Amber's Acquired Tastes

Amber's Acquired Tastes
by HagenMrk@aol.com

The small auditorium at Idun City-Dunbar High School was filled to capacity
that last Friday evening in May, as it was every graduation ceremony. The
Class of 2004 was preparing to receive their diplomas. This year's graduating
class of 53 students was the smallest since Idun City and Dunbar consolidated
in the late 1980s, a dubious honor that would only last until the next year
when 49 students were graduating. Demography was not on the side of small
farm towns in eastern Nebraska.

Following the performance of Pomp and Circumstance, the students entered and
the High School Principal began to speak. He was introducing the girl who was
unquestionably the brightest light of the Class of '04, running down the
litany of honors to her credit during these four years, including
Valedictorian, Class President, Homecoming Queen, and letter winner in
basketball, volleyball and softball. Now it was her turn to give the
graduation speech. The audience erupted into applause when Amber Sorensen was
called to the podium. Upon the announcement, the most striking face in the
crowd of students emerges from her chair, with a mane of auburn hair running
down from her tassle and hanging halfway down her back. A sweet but nervous
smile was evident on her face when she approached the podium.

Amber began addressing her fellow students and the audience with what even
she conceded was a clichéd speech that she slapped together earlier that
week in study hall. She was nervous, but only partly because of the speech.
This was the night she had been waiting for in many ways, but the biggest
event of her night was going to happen after the graduation ceremony. This
event did not include attending any of the post-graduation parties her
classmates were planning. She had stunned them by cordially turning down
invitations to the parties.  She was going to have a party of her own ... a
party she had been planning since she was 12 years old. She was going to
smoke her first cigarette.

Amber was scarcely paying attention to her own words as she wrapped up the
10-minute speech. All she could think about was the rush she was gonna get
from shedding her goody-two-shoes skin the second she climbed out of the
graduation robe. All through middle school and high school, Amber wanted to
smoke. The only consistent exposure she had to smoking was at the annual
holiday gatherings when her older cousin Nicole stepped outside for a smoke.
Nicole had been doing this ever Christmas 1998, when she started smoking as a
college freshman.  Nicole was now out of college, but still smoked. Amber
used every excuse to get together with Nicole, usually to "prepare herself
for college" by discussing college life with her. Amber was always amazed by
how drawn she was to cigarette smoking ever since the first time she watched
her attractive older cousin light one up.

In the five and a half years since, Amber became more observant of the
smoking of others, including the few classmates of hers who had taken up the
habit in high school. With each passing year, Amber's passion for smoking had
grown and through her senior year it had become brutally difficult to resist
the urge to start. Her patience had paid off though. Now she was done with
high school, done with athletics and done being a non-smoker. As she walked
back towards her chair amidst a sea of applause from her speech, she knew it
was probably less than an hour until her dream would come true.

The ceremony seemed to drag on forever as Amber kept looking at the clock
Even after the ceremony ended she had to stand in a line with the other
graduates and greet all the teachers and parents who wished to congratulate
them. This lasted a good 40 minutes before the graduates were finally free to
go. Amber couldn't help but notice that she was the first one out the door
and into her car. Even though she didn't plan to hide her new habit from
anybody, she wanted to be in and out of the store with her cigarettes before
anyone spotted her and endangered the evening she hoped would go off without
a hitch.

Amber raced to the edge of Idun City where the town's only convenience store
was located. She hopped out of her car before the graduation crowd, quickly
slipping out of her robe and revealing a slender and shapely body covered by
a white sweater and black slacks she had been wearing underneath the robe.
She walked quickly but tried not to draw too much attention to herself as she
breathlessly walked in the door. Two older men she had seen in town before
were talking on the other side of the store, but beyond that the place was
empty save for the clerk behind the counter. It was Cheryl, who was a friend
of Amber's mom. Amber figured this might happen but wasn't gonna let it stop
her.

"Hi Amber," Cheryl greeted with a smile. "How was the graduation speech?"

