“I’m ten years old; I don’t take baths anymore. I take showers. Baths are for babies.”
“Well today you’re going to take a bath,” her grip on my wrist tightened.
I was still a little uncomfortable with my surroundings, and Miss Samantha was very firm in what she said, so I acquiesced. I went upstairs, through a very dainty, feminine bedroom and looked at the bath. She had run a bubble bath; I rolled my eyes and got in. After a few minutes I started to relax. It actually did feel good.
When Miss Samantha came in, however, I acted like I was bored with this chore.
“Enjoying your bath?”
“No!” I lied.
“I’ve laid out some clean clothes on your bed, come down for your lesson when you’re finished.”
Embarrassed that she thought I liked the bath, I got out right away, dried myself on a fluffy, pink towel and opened the door. There on the bed were my clothes.
“Did she say, ‘your bed’?”
Surely this wasn’t going to be my room. When I went downstairs for my lesson, I asked, and she confirmed that this was to be my room.
“But it’s a girl’s room!”
“A room is a room, now quit arguing. Get dressed and come downstairs in five minutes. It’s time for your lesson.”
I dressed in the formal clothes she had laid out: a shirt, tie, and shiny shoes. I wondered what the special occasion was. It was only school. Confused, I got ready and headed downstairs to the living room table, where she was waiting for me to begin my lesson.
The lesson – I soon found out - wasn’t a school lesson, but rather an etiquette lesson. Miss Samantha began by teaching me how she wanted me to address her, how I should say “yes ma’am” to her questions, how I should sit, etc.
“Why do I have to do this? I never did this in school before.”
“If you don’t learn respect and manners now, you will continue making the same mistakes you’ve been making. I’m surprised you never learned these things. The reason I want you to learn respect is so you will approach your education seriously.”
I thought this was so stupid. Needless to say, I was resistant to her. We struggled in a battle of wills for hours. I refused to play along with her game, and she refused to let me get away with it. As a result of my stubbornness, I was sent to bed early with no supper.
I was a little shocked. I had always heard about this punishment, but it didn’t seem like a big deal. I was a little hungry from my long day, but I could wait until morning to eat again. She wasn’t going to get me with some punishment from 100 years ago. I walked up the stairs to my new room.
Inside the room I was bored. There was nothing to do. Everything was pink and frilly and started to get on my nerves. I kicked a few things, tore some of the canopy on the bed, and threw some pillows. This place sucked.
Soon the darkness covered the room and I went to sleep. The next day, I was scolded for what I had done to the room, and was made to clean it up. I made it difficult for her, but because of her persistence, I finally ended up cleaning the mess I had made during my tantrum.
“Who is this lady?” I thought. She wasn’t my mom, yet she wanted to tell me what to do. I was having a hard time accepting this situation.
My mom, however, was gone, and I was trapped in this place. I had to do what she told me to do – for now. I got dressed as ordered and headed downstairs to begin another lesson. Again, we started out day with the etiquette lessons. This was going to be another test of wills, and I was going to win. I thoroughly resisted her and everything she wanted me to do. After a few hours, I was sent to my room again with no supper.
Now I was more than a little hungry, although I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I needed something to take my mind off of my hunger, so I didn’t have to give in and ask her for food. I started looking around the room for something to do, but still there was really nothing for me to do. It wasn’t like my room at home which had all kinds of fun things.
I looked through the drawers and closets, but found nothing inside of them except a bunch of girly clothes. I wondered who had this room before. It was probably some girl who was sent here to learn respect like me. I wondered if Miss Samantha had done the same thing to her.
It was so early that it was still light outside, and I wasn’t sleepy at all. I lay on the bed for several hours, and since I was bored, I got up to look again in one of the drawers that caught my interest. Quietly I slid open the top drawer. I had seen girls’ underwear before, but never really looked at it up close. I told myself that I would probably need to know about this one day if I had a girlfriend. Curious, I pulled out a pair of satin panties. They were white with lace coving the elastic on the legs. There was a pink bow at the waist. I was fascinated with the feel and rubbed them against my cheek. They were so smooth. Just then, I heard Miss Samantha’s heels clicking as she walked down the hall. Hurriedly, I shoved the panties back, closed the drawer, and got on the bed. I heard her heels stop, and then keep on walking.
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