My heart races as I step into the gymnasium, a sea of blue and white graduation gowns swirling around me. The air is thick with anticipation and the scent of cheap cologne and hairspray. I clutch my sparkling rhinestone heels in one sweaty hand, my bare feet sinking into the polished floor. This is it - the moment we’ve all been dreading and secretly craving since freshman year.

The stage looms ahead, a dark and imposing beast. The stocks stand tall and proud in the center, their wooden boards gleaming under the spotlights like they’re eager for another virgin sacrifice. My stomach churns at the sight of them, bile rising in my throat. I’ve heard stories, of course. Whispered rumors passed between giggling cliques in the locker room about what happens on that stage. But hearing it and actually seeing those stocks...

I push through the crowd, weaving between my classmates like a salmon swimming upstream against the current. Laughter rings out behind me, someone’s hand squeezing my ass as I pass. I yelp, nearly dropping my shoes in surprise. My face flames red with embarrassment.

“Penny Pucker!” a familiar voice calls out from somewhere in the crowd. I turn to see Jake Thompson grinning at me, his eyes hungry like a wolf scenting fresh meat. “Careful there, little Miss Perfect. Don’t want to fall into those stocks before they’re even cold.”

A chill runs down my spine despite the heat of the room. I quicken my pace, heart pounding against my rib cage as I finally reach the relative safety of the girl’s dressing room.

The other girls are already there, huddled together in tight knots like frightened rabbits. Makeup streaks down cheeks, mascara smeared into raccoon masks. They fall silent when I enter, all eyes turning to me.

“Penny,” Jess, my best friend since kindergarten whispers. “Oh god, Penny.”

I nod dumbly, unable to speak around the lump in my throat. Around us, the music begins to throb, a deep bass beat that seems to vibrate through the very walls. It’s time.

We line up outside the gym door, hands trembling as we grasp each other for support. The crowd roars like a hungry beast when the doors open, the sound nearly knocking me off my heels. I cling to Jess like a lifeline as they herd us onto the stage, under the blinding glare of those spotlights.

The principal stands tall at the podium, his bald head gleaming like an egg. He clears his throat, waiting for silence from the rabid crowd. When it finally falls, he unfolds a piece of paper with shaking hands.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he begins in a booming voice. “It’s time to choose our ... graduation relief girl.”

My breath hitches as he tears open the envelope, his ancient fingers fumbling with the seal. Around me, girls sway on their heels, some openly sobbing into their hands. I stand frozen, knees locked, prayers flying out of my mouth so fast they run together.

Not me not me please God let it be anyone but me...

“Penny Marie Pucker!” the principal bellows.

The world stops.

No. No no no no no.

My name echoes around the gymnasium like a death knell, swallowed up by the roar of the crowd. Hands grab at my arms, dragging me forward as I kick and scream and claw at anything that gets in my way.

“Please!” I beg, tears streaming down my face. “Anything but this! Please!”

But no one is listening anymore. They only hear the primal beat of the base, smell the exciting scent of debauchery in the air. The hands drag me up onto the stage, push me roughly into the stocks and I hear the click of the locks sliding home.

I’m trapped.

Oh god ... what have I done to deserve this?

The crowd howls like wild animals as the principal walks to me on the stage, a sick grin spreading across his weathered face. He removes his glasses slowly, folding them with deliberate care before setting them aside on a nearby table. The action sends a shiver of dread down my spine.

“Well well well,” he chuckles darkly, circling me like a vulture. “Look who the lottery chose this year.”

His hand lands hard across my bare asscheek, the sound reverberating through the gymnasium. I scream, body jerking against the stocks as pain explodes across my skin. Tears spill down my cheeks at the humiliating contact.

“Such a good little girl all year,” he taunts, punctuating each word with another stinging slap to my reddening flesh. “A+ in every subject, president of every club. Never got detention once, did you Penny?”

Tears flow freely down my face as I sob into the wood grain of the stocks. This isn’t fair! All those late nights studying, all those service projects just to be ... to be what? Punished like a dog for being good?

Another smack rings out across my other cheek and I cry out again, body writhing helplessly in its wooden prison. He grips my hip hard enough to leave bruises as he yanks me back against him.

“Such an obedient little girl,” his breath hot on my ear. “But not tonight, Penny dear.”

He hoists up my gown and I feel the cool air hit my bare skin before his palm cracks across my ass again. This time lower, dangerously close to where no one’s ever touched me before. I whimper, shame burning through every fiber of my being.

“Please,” I beg pitifully as he grabs handfuls of my ass and kneads them roughly apart. “I’ll do anything!”

My dress is suddenly ripped from my body in one mighty, painful yank, and his answer to my plea is a cruel twist of his fingers around my sensitive nipples. I howl in agony, back arching against him as he pinches and pulls until I see stars dancing behind my eyes.

“Anything?” His voice drips with mock innocence. “Oh Penny...”

And then he’s inside me, tearing through my virginity like it means nothing at all. I’m too shocked to scream even as pain rips through my core. He pounds into me mercilessly, each thrust driving the air from my lungs in desperate gasps.

“You think you’re better than us?” he growls against my neck, hips slamming against mine with brutal force. “You think you’re too good for this school? For this town?”

He pulls back just to slam into me again harder than before and I can’t stop the animalistic moan that rips from deep within. Shame burns through every inch of my body as pleasure mixes with pain, unwanted heat blossoming between my thighs.

Oh god, what is wrong with me?

“I’ll teach you a lesson then,” he snarls, fingers digging into my hips hard enough to leave marks. “I’ll fuck the perfect little princess right out of you.”

Tears stream down my face as his cock drives deeper than I ever thought possible, each punishing thrust striking something so raw and primal inside me that I can’t help but push back against him like a wanton whore. The crowd’s howls echo in time with the slap of skin on skin, their animalistic roars spurring us both on.

I’m ruined. Defiled. Broken.

But oh god, it feels so good...

The sun is cruel as it bleeds through the bedroom curtains, stabbing at my eyes like needles. I hiss in pain, burying my face into the pillow as memories of the night before come flooding back in waves - the sting of leather against bare skin, the burn of unwanted penetration, the jeering faces of my classmates, and the horrible, humiliating orgasms that had me cry out in pleasure...

Oh god.

I peel myself off the bedsheets, body protesting with every movement. Sore muscles scream in protest, bruises blooming across my hips and thighs like black and blue flowers. My legs shake as I try to stand, collapsing onto the floor with a pitiful whimper before I even make it two steps.