TWO DAYS LATER

Amy looked up at Haley on the platform, and nodded. "Okay, you ready?"

Haley nodded excitedly. "I think so. Holly and I talked about it awhile after you showed it yesterday." Automatically she reached out to brush her hand against her sister's. Amy and Holly had demonstrated the technique of assisting each other's breathing during a pair-hanging yesterday, as Haley looked on in absorbed concentration, asking several questions. "And I think I can handle the weight. I did all those exercises, hanging with the extra weights, like the dean talked about in that letter he sent." She blushed. "I'm sorry, I think of it as him sending it, but Holly tells me you wrote it."

Amy nodded. She laughed suddenly. "I assume the dean found a way to word it so it didn't imply you were admitted already."

Haley laughed. "Well, as far as the wording, yeah. I didn't know how else to take it, though. I knew it had to be connected with Holly being here, and something he wanted me to get ready for. Especially the hanging with the extra weights. Holly never got anything telling her to do that while she was waiting."

Amy smiled. "I figured you wouldn't be fooled, but he was just covering himself. He didn't want to get some sort of general early admission policy started."

Both girls were naked, of course, which, for the time being, gave Amy an additional way of telling them apart, besides the newly-arrived glittery monograms attached to their collars. Both had identical reddish-orange bushes, but Haley's went further down between her legs, lightly covering her labia. There hadn't been time for laser removal of the extra unwanted hair. Aside from that, Haley's exercise program over the past year had kept her body looking essentially identical to Holly's. Amy remained on the lookout for subtle differences in habitual gestures or expressions that would help her distinguish them. There was still a touch of the familiar-friend-and-occasional-lover look on Holly's face when she looked at Amy that was absent from Haley's, but Amy knew that difference would fade away before long.

Each dropped a noose over the other's head, adjusted it and tightened it, and waited for Amy to tie their hands behind them. As close as they were standing, it was automatic that they kissed each other, but they clearly both were setting aside any more extensive intimacies to concentrate on the business at hand. It was obvious that Haley took hanging as seriously as Holly, and Holly set a standard for that which was hard to match.

Amy nodded. "Okay, Haley, I just want you to get a feeling for the breathing itself. Like I said yesterday, Holly and I have worked out some moves, part of a routine, in fact, but we were just showing you the basics to start with. We can work on some choreography in a few days, once you've got breathing mastered." She gestured downward. "Haley, move both of your feet just a few inches left. You'll be able to put your right leg between Holly's with less fumbling from there. While the platform is sinking, think where your knees are in relation to hers."

Haley nodded briefly, and Amy pulled the lever, starting the platform downward.

As she lost contact with the floor, Haley quickly reached out with her feet, banging them against both of Holly's ankles. After knocking her right knee against Holly's left, she managed to push her right leg between Holly's thighs and lock both her thighs around Holly's right.

On Haley's first push upward, Amy saw a familiar problem arise. She quickly pushed the lever, raising the platform.

As soon as Haley could breathe, she voiced an exasperated growl and stamped her foot on the platform. She looked at Holly with a pleading expression. "I'm so sorry, I can't believe I..."

Holly covered Haley's mouth with her own, stifling the apology, and quickly said, "I did the same thing, the exact same thing, the first time. You have to get the balance just right. Push straight upward, and try not to lean back."

"It's just that I never screw up a..."

Amy reached up and stroked Haley's hip. "Shhh, it's okay. Haley, I know you can hang. But this is different. As you practice you're going to work out a new set of reflexes you haven't needed before. It just takes time. You saw Holly do it yesterday. You'll get there."

Haley took a deep breath. "Okay. Can we try again?"

"Sure." Amy spoke softly, going for a calming note. "Close your eyes and stand there a minute. I'm not in a hurry. Just breathe for a minute. Tell me when you're ready."

Haley breathed in and out a few times, then nodded. "Let's go."

Amy pulled on the lever.

Almost smoothly this time, Haley pushed her right leg between Holly's again. Lifting herself, she took a few slow breaths, then responded to Holly's double thigh-squeeze by relaxing her upper body, and tightening her thighs still further to allow Holly to lift herself.

On Haley's third lift, she twisted her upper body slightly to rub her breasts back and forth across Holly's. Holly duplicated the move on her own third lift.

Amy pushed the lever. As soon as she could stand, Haley hopped excitedly in place. "Okay, okay, I've got it now! Can we do it again?"

