Amy scrunched around trying to get comfortable, sitting in the recessed alcove, looking through the metal grill into the auditorium. She could see the admissions director, Vonda Bennett, checking off names on a list as the girls entered the auditorium, urging them to sit in the front rows. Amy thought they must be nearly all here -- she counted sixty-three girls now... no, here was another.

Amy wasn't allowed in the auditorium for the orientation session -- the aud was outside the Academy's secured "student" area, which she couldn't leave for at least the next year -- but she wouldn't have missed it for anything. She wanted to feel she was part of the class, not missing any experiences the other girls had, and that meant somehow attending the orientation, even though she already knew everything the rest of the girls were going to be told.

There was a pleasant murmur of voices from the girls, interrupted by frequent giggles. A few of the girls obviously knew each other from high school, but most were strangers to each other, trying to get to know the girls around them with whom they would become a quasi-family for the next three years. Amy shook her head in wonder, thinking about how more than half of these girls wouldn't survive to graduation, looking at the faces trying to guess, based on no information, which ones would make it.

Most of the girls were dressed very casually, though some wore semi-formal looking dresses. Amy suspected each had few other clothes to wear, now, than the ones they'd chosen for orientation -- by now they'd either given most of their possessions away, to friends or younger sisters, or had boxed them up in preparation for doing so, as Amy herself had before leaving home. They would not be keeping any of their original clothes here, other than, in some cases, outfits the staff would approve as being sexy enough to wear to the parties. Other than that, each girl would have only the official uniform shorts, bras, panties, socks, and sneakers issued by the school. Amy had several sets of those, all identical, which she had been wearing for a month.

Ms. Bennett looked down at her list, apparently confirming that all the girls were present. She looked up at the grill behind which Amy was peeking in, giving Amy a smile and a little wave, then signaled to Dean Porter, who rose and approached the lectern.

Amy's heart pounded. This is it! she told herself. I can start feeling like a student now, instead of an interloper!

The dean looked out at the faces of eager and slightly nervous students, who gradually quieted after a few moments. He smiled.

"On behalf of the Hanging Academy, I'd like to welcome all of you to Orientation. I've met all of you individually within the last few months, and it's my pleasure to be able to congratulate you on the achievements that have earned you a place in our student body."

There were a few suppressed snickers, girls no doubt whispering to their neighbors some joke on the phrase "student body," but everyone settled down quickly, paying close attention to the dean.

He continued. "I know that you all know why you are here. And there is very little I can tell you that you shouldn't already know. I trust that each of you has received our student handbook in the mail in the last month, and I hope each of you has read through it carefully. Did anyone not get one?" He waited to see if any hands were raised. None were.

He nodded. "Good. Now, I just want to say a few things to you personally, all of which you should know from reading the handbook. Foremost, I want to reiterate something you must each be very clear on. All of you who accept admission will be hanged. I hope that you can reach your goal of performing as an Academy graduate, but many of you will not. It is my hope, though, that every single one of you will, by your death, serve a greater purpose than merely providing food. Some of you will be hanged in classroom demonstrations, and you will help every one of your fellow students learn more about the craft and art that you will all be trying to perfect. Some of you will be chosen to die at one of our parties, in front of an audience who will appreciate your performance very much, and such a demise may be very nearly as satisfying to you as if you had done it as a graduate. But none of you, once you accept your admission to the Academy tomorrow morning, may withdraw as students. You are making a very serious commitment, which I hope each of you will carefully consider after you return home tonight. Discuss it with your parents, your siblings, and anyone else with whom you feel a special bond and trust.

"If you do decide to join us tomorrow, you will become the property of the Hanging Academy, upon signing the admission forms. At that time, we will issue you your new uniforms and slave collars, your books and videos for your classes, your food cards for the cafeteria, your schedules of classes, and a room in the First Year dorm. That will take up quite a lot of the day, of course. The rest of your time tomorrow will be free, so that you can meet your roommate, get acquainted with her and your other colleagues, and become familiar with the grounds. Classes, of course, will start the following day, Monday."

Amy shivered with excitement. Just two days until my classes begin!

The dean continued. "Once you have entered the secure area, you will not be allowed to leave it, but we do have quite a large campus, and you will hardly find that the scope of your life is really very limited." He smiled. "I think our upper-class girls would probably tell you that your studies won't leave you very much time to go anywhere anyway."

There was quite a lot of nervous laughter at that.

