Matt Benson

A schoolgirl_s discipline

CHAPTER ONE

"Don't look so sad, Cindy. You'll have a great time, and the month will fly by, I'm sure."

Cindy Powers nodded at her mother's words and offered her cheek to be kissed.

"It's okay to call if I get lonely, isn't it?" the girl asked in a soft, scared voice as her mother opened the car door and got in.

"Of course, dear," Cindy's father said from the driver's seat. "You know your mother and I will want to know everything that's happening."

Cindy took a long look at her parents. They seemed convinced that her upcoming month at the Steinway Academy for girls would do Cindy a world of good. Cindy respected her parents and looked up to them.

"Have a good time now, dear," Cindy's mother said.

"I'll try," Cindy said, forcing a smile across her beautiful young face.

She set her suitcase down and waved halfheartedly as her dad backed the car around, then tooted the horn. Cindy stared at the car as her parents started back down the long, winding road.

Cindy's watch said it was five until nine as she turned and looked at the high iron gates of the Steinway Academy. Her parents had been instructed to drop the girl off at five before nine, having been assured that someone from the academy would be picking Cindy up at exactly nine o'clock.

The headmistress, a Mrs. Grotten, had explained to Cindy's mother that it was better for the girls if they got all their good-byes out of the way first because it made an easier adjustment to academy life.