Celia was really nervous. She hated this. She swallowed and released her hold on Effie. "Wait here, pet." She made her way to the lecturn and stood up on the podium. It didn't actually make her stand much above the taller of the others in the room, but all eyes were on her now. She blushed and met Mistress' eyes. Her love for the cruel woman was reinforced and gave her the courage she needed.<br/><br/>"Thank you Headmistress." The title was a compromise. She could never bring herself to use Mistress' real name when adressing her directly, but in front of the students, she could not call her by her true title. "I would like to welcome you all to Shaw's College. As you have been informed, I am Miss Rogers. I am the deputy head, I also teach Mathematics. So you will all be having classes with me.<br/><br/>"The purpose of this college is to give each of you a fresh start in life. You have all had a recent bad experience of one form or another, be it a falling out with parents, an arrest for something, or may be you simply weren't getting on well at your previous school. Some of you may know exactly what reason caused you to be transferred here. Others may be totally puzzled and have absolutely no idea.<br/><br/>"Rest assured, whatever the cause, we are here to help you overcome it."<br/><br/>Celia took a deep breath and smiled at the assembly, her eyes lingering on her lover's and then straying to her assigned student. She smiled at Effie encouragingly.<br/><br/>"Our curriculum features the normal subjects. Maths and English are mandatory passes. If you fail you will resit until you pass. Other subjects are elective, but we do hope that most of you will select most of our subjects, for the simple reason that the coffee machine in the student lounge is out of order and there is nothing I hate more than listening to a bunch of bored students complain that they don't have any coffee!" She grinned and chuckled slightly.<br/><br/>"In addition we have a range of extra curricular activities available. These range from sports, to various social clubs. I personally run the astronomy club".  She resisted the urge to smirk. The club met on the roof of the maths and sciences building once a month, but the last time anyone had looked through the telescope there was over a year ago.<br/><br/>"Once you have obtained a satisfactory pass in all your classes, and have shown regular participation in at least one extra curricular activity, we will graduate you. Graduation is not really something we have a ceremony for, here, because in all honesty, different pupils will graduate more quickly than others. Some of you may only be here a month or two, others may never leave..." She let the strange threat hang over them for a second, then added with that goofy toothy grin she did so well, "You may love it here so much that you decide to join the faculty!"<br/><br/>She smiled at them again. "Now if you would all follow your designated teachers, I'm sure any questions you may have will be answered. After a brief session with your tutors, you will be shown to your dormitories. Miss Taylor-Wilkinson, if you would follow me please?"