Amy laughed. The girl was just way too much like Holly. "After you rest about ten minutes. Your body's more fatigued than you know, right now."

"Okay." She grinned at Holly. After a quick kiss, they leaned into each other, their chins each resting on the other's left shoulder, rubbing their heads softly together.

Amy shook her head slightly. I've never seen lovers more in tune with each other, thought Amy, always making complementary moves, always knowing what the other is about to do and what the other wants. Not me and Megan, not anybody.

I had a feeling they'd be like that, Amy reminded herself. But expectations aren't much of a preparation for seeing it happen, it turns out.

Amy paused at the door of Melissa's and Jana's room, where Runner had spent the night with Jana -- Melissa having slept with Amy -- and listened before knocking, not wanting to interrupt if there was sexual activity that sounded as though it were beyond a certain threshold. It seemed fairly quiet, so Amy tapped at the door, and heard Runner's "C'min."

Runner looked up from her reading -- Amy could see the title "Sherry's Day With Mom," recalling that it involved a young girl spending the day with her mother at work so she could see what Mom did for a living -- and grinned at Amy. She was sitting up on the bed behind Jana, her knees pulled up with the book propped on them. Against her left shin a squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup was leaning, and Puppy was nosing at it while looking up at Runner hopefully, her soft whimper clearly a request to Runner to do something with the bottle.

Runner had awakened Amy, asleep in Melissa's arms, early this morning, to take Puppy down to this room for some unstated reason, and Amy thought she could see now what the reason was.

Jana was on her knees and face on the bed, blindfolded and gagged as she preferred to be, her wrists tied to her ankles, her elbows to the sides of her knees, her ass high in the air. She was sweaty from recent exertion, and her buttocks and the backs of her thighs seemed slightly darker than normal. Amy pressed her knuckles against her mouth to keep from laughing, not completely successfully. She could tell what had been happening, partly because she knew how much Puppy loved chocolate.

Runner closed the book, using her thumb to mark her place, petted Puppy and said, "Oh, okay." Picking up the squeeze bottle, she held it over Jana's upraised rear end and dribbled chocolate sauce over Jana's buttocks, concentrating mainly on her butt crack, where the sauce ran slowly down over her pussy lips.

With a grateful yip, Puppy rose onto her four legs on the bed and began licking up all available chocolate.

Jana, with a high-pitched squeal, began squirming spastically, her muscles uselessly straining, the squeal quickly turning into rapid, breathy grunts. As Puppy finished with the more easily-reached sauce and began lapping earnestly at Jana's pussy, Jana's grunts became sharper and briefer, timed with the rhythmic tensing of the muscles of her arms and legs as her arousal quickly ascended towards a peak.

Puppy was nearly finished when Jana's leg and buttock muscles tensed one more time and stood taut, quivering, as her grunts rose in pitch and then held a sustained note until she was out of breath. Amy, from long experience, knew one of Jana's orgasms when she saw one.

As Jana slowly slid down the far end of her climax, she inevitably found Puppy's attention less welcome, and squirmed now with the goal of pushing Puppy away, but Puppy continued licking undeterred. At last the final bit of sauce disappeared, while Jana, giggling despite her irritation, was left alone to catch her breath, her whole body now bathed in sweat.

To Amy it was just another facet of the gem that was Runner, her quick understanding of Jana's offbeat wants and needs. She shook her head, grinning. "Runner, could you take her gag out just for a minute? I need to ask her something."

Runner put her book down and laughed. "I think she's had enough anyway. That's her third time." Runner reached forward and began untying Jana.

As soon as she was free to move, Jana pulled out the gag and slipped off the blindfold. She immediately turned to Runner and threw her arms around her. "Thank you so much, Runner, that was great!" She gave Runner an affectionate kiss, then, still holding Runner, looked up at Amy. "What's up?"

"You're on monitor duty for the party Saturday, right?" The Second Years were hosting the upcoming party.

Jana nodded. "Melissa and I both did bedrooms last time."

"I was going to ask the dean if it'd be okay for you to be assigned to monitor my room. I just wanted to check with you first."

"Oh! Sure. Have you got any extra signals?" There were standard hand signals the hostesses used to alert their monitors to special needs. Occasionally hostess/monitor pairs worked out some additional ones.

Amy shook her head. "Just the usual. I'm not expecting anything weird. If anything I'm sure they'll be on their best behavior."

