Smoke And Mirrors, Part 7

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 7: "A Moment of Indecision"

The next morning, Jill again was the one up early. Sitting there, she
pensively wondered what Suzanne's reaction would be when she was offered her
the mandatory first cigarette of the day. This morning she would have a
little surprise for her friend.

Jill had always smoked the full flavored VS, but when she had started up
again last week, she had decided to start back slowly with the lights. The
carton that she had purchased was now conveniently finished. She was now
ready to give her body what it needed, a full favored cigarette.

She smiled, remembering it had been only 8 hours since Suzanne had crushed
out her last cigarette. She noted that during the last cigarette Suzanne was
now unconsciously taking slightly longer drags, no longer sipping the smoke,
but extending her draws to get a little bit more smoke. Suzanne had not
complained of any side effects. This was a very good sign. She was getting
used to it. Suzanne's smoking program was progressing as planned.

This morning she was going to raise the stakes. Suzanne had admitted last
night that she was now getting more comfortable with her smoking. On her way
home from her last class, Jill had bought two packs of Salem's, one full
flavor and one light, but 100's of course. Salem's were Paula's brand. She
had deliberately emptied out her own pack of VS lights, leaving only one
solitary cigarette, setting up Suzanne for her first initiation into full
flavor smoking. Her protégé would never know that she had carefully switched
the contents of the packs, placing the full strength cigarettes in the lights
package. Her student was now ready to unknowingly try the full flavor
Salem's, she thought wickedly.


"Good morning, Sunshine" she said perkily as her young friend entered the
kitchen area. "Morning", Suzanne mumbled, as she went straight for the pot of
coffee that had just finished brewing. Jill quickly lit up, the "last"
cigarette in her pack blowing a large cloud of smoke directly towards Suzanne
who was filling her mug with the steaming hot Java.

Suzanne thought to herself, the coffee smells so good. The billowy cloud
slowly approached her. As she began to smell the smoke, it immediately made
her recall the previous day's smoking. The smell of the smoke unconsciously
made her dry mouth start to flow with saliva. As she turned to approach the
table with her coffee, she caught the sight of Jill enjoying her first
cigarette of the day. Maybe it was the smell of the cigarette mixed in with
the fresh perked coffee, or maybe it was the contented look on Jill's face,
but thoughts of joining Jill in a morning cigarette appealed to her. She
remembered how well the combination had been yesterday morning. She sat down
at the table, where Jill appeared to be reading her book. Her pack of
cigarettes was just barely visible under one of the covers of the book. Jill
took another deep drag, blowing a thick funnel of smoke across the open pages
of the book. She watched as the smoke cascaded off the edges of the table.
Jill pretended to be engrossed in her book.

This morning she had this unsettled feeling, an unconscious nervousness.
Suzanne wondered why Jill wasn't asking her to join her in a cigarette like
she did yesterday. She gathered up her courage and said "Hey Jill, do you
think I could have one of your cigarettes? After all I should practice.
Right?" as she nervously pointed to the pack under the book.

"Oh, yeah sure, help yourself," she said nonchalantly, not even looking up
from her book.

Suzanne quickly reached over and picked up the empty pack. Jill had to hold
back from laughing as a very disappointed Suzanne said. "Oh, the pack is
empty, that must have been your last one."

Jill smiled, "Oh! Is that right?" Pausing to see what Suzanne's reaction
would be. Suzanne waited for Jill to solve the problem.

"I think I have another pack in my purse on the dresser in my bedroom. Do you
mind getting them?" Jill smiled, again not looking up from her book. Suzanne
walked rather purposely to the bedroom locating the purse quickly, right
where Jill had said it would be. Jill then heard Suzanne shout from the
bedroom. "All you seem to have is a pack of Salem Lights. Is that right?"

"Yeah that's them," she said, smiling to herself.

Suzanne entered the room carrying the Salems. "How come you bought Salems?"
Suzanne questioned. "That's Paula's brand, isn't it?"

"Well, sort of, she smokes the full flavored ones, those are just lights. I
just thought that you might like to try a different brand. They are lights,
and not too strong. Give them a try, I think you'll like them," she said
enthusiastically.

With her new found confidence and her unconscious yearning for a cigarette,
Suzanne firmly placed the cigarette in her mouth, and put the lighter to
work. Her cheeks puckered inwards as she sucked deeply, being used to the
harder pull required while smoking the VS lights. She inhaled quite deeply,
feeling the warm thick moist smoke fill her lungs. Whoa-she thought to
herself, these are different, very strong, but very minty. She could not
believe how thick the smoke was as she watched it escape from her lips as she
exhaled deliberately. She felt an immediate rush take over her and was taken
aback by the immediate effect of this cigarette.

