Odd Girl Out

Several weeks passed after Zach and Thomas came out to the family. No one treated either of them any differently and Glen felt satisfied that the adults were back to being adults and the kids being kids. Glen was concerned for Claire, she seemed to be struggling with her place in the family, she was walking the edge of the rules testing how far she could push it without getting punished, thankfully for her they were minor infractions that didn't land her over the knee but earned several swats here and there.

"Claire time to get up" Zach shook the 12-year-old several times

"Ugh go away" Claire pulled the covers over her head just to have Zach rudely snatch them off the bed.

"Claire I'm not going to have this be a regular routine in the mornings. You are going to get up when I wake you the first time or I will start pulling you over my lap for a spanking, is that where we need to go?" Claire huffed but got up. "Thank you" Zach acknowledged her attempt to obey his orders "downstairs for breakfast in 30 minutes"

Claire nodded, "verbal answer please" Zach insisted to Claire's annoyance,

"Yes sir" Claire saluted dramatically rolling her eyes

"Hey you better watch the attitude young lady, you're on thin ice" Zach warned sternly. After Zach shut her door Claire flipped Zach off. The rest of the morning went off okay, but it was clear to everyone that Claire was in a mood. Zach tried to talk to her about what was going on to make her upset. She lied to him telling him she didn't sleep well. The real reason she was upset was that she was feeling really out of place. She went from living with a mother that didn't give a shit what she did as long as she stayed out of her way, to a house full of rules. It was really hard to remember all the rules and she seemed to be on thin ice as Zach had pointed out that morning all the time.

Not to mention Caleb and Brett seemed to constantly question her about their mother. Claire didn't want to admit to herself that she was jealous of the life Glen and Zach had built for them, she felt they didn't appreciate what their brothers had done to protect them. Both boys complained about how strict their brothers were. It annoyed Claire that they didn't recognize how shitty living with their mother was and be thankful to Glen and Zach rather than complain all the time.

"Zach, can me and Brett go to Kyle's house after school? He has the new Madden game and he invited us to come over and play the game with him" Zach shook his head.

"First of all, may Brett and I go, not me and Brett. Second, both of you had progress reports that showed your grades slipping from slacking off. I told you until I see an improvement in your grades there was no going out on school days, do you remember our conversation?" Zach asked a now agitated Caleb.

He was about to argue when Brett stepped in "yes sir, we were just excited about the game." He pulled Caleb out of the kitchen into the living room. Claire was slumped in a chair trying to get a few more minutes of sleep before they left for school.

"He's so unfair. He never lets us do anything fun" Caleb steamed

"Ya he's been a jerk lately, but I have an idea that will get us to Kyle's after school don't make him mad if you do he'll tell Thomas then my plan won't work" Caleb sighed before he could say anything Claire stood up

"You two are pathetic, what a couple of losers" she snarled at them. Both boys were taken by surprise. What the heck did they do to her?

"Claire, what's wrong? Why are you mad at us?" Claire could hear the hurt in Caleb's voice, but she was too tired and irritated to care. She ignored his question and walked out to the car and got in.

The ride to school was too quiet for Thomas, he could tell something was up. "Why the silence this morning?" Thomas got three shrugs as they pulled into the teacher's parking lot. "No one wants to talk?" Still silent "okay you three come to my classroom until the bell rings and then again at lunch."

"What?" Came the chorus from the three.

"There's nothing wrong with me except being tired" Claire defended

"Caleb and I are going over the answer to a test in first period" Brett lied. Thomas seemed to take the excuses. He let the boys go but kept Claire back to talk to her.

"Why are you so tired Claire? You've been like this more and more; you can trust me. If something is keeping you from sleeping." Thomas seemed genuinely concerned but Claire learned a long time ago adults are liars, and you can't trust them. She shook her head

"Nothing's wrong just have a hard time sleeping always have" she lied. Thomas didn't believe her, but it was close to school starting so he let him go.

"So, what's your idea to get us to Kyles?" Caleb was interested in hearing Brett's idea.

"This is my idea. '' Brett handed him a paper that had a test on it with a grade of 98%. Brett then held up another paper almost identical that had a 97% on it. Caleb was confused as to how these tests got them to Kyle's after school, before he could ask Brett explained

"These are social studies tests, all we need to do is show Thomas our fake test scores and he will happily let us go to Kyle's no questions asked " Brett beamed at his brilliant idea"

Caleb was skeptical it would work but he was willing to give it a shot. At lunch, the boys went to Thomas' room with their fake test papers in hand. They were surprised to see Claire there and it looked like he was scolding her. "What do I owe this pleasure to your company? You two hardly ever eat lunch with me anymore" Thomas smiled at the twins.