"I want also to point out," he went on, "That though you will have a great deal more freedom than almost any other slave, you should bear in mind that, once you join us, you will indeed be slaves. You have seen in the handbook that we do have strict rules of behavior, our Conduct Honor Code, and you have read about the penalties for Level 1 and Level 2 violations of the Code." He paused, probably as aware as Amy was of the sudden tension in the room. "Now, you'll be reassured to know there have been no Level 2 violations in the last..." He stopped to think. "Is it ten years now, Vonda?"

The girls turned to look at Ms. Bennett as she answered, "A little more than ten, yes."

The dean nodded. "In the last ten years there have been no Level 2 violations, and I'm sure I can count on all of you to extend that interval into the indefinite future. I know all of you are responsible young women, and will uphold the Conduct Honor Code as a matter of course." He beamed at the students, who seemed to relax a bit.

"When you return tomorrow morning, you will all assemble here, again. You will do your signing in here, and then we will conduct you into the student area to finish getting you checked in.

"Now, that completes our orientation session." He smiled. "We told you in the letter it would be brief. You can see you can trust us." More laughs. "Before I dismiss you, I'd like to see if any of you have questions."

A brown-haired girl in the second row raised her hand. "Not that I'm planning to get sick..." Some of the other girls laughed. "...But I saw in the handbook that I'll need a medical excuse from the nurse before I can miss classes. How... I'm not sure how to say this... How strict are you?"

The dean nodded. "Jackie, is it?"

The girl smiled at being remembered. "Yes, sir."

"I think I understand you. As far as enforcing the rule, we're very strict indeed, but I think you meant how hard is it to be certified as being actually ill. Is that right?" The girl nodded. "All I can say at this point is that our nurse is very understanding. She is going to be looking for some sort of sign of illness, but I think the upper class girls will confirm that she doesn't just jump to the conclusion that you're malingering. Of course, as you've read, you'll be responsible for making up any missed assignments, workouts, or practices." He paused. "Have I answered your question?" The girl nodded again. The dean saw another hand raised, a slightly heavy dark-haired girl this time. "Yes? It's... Maria, I think?"

The girl said, "Yes, sir. I've got a question about the heavy-girl program. You've said you hope to get two or three girls in each class to volunteer for that?"

The dean nodded. "Yes, we do on occasion get requests for a larger graduate to put on a show. That requires, on the part of the girl, a special regimen in addition to the training all students go through. Over the three year training period, the heavy-girl students go through additional physical exercises, to promote a greater degree of muscular development -- they actually have quite low fat ratios in their bodies -- including, of course, further work to strengthen their neck muscles. They also each have a special diet to support their participation in the program. No student is forced to join the program, and in some classes we have three or four, and in some classes none at all. I take it you are considering volunteering for that?"

The girl smiled. "Yes, sir."

The dean returned her smile. "You can sign on for that tomorrow, during check-in." He looked around again. "Any other questions?"

A girl near the end of a row, on the side nearer Amy, raised her hand. Amy blinked as she focused on the girl from the side. She was a truly stunning blonde -- she didn't look like Miranda, but she had that same quality about her. The girl was sitting with her arms folded under her breasts, now raising one arm briefly to signal the dean before resuming her posture.

The dean saw her. "Yes... Megan?"

The girl nodded briefly, seeming to take it as obvious that the dean would remember her. "I've seen the rules about class participation, but would we be allowed to skip a class if we already feel like we know the material?"

The dean looked briefly irritated, but regained his smile. "No, you'll be expected to attend all classes, other than those from which, as we've discussed, you've been excused due to illness. Your presence, if you are familiar with the material being discussed, can always be of inestimable worth to those students less familiar with it, since you can share your knowledge with them in class discussions."

The girl, Megan, sighed, quietly saying "Yes, sir," in a somewhat grudging way.

Amy shook her head slightly. The quality in Megan that reminded Amy of Miranda only extended to her looks. Amy wondered if there would be an attitude problem. Tentatively, she assigned Megan to the "won't make it" category.

The dean looked around. "Are there any other questions?" After waiting a few seconds, he smiled. "Well, that concludes today's program, then. I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow. All of you must be present, here, in this room, not later than 9 am. Until then, I wish you a good day." He smiled at the room generally as girls began standing, some of them now walking up the aisles to the exit as others started talking in groups.

Amy left the alcove and made her way back to her room. The First Year wing in the dorms was nearly deserted, most of the students having cleared out their things to move to their new rooms in the Second Year wing. Amy looked in Linda's and Laney's room, in which the staff had already exchanged their one large bed for the two standard smaller beds, and grinned at seeing Linda filling a box with the last of her possessions. Amy exclaimed, "You got your new uniforms!" Linda was wearing the aqua-colored bra-and-shorts outfit of a second year student.