"What do you think?" Jill said closing her book, and finally paying more
attention to Suzanne.

"They're pretty good. Do they have more menthol than your usual brand?"

"Yeah, a bit more, they really taste cool, don't they?" Jill said.

"Yes they do," she said as she slowly took a more guarded hit. Again, Suzanne
immediately began to feel the effects of this stronger cigarette, but did not
want to say anything. She thought that these were a bit too strong for her
liking, but she decided that she would just simply wait a little longer
between her drags, remembering the advice that Jill had given her just two
nights ago. Proud of her solution, she proceeded to carefully take another
drag. After holding it in for a moment, she accidentally exhaled the smoke
through her nose without really thinking. It was just like breathing
normally, she thought. It tickled a bit. She recognized the feeling of
relaxation that she had experienced the night before. The nicotine was doing
its work. She took a long sip of coffee. She was feeling much better now,
growing accustomed to the "new" brand. The nose exhale had not gone unnoticed
by Jill. That's my girl, she thought, that's another trick you have learned
all by yourself. I will soon teach to you others.

Jill noticed that Suzanne was drawing on the cigarette with the same
intensity as she had done last night, thinking that it was the same strength.
With the full flavor Salem, she was getting much more nicotine than she was
expecting. As Jill watched, she thought, keep it up; you're doing just fine.
Jill noticed that she had only smoked the Salem two-thirds down before she
announced that she was going to hit the shower. Again, Jill's mind was at
work. Timing was everything, she giggled. She would wait patiently.

She heard Suzanne, get out of the shower and then heard the hair dryer start
up. She waited, until she heard the blower turn off. She quickly lit up, a
few seconds before she heard the door open.

"Oh! You're done with the bath room." she exclaimed. "Damn, I just lit this
one up. Here, finish this for me," as she forcefully pushed the cigarette in
front of Suzanne's face. "It would be a shame to waste it." she smiled as she
quickly exited the room without giving Suzanne a chance to respond.

So there Suzanne was, with another unexpected cigarette in her hand. The
shower had refreshed Suzanne, and she was feeling quite invigorated now that
the effects of her first "Salem" had subsided. She poured herself another
coffee. She sat down to finish the unexpected second cigarette and smiled to
herself. It "would" be shame to waste it. She felt very relaxed, realizing
that for the first time she would be smoking all by herself with no one
watching her. She remembered that when she had first met Paula, she was
amazed at both the length of her drags and the deepness of her inhales. And
then there was the blond that she had seen in the bar. She really knew how to
smoke too. Jill had told her to just take small sips of smoke, being careful
not to overdo it. This morning, she somehow felt adventuresome. After all she
had smoked the first one this morning without any ill effects. She raised the
cigarette to her waiting mouth and placed it deeply between her lips. Her
cheeks caved in as the tip burned brightly. She then inhaled the thick moist
smoke as deeply into her lungs as she had seen Paula and Jill do so many
times. She nearly gagged, but was able to suppress it. She exhaled slowly, as
the nearly endless thick column of smoke slowly exited her lips. Ewww that
was strong, she thought to herself, but I actually did it! She felt quite
proud of herself. She was surprised to feel the coldness in her mouth,
brought on by the menthol, but it did seem to taste a lot better, well worth
the queasy feeling she was now experiencing. She took a long sip of her
coffee. The coffee seemed to settle her stomach and her whirling head. She
smiled as she thought proudly, "I did it. Just like they did. It's not that
hard. I might even get used to these Salem's." She almost laughed out loud as
a thought came into her head. "These Salem's are actually quite yummy."

She leisurely smoked the rest of her cigarette at a much slower pace,
enjoying the solitude and the lightheaded euphoria that each successive drag
gave her. Feeling quite relaxed, she acknowledged that she had now reached a
new milestone. This was the third brand of cigarette she had tried in the
last three days. She felt very mature.

Jill slowly let the hot water wash over her body, vividly imagining her
friend in the other room inhaling the thick strong smoke of her new brand
into her pink lungs that were already starting to crave more. This image in
her mind excited her. She started to feel herself become wet. Now, all she
had to do was to get Suzanne to increase the frequency of these stronger
cigarettes. The magical nicotine would slowly sink its hooks into the
unsuspecting naïve student. First she would smoke for relaxation. Then, she
would ensure that Suzanne would learn to equate smoking with other enjoyable
experiences:  with coffee, after a meal, watching TV, talking on the phone.
She would teach Suzanne about the pleasure of rewarding yourself, after
completing a task. Then as her habit developed, she would show her how a
cigarette would give Suzanne a lift when she was tired or bored. Then finally
it would become a crutch for relieving her stress. That would be when she
would know that Suzanne had become totally hooked. She looked forward to that
day.

