Fiction: Peer Review

“Julie, your paper is next,” Professor Strick said. He put the first page on the overhead projector.

Julie trembled with excitement. She was also trembling because she wasn’t wearing anything below her waist. According to the rules of Professor Strict’s study group, Julie was wearing a nice sweater, professional heels and not much else. The young college student took her place on the bench. She bent over with her ass elevated a foot above her head.

“I hope he likes it,” she thought. Students always wanted to impress Professor Strict.

“Professor!” a student called out. Julie recognized the voice. It was that nerd, Darrel.

“On the third paragraph, the word believe is misspelled,” Darrel said.

“Correct,” Professor Strict said. He used a marker to make the correction on her paper. “Administer the reminder, Darrel.”

Julie could hear Darrel’s excited steps as he came closer. She heard the riding crop being picked up. She heard the whistle of air as Darrel swung with all his might at her ass. She felt the crop land, stinging her ass like a bee.

“Professor,” a girl called out. “There is extra spacing on the next to the last line in the sixth paragraph!”

Oh, how Julie hated that bitch, Natalie. She had eyes like a hawk and she swung the crop almost as well as Professor Strict. It was little wonder, considering how much practice Natalie got from finding other’s mistakes.

“Correct,” the Professor said. “Since there are two extra spaces, administer two reminders.”

Julie clenched her eyes. She didn’t know what was worse: the crop or the merciless red circles Professor used to mark her paper. She was always trying to impress him but she always seemed to fall short.

WHAP! WHAP! Julie clenched the handles of the bench. She decided the pain was the worse part.

“Any other errors?” the Professor called out.

Julie held her breath. There was no answers.

Professor Strict sighed. He started making circles on the paper. “I have found seven extra commas that were not needed.”

Julie moaned. Seven? Holy shit, that was going to hurt. There was one good thing though. It meant Professor Strict would administer the reminders personally.

She did her best not to wiggle in anticipation.