"Oh it was okay I guess," Amber answered, obviously trying to cut through the
small talk as quickly as possible. "I'm glad it's over though."

"What would you like?"

There was no easy way for Amber to make this request, but it had to be made.

"Can I have a pack of Marlboro Lights 100's?"

Immediately, Cheryl's smile faded and her face went pale. 

"You're 18 right?" Cheryl asked.

"Yep, just last month," Amber replied with a tremble in her voice.

Cheryl quietly handed Amber the pack of cigarettes, obviously biting her
tongue to avoid asking more questions or beginning an anti-smoking lecture.

"Thanks," Amber said, taking the Marlboros and making her way towards the
door with the speed of Flash Gordon.

The crowd from the graduation was beginning to flow by and Amber realized she
wasn't quick enough to escape undetected when she met Bryan, one of her
fellow graduates and casual acquaintances, on the way back to her car. They
greeted each other as they passed by, with Bryan turning around to make sure
he saw what he thought he did. Sure enough, there was a pack of Marlboro
Lights 100s in Amber Sorensen's hand as she climbed into her car. Surely
there must be a logical explanation for what I just saw, Bryan thought to
himself as he walked into the store.

Driving down the sparse country roads where the corn and soybean crops had
risen a few inches above the soil in the surrounding fields, Amber looked
over her shoulder to the passenger seat every minute or so, feeling delighted
at the sight of her very own pack of cigarettes that was soon to be tested.
She passed her parents' farm five miles west of town and quickly turned onto
an isolated gravel road. She traveled less that a mile and turned into an
abandoned barn located on the edge of her father's land.

This was it, Amber thought to herself when she stepped out the car and
proceeded to the back of the barn with cigarette pack and lighter in hand.
She sat down on the edge of weeds and the plowed field, thinking to herself
and she unwrapped the cellophane from the pack that she may be the record
holder for the oldest teenager to sneak their first cigarette behind the
barn. She opened the pack and pressed her nose above the 20 fresh cigarettes,
enjoying the aroma of the tobacco. She then followed the routine that she
observed Nicole perform before, tapping the bottom of the pack until one of
the cigarettes broke free.  Finally, one of the cigarettes did and she pulled
it out before inserting it between her lips. She couldn't believe the time
had finally arrived. She savored the feeling of her first cigarette in her
mouth before igniting the lighter and approaching the flame to the end of her
cigarette. The cigarette came to life and a small stream of smoke began to
rise from the lit end.

Amber's heart was racing as she took her first couple drags. As expected, the
taste of the smoke wasn't particularly pleasing, but she was nonetheless
fascinated with how the cigarette looked between her fingers and how the
smoke looked as it flowed from her mouth as she exhaled. At several points in
the last year, Amber had visited a couple websites that gave pointers for
prospective smokers. She had anticipated that her first encounter might not
be as rewarding as she had hoped, and she was anxious to see if the response
to her first inhale would be as dramatic as what she had read. With the
cigarette nearly half gone, she decided it was time to find out. She took a
relatively small drag and then inhaled, then cut loose an unpleasant cough.
That first inhale was just as awful as she feared and for a split second, the
thought crossed Amber's mind that smoking might not be for her. She quickly
let this thought dissipate and then proceeded with another uninhaled drag.
She found herself getting used to the taste and beginning to enjoy it more,
but wanted to take another inhale before finishing this cigarette. 

Amber wasted no time inhaling again, and this time didn't cough. She found
the feeling much more pleasurable this time and enjoyed the warm feeling in
her lungs that came before her exhale deposited the smoke from inside her
body.  She finished the cigarette, inhaling all of her remaining drags. She
crushed out the cigarette in the weeds next to her and just sat there quietly
for a few moments, feeling very dizzy. Temporarily, she wondered again if
smoking was for her, but then rediscovered her resolve. Not only did she want
to be a smoker, she wanted to be a heavy smoker, taking in at least a pack a
day during her college years. After a couple minutes, she looked at the pack
of Marlboro Lights 100s next to her and decided she better get started on
that goal. She pulled out another cigarette and lit up, this time inhaling
the first drag and enjoying it immensely.

