Smoke And Mirrors, Part 25

This fictional story contains adult themes and descriptions. If such offends
you, read no further.  All persons and situations depicted are fictional, any
similarities to real persons or events is purely coincidental. All rights
reserved. This story cannot be reproduced without the written prior approval
of the author. You can notify the author at del999@yahoo.com.

Smoke & Mirrors
Part 25 The Pajama Party:

Suzanne had been surprised that day, when she saw that the carton she had
bought just two weeks ago had now only two packs left. She rationalized that
Ashley must have been smoking more of her cigarettes than she had thought.
Suzanne knew that she was a little bit hooked. Frequently, she felt
uncomfortable if she went too long without having a cigarette. There were
definite cravings. It had slowly sneaked up on her. It had been subtle, but
she knew that with every pack she finished, that she was beginning to rely on
her cigarettes more and more. It would be a little more difficult to quit
than she had initially thought. Well, she would cross that bridge when she
came to it.

Ashley and Suzanne often met between classes and smoked. They had become good
friends. Sharing her cigarettes with Ashley had been a very small price to
pay for their friendship. Ashley always seemed so grateful when Suzanne
offered her a cigarette, smoking them way down often double pumping the last
two drags, to get the last bit of smoke. That day she had met Ashley at the
usual spot in the smoking lounge. Sometimes they would talk about smoking.
Suzanne wanted to learn as much as she could about that little voice that
kept saying to her "Come on! Have another cigarette?" One day she asked
Ashley if any of her friends at school had smoked. She recounted that all
through high school she had never had any friends that smoked.

Ashley smiled wickedly. "I had three girl friends Debbie, Natalie, and
Jennifer. None of them smoked. Initially." She said, giggling. Then, she
started to tell her story.

When I first started smoking, my three friends were all very critical and
hard on me. You know all that crap they fill your head with in school. They
would complain that it smelled and how could I do something that was so
gross. I took their negative attitude for about a month. Then the incessant
complaining started to really piss me off. I enjoyed smoking a lot and I
didn't want to stop. I knew it would be great if I could get them to try it.
I had always been sort of the leader of the pack so I knew that I would be
able to influence them. They would eventually learn to enjoy it, just like I
had.

One night, when my parents had gone away for the weekend, we had a sleep over
at my house. One of the girls had brought over a bottle of wine. It was so
cool. We had the whole house to ourselves. Once the girls were a bit drunk, I
went to light a cigarette. Again, I heard all the whining and complaining. I
decided that it was time to take action. I had been planning this event a
while so I was well prepared. I had just lit up one of my Marlboro Lights
100's.

I gave them the challenge. "Listen girls. You do nothing but bug me about my
smoking. Yet none of you have even tried it. You haven't got a clue what
you're talking about."

Everyone sort of looked around not knowing what to say. "I want you all to
smoke a cigarette with me right now." I said with determination in my voice.

There was a moment of silence. Jennifer, who had drunk the most, had always
been the most adventuresome of the three. She broke the long silence and
spoke up in a Tallulah Bankhead voice saying, "Well, darlings, I think this
girl wants us to smoke. So let's not disappoint her. Darlings-Let us smoke.
My darlings." All the girls laughed at her attempt to mimic the old silver
screen star.

With the ice now broken, Ashley was Johnny on the spot with her pack which
had three cigarettes conveniently extended from the pack. I gave them all
lessons on how to hold it, light it and of course how to inhale. The girls
all laughed as they posed with their unlit cigarettes. You could see that it
had become a competition with each of them watching the other. I carefully
lit all their cigarettes. I got ready for the expected remarks. They all
agreed that the first puffs tasted quite awful.

I took control of the situation. "At the count of three, I want you all to
take a small drag, and breath in like this," I said showing them how to
inhale.

They all nodded, saying that it looked easy. Someone mumbled, "No Problem"

"One, Two, Three!" They inhaled simultaneously. There was a pause, and then
the coughing began. Debbie and Natalie simultaneously started there coughing
fit. Amazingly, Jennifer managed to hold back and successfully complete her
inhale. After the coughing subsided, there was giggling and nervousness.
There seemed to be a long pause while the girls recovered from their first
experience.

"Wimps!" Jennifer said loudly, feeling proud that she had done it with out
choking. All the girls started to laugh. This had gone better than Ashley had
thought it would.

Amazingly, Jennifer took the lead. "Now girls here is how you do it," as she
flamboyantly took another small drag. The girls now realized that there was
no way out, and they would have to do it again. After all Jennifer had done
it with no ill effects. The girls tried again, taking a very very small drag.
This time, they both managed not to cough, but hardly any smoke escaped from
their shallow inhales.

"Now, again ladies! This time none of those silly assed baby puffs. I want
you ladies to smoke. `Cause if you are going to smoke, you had better do it
properly!" Jennifer said laughing. Again they fearfully tried. The drags were
a little larger, but still carefully small. This time, you could actually see
some of the exhaled smoke come out of Natalie's mouth.

To Ashley's delight, Jennifer continued to lead the group. "Okay, once again
girls, we must smoke like ladies," she said adopting the accent again while
posing with her cigarette.

Ashley could see that Natalie was starting to feel the effects of the
inhaling. She should have stopped Jennifer at that point, but this was just
two much fun. The girls inhaled again.

Then it happened. Natalie started to turn white as a sheet. "Are you all
right Natalie?" I said.

