The cold December rain was beating hard on the classroom windows. Amber watched it run down the glass; she liked the rain but wished it wasn't accompanied by the chilling wind. The school's heating wasn't working again, so all the halls and classrooms were freezing. Amber glanced over at Dru, her best friend whom she also shared a room with, Dru smiled slightly and mock-shivered. This morning they'd dared one another to go commando today, which had seemed quite fun at the time, but with the icy air reaching up her skirt, Amber felt it had been a bit of a mistake and pressed her thighs together for warmth.
She'd met Dru on her first day at St Catherine's School for the Re-education of Disadvantaged Young Women, which was in fact a school for girls who had failed to pass their exams or had never taken them first time around. This meant most of the girls were between 18-21, but the 'school' was funded by the church so they had to wear uniforms and the teachers were rather strict. Dru and Amber had both failed their exams, Amber had been partying rather than studying, and each girls parents had immediately shipped them off the St Catherine's to retake them.
At the front of the classroom Mrs Palmer was describing the formation of glaciers.
How fitting, Amber thought vaguely, as she doodled on her textbook.
There was a knock at the door and a scared looking student opened it.
"Mrs Palmer?"
"Yes, Alison?" Mrs Palmer looked annoyed.
"The Headmaster wants to speak to Jameson and Sanders, Mrs Palmer."
"Fine, fine," she waved a hand dismissivley, "Dru, Amber, you better go. If you're finished before the lesson's over you better come back."
Dru and Amber followed the Alison out.
"Do you mind going on your own?" she asked, "I've got some homework I haven't finished yet and its supposed to be done by the end of the day, I'm never gonna finish it!"
"No, it's fine," replied Dru.
Alison hurried off in the direction of the library.
"What do you think this is about?" asked Amber, "Do you think it's because we've been bunking off PE? It must be something serious, is that serious?"
"Yeah, maybe... come on, we better hurry up, or we'll be in more trouble."
"Yeah, okay."
They hurried along the corridors to the Headmaster's Office. His assistant, Ms Simmons, looked up from her desk as they approached. She had a mini heater on her desk.
"Wait here," she snapped. Ms Simmons looked about seventy, although she was probably nearer to fifty, and regarded all the students with the same mistrust and dislike. She stood up, went to the Headmaster's door and knocked.
"Mr Cairn?" she opened the door.
"Yes, Ms Simmons?"
Dru and Amber glanced at one another, although they couldn't see him, the Headmaster sounded exasperated.
"Jameson and Sanders are here."
"Good. Send them in and then go down to the IT office and find out if they've got the internet working yet, and if not, get them to explain why not and find out what they intend to do about it."
"Yes, Mr Cairn, I'll get right onto it."
"Well, take your time, Ms Simmons. Get yourself a cup of tea, or something. I can manage here."
"Yes, Mr Cairn." She closed the door, muttering to herself about how far the IT office was. She picked her coat up and put it on. "Go in then," she said as she scurried past the two girls.
Amber looked at Dru, who approached the Headmaster's door. She knocked gently and then stepped back.
"Come in," came his voice.
The girls opened the door and entered. Mr Cairn was sitting at his desk. The office was nice and warm thanks to an electric heater in one corner of the room.
"Sit down."
They sat on the two small chairs in the centre of the room. Mr Cairn stood up, went to the door and closed it. He then pulled the television trolley, that was at the edge of the room, in front of Amber and Dru.
"Do you know why you're here?"
Neither Dru, nor Amber answered.
"Alright then, I'll show you. Do you recognise this," the Headmaster picked up a video that had been on his desk. He handed it to Dru. "Well?"
Again, neither girl spoke.
"Read the title, Miss Sanders."
"Um..." Dru stared at the tape.
"Now, Miss Sanders."
"It's called... Sh..she Loves Pain... B-bondage Babes II."
"And where do you think I got this from?" he asked.
"From our room..." whispered Dru.
"Yes, one of the cleaners found it and handed it in. So, the real question is where did you get it from? Well?"
"It wasn't me!" exclaimed Dru, "Amber got it from some boy."
"Oh," the Headmaster redirected his gaze to Amber, "Well, Miss Jameson, who gave it to you?"
Amber stared at him speechless.
"It was a boy called Sean, he works at the movie theatre," interjected Dru, "He's not our friend or anything. He's a bit creepy..."
"Okay, Miss Sanders. Did you watch it?"
"N-no, Sir, we didn't!" Dru blushed.
"Really, because you know it is a very bad thing to watch movies like this. Look at the cover – does it excite you?"
"No, Sir."
"What about you, Miss Jameson?"
