Chapter 5

Maddie’s bedroom was a lively chaos of laughter and playful shrieks as she and her friends enjoyed their night in having a pyjama party. She wore a floral-patterned teddy. The garment was snug up her crotch, the hem riding high on her hips and revealing more of her legs than she was used to showing. The midriff ended just below her breasts, leaving her stomach and belly button exposed.

She and her friends were chattering and discussing boys and the coming holidays, giggling in their underwear.

“I’m going to snog some Spanish boy this summer, I reckon,” Susan declared confidently, running her hands through her dark brown hair. She wore a bold pair of blue panties that sat low on her hips, exposing her navel so much the others wondered that she must be shaving herself to wear them. “No local boys for me,” she added with a mischievous grin.

Anna, her raven-black hair shining under the soft light, pouted “I reckon Danny will ask me out soon.” She wore a flowing nightie that occasionally revealed glimpses of her white underwear as she shifted, unbothered by the casual exposure. He’s been staring at me in class all the time.”

“God, I have to pee. Maddie, where’s your bathroom?” Susan asked, jumping off the bed and smoothing down her tiny crop top.

“Just down the hall, second door on the left,” Maddie replied quickly, grateful for the sudden interruption. She let out a small breath of relief, she hated these kinds of conversations.

Susan made her way down the corridor, only to nearly collide with Dr Gerry McAllister emerging from the bathroom.

“Hello, miss,” Gerry greeted with a beaming smile. He was clad in a loosely tied dressing gown that swayed as he moved, offering a glimpse of his bare chest, and maybe something else beneath. Susan’s cheeks flushed instantly as her eyes darted away.

“Err ... hello, Dr. McAllister,” she stammered. Her crop top and tiny blue panties suddenly felt like the most inappropriate outfit in the world.

Gerry’s eyes seemed to linger just a moment too long as he quipped, “I thought maybe you’d forgotten your clothes.”

Susan’s face burned even hotter. “Sorry, no ... I’m ... er, okay,” she mumbled, fumbling over her words as she quickly brushed past him into the bathroom. ‘What a creep’ she thought.

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom, the girls were talking about their parents’ punishments.

“My dad just calls me a brat and stops my pocket money,” Sarah, the tallest, said, twirling a lock of her frizzy hair.

“My mother’s worse,” Maddie chimed in with a nervous giggle. “She ... uh ... still spanks me sometimes.”

“What?” Anna and Sarah blurted out in unison, their heads snapping toward Maddie in shock.

Maddie hesitated, realizing too late that she’d opened a can of worms. “It’s not like ... all the time,” she stammered, her cheeks flushing crimson. “Just, you know, when I’ve eaten loads of sweets or chocolates. She says she doesn’t want me getting fat. Stuff like that.”

The room fell silent for a beat, her friends staring at her with wide eyes. Maddie squirmed under their scrutiny, wishing she could take the words back.

“Maddie, that is so weird,” Anna finally said, breaking the silence with a bluntness that made Maddie cringe.

“Yeah, seriously,” Sarah added, her tone incredulous. “That’s, like, illegal, isn’t it? And for eating sweets? You’re as skinny as a rake!”

Maddie shrugged, staring at the floor, her face burning with embarrassment.

Just then, Susan walked back into the room, her usual bubbly energy gone. She was quiet now, her gaze fixed on the floor.