Linda beamed at Amy. "And the collar! Come and look at it!" She reached up to push up her metal collar a little higher for Amy to see.

Amy came into the room and bent slightly to get a better look, reading the collar out loud. "Linda - Property of the Hanging Academy." Amy looked back up into Linda's excited face. "That is so cool! You finally got your name on it!"

Linda giggled. "So -- Slave Girl," giving Amy a little dig to emphasize the difference in their collars, "How did the orientation go?"

Amy smiled and shrugged. "Same as always, I imagine. You probably remember what it's like. Say, did you guys have any... like... attitude trouble in your class? Any I'm-just-way-above-all-you-peons kind of things?"

Linda rolled her eyes. "Well, you know there's always going to be one or two like that. The ones who cruised through high school and thought they were always hot stuff. Or they've done hanging before, and they figure they know all about it. Why, did you see one?"

"Maybe... I don't know. I should probably give her the benefit of the doubt. I'll start meeting them all tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah... Oh!!" Linda's eyes suddenly went big. "I just thought. You'll be totally by yourself in this whole empty wing tonight! Everybody in our class has moved!" All the students Amy had met in the First Year -- now Second Year -- class had been eager to change rooms as soon as they were allowed to. Since the Second Year class always had fewer students than they had originally entered with, the Second Year wing had fewer rooms -- and each, in consequence, was a little larger than the First Year rooms.

Linda shook her head. "Look, Amy, you just can't stay there by yourself. I'd be so spooked! Spend the night with me and Laney. We'll get out the rollaway." Since there was often an odd number of students in a class, it frequently was necessary for a student to share temporarily with two others, at least until another member of her class was hanged. Every dorm room had an extra rollaway bed for that reason. "I need to get some hanging practice done, and you can help with that. Then we'll get some popcorn and watch a movie. It'll be fun!"

Amy grinned. "Like you have to talk me into it? Oh, after classes start, I can still come over and see you guys sometimes, right? You won't be all too far above little First Year wimps?"

Linda smiled archly. "Well, of course we'll be above you, dear. Except when you want to be on top."

They were both overcome with laughter. Amy had done some sexual play with several members of the class, but most often with Linda or Laney, her first and closest friends in the First Year... no, again she reminded herself, Second Year class.

Linda sighed, and picked up her box, taking a last look around the room. "I guess I'm done here. Want to come down and see our new room?"

Amy thought, then shook her head. "I'll be down there after dinner, okay? First I want to do a little reading. While it's really, reeelly quiet. I'm trying to get ahead a little for classes on Monday."

"Okay." Linda leaned towards Amy and kissed her. "We're in room 12. About seven?"

Amy gave Linda's hand a squeeze. "See you then."

Linda shifted her grip on the box. She looked around the tiny room as she walked to the door. "Tell whoever's in here next they've got a lot to live up to."

Amy came out of the room after Linda. "I'll tell them it's a bad luck room. Everybody who lived in it got hanged." She kissed Linda and gave her a little shove, laughing. "Okay, get out of here. This is my territory now."

Linda laughed. "Drink in the ambiance of your superiors." She shuffled her grip again on the box and walked down the hallway.

Still giggling, Amy walked down to her room. Inside it, she pulled her History of Hanging book from the shelf, her textbook for the course of the same name she would be taking. She was just starting it. She felt sure it would be fascinating.

Linda climbed up on the platform, naked, the noose brushing against her shoulder. Amy stepped up beside her, grinning, swinging the end of the rope casually in her hand. First year students often used handcuffs to secure their hands behind their back, but from the second year on, ropes were always used, though they took longer. Amy loved helping her friends with hanging. Linda crossed her wrists behind her back, so Amy could tie them.

Laney looked up from below them. "I want to see how you do with setting the noose by yourself, Amy."

Amy bit her lip and looked at Linda. "Is that okay with you, Lin?"

Linda nodded. "You've done it enough with Laney checking. If you're way off I'll tell you, but otherwise I won't say anything."

Amy took a deep breath. "Okay. Laney, just be ready on the emergency button, okay?" The ring in the ceiling from which the noose was suspended was held in place by a mechanism, the "rope drop," which let go instantly if a red button on the wall was pushed. Usually a hanging girl signaled with her foot if she wanted the platform back up, but if she seemed to be in trouble her roommate would push the button for immediate release.