Justin Greene and his crew, the men who had rescued Amy from the island, were going to collect, at last, the remainder of the reward Amy had promised them.

Runner gasped. "Is that this Saturday? That's..." She frowned in thought, pulling out of memory what she had learned about the days of the week. "Is that three more days?"

Amy smiled and nodded. "Today is Wednesday."

"The men from the boat are coming to this one?"

Amy nodded again. "I need to get that done. There aren't too many more parties before I do my own show."

Runner gasped again. "Do you know when your show is? I thought you were going to find out later today."

"Oh, no, not yet. Not exactly, anyway. But I know it's going to be soon."

"Can I come to the party?"

Amy frowned. "Well, there's a place where you can watch from outside the room..."

Runner shook her head vehemently. "I want to be in the party. Amy, I've never had sex with a man before. Isn't that something I need to learn, if I'm going to be a Hanging Girl?"

Amy bit her lip. "Well, remember, you aren't really a student yet. That's still going to be awhile."

Runner had a determined look on her face. "You said you were with men before you came here." She looked at Jana. "Jana, you did it too, right? Before you were in the Academy?" Jana nodded, and Runner looked back at Amy. "You said I need to learn as much as I can about what all girls do, because Hanging Girls know so many things before they come here. Isn't this one of those things? I've watched women have sex with men on TV, so I know what to do. But watching it isn't the same. I need to do it."

Amy was about to dispute how much Runner really knew about sex with the other gender just from watching television, but realized that wouldn't be at all helpful towards putting Runner off. The more Runner saw that she didn't know about a subject, the stronger her need to learn it became.

Amy knew the futility of trying to satisfy Runner's hunger for knowledge with anything other than real food. Not able to promise anything, she said cautiously, "I'll ask the dean if it's okay..."

Runner bounced off the bed with a huge grin, enveloping Amy in her usual tight hug. "Thank you, Amy!"

Jana cleared her throat. "We can't really just turn her loose in a bedroom, right? She needs to know some things first."

Amy smiled at her. "You offering to help?"

Jana laughed. "Sure. It's the least I owe her after this..." She gestured vaguely at the chocolate bottle.

Amy grinned. "Okay. Start making a list of what we need to do."

Jana looked at the chocolate-stained bedsheet. "First thing is clean up a little."

THAT AFTERNOON

Sitting at the conference room table, Amy could feel excitement billowing inside her. I've been to several of these meetings, she reminded herself, probably more of them than most girls who come through here. Starting with the one for Laney. But this is the first time it's been for me.

Amy had thought about asking Melissa and Jana to accompany her, but had decided against it. We'll probably have another meeting for contract signing, she told herself, and they can come to that. The main reason she had left them behind was that inviting them would have made it impossible to tell Runner why she couldn't come. For various reasons, Amy needed Runner to be absent today.

It piqued Amy's interest especially to be meeting, at long last, the Club member who had bought an option on her services. It would be someone she had met, but she didn't yet know who, except that he was male. Someone who had decided far in advance that Amy was the Hanging Girl he wanted to buy, and had paid money to ensure that he would have that opportunity.

Amy saw the dean look at his watch. "What time, Sir?"

"He should be here in the next ten minutes." The dean always insisted that Hanging Girls be in the conference room, waiting, when a prospective client arrived. It assured the client that the girl was there to serve his or her needs.

That, Amy decided, gave enough time to get an extra issue out of the way. May as well do it now, Amy thought, since it was one of the things she didn't want Runner present for. "Sir, could Runner participate in the party Saturday?"

The dean looked startled. "I think for the present it's sufficient that she watch from outside the room."

"Sir, it really would fit in with what you want us to do with her. Aside from hanging, our most important duty is serving the Club members at parties. Runner herself pointed out that all of us knew something about inter-gender sex when we came, and that helps all of us share a starting point. She'd be handicapped if she started as a student with zero experience with men."

He rested his chin on his hand, his standard thinking-posture. "It's going to be a couple of years, I think, at least, before she reaches the point of being ready for admission. There's plenty of time."

