Poorly, of course

The host slowly shakes his head in apparent disappointment and Ellie knows this must be beyond her worst expectations. She would normally be embarrassed for such a failure... Now, however, she is mostly angry at being made to look like a fool, stripped half-naked and given an impossible task. A hint of embarrassment is there too, she did let herself get there through her own choices after all, but Ellie allows the anger to take the spotlight.

"Oh come on, whatever I got there, you cannot seriously pretend it's a measure of anything!", the underwear-clad girl fumes. "Give me a normal time period and a chance to focus and you know I'll get ten out of ten here!" She wants to add "Maybe nine", but that would not sound nearly as impressive so she bites her tongue.

"Would you be willing to back up that claim?", the host enquires. He knows, however, that the girl's anger notwithstanding, the obvious trap is... Well, too obvious. He will need to dilute it somewhat, to let her think she is still making choices that are her own and not the result of manipulation on far more levels than she can cope with under the circumstances.

"I'd understand entirely if you would rather stop here, however", he thus adds before Ellie can reply. "You did say you want to this task to be the last and obviously we can alter some conditions, but not the others. You understand, of course, that we cannot ask the audience that may bother you to leave". The man allows himself a shadow of a smile as his guest hesitates, but fails to resist the temptation of showing him her true knowledge and cleverness and takes the bait.

"What's the catch this time then? I know there is one. And they don't bother me", Ellie growls. The host nods, as if appreciating her apparent sharpness and absent-mindedly takes Ellie's "certificate" from the hand of the assistant without sparing her a glance. The big fat "F" on it is quite obvious even beyond the front rows. "You are quite right, there will be a forfeit. Lovely as you are, the esteemed audience did not come here just to see you fail a test. Incidentally, here's your... What did you call it... Oh, right, your piece of paper". He passes the certificate with the damning grade to the fuming girl, who takes it and cannot help but glance down at the letter in large red font.

"We are thinking... In classic school spirit... A spanking for a poor result would be most appropriate. You will not be required to disrobe further and I will not make hand contact with your bare skin, rest assured. We recognise the risk to you, though, so the reward will be more than a box of chocolates, but the amount will depend on your performance too". Angry as Ellie still looks, she does not reply immediately... And the host knows this to be usually a promising sign.

***

Dear all,

Apologies for the delay in getting this! Other stories and then being off CHYOA entirely took a lot longer than I anticipated. I hope to pick up the pace now.

As always, suggestions, additions and feedback are very welcome!!

Jo.

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