"I'm not sure. I'm real dizzy- I had better go to the bathroom," she said
weakly.

She staggered to the washroom. The girls listened carefully as the door was
shut. Then they heard it. Natalie started to throw up. They all smiled
unmercifully as schoolgirls do.

Ashley went to the closed bathroom door. "Are you okay Nat?" she said.

The voice responded weakly. "Yeah, I'm okay, just give me a minute. Okay?"

All the girls felt sorry for the poor Natalie. She had always been the
laggard of the group, a little over weight, shy and reserved. It was not
surprising. They tried to hide their amusement.

All the girls continued to puff periodically, not admitting that they too
were feeling the same dizzying effects as their poor nauseous friend.

Finally, Natalie came out of the washroom. She was a bit embarrassed. "I must
have had too much wine," she said meekly.

Natalie sat quietly trying to regain her composure as she watched the girls
have their fun.

That was the way it started. From that day on when ever we got together, I
would offer the girls cigarettes. If they resisted, I would insist. First
they were a bit reluctant. But eventually, Jennifer and Debbie began to give
in, accepting my offers more and often. Sadly, Natalie always refused.

Over the coming weeks, the two girls started smoking more and more. It was
costing me a fortune, but it was worth it. Finally, Jennifer told Debbie that
this wasn't fair that I provide them with cigarettes all the time. They
decided to buy a pack to share. That didn't last long. Soon they were each
buying their own, as they could never agree on what brand to buy. Jennifer
liked the Marlboro Lights 100, while Debbie chose the Salem Lights 100's,
preferring the menthol taste. In a couple months, they were both smoking at
least half a pack a day. We often met in the washrooms to smoke a quick
cigarette. It was great. I was impressed at how quickly they got into it.

Natalie, on the other hand, still remained on the outside not joining us to
smoke. One day we were all at one of the McDonald's and we were sitting
outside so that we could smoke. We had all just lit up. Of course, no one
offered Natalie a cigarette, knowing what her response would be.

Natalie casually reached into her purse and extracted a pack of Newport 100's
menthol. All our eyes widened with surprise. She placed one in her lips, lit
it, and inhaled deeply, letting go a long thick exhale. She smiled as the
long plume of smoke exited from her pursed lips. She saw the surprised look
on everyone's face.

"What are you all looking at?" she said with a smirk on her face. "You guys
smoke, why shouldn't I?" she said proudly.

After we finally closed our gaping mouths that had dropped open in surprise,
we all laughed.

She shared her secret with us. She had been practicing on her own for the
last couple months. She had chosen the Newport's because she knew if she
could get used to them, she could pretty well smoke anything. She said it had
taken her a while to learn to smoke, but now she just loved her Newport's.
She again took a long deep drag, making sure that we all acknowledged that
she knew how to smoke. From that day on we were like the three musketeers,
plus one. We all smoked wherever we went. In fact, Natalie became the real
smoker of the group. We could never keep up to her. And her inhales were
always the deepest of the group. Whenever she could she used to tease us
about our sissy light cigarettes. She would often say, "If you are going to
smoke, full flavor is the only way!"

I have to tell you, that to this day, each and every one of them is still
smoking at least a pack a day. When we get together periodically, we often
reminisce about the night when I got them all started. It's funny, I now look
back on starting my friends with a mixed feelings. Was it wrong for me to
encourage them to start? I knew they might get hooked; in fact unconsciously
I guess I wanted them too. I can admit that now. None of them have ever
blamed me for getting them started. They all love it now, but it's funny.
Somehow I feel that because of me, they all smoke now. I sort of manipulated
them into smoking. Now, I will always be in their thoughts whenever they tell
someone how they got started. It's amazing that because of me they will all
probably smoke for the rest of their lives.

"Do you think it was wrong to do that?" Ashley questioned Suzanne.

Suzanne realized right at that moment, that there were many parallels between
Ashley's story and the way that Jill had gotten her started. Jill had
deliberately, but carefully, manipulated Suzanne, knowing that she would
eventually become committed to the habit. Surprisingly, this realization did
not anger Suzanne. She had no regrets about smoking. In fact, she really
loved it. It had changed her life. Ashley had done a good thing, she thought,
just like Jill.

She slowly answered the question, "I think you did them all a favor, Ashley.
They all love smoking now, right? Just like you and I do. Some people just
need a little push. That's all. I think smoking is great. It's all we girls
have to provide us with the relaxation and pleasure we need. No- I think you
did the right thing. After all, we smokers have to stick together. Don't we?
The more of us, the better. Right?" she said, smiling.

Suzanne reached for her pack of cigarettes. "Care to join me for another
cigarette, Ashley?" Suzanne said as she offered the pack to Ashley.

"Don't mind if I do, don't mind if I do," Ashley said, smiling. Ashley
inhaled deeply, reminding herself of how Natalie had smoked that day in her
moment of coming out. Ashley started to think to herself. Suzanne seemed to
be very supportive. She wondered that since Suzanne now smoked, whether she
would ever encourage someone to start smoking, just like she had? She wasn't
sure, but seemed to see a twinkle in Suzanne's eyes as she had said "The more
of us, the better."

In the world of smoking, there are many strange twist of fate. Sometimes the
beginner becomes the expert.

Saint Nicotine was always on the look out for recruits to spread the word.
One day, would this once naïve and shy Catholic schoolgirl earn her angel's
wings?

Time would only tell.

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