"Yes, Sir, but two things. One is that I won't be participating in any more parties myself, after this one. I know the job of teaching Runner doesn't fall exclusively on me, but I think it's my duty to do as much as I can before I go. The second thing is, this party is special. The crew from the boat who rescued us are going to be there. They're here because I made a promise to them, and because I owe them so much for bringing me back here. But I'm not the only one they rescued from years of an empty, exhausting, painful life. They rescued Runner from that too, and she owes them the same way I do. She doesn't need to try to entertain members. I know she's not ready for that. But we can get her ready to give a guest a freebie. The guests will enjoy it, and she'll learn more from that than from anything we could tell her ourselves. She has to get some hands-on experience..." Amy grinned. "...so to speak." She went on, "This is the only way she can get that experience before she's admitted, without sticking a member with an inexperienced girl, and probably the only time the opportunity will come up."

The dean was looking down at the doodling he was doing on a notepad. "So the understanding is that she'll service only men from the boat crew?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What happens if they don't want her?"

Amy laughed. "Are you kidding, Sir? You've seen her. And wait till you see her in make-up and a party outfit."

The dean smiled, still doodling, and sighed. "You win again. How many is that?"

Amy laughed again, just as the door opened and Tina said, "Your two o'clock is here."

"Thank you, Tina. Show him in."

Amy stood respectfully, trying to keep a lid on her excitement as another this-is-it moment arrived, then gasped, both hands flying to her face. "Benjamin!! It's you??"

Benjamin stopped in the doorway, blinked at the intensity of his reception, then smiled. "So you'd be willing to let me stage your hanging?"

"Absolutely! When do..." She worked to get a grip on herself. "I'm sorry. You should come in and have a seat." She gestured towards a chair at the table opposite her, then winced, looking at the dean, suddenly remembering her status as a slave. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be the one who says..." She covered her face, knowing she was blushing furiously. "I'll shut up now." She sat abruptly. Benjamin sat down across from her.

She peeked through her fingers to verify that she was hearing the dean laughing. Cautiously she uncovered her face.

The dean was smiling at her. "I can't recall seeing quite that reaction before. Should I assume you're willing to consider being owned and hanged by Mr. Smith?"

"Consider? Of course I'd..." She shook herself, trying to force herself into a more appropriate businesslike attitude. "I guess we need to find out more details, right?" She was a little startled to learn Benjamin's last name after all this time. She couldn't recall the subject having come up before.

Benjamin smiled. "What would you like to know?"

Amy remembered, at last, the question that had been her top priority coming in. "How many girls can I bring with me?" It was always required that at least one other Academy girl accompany the one being hanged, to set the noose in place, but Amy was hoping for more than that. "In recent years we've been sending, ummm... two or three."

Benjamin nodded. "Three would be fine. There's enough room in the guest house, if they don't mind sleeping in the same bed."

Guest house, thought Amy. Cool. "Is that... do you mean three counting or not counting me?"

"Three in addition to yourself. More than that would get a little crowded."

Perfect! thought Amy. She turned to the dean, her heart fluttering slightly. This would be the hard part, but she was prepared to argue for it until she got her way. "Sir, I'd like to take Melissa, Jana, and Runner." She knew not to try asking if Holly or Haley could be there. The dean had made it clear, at the time of sending Haley the letter, that he considered Holly to be subject to the rule for First Years forbidding any outside contact, and presumably now Haley was as well. He had not, to date, said anything about Runner. Runner, Amy was going to argue, was at a cultural disadvantage compared with any other girl at the school, in having almost zero experience with the mainland world outside the walls of the Academy. It was something she needed badly, to be an Academy student and a Hanging Girl.

Amy had, from the beginning, dreamed of a hanging exactly like Miranda's. Her vision of her hanging included a road trip to the beautiful estate of whoever bought her. If, after every argument Amy could think of to support her request to take Runner along, the dean still said No, Amy was prepared to give up that part of her dream and ask for her hanging to be staged on the grounds of the Academy. She didn't want one like Megan's, if only because she wanted to preserve the uniqueness of Megan's very special send-off. But she would wait for a buyer willing to have the hanging here. Amy had made a promise to Runner, and keeping that promise took priority.

The dean frowned at her. "You want to take Runner?"

"She's not a First Year, Sir."

"Well, of course she's not a student at all, but you know..." He trailed off, looking at her silently for a moment. Then he heaved a heavy sigh and sat back. "Let's assume I've finished saying why I don't want Runner leaving the grounds, and you've finished explaining why I really do. I think I know what you're going to say. We'll assume you've convinced me as usual. Let's move on." He made a resume-your-conversation gesture towards Amy and Benjamin.