Nearly three months later...

Amber sat alone in the driver's seat of her Caprice, holding the steering
wheel with her right hand and a Marlboro Light in her left. The passenger
side and backseat of her car were occupied with as much stuff as she could
squeeze into them. It was a long drive to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the
university town where she decided to attend college. Much as she would have
loved to stay in Nebraska for college, she knew that breaking free from her
comfort zone was necessary. Even though she was Miss Popularity in her
hometown, Amber had always been very shy around strangers. She thought
attending college in a place where she didn't know anybody else would help
cure her of that.

Amber takes a deep inhale from her cigarette and then takes a look at her
rearview mirror as she exhales. Her parents were only a few car lengths
behind her. They didn't say it specifically, but she knew the reason why they
chose to ride together and not with her is that they didn't want to be around
her incessant smoking. Within two weeks after she started, her parents found
out, and Amber didn't really try to hide it from them. They were very
disappointed in her at first. Her mom even shed a couple tears. Nonetheless,
Amber was surprised at how quickly they came to the conclusion that she's an
adult who can make her own decisions. 

Amber was not allowed to smoke in her parent's house, but she was fine with
that. She was not bashful about smoking everywhere else. There wasn't a
single person in Idun City who didn't learn of Amber's new smoking habit over
the summer, and she grew to enjoy watching the responses of friends and
former teachers when they watched her light up. She heard plenty of lectures
from everybody, but always let them go in one ear and out the other. She was
a smoker who enjoyed her habit, and it was her decision. Nobody was going to
change her mind and by summer's end, everyone seemed to realize that.

Amber's habit had grown to nearly a pack a day in less than three months. She
had resigned herself to the fact that she was now addicted to cigarettes.
That scared her a little, but it was also part of the appeal of the habit.
She was fully prepared to let her addiction lead her wherever it may and
expected to further increase her consumption during college.

Driving eastward on I-40 through Tennessee, Amber found herself driving
through a corridor of tobacco fields between Nashville and Knoxville. She
opened her window to smell the fall tobacco crop. It wasn't quite harvest
time, but she still enjoyed the aroma. Part of the reason why she chose North
Carolina as her college destination was that she knew it was tobacco country
where cigarettes were cheaper and where she could most likely smoke in her
dorm room, as opposed to many other colleges that have forbidden it. She had
even heard stories of colleges that allowed students to smoke in class, but
she didn't get her hopes up too high about that even in North Carolina. 

Amber had been driving for more than 10 hours on the sticky late August day
and still had a long distance to go. She looked up to a sign showing she was
45 miles from Knoxville. She decided it was time for another cigarette.



The next month was a difficult one for Amber. Her fears were realized about
adapting to the new environment and she shut down socially. She spent most of
the month of September hidden in her dorm room or sitting against a tree in
an isolated sector of the campus reading. She walked to classes alone and
even sat by herself in the school cafeteria. She was miserable with her life
and was having a very hard time making friends. She called home crying a
couple nights a week telling her parents she was planning to come back home
after the semester was over.

The cocoon Amber built around herself affected everything she did. She was
dressing as haplessly as she felt, hiding her fantastic figure in bulky
T-shirts and sweatpants. She subdued her lively auburn locks in lifeless
ponytails, often even covering her hair with a cap. She often wondered how
shocked her friends back home would be to see the bubbly and glamorous Amber
dressed like a depressed housewife and completely afraid to unleash her
gregarious personality.

She had made casual acquaintance with a few people, but just couldn't find
the nerve to open up to them completely. Her roommate Sonya was a nice enough
girl. They were both heavy smokers, but that's where the similarities ended.
Sonya was way too much of a party animal for Amber's taste, and it seemed as
though they were drifting apart with each passing week as Sonya's circle of
friends grew and Amber's reluctance to cut loose forced Sonya to give up on
trying to help Amber become a social animal.

