Halloween Treats

***NOTE:  Be warned that this story contains many subjects that may offend
certain people.  If the topics of illegal drug use, as well as underage
experimentation with various substances (including tobacco) offend you, you
may not want to read this story.  As this is a story which follows the
subjects through many phases of their lives, it starts while many of the
characters are underage, but is not intended to either condone or glorify
underage substance abuse.  As the story progresses in multiple chapters, the
characters will "mature".  The author does not encourage anyone to consume
alcohol until they are at least 21 years of age, nor does the author
encourage the experimentation with illegal narcotics at any age.***

Halloween Treats
by smokingbeauties@yahoo.com

"There's no way in hell I'm going trick or treating," said Jodie.  "I'm 16
years old!  Don't you guys think that's a bit old to dress up and ask for
candy?"

The girls laughed.  They knew she was right.

"We're not going to ask for candy," said Beth.  "We're just going to walk
around and see if we find any cute guys!"

"Well if we're doing that, count me in!"  laughed Jodie. 

It was only a few days before Halloween.  She'd have to come up with some
sort of stupid costume to wear that would let her still look like herself if
she wanted to meet anyone.

She decided to just put on a pair of black pants, a black sweatshirt, and
paint whiskers and a black nose on her face.  Add the black cat-ear headband,
and she'd be all set.  With her shoulder length blonde hair, and bright blue
eyes, she'd look very cute.

Jodie was very popular in her high school.  Her friends told her that she was
a "lock" for Prom Queen, even though the prom was still a year and a half
away.  The compliments made her feel really good about herself, although she
knew that either of her two best friends, Beth and Deanna, could easily get
crowned themselves.

Finally, Halloween was upon them.  Beth was 17, and had her driver's license,
so she picked up Jodie, and drove to Deanna's house.  The sun was beginning
to set, and the monsters were just starting to come out.  

"Look at how many people are out already!" Deanna said.  "Once the sun goes
down, we're definitely going to meet guys!"

The idea was completely fine with Jodie, whose boyfriend had dumped her 6
months earlier because she wouldn't start smoking for him.

She was a sophomore in high school, but she'd never smoked a cigarette in her
life.  Not even one puff.  Beth had smoked a couple of times at parties,
mainly while she was drunk, but only did it to "fit in".  She didn't
particularly like it.  Deanna was a different story.  She enjoyed smoking,
but due to her age, wasn't able to get them often.  Her mother smoked, and
occasionally she'd be able to steal a cigarette or two, or sneak in a puff
off of a cigarette her mother left burning in the ashtray.  The last time she
was able to sneak a puff was about three weeks earlier, and she was beginning
to wonder when she'd get the opportunity to smoke again.  Jodie and Beth were
among the only people who knew of Deanna's secret habit.

After engaging in some polite conversation with Deanna's parents, the three
young girls set out on their journey into the night.  They were saddened when
they realized that they'd only seen two or three guys they found attractive.
Their hormones, however, kept them searching.

About an hour and a half into their walk, Deanna let out a squeal.

"What?" asked Beth.  "Where is he?" The other two girls laughed.

"No, not that, silly," Deanna said.  "I think I see a cigarette!"

The two girls groaned in disapproval.

"Oh come on, Deanna," said Jodie.  "When are you going to quit smoking
anyway? Don't you realize how bad it is for you?"

"I don't smoke," Deanna said.  "All the time, anyway.  I haven't smoked in
three weeks, one more time won't kill me."

As they approached the orange glow smoldering in the road, Deanna's desire to
smoke took over.  She ran the few feet ahead of them and picked it up.  Beth
and Jodie saw the tip glow as Deanna took her first drag in three weeks.

"Oh my God," she said.  "That feels so good.  And it's almost the whole
cigarette too!  You guys can get all the candy, I'll just keep this!"

"That's fine with me," said Jodie.

"Yeah, I wouldn't expect you'd want to smoke," replied Deanna, exhaling her
second drag.  "Beth, do you want some?"

"Sure," said Beth, extending her hand and taking the cigarette from her
friend.

Beth brought the filter to her lips, and took a good sized drag.  She exhaled
and handed the cigarette back to Deanna, who took her third puff.

The three girls walked down the street while Beth and Deanna smoked the
cigarette.  Jodie tried to stay out of their second hand smoke, but the
effort seemed futile.

When the cigarette was completed, Deanna sighed.  

"It was fun while it lasted, little smoky friend!" she said, flicking the
exhausted butt to the pavement.

They hadn't noticed the three boys in costumes approaching them.

"Hey Deanna," said the vampire.

"Oh, hi Jason," Deanna said.

"I didn't know you smoked.  That's cool," Jason said.

"Yeah, once in a while.  Do you?" asked Deanna, hoping to score another
cigarette.

"Yeah, I do," Jason said.  "Wanna go stand in the woods and smoke one?"

"Absolutely!" Deanna said.  "Do you guys wanna come?"