Amy pulled some slack out from the coils of rope in the hangman's knot and dropped the rope over Linda's head, afterwards tightening it in place. Her tongue thrust out through the edge of her lips as she concentrated, she spent at least a minute trying to get the knot exactly where it should be, deciding finally she couldn't do it any better. She looked at Linda, looking as if Linda might yell at her for forgetting everything they'd taught her. "Is that okay?"

A tiny smile flicked the corner of Linda's mouth upward. "I'm not telling. You'll just have to wait and see if I live through this."

Amy gave Linda an exasperated look, feeling she wanted to punch Linda's arm but not wanting to break her concentration so close to the hanging. She suppressed the feeling of wanting to fiddle with the knot a little more, and hopped down from the platform. "If you die, I am going to be so pissed at you!"

Linda snorted, and looked down at Laney. "Tell me when it's eight minutes."

Laney nodded. "Yeah, but I'm bringing the platform back up after nine no matter what."

Linda nodded at Amy. "Amy, you pull it."

They had let Amy pull the lever before, but it still felt like a privilege. Once more, she bit back the instinctive question, "Are you ready?" It was never asked at a real hanging. It was the hanging girl's job to be ready. Amy saw that Linda's body was very still, calm, waiting, breathing slowly and deeply. Amy reached out and pulled.

Amy's eyes were glued to Linda as the platform on which Linda stood slowly sank towards the floor. It thrilled Amy, every time, to be standing so close, watching the slack vanish from the rope, the girl pulled up onto her toes and finally losing contact with the platform, hanging by her neck just a few feet from Amy. Amy backed off slightly to give Linda some room to kick.

Amy focused her attention on Linda's head, watching the rolling motion she made with it as she wriggled at the end of the noose. Amy had known, watching Miranda's hanging, that the head roll must be something significant. Linda had explained to her that it was the most important part of the art -- hard to master while doing all the other movements, but crucial to success. As Amy had suspected at Miranda's and Beth's hanging, the girl being hanged was actually breathing, and it went beyond that. As she rolled her head from side to side, left, back, right, back, left, repeating, her weight was pressing hard against the loop of rope around her neck on one side, and the pressure was minimized on the opposite side. When the back of her neck was pressing hardest against the rope, the front eased up enough for her to draw a breath through her compressed windpipe, while rolling left and right eased the pressure on her carotid arteries enough to keep some blood flowing to her brain. The rolling of the head had to be done in a rhythm that was compatible with the girl's heartbeat, but practice gave the girl a feeling for that -- she wasn't so much literally feeling the tempo of her heart, it was more of an assessment of what felt right to her. That was one of the many reasons it took so much practice to become truly expert at it.

Another part of it, also acquired only through long practice, was making the jerking of her legs look sufficiently random that it took the attention of onlookers away from the more organized head-rolling. In a sense, it was similar to a magician's misdirection: getting the audience looking at the wrong thing so that they missed how the trick was done.

The hanging couldn't be prolonged indefinitely, even in theory. The grip of the noose around the neck did interfere with breathing and blood flow, to such an extent that the hanging girl couldn't keep going forever. But if she did her job well, she could buy an astonishing amount of time while making do with the resources of air and blood that she did have.

As always, Amy felt an intense tingling as she watched Linda kicking and writhing, and felt herself getting so wet between her legs she knew she'd have to run back to her room for a change of panties afterward. Certainly not now, though. She couldn't take her eyes away from the enthralling sight of her dangling friend. She began, as usual, to feel a phantom pressure against her own neck, and a breathlessness that intensified her arousal.

How will it feel to do it myself, Amy wondered, for the hundredth time. Will it be even more intense than when Miranda and Dean Porter choked me? Will I be able to concentrate on the movements I have to make if I get that caught up in the sensations?

Amy loved watching Linda's muscles straining, as if she was really fighting for her life. Linda's neck muscles bulged, not yet as strong as Miranda's, but with a year of practice behind her to build them so that, even without her breathing trick, she could last much longer in the noose than any normally developed person, and could tolerate the need for those muscles to support her body's entire weight for astonishing periods.

At last Amy heard Laney say, "Eight minutes." Linda looked down, managing a smile with some effort, and waggled her right foot, the signal to bring the platform back up. Amy looked at Laney, who gestured with her head towards the lever. Amy quickly pulled it, in the opposite direction from before, and the platform rose gradually, to the point that Linda was able to put her weight on it. Amy jumped back up onto it and loosened the knot on the noose.

Linda, breathing raggedly and deeply, closed her eyes, her lips curved upward into an exhausted smile. When she had recovered her breath sufficiently, she opened her eyes and looked at Amy. "I am so horny right now!"

