Chapter Text
Hannah Owens and Ruth Underwood were friends and high school seniors attending a party at the home of their classmate, Meg Adams. After the party, Ruth would be spending the night at Hannah’s house.
The party didn’t have a whole lot of people there, and Meg’s parents were upstairs, although they were also pretty lax.
Hannah had been talking to her friend Grace when she noticed that Ruth, who had been standing next to her a few moments earlier, was gone.
“Grace, did you see which way Ruth went?” Hannah asked.
“No, I didn’t,” Grace said. Grace, like Hannah, knew that Ruth could be…impulsive, so at a party hosted by a girl with parents who had very few rules, it was important to find her.
The two headed off, sometimes asking friends or classmates who knew Ruth if they’d seen her.
Finally, a girl named Lisa, who was talking with her boyfriend Evan, told them she’d seen Ruth go out on the balcony with Meg and her cousin, Eileen.
Hannah and Grace went to the balcony to find the three girls smoking.
Well, shit. Ruth definitely wasn’t supposed to be doing that.
Hannah pushed open the balcony door.
“Ruth! There you are. My mom just called and um…we need to get home. My sister needs the car for an emergency with her boyfriend’s family.”
She probably could have come up with a lie that was less…dire, but she needed to get Ruth out of there.
Ruth looked concerned and put the cigarette in the ash tray.
“Uh…I’ve got to go. Thanks, Meg. Bye Eileen. I’ll see you guys at school.”
Hannah and Ruth said goodbye to Grace and headed out.
“What happened with Sarah’s boyfriend’s family?” Ruth asked.
Hannah sighed as she pulled into the street Meg lived on.
“Nothing, Ruth Ann.”
“You mean you lied about that? Hannah, that’s awful. Why?”
“I could’ve thought of a less extreme excuse, and I’m sorry. But for fuck’s sake, Ruth! What would your parents do if they found out you were smoking tonight?”
Ruth said nothing.
“It would be a more extreme punishment than what I’m going to give you, that’s for damn sure.”
Ruth shivered despite the warm night.
She and Hannah had an…arrangement of sorts. Basically, they’d spank each other with a wooden spoon for making bad decisions. Ruth had spanked Hannah, too, but she was the one who was more impulsive, and had gotten more spankings.
The rest of the drive was quiet. Hannah pulled into her driveway.
The girls went inside and made their way to the basement where their stuff was.
Of course, Hannah’s mother happened to be in the living room and wanted to ask about the party.
“It was fine, Mom,” Hannah said. “But…we decided to leave early because it was getting kind of loud.”
The Owens family kitchen led to the basement door, so Ruth watched with horror as Hannah retrieved the wooden spoon from the drawer and dropped it in her purse before opening the basement door.
“Let’s go,” Hannah said firmly.
Soon, both girls were in their pajamas.
“I want to watch a movie or something, but first: discipline,” Hannah said.
Hannah grabbed a chair from the card table where she played games with her siblings or friends and turned it towards a corner of the basement.
“Sit,” Hannah told Ruth. “I’ll set a timer for fifteen minutes.”
“What if someone comes down here?” Ruth asked, trying to delay her punishment.
Hannah shook her head.
“Mom never comes down here, Dad is on a business trip, Sarah is spending the night with Grandma, and Gabriel is at a sleepover too.”
Ruth sighed and sat down. They always made the other person sit in “timeout” for a while before administering a spanking. It’s what their parents had done when they were younger, and damn it if it didn’t make it even worse - having to wait longer to have your ass pummeled.
Hannah set the timer and set the spoon aside. She sat down on the couch and checked her emails/texts. She played Candy Crush, and scrolled through Instagram.
Finally, the timer beeped.
“Come here, Ruth Ann,” Hannah said.
Ruth got up and stood in front of Hannah.
“You are getting this spanking because you were smoking at Meg’s party which might just be the most irresponsible thing you’ve ever done. You’re lucky you’re spending the night at my house tonight because I’m pretty sure if your dad found out about this you’d be grounded for a month. Now, get over my lap.”
Ruth did so. Hannah gave her a few warm up swats with her hand over her pajama pants, and then picked up the wooden spoon.
Hannah wasted no time in making use of the wooden spoon. Ruth squirmed a little bit but stopped when Hannah scolded her. They were eighteen, so eighteen swats would be administered.
And finally, much to Ruth’s relief, Hannah was done.
“Get up, Ruthie,” Hannah said gently.
Slowly, Ruth stood, and Hannah did too.
She offered her friend a hug.
“I care about you, you know,” Hannah said. “I’d rather you not get lung cancer.”
Ruth smiled slightly. “I know. It was stupid.”
Hannah shrugged.
“Sure, but I bet you won’t do it again.” She gave Ruth a light swat on the bottom with her hand.
Ruth jumped but nodded. “No ma’am.”
“I have some lotion in my purse here,” Hannah said. “It’s lavender. Can I put it on you?”
Ruth was fine with that. They’d gotten dressed in front of each other numerous times - and last summer they went skinny dipping with Grace. Hannah had made her bottom hurt, and that was the person she wanted to make it all better.
Once the girls had hugged, Hannah had applied
the lotion to Ruth’s red bottom and rubbed her back for a bit, they settled in to watch Clueless, a favorite of both.
Hannah eventually went upstairs to make some popcorn and get lemonade, and the girls enjoyed their snacks and movie nestled up together under a blanket.
And Ruth never touched a cigarette again.