Jill knew that the smoking habit always progressed in steps, moving from
plateau to plateau. The first plateau was to get Suzanne to smoke about 50
cigarettes. It had been proven that it took that many cigarettes before the
body built up a tolerance to the nicotine. Once the tolerance was built up,
then the addictive nature of the drug begins to take over, with the body
demanding to maintain a constant level of nicotine in the blood stream. She
had smoked 8 in the last 36 hours, thanks to Suzanne and Paula. She would
give her many other opportunities to smoke, over the course of the day and
the weeks to come. Doing a quick calculation, she realized that Suzanne would
have to smoke at least 8 cigarettes a day over the next five days to reach
the first plateau. She wanted Suzanne to reach her 50-cigarette goal by
Saturday. It would be a challenge, but somehow, she knew she could make it
happen. She thought to herself that she would measure each day by the number
of cigarettes that Suzanne smoked. She felt pleasantly evil.

At about 10:00 A.M, they again met Paula in the coffee lounge and had a
"social" cigarette. Paula seemed excited to see Jill and Suzanne smoking
"her" brand. Paula remarked that she smoked the full flavor ones because they
delivered true tobacco taste, while those lights cigarettes were for wimps
and high school girls. Suzanne blushed, hoping that Paula wasn't attempting
to embarrass her. But her remark was indelibly recorded in her mind. Jill of
course smiled, knowing how ironic the situation was.

Abstaining from the dessert line in the cafeteria, Suzanne surprisingly had a
cigarette before lunch. As she and Paula waited outside for Jill to return to
the table that they were saving, Paula had offered her a cigarette. She felt
that she just couldn't say no, especially after making all those remarks the
previous day. Paula was becoming a good friend. She enjoyed her sense of
humor and her company. She didn't want to offend Paula and her friendly
gesture. Suzanne was concerned that she might not be able to handle the
stronger cigarette. She didn't want to be a wimp. She had already had three
before lunch; maybe she could pull this off. She hoped that she would not
embarrass herself. She inhaled her first drag and was surprised that she
really couldn't see much difference between these and the lights that Jill
had been sharing with her. Maybe she was getting used to smoking just as Jill
had said she would. She felt very proud of herself. Right after lunch, Jill
insisted that she have one of hers After all, the other girls were all
smoking. She recalled later that day when she was day dreaming in her first
class, that the last after lunch cigarette had actually tasted somehow
satisfying. She ran her tongue inside her mouth. The smoky taste no longer
seemed foreign to her. It sort of tasted good. Her mouth began to salivate.
She began to anticipate her next cigarette.

When she got home from class, Suzanne knew she had a big assignment to work
on. As she entered the living room, Jill quickly offered her a cigarette. It
just seemed like the thing to do after a long day in class. It would help her
relax before getting down to the books, as she slowly inhaled her sixth
cigarette of the day. Later on that night, at about 7:00 o'clock after eating
the pizza that they had ordered in, she had her seventh cigarette. She
recalled later on as she studied, that it had tasted quite good. As Suzanne
smoked each progressive cigarette, Jill could see that Suzanne's smoking
style was improving. She no longer was taking those small sips of smoke, but
taking larger drags increasing the length of time she held the smoke before
exhaling. At about 9:00 o'clock, Jill came into her room, and said, "Why
don't we have a cigarette break? It will give you a lift," she said
confidently.

Suzanne unconsciously thought to herself, "a cigarette break, that sounds
good." Anything would be better than working on this assignment.

Suzanne lit her eighth cigarette of the day. As she was half way through the
cigarette and about to take another drag she stopped. Her thoughts digressed
back to her first night of smoking with Jill. A guilty feeling started to
wash over her. What was she doing?  I was just going to just have a couple of
cigarettes a day. I think I've had, as she counted on her fingers, eight
cigarettes already! A frown began to come over her face.

Jill, who always kept her eyes on Suzanne when she was smoking, noticed that
Suzanne had stopped smoking in the middle of her cigarette.

"Is anything wrong Suzanne?" she said with a concerned tone of voice.

"Well?" she said cautiously. "I've been smoking far too much today. Let me
see," as she counted on her fingers. "Eight cigarettes, I think. That's
nearly half a pack!" She quickly crushed out the half finished cigarette.