Through all of this loneliness and solitude, Amber leaned more heavily on her
cigarettes than she expected. Whether in the dorm room or hanging out around
campus, Amber was scarcely seen without a cigarette. Her consumption level
had grown to 25-30 cigarettes a day, and seemed to grow with each day. This
didn't bother her, but she feared she may have to get a part-time job to help
pay for her growing habit.

When Amber turned her calendar from September to October on a Friday morning,
it struck her that she was the one who was making herself miserable and that
she could probably change this at the first opportunity if she just put forth
the slightest effort. She wasn't quite prepared for a night out on Friday,
but Saturday night was going to be her night. She was nervous and excited as
she thought ahead to the night where she would regain her social energy.

When Amber arrived at UNC, she took Sonya up on an offer to get her a fake
ID. Amber wasn't a big drinker, but she still thought that the fake ID might
come in handy, as she expected it would on Saturday night. Sonya was
surprised when Amber asked her to take her to wherever she and her friends
planned to go on Saturday evening. Sonya helped Amber do her hair Saturday
afternoon and couldn't believe how well she cleaned up. 

Sonya left the room to get her friends together while Amber dressed up. In
about 10 minutes, Sonya returned with a group of three guys and two girls.
They opened the door and were stunned at what they saw. There stood Amber in
a tight, low-cut blouse and a red mini-skirt, her face beaming with a girlish
smile.  They had never seen Amber looking so glamorous and didn't realize she
had it in them. Amber could almost instantly detect that the guys were
suddenly more interested in her while the girls looked as though they had
become jealous at the prospect of being secondary attractions. Before
leaving, Amber opened her purse. She had a pack of Marlboro Lights 100's that
was three-quarters full, but wasn't convinced that would be enough. She
walked over to her carton and pulled out a fresh pack in case she needed it.

The group walked to a nearby bar that was one of the most popular
destinations of UNC students. As much as Amber wanted to completely cut
loose, she still found herself clinging to her inhibitions and latching close
to Sonya and her friends. They all sat together on stools at the bar, with
Amber occupying a corner stool. She quickly realized she didn't have a very
good connection with Sonya's friends. The girls didn't have much to say to
her, and the guys were basically flirting with her in the way frat boy
stereotypes so often do and which she found annoying and a turnoff.
Eventually, the group parted ways with her and drifted to other areas of the
bar. Amber had sat in the same stool for more than an hour and a half,
quietly smoking cigarette after cigarette and filling the ashtray in front of
her. She began to wonder if her big night on the town was only going to
further lower her current level of self-esteem.

A group of six muscular college guys then entered the bar, drawing Amber's
attention. Amber made eye contact with a blonde guy who seemed at first
glance to be the quietest, and most handsome, guy of the bunch. He looked
very familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on where she had seen
him before.  She watched the group gather around a table halfway across the
bar, and she looked away. Seeing she was all alone, a couple of guys
approached her over the course of the next half hour. Amber made casual
conversation with them, but just didn't sense they were right for her, which
resulted in a mutual loss of interest.

This entire time, Amber just kept looking over her shoulder to the group of
guys and it seemed every time she did, the cute blonde guy was looking her
way.  She crushed out another cigarette in the now overflowing ashtray which
she had almost exclusively filled up by herself. She took a swig from that
first and only bottle of beer she had purchased that evening and then
reflexively reached into her purse for another cigarette. As she extracted
another Marlboro Light 100, she happened to glance up and see the same guy
watching her. She lit herself up, exhaled a stream of smoke his way and gave
him a nervous smile.

In the next couple minutes, the two traded glances frequently, each trying to
remain inconspicuous to the other but failing miserably. Finally, the young
man couldn't take any more of it. He excused himself from his friends and
approached Amber. Amber's heart was racing as this incredibly attractive guy
sat on the bar stool next to her.

"Hi there," he introduced himself with a demeanor that was far more bashful
that what Amber expected from such a good-looking guy. "My name is Troy."