Amy giggled. "What, is it my job to fix that too?"

Linda kissed her. "Get your clothes off and we'll see how you do."

THE NEXT MORNING

The murmur of voices in the hallway awakened Amy. She tried to stay still, not wanting to wake up Laney, who was lying full-length on top of her, the side of her head nuzzling against Amy's. Amy loved the feel of Laney's naked body covering her own, like a warm, silky, heavy blanket. Amy had only meant to close her eyes for a moment last night after she and Laney made love, but she must have been more tired than she'd thought. The excitement of hanging Linda, of having sex with her afterwards, laughing all through the movie as she shared popcorn with both girls, then discovering that Laney wanted to take a turn with her in bed, all took a toll on her energy.

They'd never managed to get the rollaway bed pulled out.

Amy heard a suppressed giggle from beyond the door, and rolled her eyes. She knew something must be up. Laney must have heard it this time, as she began stirring, accidentally jabbing her elbow into Amy's side. Amy heard Laney mumble "Oh, sorry, Lin. I mean Amy," sleepily, and felt her start to push herself up.

Something pulled on Amy's neck, and Laney dropped back on top of her. They both said "Ow," irritably, and Laney muttered "What the hell?"

Amy frowned, puzzled. "Our collars got stuck together somehow. Hold still." She reached up to feel along the metal surfaces, trying to figure out what projection on them could possibly have snagged. Her fingers found a loop of string, wound several times around both collars, tying them together. Moving her feet, she suddenly realized her ankles were tied as well -- not to each other, but her left to Laney's right, her right to Laney's left. She groaned, muttering "I can't believe this," and shouted, "Linda!"

From just beyond the doorway, Linda almost fell into the room, breathless from trying to keep from laughing out loud, finally releasing it. Behind her, at least half a dozen of the other girls looked in over her shoulder, all giggling in delight, watching Laney and Amy try to figure out what they could move. The attached collars and string-bound ankles were the extent of their bondage, but it was hard for them to find a way to move. Laney had to tip her head back and brush her nose past Amy's to look at the doorway, a wry grin on her face. "You know I'll get you back sometime."

"You and me both, Laney," Amy said, her hands on Laney's hips, trying to decide if the bed was wide enough to turn Laney off to the side without her falling off the bed, pulling Amy along with her. It appeared it wasn't. The girls hadn't had time yet to get the two narrow beds replaced with one wider one. "Linda, what am I supposed to do with a naked girl stuck on top of me?"

Linda almost collapsed on the floor, totally overcome with panting laughter now. She managed to sputter, "You guys were so sound asleep, I couldn't believe it! I might as well have hogtied you while I was at it!" The girls behind her laughed more loudly.

Amy sighed and closed her eyes. She knew by now this was part of the package when getting to be friends with Linda and Laney. She finally started laughing herself, pointing her finger at Linda. "Linda, I'm going to turn my imagination on full time. I will get you back. I'll go easier on you if you get us out of this now."

Linda pushed her lips into a pout, losing it several times to giggles. "Well, if you're going to be that way..." She got out a pair of scissors and snipped the string around the girls' collars, then freed their ankles.

Laney pushed herself up with her arms, and Amy slid out from underneath. She bent to retrieve her clothes from the floor.

Anita, one of the girls laughing from the doorway, said in a mock-belligerent voice, "Hey, what's a white uniform doing in this wing?"

Amy smiled as she pulled her panties and shorts up and reached down again for her bra. "The dean sent me here to get all the Second Years to shape up. You know what they say, the students keep getting smarter every year."

Anita resumed giggling. "Not this year. I heard them say, 'Hey, what's left in the bottom of the barrel to scrape up?' " She and the other girls finally retreated, still giggling, down the hallway, knowing the show was over.

Amy finished adjusting her bra and slipped on her socks and shoes. Sitting up beside her, Laney, still naked, was rubbing the last bits of sleep out of her eyes and yawning. Amy put her arm across Laney's back, leaned over and kissed her. "I'm going back to my room to brush my teeth and pee. Tell Linda." Amy looked at Linda, her eyebrows arched. "To whom I'm not speaking at present."

Laughing again, Linda sat on the bed next to Amy. "You're not really mad, are you? Didn't you ever do something because you couldn't resist? You guys looked so cute like that!"

Amy put both arms around Linda and leaned her head on Linda's shoulder. "You'll never know if I'm mad until my revenge is complete. Breakfast after I get back?"

"Sure."