Amy could barely think, now, for all the Yes! Yes! Yes! clamor inside her head. She turned to Benjamin with a huge grin. "Ummm... where were we? Oh!! I know! What kind of show do you want me to put on? You know about our various standard scripts, right? Do you want one of those, or will you have one of your own?"

"Ah. Well, I'm leaving that part to my son, Calvin, on whose behalf your hanging is actually going to be staged. At present I don't believe the plan really calls for much rehearsal in advance, or anything of that nature. If that changes we can let you know."

The parallel with Amy's father buying Miranda for Andrew didn't escape her, but she could tell instantly that Benjamin's son was nothing like Andrew. Benjamin himself was such a sweet person, and when he mentioned his son he radiated nothing but pride... wait a minute. His son?

Amy's brow wrinkled. She could always recall every moment of that first meeting with Benjamin three years earlier, including how well he had accommodated to his own sexual disability. "Benjamin, how could you have..." She stopped herself, just that much too late, and slapped her hands against her face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me today."

Benjamin actually laughed. "Amy, you know better than to worry about offending me on that score. True, I'm not at present physically capable of fathering children. But that wasn't always the case. Calvin recently graduated from college, and I wanted to give him a graduation present. You are the nicest one I could think of."

Amy finally laughed, finding herself unable to be uncomfortable in Benjamin's presence. "I think that is about the sweetest thing anybody's ever said to me." She decided to shift the subject away from her insensitive gaffe, and turned to the dean. "Sir, did you know the whole concept of Megan and me doing a pairs hanging for the members was originally Benjamin's idea?"

The dean's eyes widened. "No, I did not." He looked at Benjamin. "I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate that."

Benjamin waved his hands self-deprecatingly. "I can't really take credit. As I recall, I merely asked Amy to engage in a fantasy. Turning it into reality was all her doing. With Megan."

The dean smiled. "Well, in any case, thank you for setting that idea in motion. Now, when would you want to stage the hanging?"

Benjamin scratched his chin. "I can be fluid on that, but I should think I'll need about a month to get together a guest list, send out invitations, that sort of thing." He turned to Amy. "Does that give you enough time to finish whatever you need to do beforehand?"

Amy nodded. "Should we say four weeks from this Saturday? Hangings are most often on Saturdays, that's all I'm thinking. I'm hoping we can set a date now, so I can tell Runner."

Benjamin looked at her curiously. "Who's Runner? Oh, you were talking about bringing her along. That's an interesting name."

Amy grinned. "She's an interesting girl."

Benjamin smiled back. "Well, four weeks from Saturday it is."

As Benjamin and the dean discussed payment and contracts, Amy barely heard them. She felt a fire begin burning inside her that she knew would not be extinguished until she herself was. I've got a date for my hanging!! The words ran in a loop inside her head, over and over.

On her way to Melissa's and Jana's room, Amy saw that the door to Holly's and Haley's room was standing open. Amy was bursting to tell the news to someone. She would have passed by the sisters' room if a closed door had signaled their need for privacy, but the open door invited her in.

She stopped in the doorway, her mouth open to speak, but stayed silent instead to watch.

One of the First Year girls, Richelle, was hanging, her naked body squirming at the end of the rope. As the school year drew towards a close, the First Years by now had been introduced to all of the standard moves and were becoming fairly proficient, though a discerning eye would see the lack of polish in comparison with the more advanced students. And of course, they could not yet hang nearly as long.

Holly was watching Richelle intently, her chin resting on the palm of one hand, her elbow supported by the other forearm across her stomach just below her breasts. Her eyes were intensely focused and barely blinking, and Amy, who had seen the look in Holly's eyes before, was nevertheless stunned again by the resemblance to Megan, who alone had been capable of the depth of concentration on another girl's hanging that Holly was now showing. Haley, standing beside her sister, was similarly absorbed, though her eyes seemed to move more, taking in different parts of the performance that Holly seemed to be seeing all at once.

Without looking, Holly reached for the lever to bring the platform back up. As soon as Richelle could stand, she asked Holly, just slightly out of breath, "So did you see anything?"

Frowning, her eyes now unfocused as if she were replaying a video of the hanging in her head, Holly said quietly, "Well, I think you hold your elbows a little too far behind you, but that's just your own style. You've always done that, and I don't think it's really messing you up. But there's kind of an overall extra tension in you that I didn't used to see. When did that start?"

