Chapter Five

There were many things that Mrs Blake hated in life, and one of them was defiance, especially from her daughter. Daphne arrived home a little after five-thirty that afternoon, and her hair was down instead of clipped behind her head. When Daphne entered the living room, she knew she was in trouble.

"You're home later than usual," Mrs Blake said. "Would you care to explain what you were doing?"

Daphne's eyes widened a little with fear.

"I-I-I was with Sebastian," Daphne said nervously. "We walked around Coolsville Park talking,"

Mrs Blake stood up quickly.

"Did you do anything else in that park?" she asked warningly.

"N-N-No," Daphne replied. "We just talked, and that was it,"

"Then why is your hair down?"

Daphne began to shake.

"H-H-He took it down again," she replied, slightly scared. "I forgot to clip it back up again. I'm sorry,"

At that moment, Mrs Blake felt pity for Daphne as she remembered her youth.

"Oh, Daphne," Mrs Blake said. "I can understand you have feelings for Sebastian, but you mustn't let those feelings control you. When it comes to love, the only feelings you should be guided by are from our Lord. He will always provide you with the best guidance when it comes to love,"

Daphne couldn't believe her mother was talking to her that way and wondered if her mother had started to change.

"I don't know how I feel about him," Daphne admitted. "He just makes me feel differently,"

"Make sure he makes you feel differently in a way that's appropriate," Mrs Blake said. "And make sure you know what you want out of life and that your father and I will approve,"

Daphne was grateful that her mother wasn't being strict, but she didn't like her life plans being talked about that way as she felt she was old enough to approve of them on her own.

XXXXX

To Daphne's astonishment, Sebastian wasn't waiting for her at the front entrance of Coolsville High when she arrived, and he wasn't anywhere to be found in the halls. She couldn't think of anywhere he could be. Then she remembered the football field. The football field was empty before school, and as Daphne walked onto it, she was surprised to see Sebastian sitting by himself with his lunchbox on the other side.

"Jeepers" Daphne said to herself. "What are you doing out there?"

Daphne began walking onto the field, and Sebastian saw her approaching him. As Daphne got closer, she saw that he was smoking, which she didn't appreciate as she didn't smoke.

"It's good to see you, darling," Sebastian said, laughing a little. "Would you like to join me?"

Daphne didn't like the way he was laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Daphne asked, feeling hurt.

"Oh, don't worry, honey," Sebastian said, laughing a little. "I'm not laughing at you,"

"Then what's so funny?" Daphne asked, getting a little annoyed.

As Daphne walked closer, she could smell the cigarette he was smoking, and the smell wasn't something she recognised. Then the truth dawned on her.

"Are you smoking marijuana?" Daphne asked, shocked.

"Yes, I am!" Sebastian replied proudly, laughing a little. "It's the best Gemonia has to offer!"

Daphne had never been in the presence of someone who was stoned before, and she didn't know how to handle it.

"You can't smoke that here!" Daphne said, shocked. "You'll get expelled!"

"Oh, come on," Sebastian argued. "It's legal in Gemonia. In fact, you could get expelled if you didn't smoke weed there,"

"It's not legal in Coolsville," Daphne argued back. "Why don't you put it out and get to class,"

Sebastian burst out laughing, and Daphne was immediately hurt.

"Yes, mommy!" Sebastian said through his laughter.

Daphne had heard enough, and she wouldn't tolerate it anymore.

"Go to Hell!" she said as she turned around.

"Wait a second!" Sebastian said urgently. "Why don't you try some? It'll be a great experience for you!"

Daphne turned around quickly.

"I'm not interested!" she said furiously. "I have to get to class, and you should get to class, too and I hate being laughed at by stoners!"

Daphne turned around and walked away. A moment later, she heard Sebastian walking behind her, but she refused to turn around. Then Sebastian walked in front of her with his opened lunchbox.

"Wait a second," Sebastian said. "I'm sorry,"

"So am I," Daphne replied. "I thought you were different,"

"Will you accept an apology gift from me," he said.

Sebastian took out a small chocolate cookie.

"There are strawberries in the center of the cookie," Sebastian said. "They're a delicacy in Gemonia, and I would love for you to try one. It would mean the world to me if you did,"

Although Sebastian was stoned, Daphne could recognise the sincerity in his voice. She took out a cookie from his lunchbox.

"Okay, I'll try one," Daphne said. "But I don't like being around people that are drunk or stoned,"

"Okay, I'll try to remember that," Sebastian said.

Then he grabbed her right hand and kissed it quickly, which gave Daphne a thrill.

"I'm sorry, darling," Sebastian said.

"Thank you," Daphne said replied.

Daphne turned around and walked away. Once she was out of earshot, Sebastian laughed a little more.

XXXXX

History was Daphne's second class of the day, and one particular ingredient of Sebastian's cooking had well and truly taken effect on her. Daphne entered the classroom giggling, and she sat in her regular seat. None of her classmates talked to her, but they couldn't help but notice how much Daphne was giggling. A moment later, the History Teacher, an African American man with brown eyes in his mid-forties, entered the classroom.

