I want you to keep your hands in front of you and your feet down please" Matthew said. "You could really get hurt if I accidentally hit them with the belt" Although Meredith knew that she was going to be belted, hearing it out loud made her cry fresh tears, and shake a little with fear.

Matthew moved to the side, lifted the doubled belt into the air, and brought it back down, biting into the tender flesh of Meredith's bottom, right in the middle of both cheeks. She screamed, her hands flew back to rub the spot where the belt had hit, and her legs bended at the knee, her feet flailing around in the air as she cried. Her father let this go on for several seconds, and then gently reminded her to keep her feet down and her hands in front of her. She reluctantly complied, and braced herself for the next. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before, and she didn't know if she would live through this spanking. As the belt continued to bite into her bottom and upper thighs, Meredith cried, only stopping to scream each time contact was made. Just when she was sure she was going to die, her father stopped.

"Alright sweetie, we're finished" he said gently. She lay over the couch crying for a long time before anyone tried to help her up. When they did she let herself be held by them. She didn't care that she felt like a little girl, she just wanted to be comforted by her parents. Once she had calmed down a little, she kicked her panties off, wiped some tears from her face, and whole-heartedly apologized to her parents for upsetting them so much.

"We want you to grow up to be a good responsible person Mere" Courtney said. "There are two little girls living here. Addie idolizes you, and Leah will one day too. You have to set a good example for them, and yelling at us and throwing glasses on the ground when you're angry only teaches them that behaviour like that is okay. I'm sorry that you had to learn this lesson the hard way Meredith, but I really don't want to have to punish you again. You're too old to act like you did today, so please, in the future, be more mature and responsible"

This lecture caused Meredith to cry once more, not from pain, but from guilt. She loved her parents and her sisters so much, and she really didn't intend to cause any of them distress. She wasn't thinking beyond what she wanted at the time. She went to bed that night with a very sore and striped bottom, but she learned her lesson. She never needed to be punished by her parents again.

2009
Meredith's head shot up and she leapt off her bed.

"I can't believe I didn't think about this" she thought to herself as she quickly made her way down the hall to Leah's room. She had heard what sounded like the front door opening or closing about an hour ago and just assumed that Shep was shuffling around down there. Big dogs made a lot of noise. But so did small thirteen year old girls who snuck out in order to do what they wanted........

She opened Leah's door and went in. Leah was gone.

.....to be continued