Julieta
Aly Wagner folded her arms across her chest, glaring disapprovingly at her protegee. "Where have you been?"
"Um. Hi, Aly?" Julie tried. "I, um...spent the night at Stanford?"
Aly marched Julie out of the parking lot and up to the villa, leaving Lisa behind. "I'm pregnant and I haven't had my coffee yet," she told Julie.
"Neither of which can possibly be classed as my fault."
Aly glared daggers at Julie. "For someone who's just had her bottom roasted you aren't acting nearly contrite enough."
Julie stopped short. "How did you know about that?" she demanded, blushing.
"Kelley."
"Traitor," Julie muttered.
"No, sensible," Aly corrected. "She would want me to know so I didn't immediately start on you." She paused significantly before speaking again.
"So let me get this straight, Johnston. You - the team's straight and narrow good girl, star player, U20 captain, you of all people accompany your boyfriend to his pro day party and end up passing out from underage drinking."
Julie wanted to sink through the floor as Aly spelled out her crimes.
"Yes ma'am."
Aly sighed heavily, pushing Julie ahead of her back into the townhouse and up toward Julie's bedroom. It was a single, thankfully, mostly so Julie's roommates didn't intrude on her quiet time.
Which she would be having plenty of for the next little while. "You're going to sit down at your desk, and write for me," Aly said, removing the cushion from Julie's chair pointedly.
Julie grimaced, but seated herself, taking out her spiral notebook and a blue pen.
"Fifty times, "I will be good to myself."
Julie looked up. "What?"
"Was that not clear enough, Johnston?" Aly demanded, sitting on Julie's bed.
"No, ma'am, it's just....I was expecting something else."
"Worry about this one first."
Julie turned back to her lines, applying herself diligently, though she couldn't help squirming on the hard wooden chair. As she worked on the lines - pausing every so often to flex her fingers, though Aly didn't object - Julie tried not to think about what could possibly be coming next.
Outside her closed door, the muted hum of the townhouse filling with activity again made Julie sigh.
Her roommates were home.
"Ignore them," Aly ordered.
"Yes ma'am," Julie said quietly, and finished her lines.
Aly took the paper and looked it over, checking each one. By the time she was finished, Aly heard footsteps on the stairs coming toward Julie's room.
Julie froze, eyes round with apprehension as someone knocked at the door.
"Come in," Aly said, without looking around.
Julie scuttled back to sit gingerly on her bed, looking warily at the door as it opened.
On the other side, Bianca Henninger stepped through, and Julie's stomach dropped as she eyed the former Broncos goalkeeper.
"Um, hi, Bianca?"
Bianca crossed the room, her gaze taking Julie in as if assuring herself Julie was all there and intact.
"So you are back in one piece, Julieta. What do you have to say for yourself, hermanita, hmm?"
"I dunno why you're here," Julie mumbled, squirming.
"Oh no?" Bianca sat down beside Julie, turning the girl to face her. "I think yes, you do, hermanita. What do we say about keeping the rules on this team, hmm?"
Julie sucked in her lower lip, and Bianca tapped it, shaking her head.
Sighing, Julie stared at her lap. "I really messed up."
"To put it mildly." Bianca rolled her eyes. "I have this, Coach, alright?"
"Alright," Aly agreed.
"Aly's too pregnant to want to deal with me," Julie mumbled.
"Oh, is that so? Maybe you count yourself lucky on that, hmm?" Bianca raised her eyebrows. "I only need my hand to make my point."
Julie buried her face in her hands. "Bianca..."
Bianca shook her head, and watched Aly as she left them alone in Julie's room. "Aly got hold of me after Kelley contacted her," she explained. "So you went to Zach's party, lied about your birthday--"
"I didn't!" Julie snapped. "I just...forgot to remind Zach. Or his friends."
Bianca's eyebrows went up. "And omitting information is...."
Julie's shoulders slumped. "Lying."
"So, you lied to Zach and his friends, Julieta," Bianca said sternly. "Then, you accepted drinks you knew you should not be having."
"They offered to give them to me, we were celebrating Zach," Julie said anxiously.
"And these parties have soda and juice and water too, don't they, Julieta?"
Julie cringed under the keeper's regard.
"Yes ma'am. Si, hermana," she corrected herself at Bianca's raised eyebrow.
"So you did not have those, why?"
"I did...some," Julie ventured. "But it was boring, being the youngest of the girls and not really being able to..."
Bianca softened slightly. "Ah, peer pressure, was it, not wanting to be left out?"
Julie gave a tiny nod.
"Alright." Bianca shifted Julie into her lap, patting the girl's back gently. "So. First thing, I still love you when you mess up, Julieta, mi hermanita. You know that, isn't that so?"
"I know," Julie whispered. "I'm sorry, Bianca. I didn't mean to mess up so bad."
Bianca nodded, stroking Julie's hair. She tilted Julie's eyes up to meet hers. "Second thing. You're such a good girl all the time, Julieta. Of course that's not a bad thing," she chuckled wryly. "But it seems to me when you're so used to being such a good girl, when you slip up, it goes spectacularly wrong. Yeah?"
Julie swallowed and nodded. "Yeah," she said softly. "I don't know why."
"Ay, who knows, karma, balance, whatever," Bianca gestured dismissively. "But the point is, no matter how bad you mess up, you're still our good girl inside. You just need help getting back on track."
"You've never been underage drinking before, I think?" Bianca asked.
"No, hermana," Julie said truthfully.
"Then I wouldn't expect you to know your limit, Julieta. At a party was the wrong time to test that," Bianca scolded gently. "Breaking the law entirely aside, you weren't responsible with yourself."
Julie nodded miserably. "Si, hermana. I'm sorry."
"I know." Bianca nodded. "Do you understand why I am going to spank you, Julieta?"