Richelle shook her head. "I didn't even know I had it. If it's there, it's not something conscious."

"So when did your hanging times start going down?"

"I guess... about a month ago."

Holly's frown deepened. "About when the classes on the Shawna Move started?"

Amy smiled. That was how the students now generally referred to the desperate-looking downward stretching which, though Hanging Girls had always done it to some extent, Shawna had turned into an art form -- just as they called the hip-thrusting leg wraps the "Megan Move." It was one of the ways Shawna and Megan would live forever at the Academy.

Richelle nodded slowly. "I guess so. I thought I was doing it right. Mona said I looked really good doing it." Mona was a Third Year, one of the teachers for beginning hanging classes.

Holly said, "Oh, you are. You do. Except... I'm wondering if you're getting too much into the mind-set of the move. When we do the Shawna Move, we're pretending we're in a panic, struggling to reach something to stand on. I'm thinking... it's like you really believe that's what's happening. The tension I'm seeing has a taste of panic in it. Do you..."

Richelle suddenly nodded excitedly. "Yes! I've always... Well, I've always kind of fantasized about hanging, even before I started doing it. I've been talking to the other girls, and they do it too, but it seems like mine are more vivid, I guess. They're more focused on the excitement of it, I think, and I kind of get deeper into the story going on in my head. When we started learning the Shawna, I started getting that really desperate feeling washing over me." She suddenly looked worried. "Holly, the fantasy, the story, that's part of what makes this work for me. I have to have the fantasies. If I stop doing it..."

Holly waved her hand to stop Richelle. "No, I know. You've always been one of the most convincing girls in the First Year, and the fantasies you go through must be the reason. But now they're getting in the way of something you need to do. Let me think a minute."

While Holly's wheels were turning, Haley suddenly spoke up. "If you can't drop the fantasy, what if you just tweak it a little?"

Richelle gave Haley a blank look, and asked, "What do you mean?" But Holly suddenly spun towards her sister. "Yeah!" She looked up at Richelle again. "Look, what if, while you're hanging, about to go into the Shawna, you see your lover riding in on horseback, in the distance..."

Haley continued Holly's thought from mid-sentence, "Coming to save you. Just a few minutes away. You'll be rescued, if you can just hold out a tiny bit longer..."

Holly resumed, "You need to reach the platform so you can breathe, you can survive, until your lover gets there..."

Haley continued again. "So that's the desperation, but it's hopeful, it's excited, you're going to be okay if you can just make it through. You wouldn't have that panic tension making everything stiff..."

Holly again. "Then when you go on to a different move, go back to whatever fantasies go with that. But always come back to the rescue image when you're doing Shawna."

Richelle's eyes were wide with excitement, and she bounced in tiny hops on the platform. "Yes!! I can see the whole thing now! Let me try it."

Holly grinned at her. "Okay, but take a few minutes, okay? You were just up there. I want you to calm down and get all your breath back first."

Amy backed into the hallway, shaking her head. There it was again. For as long as she'd known Holly, Amy had been aware, just from what Holly had told her, that Holly and Haley were so close as to be a single person in two bodies. But now Amy was getting to see it -- earlier, in their physical intimacy, and now in their interaction with another person. Amy was going to need to let her mind boggle for awhile before exposing herself to any more of it.

Amy knew, also, that the task the dean had set for her and Megan, prior to their hangings, was done. The leadership qualities the dean had seen in herself and Megan, so that so many of the other girls had looked to them for guidance -- especially the technical help that nobody but Megan could give -- had now been transferred to Amy's girls. Amy had already witnessed students, even a couple of Third Years, seeking out Melissa for her stylistic advice. And just now had been Amy's first chance to see Holly's ability as a troubleshooter, a talent Megan had strengthened within Holly during the first months she'd been here. Amy could see in Holly, now, another way Megan was living on.

Haley did not yet have the purely technical expertise that Holly did, to the point that errors in hanging form would jump out at her and identify themselves as she watched. But Haley had the same insight as her sister into the frame of mind a Hanging Girl needed, to perform at her best.

Still shaking her head, Amy knocked on Melissa's and Jana's door, heard Jana invite her in.

Amy opened the door, took one step forward, and gasped as a wave of desire, a pure sexual need, swept through her. Set off by Runner.