Beth said yes immediately, but Jodie wasn't so eager.  She knew that if she
didn't, she'd have to stand on the side of the road alone while the others
were in the woods smoking.  She recognized the other two costumed boys with
Jason as her fellow classmates Ben and Andy.  She was pretty sure that Ben
didn't smoke, and if Andy smoked, she'd be surprised that there was something
she didn't know about him.  She'd had a crush on him since 7th grade-she'd
learned as much as she could about him.

"Yeah, I'll go too," she said. 

The six teenagers walked off the side of the road, and into the woods.  They
walked back about 10 feet, confident they were out of sight.

"What kind do you have?" asked Deanna.

"Marlboro reds," said Ben.

Apparently Ben smoked.

"Works for me!" said Deanna enthusiastically.

Ben and Jason lit their cigarettes first, and handed a cigarette to Deanna.
She'd never smoked this brand before, but she liked Marlboro Lights, and
figured they couldn't be much different.

As she lit her cigarette, she found the taste similar, just stronger.

"Hey, what about me?" asked Beth.

"Sorry Beth, I didn't know you smoked," Jason said.

"Only sometimes," Beth said, taking a cigarette.

Jodie was beginning to feel awkward.  She and Andy were the only two not
smoking.

That's when it happened.

Jason handed Andy the pack, and he took out a cigarette.

"I can't believe he smokes," Jodie thought to herself.  "Now I'm the only one
not doing it!"

Andy handed the pack towards Jodie, who was standing next to him.

She looked at Deanna, who was enjoying her own cigarette.  

"Thanks," Jodie said, taking the cigarette from the pack.

She didn't like it, but she was going to smoke.

She nervously put the orange filter in her lips, securing it with the index
and middle fingers of her left hand.  Andy flicked the lighter, and a bright
yellow flame danced on top.

Jodie leaned into the flame, and slowly sucked smoke into her mouth.  It
tasted nothing like it smells, which calmed Jodie a lot.  

She didn't inhale, so she had no problem with the smoke-no desire to cough at
all.

Beth and Deanna couldn't believe that Jodie was smoking.  It was a sight
neither thought they'd ever see.

They watched her as she put the filter in her mouth again, and took a small
drag.  Again, she blew the smoke out instantly, without inhaling.

This continued for about 5 minutes, when Jodie dropped her cigarette on the
ground and stomped it out.

"Do you guys want to walk around for a little while?" asked Deanna, stubbing
out her cigarette.

"Sure," said Jason.  He was obviously the leader of the trio - the male
equivalent of Deanna.

They walked around for another half an hour.  Once a comfortable distance
from the houses of anyone they knew, Jason spoke up.

"Want to go smoke another cigarette?"  he asked.

Everyone except Jodie was eager to accept.  They found another small wooded
area, and snuck off the side of the road into the darkness.

Jodie didn't want to smoke, but she honestly believed that she could look at
Andy all night.  She knew that if she didn't go with them, she'd never have
any chance at all dating him.

"I can go with them and not smoke," she thought to herself.

She followed the group back into the woods, and hoped they wouldn't offer her
a cigarette.

The three boys lit up quickly before handing the pack to Deanna, who did the
same.  Jodie noticed how much enjoyment Deanna got from the cigarette.  Now
that she'd actually smoked a cigarette herself, she had no idea how anyone
could enjoy smoking.  She didn't like the taste at all.  She enjoyed not
feeling like an outsider though.  

Deanna had just lit her cigarette when Jodie heard the flick of a lighter
next to her.  She had been staring at Andy for so long that she hadn't
noticed that Beth was smoking her second cigarette of the evening.  

Jodie felt a tap on her left arm.  She looked down and Beth was handing the
pack towards her, with the top flipped open.

"No, thanks," Jodie said, hoping no one would tell Andy that she had only
smoked her first cigarette ever some 30 minutes earlier.

"Suit yourself," Andy said.

"So do you guys get high?" Jason asked before taking another drag.

"What do you mean?" asked Beth.

"He means, do you smoke pot?" said Ben.

"I've tried it a few times," said Deanna.

"You have?" asked Beth.  "I didn't know that!"

Jodie was equally as surprised.

"I don't," she said.

"Me either," Beth added.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Deanna said.

"Want to burn one now?" asked Andy.

Deanna smiled.

"Sure!" she said, moving closer to him.  Seeing her so-called best friend
stand between Andy and herself, just to smoke a joint, enraged Jodie.  She
knew that Deanna wouldn't do anything with Andy, even if they did get high,
but she still didn't like it.  She had to do something to get his attention
back on her.

Andy handed a joint to Deanna.

"One for you guys, and one for us," he said.

"Well, more for just me," Deanna laughed.

Ben laughed politely at Deanna's joke.

"I changed my mind," Jodie said.  "Can I have a cigarette?"

Andy said nothing as he handed her the pack of Marlboro's.

Jodie slid one from the box, and held it between the same fingers she'd used
earlier to smoke.  She lit the lighter, and put the filter in her lips.

When the flame touched the tip, she sucked until she saw the tip begin to
glow brightly.  Removing the cigarette, she exhaled the smoke towards the
night sky.  It still tasted absolutely terrible, but hopefully it would do
the things to Andy that she wanted it to.

