PECK PENALTY

#4 The Punishment

POV Joe

"We need to talk," I tell her.

She nervously shifts on her feet, looks down, and clears her throat. It reminds me of the time when she kissed me. She seemed very nervous at that time, too. Instinctively, my eyes go to her lips. It was a fleeting kiss, a small peck. I barely felt it. But from whatever little I felt of those lips, I can tell they are very soft.

I pull up my eyes back to hers. "I'm sorry," she says. "I know what I did was wrong. I'm really sorry for that," she says. "Why did you do it?" I ask her. She nervously looks between her two friends, one of which almost had me fooled she didn't know Anna.

That day, after making Anna's friend take down the photo, My friends and I asked who the girl in the photo was to a group of girls from the same school at the park. They immediately recognized Anna and told us she was there with her friends. When they pointed us to the table she and her friends were having lunch at I knew I was played.

We looked around but the girls were gone, probably went back to their school. But now I had her name. It didn't then take long for Alan to find out a little more about her. We learned she had a match today and decided to catch her here.

"A bet," she says slowly. "It was a bet."

"You go around kissing random guys for a bet?"

She keeps her gaze on her shoes. I get the urge to hold her chin and make her look at me. She was more confident kissing me that day than now. "I'm sorry," she repeats.

"Sorry won't do. I think I should report it to your school," I say. She looks up at me with eyes wide in shock. "What? No!" she says. "I'm really, sorry, okay? Please don't report me. I'll do whatever you want."

And there are those magic words. "That photo caused me a lot of problems. Even at my home. My family now thinks I've a girlfriend."

She looks back down on her feet. This time, I do give in to my urge and lift her chin up. "What are you going to do about it?" I ask her. She moves her face away from my hand. "Do you want me to tell your family the truth and apologize?" she says.

I shake my head. "On the contrary, I need you to help me keep them believing so."

She looks at me confused. "I need you to act like my girlfriend at a dinner party this Saturday," I say. She shakes her head. "If you don't, I've no choice but to see your principal. I'm sure your principal would like to hear all about how one of their students sexually assaulted a guy in broad daylight in the middle of a mall. I can even show them the CCTV video," I lie. I don't have a video. However, I still have the photo.

She bites her lower lip nervously and once again looks at her friends. They nod at her. She turns back to me. "Okay," she says. "I'll do what you say. But then we're even."

I raise my eyebrow. "I don't think we'll be even just with that. I'm only asking you to be my fake girlfriend but you stole my kiss for real," I say.

She blushes and looks away feeling guilty. I resist a smile.