Chase's Story, Part 7

Chase's Story

Part 7

After hanging up, Sammy sent Chase another instant message.  Sammy
quickly responded.

"Chase, you had to start smoking alone so you had to change into a
smoker the hard way.  Because Joan has you, there's another way."
Chase took notes, asked a few questions, and was ready.  This sounded
like it would be fun.  The next day, Chase was still struggling to be
able to smoke Marlboro Reds. She spent most of the afternoon chatting
with Sammy, who would not answer questions about being able to smoke
more Reds.

"It will take time," said Sammy.  Chase also didn't like the way they
looked.  The cork-colored filter she thought was not good looking.

"Don't worry about it.  Just keep smoking these until they're gone."
Sammy tried to keep Chase focused on Joan, whose life was about to
change forever.

Shortly after school let out, Joan arrived at Chase's house.  She had
a big smile but was clearly nervous.  Chase had gone over the plan
with Sammy, but had to make sure first that Joan was committed to
smoking, the way she had been.  Chase sat her on the couch.

"You know why smoking is bad, right?"  Joan nodded and fired off a
list of things it caused.  "And you know once you start, there's no
turning back, right?"  Joan paused and then nodded her head.  "Okay,
tell me when you're ready," said Chase.  Joan didn't hesitate.

"I'm ready," she said, expecting Chase to hand her a cigarette.
Instead, Chase lit up one herself.  "Breathe deeply and don't try to
blow it out yet.  Hold it in."

Chase was standing about two feet away from Joan as she blew a steady
stream of smoke at her face.  Joan clearly wasn't expecting it to work
like this, but did as instructed.  She inhaled the smoke that came out
of Chase deeply into her lungs.  The smoke was all around her and she
wasn't getting a lot of it, but she felt some of it enter her lungs
any way.  It was a different feeling, but she didn't have to cough.
After holding it in for a couple seconds, she exhaled, with only a few
very small wisps of smoke escaping her mouth.  Chase got closer.

"I'm giving you my smoke.  When I started, I coughed for a whole
cigarette and it felt awful.  Trust me, this is much easier," she said
as she took a drag and inhaled shallowly.  "Breathe all of this in
deeply and hold it in," she said, and then she got very close to Joan
and started to exhale.  Joan inhaled, and it made the smoke look like
it was traveling in a steady stream from Chase's mouth into Joan's.
This time, a thick cloud of smoke entered Joan's lungs, but again she
felt no need to cough.  It was warm and somewhat intense, but it went
down easily.  Joan breathed out and a small stream of smoke came out
of her.

Chase did this over the course of a cigarette.  After finishing her
Red, Chase snubbed it out and lit up a Marlboro Light.  She was just
getting it started.  It was really going to be Joan's.  Once it was
lit, she handed it to Joan.

"Make sure you don't take a small drag.  Pull on it for at least one
second.  Your mouth should be full of smoke.  Then, take it out and
breathe in very deeply."  Joan took the cigarette and did as
instructed.  She took a very deep drag, maybe deeper then Chase
expected, then pulled it out and breathed.  Her first jolt of
first-hand smoke hit her lungs and was very intense, but she didn't
cough.  Instead, she smiled from ear to ear and expelled a huge cloud
of smoke into the room.  "You're a smoker now, Joan."

Joan finished the cigarette and predictably got sick.  Chase explained
to her the changes happening to her body, and Joan was okay with it.
After the swirls passed, Chase helped Joan complete her
transformation.  Chase told Joan that she could come to her house
whenever she wanted to get more cigarettes, but that she had to stop
teaching her more about how to smoke. She had to get good at it on her
own.  Joan understood but was excited to be able to smoke.

Chase figured it wouldn't be long until her parents found out.  It
took two weeks to be exact.  They were again okay with it. Chase's mom
chewed her out a little bit, but they lied and said Joan had already
been a smoker to cover her tracks.  Feeling like they had no choice,
her parents told Joan they would allow her to smoke as much as she
wanted, provided she do it outside.  After that, Joan only came by
Chase's house to get more cigarettes, but clearly was practicing.
Chase laughed one Sunday when Joan told her, "I almost smoked a half a
pack yesterday!" Chase was attempting to become a heavy smoker, and by
this point she was able to smoke nearly a full pack of Reds a day.  It
was a lot, but was not even close to smoking all day, which is what
she had aspired to do.

Previous part | Next part