Runner was dressed in a pale green nightie, without shoulder straps, barely held up by her breasts just above the nipples, that came barely below her hip, sheer enough that the absence of a bra underneath was obvious, and through which could be seen thong panties in the same color, a tiny strip of fabric in front barely covering her mound. She was walking between the bed and the desks towards the door, her hips slightly swaying, in spike heels, held by a strap circling her ankle. She was watching Melissa, who was directly in front of her, and Amy could read the question on her face, "Am I doing it right?"

With Runner dressed in such an unfamiliar way, Amy could almost see her as a stranger, and Amy worked to preserve that impression, letting the full effect wash over her. The impact was stunning. Amy thought that if what she was seeing now were a scene in a movie, the film would be remembered for decades afterward for this one scene of a beautiful woman walking slowly towards the camera without speaking. Fans would argue about whether special effects had been used to augment her sensuality.

Runner stopped just in front of Melissa, and seemed to see for the first time that Amy was there. A sudden smile lit her face. "Amy! I get to come to your hanging, don't I?"

Amy smiled back. "I told you that already."

"I know, but you weren't really sure when you said it. You are now."

Amy felt dizzy. Runner was reading her as if she had a direct connection to Amy's brainwaves. Amy had recently seen her do the same with Haley, at the instant they first met. Amy had been in Hanging Girl training for three years, and she thought she might be able to read faces and body language as effectively as Runner was doing it now, but Runner shouldn't be doing it at all. Amy wasn't sure when she'd started. She couldn't recall Runner doing it on the island, though she might have missed it. Maybe, Amy thought, it was the exposure Runner was now getting to so many people, so many girls she was getting to know, so many faces on television and the movies she'd been watching. Reading people, Amy reflected, was very much a matter of focusing your senses on them and paying close attention. Runner certainly did that. But it was also a cultural thing, a result of shared knowledge and beliefs. Runner was learning more about the culture of Amy's world every day. Maybe that was the key.

Amy forced herself back to alertness, in time to hear Runner say, "I don't understand why people wear these." She was looking down at the heels she was wearing. "Why do they want to make it harder to walk?"

Amy smiled. "You're really doing it for other people, instead of yourself. It changes the shape of your legs, and when people look at you they get really... well, horny." Runner knew the word very well by now. "That's why we wear them at parties. We're supposed to be making people horny."

"When I get them in bed, can I take the shoes off?"

Amy grinned. "Oh, sure. By the time you get the person in bed, you can take everything off. Or a little before that, probably." She looked at Melissa. "Did you show her any videos of girls with guests in the bedroom?"

Melissa shook her head. "Was planning to do that later. Jana thought we should work on her entrance first. What do you think so far?"

"You showed her that walk?" Melissa nodded. "She's really picked that up well. Just a little wobbly with the heels, but we've got a couple more days. The outfit..." Amy frowned at Runner's nightie. "The style is perfect, but I think the color is more for Holly or Haley. Have they got the exact same thing in white? Not snow white. Cream, I think. I want something that really brings out her skin color."

Jana answered. "They have it in a bunch of colors. We were going to try several different styles until one of them really popped."

Amy laughed. "This one pops just fine. I want to stay with it, but in the cream."

Jana looked at the clock on her desk and gasped. "Oh, Lissa, we need to get going."

Melissa said, "Oh! Right." She turned back to Amy. "We need to get to class. Sorry, Amy."

"No, of course, you go." She made a get-moving gesture, then said, "Wait. Have you had a chance to practice male sex with her yet?"

Jana had gathered up two books and a notebook, and Melissa scrambled to do the same. She shook her head. "Another thing for later."

Amy nodded. "I'll do that then... Strap-on?"

Jana pointed towards the near dresser. "Second drawer. It's clean. Some oil next to it." It was a toy she enjoyed Melissa using on her when she was tied up, usually spread-eagle on her back. "See you, Amy." She blew Amy a kiss on her way out.

To Melissa, following close behind Jana, Amy asked, "Where's Puppy?"

Melissa, backing out the door, said, "Jeri and Taylor. I think they're going to keep her for the night. And yes, they've got a litter box in their bathroom for her." Amy insisted that anyone overnighting with Puppy take care of her physical needs. Melissa gave Amy a quick hug and ran out into the hall, closing the door.

Amy retrieved the strap-on, pushed her shorts and panties down and donned the sex toy. After spreading some baby oil over the shaft, she pulled her panties and shorts back up.

