The Prefect, Part Two

Part Two

Miss Kaitlyn.

It sounded wrong the moment Elise said it out loud. The worst part was, she only enforced the title for herself because it was academy policy. It wasn’t her favorite thing, and she wished she could somehow explain that now. Because these first-year girls seemed to think it was her power tripping or something.

The following silence was agonizing. In reality, it only lasted a few seconds. To the blonde prefect, however, it felt like an eternity.

“Hmm . . .” Kaitlyn finally broke the silence. She put one hand on her hip, and the other on her chin in mock concentration. “How about this?” Kaitlyn said. She lowered her hand and casually dropped her arm. “Flash us your bare chest.”

Elise was stunned, to say the least. “Excuse me?!” 

The nerve of this girl! Elise had only played along with the teasing title because it seemed rather harmless. But this was not harmless. This was downright insulting.

“I think you heard me, Elise.” Kaitlyn smiled. “Well? What will it be? Yes or no?”

“No! And it’s ‘Miss Elise!’” she exclaimed. This had to stop. Now. “Kaitlyn, enough. I’m not doing that. Annie, give me my backpack.”

“It's 'Miss Kaitlyn.' And you’re no fun, Elise. Oh well.” Kaitlyn shrugged. “Annie, dump out her backpack.”

“Okay!” The short brunette eagerly smiled. She started to tip the backpack over.

“STOP!! Annie, wait! I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” Elise gave in rather quickly when she saw her bag get close to the tipping point. The thought of all her belongings falling into the frigid water below made her impulsively react before she could fully think it through. 

Elise's shrill voice seemed to be enough to at least give Annie pause, though the brunette was more looking at Kaitlyn for direction, rather than in response to Elise's outburst. “You’ll do what, Elise?” Kaitlyn asked.

Another teasing way of turning the tables. It was common practice for prefects and teachers alike to make students say full thoughts out loud. If a student was late to class, and a teacher got on their case about it, they wouldn’t just say “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, Mrs. XYZ.” It was always something like “Yes, ma’am. I won’t be late again.” One of many discipline practices Elise learned when she first became a prefect. This particular tactic was used so girls could internalize a responsible phrase said by themselves.

But most of the tricks she learned were for the high school students across the river. How did Kaitlyn even know about that? Or was the redhead just being condescending, and not realizing it paralleled something Elise often used herself? Either way, it didn’t feel good to be on the receiving side. And, at that, for something not responsible at all.

“I’ll…” Elise began, then hesitated. 

Was this worth it? 

It’s not like she hadn’t been topless in front of girls before. The private college’s locker room was used by girls of every year, and Elise changed before and after workouts all the time. Normally she’d wear athletic gear to and from the gym, but Edgewood’s uniform requirements made that impossible. Plus the locker room meant changing amidst a crowd of other girls, all of whom were keeping to themselves for the most part. If one of these girls had partially seen her in the past, it wouldn’t be that big of deal.

This was different. This was her actively displaying her body in a completely inappropriate way. Even if it was just to other girls, it was still wrong. Especially considering it was girls she was supposed to have authority over. Not to mention the fact that it would be cold in the chilly winter air.

“Well? I don’t have all day, Elise.” Kaitlyn crossed her arms. 

“Kaitlyn-”

“Miss Kaitlyn-” The persistent redhead corrected her.

“Miss Kaitlyn . . .” Elise mumbled. She wanted so badly to be firm with the girl before her. But that subtle height difference, the stern expression on Kaitlyn’s face, and the backpack still dangling over the edge of the bridge all affected her in one way or another. 

“Better.” Kaitlyn smiled. “Now, were you going to say something, Elise?”

“You know what?" Elise said. "Fine. Drop my stuff.”

It would be painful to watch, but she would survive. And all three of these girls would get in trouble. Kaitlyn, Annie, and the other brunette. Elise didn’t know her name, but she’d be able to identify her later if she needed to. “I’m not doing that, Kaitlyn.”

“Miss Kaitlyn.” The redhead said. “And you’re no fun, Elise.” The casual use of Elise’s name right after the correction wasn’t lost on her. Kaitlyn turned back to the girls behind her, “Annie. Caroline. Run back to the dorms. Hide her backpack. I’ll be back soon. Go on, run!”

At Kaitlyn’s order, the two girls were quick to do as they were told. Elise felt a fleeting relief as the backpack was brought back over dry land, but that feeling was short lived. The other two turned around and ran back along the path across the bridge.

“Wait! Annie!” Elise called after her, but to no avail. Kaitlyn took a quick sideways step and blocked Elise’s attempt to chase after them, and there was really nothing Elise could do about it. Short of shoving the girl aside or pushing her down, if she could even manage that, there was no way past the redhead. No proper girl would be rough with another girl. Even if she wasn’t a prefect, Elise wouldn’t do that.

Elise narrowed her eyes at Kaitlyn and tried to think of the best way to berate the girl, but Kaitlyn beat her to the punch. “New deal, Elise.” She crossed her arms, giving a confident smile to the blonde prefect. “Be at our dorm at 4 PM sharp. We’ll have to find another way you can earn your stuff back.”

Kaitlyn. Annie. Caroline.

Those were the names. Elise was already sick of this, and ready to pass this problem off to someone else. “Enough, Kaitlyn. I’m not earning anything. I’ll be there at four. You’ll hand me my backpack, or you’ll be in even worse trouble.”

“Miss Kaitlyn. And I’ve been in trouble before, Elise.” Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “How about you? Do you want to explain how a prefect managed to lose her backpack to a group of younger students? And how those younger students read through all of her private prefect stuff after she let her belongings fall into their hands?”

Ugh. What was with this girl?! 

But Kaitlyn had a point. Elise had only just recently become a prefect. This would look pretty bad from an outside perspective. Even if she was in the right. Now that Kaitlyn pointed it out, Elise realized that she would have preferred the backpack to be in the river. No one but prefects and teachers were supposed have access to her prefect materials, as there was a bunch of private information in there. Not to mention all the sensitive notes on the high school girls at the prep school. If Kaitlyn and her other unauthorized friends started pilfering through those things . . .

“Okay, fine.” Elise sighed. “I’ll be there at four. Just leave my stuff alone, okay?”

“And?”

“And what, Kaitlyn?”

“Miss Kaitlyn.” She raised an expectant eyebrow. “If you can’t get my name right, we will go through your stuff, Elise.”

It took everything Elise had not to scream at the girl. She was still a prefect, and the older girl between the two of them. She wouldn’t lose her cool. “And what, Miss Kaitlyn?”

“And you’ll have to earn your stuff back.”

“Fine.” At this point, Elise just wanted to leave. Take some time to think things over before committing to Kaitlyn’s annoyingly persistent demands.

“The whole thing, Elise?”

Elise let out a frustrated sigh. It was just words, but it still irritated her. “I’ll be there at four. And I’ll have to earn my stuff back.”

“Don’t be rude, Elise. You forgot about my name. And four PM sharp, right?”

Just words. Just words. “I’ll be there at four PM sharp, Miss Kaitlyn.” Elise reluctantly repeated, “And I’ll have to earn my stuff back.”

“Good girl. Was that so hard?” Kaitlyn asked, not even attempting to hide her grin. Then she turned on her heel and strutted off in the same direction the two brunette girls had run, only pausing to glance back at the flustered blonde prefect one more time, “Be punctual, Elise!”