"We just wanted to show you this" they handed the fake test scores to him. Claire could tell something was up, then she realized she had the same social studies teacher just a different period. She knew there was no test, and they were lying to get to their friend's house. Thomas was interrupted by another teacher Claire glared at the twins

"Want to share the answers to the test with your sister?" She asked sarcastically, giving both boys a dirty look.

Brett and Caleb were taken aback by her anger toward them. Thomas was oblivious to the three teens' argument, he patted both boys on the back "Good job you two I'm proud of you" he smiled and sat down at his desk.

"Thomas, can we go to Kyle's after school? We will do any homework we have in the study hall promise" Caleb took the opportunity to ask while Thomas was in a good mood.

"As long as you do all your homework I'm okay with that. Do I need to pick you up?" Brett shook his head

"No his brother will give us a ride home." Thomas nodded and the twins left quickly before he could ask any other questions. Thomas turned his attention back to Claire. "I understand you are tired today but that's no excuse to be rude to your teacher and talk back to her" Thomas continued his scolding of the young girl. Claire was still annoyed with the twin's lies that she didn't think before speaking to Thomas

"I wouldn't have been rude or talked back if she hadn't been such a bitch, I'm out of here" she turned to leave the room when Thomas jumped out of his desk and grabbed her arm pulling her to face him. The anger she saw in his eyes made her regret what she said. Before he could say or do anything the counselor Mr. Chambers came into the room.

He saw the intense scene "um sorry I should have knocked" Thomas's demeanor changed in a second he loosened his grip on Claire's arm "no it's fine Claire and I were discussing her behavior in Ms. Roger's class" Derek nodded

"That's what I came to talk to you about. Would it be okay if I talked to Claire for a few minutes?" Claire pulled her arm away from Thomas and stomped towards the door.

"Claire, go sit in my office. I will be right there" Derek said sternly. Claire wanted to argue but she really didn't want to stay with Thomas. He was pissed at her, and she feared for the safety of her backside. She headed to his office.

"We were just discussing it when she decided to be rude to me, she should thank you I was this close to pulling her over my knee right here." Derek chuckled

"This age is a challenge to stay calm with them I go through the same thing with my brother, that's one reason why he doesn't go to this school I would tan his hide on the daily" he laughed making Thomas smile he loved the way Derek's dark eyes lit up when he laughed.

"We should compare notes," Thomas teased. Derek took a few steps to stand right in front of Thomas and he smiled at the green-eyed man.

"How about Friday night?" Thomas loved the way Derek's voice made his heart flutter at the date offer.

"Ya that would be nice" he blushed

"We can talk about the details later." He left the classroom with a big smile on his face. He still had the goofy grin on his face when he sat at his desk.

"You're the one my brother went on a date with a few weeks ago?" Derek was taken aback by her question; he wasn't sure if Thomas had told them who he was out with. Before he could respond Claire elaborated "it's obvious he likes you, he brightens up every time you walk in the room. He would have killed me if you hadn't shown up"

Derek regained his composure and reminded himself why he wanted to talk with Claire. Ms. Roger's had told him about her outburst in class and he had heard from several teachers that she had gotten an attitude with them as well. "Can you tell me what happened in Ms. Roger's class this morning?"

Claire's attitude was back "she's bitch" Claire snarled

"She must have really upset you to make you feel like that. Could you tell your side of the story?" He encouraged her to tell him. He could see Claire's defense start to come down. She stayed in his office through her next-period class. After school, she dreaded facing Thomas. He was pretty mad at her earlier and she was sure that she earned a spanking when they got home. Thomas was locking up his classroom when she got there.

"We will talk when we get home," he told her flatly. She nodded, not wanting to argue with him. The drive home was quiet. When they pulled into the driveway Thomas finally spoke "Claire I want you to go stand in the corner in the living room." Claire groaned she hated standing in the corner. Thomas gave her a look that warned her not to argue so she did as she was told. Thomas sighed he didn't want to spank Claire but her behavior towards her teacher and towards him earlier left little choice in the matter. He wanted to make sure she learned to be respectful to adults and to him. He sat in the living room grading papers as Claire stood shifting from foot to foot in the corner. He could tell she was anxious about her punishment. He decided not to drag it out

"Claire come here" he called; Thomas was less than thrilled with the time it took the 12-year-old to get over to him but he refrained from scolding her more. "In a more respectful way than what you did earlier, would you care to explain what happened in Ms. Roger's class this morning?" Claire had already talked about it with Counselor Derek; she really didn't want to explain it again.

