Lisa and Lola, Part 1

                          Lisa and Lola 
                              part 1 
                        by Eleanora Fagin


Lisa Saul looked at the clock again. 2:33. Damn, hadn't it been 2:33 for the
last five minutes? She needed it to be 2:45 right away. For one thing, 7th
grade English was so boring. For another, she was having a nicotine fit. She
hadn't had a cigarette since between sixth and seventh period, when she and
her best friend Holly had run into the girls room, and shared one, furiously
alternating puffs during the short five minute break. Now the school day was
almost over and she would be able to smoke leisurely, at least until she had
to go home.

She looked at Holly, three rows away, with a smile and a shrug. Holly shrugged
back. Finally, the bell rang. Lisa leapt from the chair and ran to her locker,
Holly trailing close behind. She threw her books in, and headed for the exit,
grabbing a half full pack of Marlboros from her backpack, removing two, one
for herself and one for Holly, who was too chicken to steal money from her
parents to buy any.

As they approached the door, Lisa saw there were no teachers in sight, so she
put the cigarette between her lips and lit it, drawing extra hard on it to
make up for the ninety minute drought. She inhaled super deeply, feeling the
delicious nicotine rush. As she walked out the door, she exhaled through her
nose, simultaneously dragging in. She repeated the routine once more and
relaxed, handing the other cigarette and the lighter to her friend.

Although Holly had started smoking nine months ago, just like Lisa, she hadn't
developed quite the appetite for tobacco that her pal had. Sure, she needed to
smoke all the time, but she didn't get so panicky she had to light up before
she was out the door. She also could be satisfied to take two or three
cigarettes out her mother's or father's pack after she got home, to last her
until the next day, making occasional discreet trips outside or to the
bathroom. They never suspected anything, and that was fine with her. Lisa on
the other hand, smoked continuously when she could. As soon as her mother left
her bedroom after waking her up in the morning, she lit up, blowing the smoke
out the window, knowing her mother was far enough away in the kitchen to
notice the smell. On the way to school, there were two or three, a quick one
between most classes, and three or so at lunch. Her mother had caught her
early on (she hadn't tried very hard not to get caught), and would have none
of it. So Lisa had to go through the motions of pretending not to smoke at
home, blowing out windows, smoking at one end of the house while her mother
was smoking at the other so she wouldn't be noticed, etc. She occasionally got
caught, and she was sort of glad to, even though she got hell for it, figuring
eventually she'd wear the woman down.

Holly lit her cigarette, took a nice drag, and passed the lighter back to her
friend. The two of them were into the habit of stopping at "The Bumble Bean",
a coffee house five blocks from the school, but Holly couldn't make it today;
she had a dentist appointment. Lisa gave her a cigarette for the road, and
they headed off in opposite directions.  About half way to the coffee house ,
Lisa realized she better get another pack to last til the next day, and
stepped into a conveniece store on the way. She knew all the people who worked
there, and they all liked her a lot, She never had any problems making a
purchase.

"Hi, Steve, I need a pack of Marlboro's". Steve was new at the store, but he
remembered Lisa.

"That's Marlboro reds, soft pack, right"?

"That's my brand", she replied, taking the two dollar bills she had slipped
out of her mother's purse that morning out of her backpack, and handing them
to the twenty year old clerk. He winked at her as she walked away, and she
winked back. She liked flirting with the older guys. She liked guys in
general.

The past year or so, since she had begun puberty, she had had eager feelings
for physical contact with boys, enjoying rubbing up against them in the hall
at school, and making out at parties. She had even let Billy Jackson feel her
up once. She enjoyed the sensation, but it seemed it could be better. The
funny thing was, the one time she really felt really tingly was when Marcy
Cowens accidently turned around in the showers after gym, their breasts
meeting for a moment.

Marcy had recently moved into the neighborhood, and Lisa had taken notice of
her right away. While she herself was pretty developed for a twelve year old,
the new girl seemed a year or two older, even though she wasn't. Marcy was
about 5'4", had big sholders and muscular legs, still very feminine looking,
with mature facial features, and thick brown, medium length hair. Lisa knew
she wanted to get to be better friends with her.

Lisa stepped through the doors of "The Bumble Bean", stepped to the
counter,and ordered a double espresso. She liked coming here. The place
catered to college kids, but unlike most of the hangouts, welcomed everybody,
even middle school kids. She took her coffee, sat down at an empty table, took
out a smoke, put in her mouth, and started to reach for her lighter. She
needen't have.

"Need a light?",said a voice from behind her. She turned around to see who it
was, and saw Marcy. She felt flushed as her possible new friend flipped the
top off a gold Zippo, flicked the wheel, and lit her cigarette, touching her
hand as she did it. Lisa loved the smell of the lighter fluid,and as she drew
stongly, she noticed the engraving on the lighter. It said "Lola".

"Boy, that's a cool lighter, Where'd you get it?"