She turned to face Runner, who had been watching her with absorbed attention, and was now staring at her crotch. Amy smiled. "I don't know if you know, a man wouldn't look like this all the time. Well, of course, you've seen they're not always like this. It only starts to get big and hard when they're about to have sex. Or thinking about sex."

Runner's eyes went wide. "Oh! That's what they've been talking about in the movies! I didn't quite understand what they were getting at, but I get it now!" Runner was happy that another educational loose end had been secured.

"I'll be the man. Whatever I say about me, I'm saying it about the man you're with. Okay?" She waited for Runner to nod, and went on, speaking more softly. "Once you're in the bedroom with me, stay close to me. Ask me about myself -- with the men from the ship, you might what they've been doing since we saw them."

Runner nodded.

"Keep your eyes on mine. While we're talking, you could stroke my hip..." She waited as Runner reached out to touch her. "We're going to undress each other. You can look away sometimes to see what you're doing, but remember to look back in my eyes. You should always look like you want to be with me more than anything."

"I do, Amy." She was speaking softly, in imitation of the sensual tone Amy was using.

Amy smiled. "I'm not Amy right now, I'm the man. You want to be with me." Runner nodded. "Keep your lips just a little apart when you're not talking." Runner nodded, her mouth slightly open.

Amy took hold of Runner's nightie at the bottom. "Lift your arms up, so I can take this off you. Then unbutton my shorts."

Looking at Runner, Amy's arousal grew quickly. If I had a penis, she thought, it'd look like the strap-on by now.

With both of them naked, Amy tried to decide whether Runner needed any more grooming in preparation. The hair through her crotch was gone, but Amy had decided to leave the bush mostly alone, just trimmed slightly at the edges -- the fabric of the party panties she had just discarded had covered it, though only just. Most of the girls, like Amy, had their pubic hair removed altogether, but some kept it, for various reasons. Amy, for example, had had Holly keep hers, with its startling fiery color. In Runner's case, Amy felt that maintaining Runner's bush added to her native-island-girl look -- though she'd had the salon eliminate the tufts of hair under Runner's arms, since there was such a thing as taking the earthy native look too far. There was also, as with Holly, the issue of unusual color -- in Runner's case, her bush was so intensely black, and somehow glittery with highlights. Looking one more time, with the party now unexpectedly looming, Amy decided to stay with her original decision. The bush should remain.

She looked up at Runner's face. "Okay, I'm me for a minute, not the man. Men like sex a lot of different ways, like you and I do, and mostly they involve different ways of using this." She stroked her artificial erection. "I'll show you one of the ways now, and some more later. And we, all the Hanging Girls, have learned how to tell which way a man wants it without asking. We almost always get it right. In the next couple of days I'll try teaching you to do that, to know what he wants." Amy had a feeling that part would go easily.

Runner nodded eagerly. Another thing to learn!

"I'm the man again. We're going to do man-on-top. Keep looking at my eyes, remember. Lips open." Runner had momentarily forgotten the latter. "Sit down on the bed..." She watched as Runner did so. "Scoot to the middle, and lay on your back." Amy followed her down as she was doing so, positioning her dildo in front of Runner's crotch. Lowering herself smoothly down atop Runner, speaking more softly still, she continued with the instructions. "Lift your legs up. Wrap them around my waist. Dig your heels into my butt, but not very hard, and wrap your arms around me. Do it all kind of slowly, and all at the same time."

Amy pushed forward now, and Runner squeaked slightly as the dildo entered her. "Try not to make that first sound. But this one, the one you're doing now, that's good." Runner was softly moaning, in an excited, not pained, way. Amy suspected Runner had never had anything this big inside her before, though all the evidence pointed to girls in the pen having used their fingers in Runner, before Amy had met her. Runner obviously liked the feeling of being filled by the dildo. Amy felt relieved. That would have been the hardest thing to teach her to fake, but as with nearly all of the girls here, it was clear Runner didn't need to fake it.

Amy lowered her head and kissed Runner, as she began thrusting the dildo in and out. Runner broke off the kiss for a moment, smiling. "I'm glad men like to kiss too. I knew that from TV."

Amy grinned and whispered, "Everybody likes that." She gave little more in the way of instruction for awhile. Runner didn't need it, as the fire and excitement took over. Amy kept her mouth on Runner's, her tongue licking Runner's, as she began thrusting harder.