Cinders

~8~ Gym

He nods and takes a sip of his water.

"How you feeling?" He asks with a smirk.

I narrow my eyes and give him my snippiest response. "My ass hurts, thanks for your concern Lieutenant."

I lay back down, imagining that I'll suddenly turn into the Hulk and be able to get this guy to leave. Something tells me Taylor wouldn't be afraid of the Hulk either.

"Want me to spot you?" He asks, again ignoring my attitude.

"You can if you want."

He gets up and goes behind me, his hands close to the bar in case I need help.

"Just so you know, if you hear me dying on Monday, call the cops for me, will ya?" I say, grunting as I lift the barbells up again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Right before dad came over, mom got a call from my math teacher telling her I cheated on my last test. That's why I skipped class yesterday. I was going to get nailed. Mom informed me I'm getting it again on Monday," I explain. I have no idea why I'm telling him all of this. It's just natural to talk to him for some reason. I actually think I like him.

He helps me steady the bar back on the platform once he sees my form failing. I sit up carefully, and stretch my arms out.

"Why Monday?" He asks, simply.

"She tore me up last night. She wants to give me a few days to recoup."

"Well, that's nice of her."

I chuckle dryly. "I guess," I say rolling my eyes and standing up. "I've gotta get back. I've been here for a while, and I don't need another reason to make her mad. I'm sure she's gonna wake up soon."

He nods and pats my shoulder. "If I hear you dying on Monday, I'll call the cops."

"I appreciate it," I chuckle. He's pretty cool. I hope my mom dates him one day.

"Hey Liam," he says as I'm about to leave.

"Yeah?"

"How mad did your mom get every time she heard my music blaring?" He asks, smirking

"I had to talk her outta coming over and yelling at you several times," I say, returning the smirk.

He laughs and rubs the back of his neck. "Too bad, that might've been fun."

He continues laughing as he heads over to the treadmill and waves at me.

I wave back and head back up to the room.

Mom's still sleeping when I get back, so I take a shower and pick up my room. Maybe if my room is clean, it'll help my case.

She wakes up and takes a shower herself. When she comes back out, she seems in a little bit better mood. We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about the times I've snuck out and what I did; Who I did it with. It was embarrassing. It was hard. It was exactly what I needed... I felt freer. This secret I've been hiding from my parents for months now is out in the open.

"I'm not adding any more to your punishment, Liam—Just the spanking on Monday. We're going to start fresh after that. No more lying. No more secrets. Deal?"

"Deal," I say giving her a hug.

~*~

The rest of the weekend goes by slowly. Mom took my computer and game systems away. The only TV I'm allowed to watch is whatever mom has on—I know she had I Love Lucy on repeat just to torture me.

The boredom, mixed with the fact that I can't go to dad's is getting to me; I'm starting to get cranky. I've been snipping off to her all weekend.

In hindsight, that probably isn't my smartest choice. But you know, life sucks at the moment, so I'm taking my chances.

Monday rolls around, and I'm feeling sick to my stomach. I wasn't in any pain anymore by Sunday, but I didn't tell mom that. Once Monday hits, I'm a wreck—I'm just waiting for her to tell me it's time. I know she's dragging it out to punish me more. By 2 pm I can't take it anymore, and I just want it over with.

"Mom, can we just get it over with already?"

She chuckles out loud. "Sure, bud. Go get basketball shorts on."

"Why?"

"Because those are thinner than the jeans you're wearing."

I groan. Oh yeah, let's make this experience even more painful. Great idea.

I go and put shorts on, and then wait for her.

She comes in a few minutes later with the big paddle.

I just stare at her for a minute. "I've changed my mind. I don't wanna do it right now," I say, starting to have BIG regrets.

"Too bad," she says pointing to the bed. "Lay over the bed this time."

I go over and lay down on my stomach. I make sure to grab my pillow and put my face on it, grabbing both sides. I'm already about to cry.

"I'm tacking on an extra 10, Liam," she says quietly.

I raise my head up and look at her. "Why?"

"Last time you cheated, I told you if you ever did it again, I would make it worse. So, here we are."

"That was two years ago. I went an ENTIRE two years without cheating," I say, trying to reason with the tiny, crazy woman.

"I know that; It was originally going to be twenty. Lay down," she says. The moment to plead my case is gone. If I do anymore, I'm gonna be in even more trouble.

I lay back down and get in the same position—Waiting. I feel the first smack come down. This hurts even more than Friday! It covers my entire butt in one smack. Holy Toledo I'm in for it. I already let out a yell as I bury my head in the pillow deeper.

The second and third smack come down quickly, and I'm already shifting, trying to escape the blows.

"Liam, this is your only warning. Stay still," she says. I grab the edges of the pillow tighter and try with all my might to stay still.

After the sixth one, I lose count. Six must be the magic number where I lose my cool—I'm crying. "Please stop mom. Please."

She ignores me of course.

After a few more smacks, I hear her through my yelling. "Ok, here's your last ten."

Ten more?!? No way can I handle 10 more. But I do....Somehow. The final smack comes down and I can feel mom sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me to calm down.

I finally do, and when I sit up, I immediately wince. I'm gonna be dealing with this for days.

This was even worse than Friday.