"Hello, class," the History Teacher said. "I have an amazing class to teach you today about the civil rights movement,"

"Wow!" Daphne said, impressed. "Did you hear that? He's going to teach us history! That's so cool!"

The History Teacher smiled, unsure as he had never seen any of his students so enthusiastic.

"Thank you, Daphne," the History Teacher said patiently. "Now, if we'll all get started-"

"Yeah, let's get started!" Daphne interrupted enthusiastically.

All the students were now looking at Daphne as they hadn't seen her like that before.

"We'll take out our textbooks," the History Teacher continued.

Daphne and the students took out their textbooks. Fred was sitting next to her, and as soon as Daphne saw that he had taken out a textbook, she grabbed it and stood up in front of the class. She held Fred's textbook in her left hand and her book in her right.

"His-to-ry!" Daphne chanted as she raised each book up and down above her head. "His-to-ry! It'll be with us for e-tern-i-ty! Woo!"

"Oh, my God!" a female student in the back row exclaimed. "Church Girl's stoned!"

"Daphne, that's enough!" the History Teacher shouted.

Daphne looked at the History Teacher, surprised, and then she looked at her classmates.

"Wow!" Daphne said, surprised. "I think our teacher's in a bad mood!"

The classmates laughed. The one classmate who wasn't laughing was Fred. The History Teacher looked at Fred.

"Fred, could you take Daphne to the nurse?" the History Teacher asked.

"Yes, sir," Fred replied.

Daphne did a cartwheel across the room, going left to right. After she was finished, her hair was unclipped. Then Fred walked up to Daphne and grabbed her left shoulder.

"Wow, my hair fell down!" Daphne said.

"Come on, Daphne," Fred said, patient. "Let's go,"

"Wait a second," Daphne replied. "I just want to say one more thing to the guys,"

Fred ignored that request and began to drag Daphne out of the classroom.

"I might get into trouble about this from my mommy because she's a fucking bitch!" Daphne said. "So, keep it a secret, okay? Shhhhhhhhhh!"

As Fred dragged Daphne out of the classroom, the laughter from their classmates was deafening, and Fred felt so sorry for Daphne as he had suspected what she would face from her mother.

XXXXX

During her history class, Daphne was high as a kite and on top of the world thanks to the marijuana in the cookie Sebastian had given her. But the hours had passed, and Daphne was no longer stoned. She was in the church and terrified of the emergency meeting arranged by Mrs Blake. Daphne was terrified as she stood backstage with Mrs Blake and Mr Blake.

"Darling, please don't do this," Mr Blake reasoned. "Just let it go,"

"Just let it go?" Mrs Blake asked back, insulted. "Did your daughter call you a fucking bastard when she was stoned today? Did she make a fool out of you and herself?"

"I'm well aware of what happened, but for the sake of my election, you can't involve Sebastian," Mr Blake said.

Mrs Blake couldn't believe the lengths her husband was going after her reputation had been ruined.

"Don't involve Sebastian?" Mrs Blake argued. "He's the one that got our daughter stoned!"

"I know that, but what's done is done, and I'm begging you to call off this emergency meeting!" Mr Blake replied desperately.

"Not for anything in the world," Mrs Blake said coldly before she looked at Daphne. "You're going to face punishment for what you did today, and I don't care if you were stoned. No one disrespects me! Do you understand that?"

Daphne nodded quickly as Mrs Blake took a step closer to her.

"And don't even think about crying because you won't get any sympathy from me or anyone out there!" Mrs Blake threatened.

Without saying anything, Mrs Blake walked out onto the stage and behind the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a plague in this town, and it's drugs," Mrs Blake said. "It's a plague that involved my own daughter today, and she is going to be punished for it, but there's an assurance that I want to make clear to you. Once my husband is the new Mayor of Coolsville, he will get rid of it and ensure that no teenager, especially my own daughter, will fall under its influence again. Now, it's unfortunate that Daphne fell under its influence today, and she will be punished before all of you tonight,"

Daphne just wanted to run, but she knew she couldn't do that, and she couldn't help but look at the chair that had been placed in the center of the stage. She assumed that her mother would cut her hair again, but to her confusion, Mrs Blake walked to the chair and sat on it instead. Then, Mrs Blake looked in Daphne's direction.

"Daphne, get out here!" Mrs Blake shouted.

Daphne walked onto the stage.

"Bend over my knees," Mrs Blake said.

"What?" Daphne asked without thinking and was confused.

"I said get over my knees!" Mrs Blake shouted.

Without wasting any more time, Daphne bent over her mother's knees. Then, Mrs Blake lifted her skirt and began to spank Daphne quickly. Every time her hand hit her buttocks, it hurt, and she began to cry. Daphne didn't know what was worse: The pain or humiliation of being spanked publicly.