"That's way too many. You and Paula seem to be lighting up around me all the
time. And you keep offering me cigarettes." she said with a concerned voice.

"Well, I don't quite understand what the problem is?" Jill said wanting to
nip this change in attitude in the bud. "Come on Suzanne, its not as if we
have been making you smoke." she said defensively.

Suzanne realized that maybe she had spoken without thinking.

"No!" she emphasized. "It's not like that at all. I've really enjoyed smoking
today, but I had never intended to smoke this much."

"This much?" Jill repeated sarcastically. "You're not smoking that much!
Didn't I tell you that it would get better with time? And hasn't it?"

Rather ashamedly, Suzanne affirmed that it was a lot better and she was
starting to enjoy the smoking experience. "I am getting used to the taste,"
she said rather meekly.

Jill continued, "Paula and I have chosen to smoke and we love to smoke. If
you give it a chance you will too. It's something we share."

"It does make me feel `like one of the girls,'" Suzanne said, sharing her
feelings.

After all, if I recall, it was *your *idea for me to teach you" she said
emphasizing the "your" .

"Remember? I think you said, "Could you show me how to smoke properly? I mean
like you do?" she said sarcastically, trying to mimic Suzanne's voice and
mannerisms. "And I did exactly what you asked. I spent the time to teach you
and let you smoke `my' cigarettes, and have never said a word about it. And
this is the thanks I get! You complaining that we are smoking too much around
you," she said angrily.

"Paula and I are not about to stop smoking around you. With all the pressures
of college, it's one of the few pleasures that we have. It's relaxing. God,
you're not going to start nagging me about how much I smoke like that idiot,
Bob, are you?" Jill continued, not letting Suzanne respond. "I just assumed
that you would want to smoke with us. You know to be sociable, to be one of
the girls. That's why Paula and I have been offering you cigarettes. It's no
big conspiracy. Don't be so paranoid. You certainly have some nerve to
complain."

She was rolling, and she wasn't going to let up on Suzanne. "I also
distinctly remember that you gave me your word, that you would give it a
`real try' and that you would practice. Isn't that right?" she said
forcefully.

Suzanne wavered as Jill laid on the guilt, "Yes, I guess so."

"And have you?" Jill said sternly.

"Well, I guess. I'm not sure?" she said stammering defensively.

"Is this going to be a problem?  I want to know right now!" Jill said coldly.

Jill knew what was coming. She was prepared.

Maybe Suzanne had gone too far. She started to back peddle, but she knew that
she had to get her concerns out in the open.

"Well. I'm a bit concerned that I might get addicted. That's what everyone
says. And what about the health risks? And I know my parents, especially my
mother, would go ballistic if she knew I was smoking."

Laughingly, Jill said, "Baby Kins. You're eighteen years old. You have the
rest of your life ahead of you. A lot of girls just smoke through college,
and then quit. That's what my mother did. Plus you hardly smoke. A few
cigarettes a day aren't going to kill you. Paula and I smoke at least a pack
a day, and we feel fine," she said, sincerely not wanting her to know that it
was more like one and a half to two packs a day.

"All that bull shit about the health risks, is just that, Bull Shit. The
government puts it all out so that they can raise more taxes. You know they
tax anything that people enjoy." She continued with her arguments

"My grandmother is 84 years old and still enjoys her cigarettes. She is still
going strong.

"With respect to all that addiction stuff, more bull. People quit everyday,
for whatever reason they choose. If it were so hard to quit, why would so
many people be able to stop? Don't forget, I quit during the summer just like
that. It was no big deal," she said, lying through her teeth, recalling the
painful withdrawal effects that she had experienced. "And after all, how can
you even consider quitting, when you haven't even really started?"

"And one more thing," she said pausing to emphasize her point. "What about
Phil? He smokes. And I want to tell you something, Suzy Q. No matter what a
guy says, he is always more comfortable around a girl who smokes than one who
doesn't."

Suzanne winced as Jill repeated the dreaded nickname that she disliked so
much.

"You haven't even had a chance to show him that you really know how to smoke.
He'll like the fact that you have learned. He`ll probably think you did it
just for him. Isn't that why you wanted to learn? You need to grow up! You're
not mommy's little girl anymore."

Jill tried to calm down and said in a softer voice. "And, Baby Kins you have
made such great progress. I know you like it now," she said, smiling.

Suzanne continued to stare blankly into space. The point about Phil really
hit home. Suzanne's mind began to overload with all Jill's arguments.
Everything that Jill had said seemed to make sense. Why was she feeling so
guilty about smoking a few silly cigarettes?  She gathered herself, thinking
back to the reasons why she had decided to learn how to smoke. Those reasons
were all still valid. She didn't want to be excluded from the group. She had
after all made a promise to Jill.

