Willow Academy (Spanking Story)

Chapter 9, Part 1: Penny's POV

"How did we go from you saying 'So I think I'm gonna join the soccer team' to me and you walking out onto the soccer field together?" Caroline asked me as we came out of the girls' locker room in the girls' soccer team practice jerseys.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. "You said that you wanted to join the team too."

"Wrong—you forced me to join."

"...I prefer to think of it as convincing you to join."

"Either way, why was I the one that was dragged into it?"

"Because Torryn's on the field hockey team and Julia's on the debate team, so they can't do it."

"I should of gone with Julia when I had the chance," Caroline mumbled.

"Plus, you're the one that said you wanted to be more active," I reminded her.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to become a hardcore athlete. I mean, have you seen the athletes at this school? They're intense!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes I have. I happen to be related to one, remember? And don't sweat it—I'm sure training isn't that intense."

As we walked across the field, there were some girls on the team that were playing keep away from each other. This wasn't just your typical pass-the-ball-to-each-other kind of keep away ... it was bump-shoulders-and-put-your-butt-in-their-gut kind of keep away, a much, much rougher looking version that ended up with one of the girls actually hitting the ground.

"I'm sure training isn't that intense," Caroline mimicked.

"Well like I told you, Coach Merrill said that they could use some extra subs, so we probably won't even play that much."

"I hope you're right," she said.

It was then that I noticed Emmett talking to Marcus on the boys' side of the field. He looked even cuter than usual in his boys team practice jersey—jeez, I didn't think it'd be possible for that boy to look any cuter.

"So that's the real reason you wanted to join," Caroline said, breaking the angelic moment I was having looking at Emmett. I looked at her to see that she was now looking at him with a smirk on her face.

"I happen to really enjoy soccer," I said. Caroline raised an eyebrow. "... Okay, and it doesn't hurt that Emmett's out here too." I figured joining the soccer team was a perfect excuse to see Emmett more, and possibly hang out with him. I mean who knows, once I secure my spot on the team, maybe I'll be able to convince Coach Merrill and Coach Tristan to talk Cooper and the other boys coaches into letting the guys and girls practice together every once in a while—a girl can dream, can't she?

"You do realize that he's on the boys team, and we're on the girls?"

"I know. But the girls soccer team shares the field with the boys team, and that's good enough for me."

"I swear you two ..." Caroline let her sentence trail off.

"What?"

"Why don't you two just date already? We all know that you like each other—it's not like you two are very good at hiding it from us."

"I'm not trying to hide it from you guys." I then looked over to the boys' side of the field in search of Cooper, but I couldn't find him. "It's my overprotective, overbearing brothers that I'm trying to hide it from." Cooper knew that I had joined the soccer team—I had to ask permission from at least one of my brothers, and I figured that it made the most sense to ask him. I think Ben knew too, because Cooper usually tells him everything. Dana and I never really resolved things after the whole lunch detention debacle—he still had my cell phone—so I didn't know, nor care, if he knew.

"Does that include Owen?"

I sighed as I sat down on what had been dubbed the "girls bench" and put on my shin guards. I looked towards the boys' side of the field to see Owen taking some practice penalty kicks on goal by himself. I knew that Owen had a powerful kick, but I could still tell that he was taking out his frustration out on the ball based on how high and hard he was kicking it. We weren't on the best of terms at the moment. "I don't know."

Caroline sat down next to me. "You guys still aren't talking, hunh?"

"I mean we kinda are ... but ever since the whole lunch detention thing I told you about a few weeks ago, things have just been weird between us."

"Well I'm sure everything will work itself out between you guys."

I looked down and pulled up my socks. This certainly wasn't the first fight Owen and I had been in with each other, but this one just felt different, struck me differently. "Yeah ... hopefully," I told her.

"Hey, Penny," a familiar voice suddenly said. I looked up to see a smiling Emmett standing in front of me.

"Oh hey," I said, happily standing up. "What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"

"Just thought I'd come over and say hi," Emmett said. "And welcome you and Caroline to the field."

"I think you meant to say 'welcome you and Caroline to Hell,'" Caroline said, pulling her water bottle out of her backpack and taking a drink.

"Well that was nice of you," I said. "But I don't want you to get in trouble. I may be new around here, but I know that Coach Kherrington isn't too keen on the boys mingling with the girls during practice time."

"Well then it's a good thing practice hasn't started yet," Emmett said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Fair enough, but it'd still look pretty bad if he saw you over here on the girls' side talking to us."

"You make it sound like you don't want me over here," Emmett said fake pouting. At least I thought he was faking.

"I mean I do, but—" I sighed and shook my head. "Lemme walk you back to your side."

"Oh how nice of you," Emmett said.

I rolled my eyes again. "I'll be right back, Caroline."

"So what made you want to join the soccer team?" Emmett asked me as we were walking back over to the invisible line that divided the boys' side of the field from the girls'.

"Oh, well you know how much I love soccer," I said.

"Well if you love soccer so much, why didn't you just join at the beginning of the season?"

"I don't know," I said smiling and shrugging my shoulders. "I guess a certain someone opened my eyes to how much I love the game."

"Well I guess that's what happens when your brother is coach of the school's soccer team."

"I never said it was Cooper."

"Oh ... Owen then?"

"I never said it was any of my brothers."

Emmett smirked as we both stopped walking once we reached the field line. "Hunh, guess my good influence is rubbing off on you."

"Hold your horses," I said, matching his smirk and crossing my arms. "I never said it was you either, Mr. Chivas USA." I could tell that hurt Emmett's ego a little bit. I took a step closer to him. "Then again, I never said it wasn't."

Emmett rolled his eyes and smiled. "You're impossible, Kherrington."