"She just made me mad. '' Claire tried to avoid giving details.

"That doesn't tell me why you were disrespectful and rude," he snapped. Claire couldn't keep up the front, her eyes filled with tears, and she put her head down trying to hide them. Thomas reached up under her chin and lifted her head, so her eyes met his. "Claire please talk to me, I want to understand" tears fell down her cheeks

"I was just really tired, and Ms. Roberts was picking on this kid, and she was crying so I yelled at her. Thomas nodded

"Okay, we will get back to Ms. Roberts, tell me why you're so tired lately why can't you sleep?" Claire really didn't know her head was just full of thoughts it wouldn't shut off; she didn't know how to explain it.

"I don't know" she sobbed as Thomas pulled her to sit on his lap while he hugged her tightly only making her cry harder. He spoke soothingly to her to get her to calm down.

"This has been really hard on you, hasn't it? I do understand. I had a hard time when Glen first took us away from mom. I was happy not to be scared every night because mom had horrible people in the house. I was happy to have nice clothes, a clean house, and good food, but man the rules Glen came up with were hard to follow. I was used to the beatings at our mom's hand or one of her scum boyfriends but spankings? I never had one before and man does Glen know how to give one. Believe me, I got lots of them." Claire was sitting up listening to Thomas, she couldn't believe he understood how she was feeling.

"I know the twins complain about the rules around here and they sometimes don't act like they appreciate what Glen and Zach have given to them. But you need to understand they were super young; just babies they don't remember the nightmare of living with mom the way you and I do. Please understand all we want to do is give you a better life, yes it includes rules and punishment for breaking them, but it is always out of love. We want you to enjoy being a kid for a change. Thomas slipped the hair that had fallen into Claire's face behind her ear.

"I'm sorry I didn't think any of you could understand. I guess you really do get it" Thomas smiled

"I do get it, however just because you're tired doesn't mean you can curse at your teacher or yell at me when I try to talk to you about it" Thomas raised his eyebrow at her making Claire's stomach drop.

"Tomorrow I want you to apologize" Claire nodded her head

"I will. Please don't spank me" she whimpered.

"I'm sorry but I need to punish you for your behavior today. I do understand why it happened. I want you to know we are all here for you, you can come to any one of us to talk about any struggles you're having. However, if you choose to hold it in and inevitably take it out on your teacher and me, I can't let that go unpunished. Stand up" Thomas patted her bottom and gave a gentle push. Claire stood up and Thomas gently pulled her over his lap and lifted her skirt. Thomas hooked his fingers in her panties and Claire started protesting and fighting him, he gave several swats to her exposed thighs before pulling her panties down. Claire had already started crying as Thomas started spanking her bare bottom. The sharp crisp smacks echoed through the living room as Claire sobbed begging Thomas to stop.

Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack

"Ow ow please stop" she begged. Her pleas were getting to Thomas, but he knew he needed to steal his heart and continue the punishment.

Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack

"Aaahhh stop please no more" the twelve-year-old sobbed pitifully.

"Almost done sweetie," Thomas assured her. Claire didn't think she could take any more, but Thomas had a tight hold on her, and no matter the wiggling or thrashing she did got her out of her position

Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack Smack

Claire lay limp over Thomas's lap racked with sobs. Thomas picked her up and she crashed into his chest. He picked her up and placed her sitting on his lap being mindful of her sore bottom. He petted her head with one hand while he held her in a tight hug. "Baby it's going to be okay, just breathe with me" he took her hand and placed it on his chest taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. Claire matched his pattern and slowly calmed her crying to a sniffle.

"That really hurt" she whimpered into his chest. Thomas chuckled

"Ya spankings suck but it's an effective way to teach a lesson. Did you learn anything from this?" He asked her as she was sitting up on his lap wiping away the last few tears that had fallen on her cheeks.

"Yes sir, I can't take out my bad mood on another person. If I'm having a problem, talk to you" Thomas beamed at her answer. He hugged her tightly,

"Good girl. I will always be here to listen.