By her fourth puff, she was beginning to feel that it wasn't doing those
things at all.

"You wanna try it, Beth?" asked Deanna, holding the smoke in her lungs.

"Um, okay," Beth said.  "How do I do it?"

"Just smoke it like it's a cigarette," Ben instructed.  "When you take it out
of your mouth, breathe the smoke in, and hold it as long as you can."

"I can do that," Beth said.  Her cigarette had been out for a few minutes
now.

She took the joint from Deanna, who had taken three hits already, and slowly
brought her trembling hands to her lips.

She parted her lips the tiniest bit, and moved the twisted tip of the joint
closer.  When she felt the paper touching her lips, she closed them quickly,
and began to pull the smoke into her mouth.

After a little over one second, she took the joint out of her mouth, and
inhaled the thick smoke deep into her lungs.

Beth held her breath as long as she could before exhaling a small amount of
pot smoke into the air.  She began to feel the THC in her bloodstream.  She
was getting high.

"I like how it tastes," she said.

She took another hit, similar to the first but longer, and passed the joint
back to Deanna.  Deanna took a double and held the smoke inside for what felt
like an eternity to Jodie.

"I had no idea you guys smoked," Andy said.  "You're awesome!  We should hang
out more often!"

With one statement, Andy had inadvertently completely excluded Jodie from the
group.  Did he not realize that she'd never smoked a cigarette before that
night?  What exactly did she have to do to be acknowledged by him???

"You want to try it?" said Deanna, interrupting Jodie's train of thought.

What was she going to do?  Andy was watching her to see what she said.  She
knew she should say no, and in fact, she could say no.  If she said no,
however, she might not ever get the chance to spend time with Andy.

She felt like she had no other choice.

"Sure," she said.

Jodie took the burning joint from Deanna.  She figured she could smoke it
without inhaling, and then no one would notice.

She put the tip of the burning joint between her lips, closed her eyes, and
started to pull the smoke into her mouth. 

Removing the joint, she blew a cloud of smoke out.

"Not bad," she said, handing the joint back to Deanna.

"It's better if you inhale," teased Andy.

Apparently, Andy had seen through Jodie's lame attempt to go through the
motions.  She knew she had to impress him now.

She brought the joint back to her lips, and looked him directly in the eyes.
She pulled the smoke into her mouth, closed her eyes, and inhaled as deep as
she could.

She'd never had any smoke in her lungs before, and instantly felt the urge to
cough.  She fought that urge as hard as she could, and held the smoke inside.
Amazingly, she was able to defeat anything inside her telling her to cough
the smoke out.

Jodie passed the joint back to Deanna, who took another hit and passed it to
Beth, who did the same.

Still holding her breath, Jodie thought she was going to pass out.
Fortunately, the darkness of night was concealing the tears streaming down
her cheeks.

When she didn't think she could take anymore, she exhaled.  Very little smoke
came out.  She knew she'd taken a bigger hit than the exhale implied.

"Nice," said Andy with a smile.

"Thanks," Jodie replied, amazed she was able to speak at all.

Before she knew what happened, the joint was being passed back in her
direction.

She took another big hit.

Her entire body was starting to feel like it was floating.  She felt great.
She didn't want to do drugs, but she couldn't deny the feeling she had.

Beth said it best.

"I feel fucking great!" she exclaimed with a giggle.

"Now for the best part," Deanna said.

"What's that?" asked Jason.

"Don't tell me you've never smoked a cigarette after you got high!" Deanna
said.

"No, I haven't, why?" he asked.

"Ohmigod, give me a cigarette!" Deanna ordered.

Jason complied.

Deanna put the cigarette in her mouth, and passed the pack back to Jason, who
did the same.  Within seconds, all five teens had cigarettes in their mouths.
The pack was back to Jodie.

She was at a crossroads.  

"If it's going to make me feel fucking better than this, count me in!" she
said, taking a cigarette from the red and white box.

She put the cigarette in her mouth, and lit it from the flame Andy had
offered.

As the tip glowed, Jodie removed the cigarette from her mouth, and inhaled
the smoke produced by the cigarette.  This was the first time she'd inhaled
cigarette smoke.

Deanna had been right.  It made her high so much better.  She took another
puff and repeated the process of inhaling.

Maybe it was because she was stoned, or maybe it was due to the marijuana
she'd smoked, but Jodie noticed that she didn't mind this cigarette nearly as
bad as the other two she'd smoked.  As for the feeling itself, she loved it.

The two groups of teens exchanged numbers, and Deanna asked for a cigarette
to take with her.  Jason was apparently feeling generous.  He reached into
his pocket, and pulled out a brand new pack of Marlboro's.

"My brother gives them to me by the carton!" he said.  "I've got plenty."

Deanna thanked the boys for their generosity, and the two groups went their
separate ways.  Beth asked Deanna for a cigarette, which she lit and smoked.

Jodie wasn't sure if she wanted to smoke another cigarette or not.  She knew
she had to talk to Deanna to find out what to do.