Cassi and Jackie had disappeared by the time she and the five boys had reached the assembly hall. Nik was nibbling on his lower lip, obviously the closer they came to their talk with the head master the more worried he was becoming. Where as Nathan had slipped into a passive mask. It didn't surprise her. They were very different after all. It equally had not been particularly unexpected that the two other girl's had decided to skive. They were not to know that the first assembly of a year was the only time it was worth going. The rows upon rows of neatly aligned, red cushioned chairs were already filling up, the clumps of people giving away friendship circles and the different year groups. She raised her chin, above the rest, glad she'd worn her brightest Chanel red and used the more than fantabulous Dior Mascara. The bland, pale faces, the preppy 'sloane' hair slopped to one side, back-combed and stuck in place with fructis, she could not help but curl her mouth in snide contempt for their uniformity. She and Freddie had used to laugh at them. She glance at the twins. Noticed that Dray was now lounging in the middle of a row on his own and Sebastian was skulking, hands in pockets as his bright eyes roved over the other inmates with barely contained disgust. Tally decided she quite liked him.

With a second glance, she walked up the aisle to a seat slightly off of them, at the other end of the same row of a bunch of girls about their age. One shot her a rather puzzled look. From the end of the row, she studied the girl's textbooks as she listened to a rather insane blond called Georgie bumble half heartedly through what she had written on what sounded to be a rather poor essay on politics in 1950s America. Her books, however looked fairly interesting, 'How Do We Know Anything', 'L'Etranger' and 'Sophie's World'… Philosophy maybe?

The wooden table at the front of the old auditorium was raised on a small stage so all could see it. It was calloused, and carved. And as the Master rose, he room fell silence, even Georgie. The man started, droning away at the front in an accent that sounded thicker than it had yesterday, heavy as if his tongue was swollen. Talitha frowned and scraped her eyes over the room again. There was no sign of Taco. Poor guy, I really did like him, if only because the slight lilt of his voice had been slightly soothing. Sure he had been irritating at times what with the whole prefect thing going on but it was almost endearing, his desire to make the school work without the loss of any limbs or sanity.