Jill paused. "Come on Suzanne, I don't want you to miss out on this. You're a
big girl now, and *big* girls have to make *big decisions*."

She slowly tapped two cigarettes from the pack and extended the two white
beauties with a determined look in her eyes.

"Are you in or out? I need to know right now. It's your decision," she said.

Suzanne paused for a long moment looking at the pack with the extended
cigarette, as it was slowly waved back and forth in front of her face.
Suzanne's head was spinning. If I don't take one right now, it was going to
be a long lonely semester.

Again Jill extended the package in her outstretched hand, with the cigarettes
invitingly displayed.

Suzanne paused, not knowing what to do. She reluctantly removed the ninth
cigarette that she would smoke that day.

"That's my girl!" Jill said with relief in her voice. "I knew you wouldn't
let me down," she said, smiling.

Aware that Jill's eyes were fixed on her, Suzanne deliberately sucked hard
and took an extra large drag on the cigarette, deeply absorbing the smoke
into her lungs. Ironically, to her surprise, the long drag had actually
tasted good and unconsciously had given her relief from the tension of her
argument with Jill.

Maybe she had been wrong to worry so much. The indecision on her face, that
she had shown earlier, was now gone. It had been replaced, first by a slight
look of fear and then by a smile as she exhaled slowly but deliberately
upwards into the air. Jill knew at that moment that Suzanne had just turned
the corner. There would no longer be any resistance, but only an endless
chain of cigarettes that would satisfy her developing cravings again and
again. She had till Thanksgiving to deeply plant the hook. She would be
patient, but she would use every opportunity. Suzanne was back on track.

Suzanne noticed that all through the week, she kept running into Jill on
campus. Jill seemed to be always there offering her another cigarette. She
would never know that Jill had photocopied her class schedule. Their chance
meetings had never been by accident.

As the week passed, Suzanne slowly and unknowingly became more and more
accustomed to smoking. Jill knew that whenever she would offer Suzanne a
cigarette, Suzanne would recall their altercation. She would have to take it.
With any resistance now in the past, Jill made sure that Suzanne would smoke
as often as possible. She would consume her daily quota. Jill would not
relent.

They met for lunch nearly every day. With Jill's incessant offerings she
smoked ten cigarettes on Wednesday and 12 on Thursday, starting off each day
with two cigarettes before she went to class. It was hopeless to resist
Jill's determined offers. After all, she couldn't break her promise. She knew
what would happen, if she resisted. She didn't want to have another argument
with Jill. She knew that it was fruitless. She rationalized that she would
have to wait it out until Thanksgiving just as she had promised. Whenever any
doubts entered Suzanne's head or she felt a little queasy from smoking too
quickly, she reminded herself of the points that Jill had made to her on the
night of the argument.

It did not take long, before Suzanne started to feel less guilty,
subconsciously accepting her new smoking self-image. And it was getting
easier. It was no longer like practicing. Her smoking technique now mirrored
Jill's, a well developed feminine smoking style. She had even smoked a
cigarette away from Jill, walking outside between classes on Thursday with
one of her Psychology classmates. Rachel smoked Benson & Hedges Menthol
Lights, the same brand that Phil had smoked. She was curious to see what they
were like. Suzanne found it a bit surprising, that she found these cigarettes
sort of weak. She attributed this to the fact that they were smoking
outdoors. She had smoked her cigarette with Rachel effortlessly, feeling
quite satisfied and contented when she reached her class. Soon any thoughts
of restricting herself were quickly extinguished by that little voice in her
head that said "Go ahead, have another cigarette. Treat yourself. You deserve
it. Another one can't hurt." Jill had been right. She was getting used to
smoking. It was no longer something that she had to concentrate on. It was
simply something that she did .And of course Jill was always there to help
with an endless supply.

By Thursday night as she lay in bad, feeling the effects of the now mandatory
pre-bedtime cigarette, she smiled as she realized that she had enjoyed each
and every one of her ten cigarettes that day. It wasn't that hard to smoke;
in fact it was kind of fun. Sometimes she actually looked forward to her next
cigarette. She turned over and sighed. She felt very relaxed, somehow
satiated and complete. A strange thought came into her head. She started to
think how good the first cigarette was going to taste with her coffee in the
morning. It was going to taste smooth and satisfying. With that last thought
she fell into a deep sleep. Suzanne was getting hooked.

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