Callista Hampton, center fielder for the Coal Valley High School softball team, didn't even watch the grand slam sail over the outfield wall.  The homerun had sealed the game.  Instead, she glared at her pitcher, a petite, blond freshman named Portia.  Her delicate features were twisted into distaste and agony.  Her expression, combined with her two braided pigtails, made her look like a little girl.

Callista, as captain of the team, knew the opposing team's stats and had specifically called for a curveball against this batter.  Portia had a nasty curveball.  And Katherine, the catcher, had seen her signal and signaled to Portia.  But Portia had ignored the call and thrown a fastball.

~*~

Callista lingered in the dugout after Coach Yealt was finished berating them.  When the others had all gone to the locker room, she waited for Coach Yealt to look at her with an upraised eyebrow, then nodded, eliciting a smile of approval from the strict coach.

Scuffed, sweaty, and stained, Callista strode into the locker room.  She scanned the room, catching the eye of Katherine and giving her a meaningful nod.  Katherine was mostly stripped down but hadn't yet got in the shower.  She was shorter and pudgier than anyone on the team, giving her a matronly look that gave her authority as Callista's second in command.

Portia was just coming out of the shower, shiny and pink.  She'd undone her pigtails but her hair was still loosely separated into two tails.  Callista grabbed Portia by one of the loose pigtails and pulled.  Portia yelped, slipped, and almost fell but managed to keep her feet under her.  Callista lead Portia a bench, sat and pulled Portia over her lap.

A crowd had formed.  The freshmen were shocked, unused to the tradition of CVHS.  Portia had started up a string of high-pitched protests.  The upperclassmen watched with grim approval.  Callista ignored the slow soaking of her uniform from Portia's recent shower as she struggled to restrain the girl.  Katherine appeared then and sat down next to Callista, slipping under Portia's legs so as to hold them down.

Water dripped in a hushed moment.

The first spank echoed through the locker room but was quickly drowned out by Portia's shrill scream.  Some of the girls jumped.  A freshman added her scream to Portia's.

Callista hesitated, her heart pounding.  This was the first spanking of the year.  She hadn't expected it to be so loud, to sting her hand so much.  The shock passed when she saw her bright pink handprint appearing on Portia's bottom.  She spanked Portia again, aiming for just above the thigh.  Portia screamed again and began to squirm.  Callista and Katherine were enough to keep her trapped.

Callista put all she had into the spanking and Portia's bottom soon became bright red.  Her struggle was frantic bit impotent.  Her screams were reduced to sobs.

Breathing hard, Callista rotated her shoulder to stretch it out and cool it off.

"Next time, throw the curveball."