"My mother gave it to me. Lola is my nickname in our family. Ever since I was
tiny, I always had to have my way, and I always managed to get it. There's an
old song, 'Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets', so that's me".

"Gee, your mother lets you smoke at home? That's so cool".

"Like I said, I always get what I want".

Marcy sat down next to Lisa and took out a crumpled pack of Camels, nonfilter.
She shook one out, flipped it into her mouth, and nonchalantly fired it up,
all the while talking to Lisa. She stopped to inhale, then started talking
again, not bothering to take the cigarette out of her mouth, exhaling through
both her nostrils and her mouth. She drew in again, took it out, inhaled down
to her toes, and blew a series of perfectly formed smoke rings across the room.
As they talked about their likes and dislikes, Lisa felt she had met another
version of herself.  Holly was a best friend. Marcy had the potential to be a
better one.

Lisa took a last drag on her Marlboro, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and
started to reach for another. She always chainsmoked when she drank coffee.
She stopped, wondering if she might want to try a Camel. The third or fourth
cigarette she ever had had been unfiltered, and then it seemed a little
strong, but that was long ago.

"Mind if I have one of yours,Marcy?"

"Go right ahead", she replied, taking one from the pack and placing it between
her new friend's lips. "And you can call me Lola, if you want".

"I want", giggled Lisa as she reached her arm over Lola's to grab the Zippo.
She brought the flame to the end of the cigarette and drew in more smoke than
even she was used to. She wanted to get the full taste of this new brand. She
inhaled slowly as deeply as she could, savoring the smoke as it went down her
throat. When it was all in her lungs, she paused momentarily to pick a piece
of tobacco off of her tongue. She then began to exhale, blowing out a thick
cloud, thicker,tastier, and more satisfying than any she had ever blown
before.

The two girls sat there for an hour, talking, drinking espresso, and smoking
cigarette after cigarette. Lisa had enjoyed smoking since the first puff she
ever took, but somehow sitting here with Lola, it was even better.

As they got up to leave, Lola had an idea. "Would you like to come over to my
house for dinner? My mom's a really good cook".

"Gee, don't you think she'd mind you bringing someone home with no notice?"

"As I've said, I always get what I want. I'm sure it'll be alright".

Lisa called her mother from the payphone. She didn't even have to whine to get
to go. Her mother said "Sure", right off the bat. Maybe Lola even had third
party powers of persuasion.

The girls walked to Lola's house slowly, talking and laughing, enjoying
themselves. They both lit up on the way, and a minute later Lola turned up a
drive way, indicating that this was her house. Lola put her cigarette in her
mouth and reached in her pocket for her keys, then unlocked the door, walked
in and shouted "I'm home Ma". Lisa followed her in, thinking how cool it was
to walk in the door with a lit cigarette and call for your mother.

Mrs. Cowens walked into the living room. Lola took a hit on her cigarette,and
exhaled as she introduced Lisa to her mother, absentmindedly blowing smoke in
the diection of her mother's face as she gestured with her cigaretted hand.

"Call me Lori", said the woman, extending her hand for a shake. Lisa's had her
cigarette in her right hand, so she transferred it to her mouth, completed the
shake, inhaled and blew a ball of smoke out, being careful to turn her head,
to avoid blowing it in her friend's mother's face. She felt so grown up.

Lori went into the kitchen to finish making supper, as Lisa and Lola went into
the family room. They sat down on the couch and relaxed, talked, smiled, and
smoked, of course.

When supper was ready, Lori called them and they all went into the living
room. There was salad and pasta, with fresh warm bread. Lori poured herself a
glass of wine. A minute or so later, Lola got a couple of goblets and poured
wine for Lisa and herself. Lori had a slight look of disapproval on her face,
but didn't say a thing.

After dinner, all three women lit up after dinner cigarettes. Lori especilly
appreciated being able to sit at the table after a good meal and enjoy a good
smoke. The glass of wine made her feel a little giddy, and the cigarette was
even more enjoyable because of it. They talked some more, having a really good
time. Lori was really interesting, certainly more so than any parent she had
ever known.

It was getting pretty late, and even though she didn't want to go, Lisa knew
she had to. Lola walked her to the door,and as they said their goodbyes, put
her arm around Lisa's neck and kissed her. And not just a polite kiss, but an
opened mouth kiss with her tongue. Lisa couldn't believe what was happening.
She'd heard of women kissing, but they were masculine looking older women.
Young, feminine girls didn't do this kind of thing, did they? She did know she
liked it, liked it more than kissing boys. And she didn't care that Lori was
across the room and could probably see them. She kissed back hard, for at least
a minute.  When the kiss was over, she backed out the door, waving goodbye.
"See you tomorrow in school".

Lisa walked down the street in a daze. She put a cigarette in her mouth.  She
reached for her lighter, and pulled out the "Lola" zippo! Her new best friend
must have put it in her pocket while they were kissing. Was this a gift or
just something to remember her with for the night? She lit her Marlboro, took
a big drag, and exhaled with a smile as she walked into the night.

To Be Continued

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