Linda stood, facing the headmistress across the wide, wooden desk, trembling slightly under the stern gaze of the woman. On the desk between them lay the cigarette packet and the cigarette, now extinguished.
"What have you got to say for yourself, Linda?"
"Please, Ma’am, I wasn’t smoking. I was..."
"Stop! This offence is serious enough without having to hear your lies."
"But I wasn’t. I..."
"That’s enough! Clearly you take me for a fool. Now, you know what the punishment for smoking is!"
Linda knew. It was a first offense, so she wouldn’t get the ultimate. Just loss of her blouse and bra. But even that was too much for the youngster. She couldn’t let people see her topless, could she?
"Now you will lose your blouse and bra for a week," the headmistress said. "Take them off now."
Linda gazed at her in despair. "But I wasn’t smoking," she insisted. "Someone..."
"Right!" barked the woman. "I’ve had enough of this. You know the penalty for smoking, yet you chose not to take it. The penalty for lying is worse, as you know."
"But I..." Linda stared at her in horror. "You can’t mean..."
"Loss of all clothing and underwear for two weeks. Now place them on my desk!"
"But I..."
"Any further argument and the penalty is doubled. Now, you have one minute."
Linda felt the panic rising inside her. She was trapped now. Whoever had intended this trick had got even more than she had bargained for. She stared pleadingly at the woman, but only got a stony stare back. Her fingers shaking, she reached for the buttons of her blouse.
Linda felt her cheeks burning as she pulled the blouse open, revealing the white cotton bra she wore underneath. She placed the blouse on the headmistress’s desk, then her hands dropped to her dark skirt, pulling down the zipper and letting it fall to her feet. She picked it up and placed it with the blouse.
There was a full length mirror on the wall beside her, and the image of her standing in this businesslike study wearing only her underwear sent a shiver through the youngster.
"Come on!"
Feeling tears welling in her eyes, Linda reached behind her and unhooked her bra. As she let it fall from her firm young breasts she was only too aware of the stiffness of her nipples, protruding forward like hard brown nuts as she felt the woman’s gaze upon them. She hooked her thumbs into her panties.
It was at that moment that she remembered her complete lack of pubic hair. She froze as she thought of the totally sluttish appearance of her sex.
"Linda, you have five seconds, or the punishment doubles!"
"But I..."
"Five seconds! Four... three!"
With a small moan of despair, the lovely young teenager pulled her pants down over her legs and off. As she straightened, she heard a gasp of surprise from the woman.
"Well I never! What kind of girl are you?"
Linda’s cheeks burned. She wanted to say what had happened, but couldn’t bring herself to do so. All she could do was stand, her head hung in shame, her denuded body on open view.
The headmistress stared at her for a short time longer, and then shook her head.
"Well, if that’s how you choose to look, it’s up to you," she said. "Now I suggest you take a quiet half hour in the school contemplating what a wicked girl you are before you return to your house."
Linda knew this was the nearest thing she could expect to an act of kindness. The school would be deserted at this time of day, with the boarders back in their houses and the day girls having left. Still, it was little comfort to her as she turned and caught sight of herself in the mirror, her nakedness accentuated by the sensible shoes and socks that she still wore.
"Go on, off you go. And remember, under punishment you must act in exactly the same way as if you were fully clothed."
"Y-yes Ma’am."
All Linda’s instincts told her to cover herself with her hands. To sneak out of the headmistress’s study and scuttle to the nearest cover. But she knew that, to do so under the watchful eye of the schoolmistress would be to invite further punishment, and she dare not do that. Walking stiffly, only too aware of how she looked, the lovely young teenager opened the door and stepped out.