Julie gulped. "Bianca...please, Mama already spanked me for drinking and breaking the law, and sassing her back...though I didn't really mean to do that, it just kind of slipped out..."
"Shh, shhh." Bianca hushed Julie before she could panic. "I am sure she did, Julieta. But did she address the lying, or failing to take care of yourself?"
"Well...not specifically..." Julie ventured.
"Alright, then that's what we're going to do," Bianca said, keeping her voice quiet, but firm. "Do you understand me, Julieta?"
Julie nodded meekly.
"Si hermana. Is...is it going to be just your hand?"
That, Bianca thought, was a fair question.
"That depends, I think," she said carefully. "I have it in my bag, hermanita. Pick it up for me."
Julie carefully reached down and picked up Bianca's bag, handing it to the older girl. As she thought (and feared), the instrument of Bianca's elder-sisterly disapproval still resided inside, and it was no trouble for Bianca to fish out la chancla, placing it on the bedside table.
"Alright Julieta. Bare and over my lap."
Julie had been expecting the order, but she still cringed. "I...I can't, Bianca."
Bianca drew Julie to stand between her knees, squeezing her shoulder gently. "You can't bare yourself, hermanita? Or you're not comfortable being bare for your spanking?"
Julie blushed at Bianca's choice of words. "Lisa already spanked me a lot this morning," she protested weakly.
"And that was for the rest of it, Julieta." Bianca's voice was firm, though not unsympathetic. "We already talked about what this is for, si?"
"Si," Julie sighed. "But Bianca. the chancla, I can't..."
"Alright, Julieta, shhh," Bianca murmured. "I said, we would see, hermanita. I didn't say you would be getting it for sure. Easy, easy, I have you."
Julie swallowed as Bianca tugged her leggings and underwear down, and she was pulled over the older girl's lap. "Bianca..."
"Julieta." Bianca's voice was firm and Julie's stomach plummeted.
"Sorry," Julie whispered.
"I know," Bianca replied, stroking Julie's back. "But you still lied, hermanita, you still didn't take care of yourself, so you are over your hermana's lap about to be spanked like the little girl you acted like."
Julie squirmed, face flushing. "Hermana..."
"Si, Julieta?"
"Can I have the pillow?" Julie sniffled, and Bianca smiled fondly.
"Of course you can," she agreed, giving Julie the bed pillow to hold on to. Julie buried her face in it, squeezing hard as the keeper's first firm smack fell.
If she'd been the swearing type, the next thing out of her mouth probably would have earned her a soaping. As it was, she whined uncomfortably, trying to twist out of Bianca's grasp as the goalkeeper relit the fire in her bottom.
Worse, as Bianca spanked, she lectured. "Lying is wrong, hermanita. Especially lying about something that is the law, something to protect you. You will take care of yourself. Letting someone think wrong things about you, just so you can be like everyone else, is not taking care of yourself."
Julie squirmed and kicked as much as Bianca would let her - which was more than Lisa would let her, but Bianca's hand was still every bit as effective as Lisa's hairbrush.
"Owww, si, hermana, I promise, I'll do better, I won't do it again!!"
"We'll just make sure of that then."
Julie went rigid as the smacks stopped, as Bianca reached for the dreaded chancla.
"Bianca??"
Bianca paused, putting the flip flop down on Julie's back, rubbing a hand across her shoulders.
"Julieta, breathe, I have you," she said soothingly. "We're almost done, my brave girl, just breathe for me."
Julie swallowed, taking deep, slow breaths as Bianca instructed. When she was calm again, Bianca gave her shoulder a pat. "Six. Can you count for me?"
Shakily, Julie nodded.
"Si hermana, I can do that."
"That's my girl."
Julie clung hard to the pillow as the flip flop, the chancla, swatted down firmly across her reddened bottom, jerking as the sting spread. "O-one, hermana."
"Try again."
"Uno, hermana?"
"Better."
Julie continued counting in Spanish as the next smacks fell, but by the fourth her eyes were blurred with tears and she could barely choke out the number.
Bianca's last two smacks swatted down on Julie's sit spots, barely a breath apart, and Julie couldn't count them, but Bianca didn't make her try again. She just scooped Julie into her arms, holding the girl against her chest and rocking her gently.
"Shhh, hermanita, Julieta, it's done."
Julie sobbed into Bianca's shoulder. "S-sorry, lo siento hermana, I'll be good forever, I swear..."
"Shhh. Don't be making me promises you can't keep now, hermanita. I know you'll try so hard to be good. You will, I believe that. And sometimes you're going to slip up, and it's alright. Really, it is."
"N-no, have to be good," Julie sniffled.
"You are good. You're a very good girl, hermanita." Bianca kissed Julie's forehead gently. "But even the best girls are naughty sometimes, and then we handle it, and then it's over, alright? You made mistakes, you pay for them, you learn from them. We don't love you any less."
"O-okay," Julie whispered. "Love you too, Bianca."
"I love you so much, my Julieta." Bianca hugged Julie close. "So tell me about your boy, ay?" She smiled conspiratorially. "What was it like at the party, before everything?"
Julie blushed, smiling. "Oh, Zach's wonderful, Bianca," she said. "His friends are really nice, too, and the party was fun, there was music and dancing and everyone was so happy..."
Bianca smiled indulgently, listening to Julie chatter on. The younger girl brightened considerably, reminded of the good things about the party she'd gone to.
"There, you see?" Bianca prompted when Julie was finished. "It's alright to go to parties, Julieta. It's alright to have fun with your boy. Just be careful next time, ay?"
"I will," Julie promised fervently. "I'll be so careful, hermana. I promise it won't happen like that again."
"I believe you," Bianca said, and she hugged Julie close. "It's alright little one. You're forgiven."