"Hi," Amber replied, trying to seem as relaxed as possible. "I'm Amber"

"I saw you sitting here all alone and thought you might want some company."

Amber couldn't believe her didn't use a gratuitous come-on line in his
introduction.

"Thank you. I was getting kind of lonely here. My friends kind of ditched
me," she said, only half-jokingly.

Flirty small talk ensued for a few moments before Amber finally got the nerve
to ask why Troy's face elicits deja vu for her. 

"This may sound weird, but it feels like I know you from somewhere," Amber
said.

"Well, I'm on the football team. You may have heard of me or seen my picture
somewhere."

It all came back to Amber like a brick wall. This was Troy Pearson, a senior
and the star player from the football team that had scored the winning
touchdown in the last two games. His face was plastered all over the student
newspaper which Amber always read in the student cafeteria as she sat and ate
alone.  She didn't know what to do or say and ended up gushing about how cool
it was that she was talking to the football star, then beginning to worry
that her naive schoolgirl commentary was going to drive him away…but Troy
seemed to take it in stride.

"I take it you're a freshman," Troy said, believing older students would have
recognized him.

"Yeah... is that bad?" Amber asked nervously, crushing out another cigarette
and being careful to exhale away from Troy.

"Not at all," he reassured her. "I haven't found the right girl among those
my age so I figure I shouldn't discriminate."

"I can't believe you don't have a girlfriend" Amber said, surprised at how
humble and unaffected he was. She had went out with the local football star
in high school for more than a year and couldn't get over how the boy was
more in love with himself than her. How could it be that this college
football star didn't have a massive and unbearable ego?

"Well, I did last year but we broke up. Since then, I've shopped around quite
a bit but can't seem to find any girls that like me for me rather than my
football jersey."

Amber giggled and smiled as she reached for another cigarette. Troy then
surprised her as he reached for her lighter and said, "Let me get that for
you."

Amber had never been offered a light from a guy before, and what a first time
this was. She sucked on the filter of her Marlboro Light as Troy sparked her
up. She took a deep drag and sensed that Troy enjoyed lighting her up as much
as she enjoyed being on the receiving end. His hand was trembling slightly as
he set Amber's lighter back on the bar counter next to her.

" I suppose an athlete like you must think it's pretty gross to see a girl
smoke," Amber said, testing him.

"No, no, no!" he replied, almost too passionately. "It's not a problem for me
at all. I don't like smoking myself but it doesn't bother me when others
smoke. In fact..."

Troy cut himself off, realizing he almost uttered something he had never
shared with anyone.

"In fact what?" Amber asked, not willing to let the issue dangle.

Troy's face grew red with embarrassment as he quietly muttered, "Nothing."

Amber became animated, her cigarette rising with her hand and getting as
close to Troy as it had yet. "Hey, mister, you can't just get a girl
interested and then leave her in suspense like that." She paused to see an
embarrassed Troy grow even more uncomfortable. "Now spill it."

"Okay, okay," he finally gave in. "I actually find it kind of sexy with
pretty girls smoke."

Amber was stunned. She had never heard of anyone finding it sexy when a girl
smoked, let alone a non-smoking athlete.

"That is really cool," she said, not knowing what else to say. "Do you
usually date girls who smoke?"

Still recovering from the embarrassment of revealing his secret, Troy
responded "Actually no. I dated a couple girls in high school who smoked but
have only went out with non-smokers since college."

"Well, there you have it," Amber responded, Troy rapidly bringing out the
girl that her friends back home would recognize. "Smokers are just more fun.
You gotta start dating chicks who smoke and you'll meet Miss Right in no time
at all."

Troy laughed and then responded, "I'm starting to notice that."

Given her own infatuation with smoking, Amber didn't want to see this topic
close even though it seemed to make Troy slightly uncomfortable.

"Is this fetish for girls who smoke kind of like a novelty. Do you think it's
something you wouldn't find so attractive if you actually spent a lot of time
with one of us smelly smokers?"

Troy shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, one of the reasons why I was so
struck by you is by how heavily you seemed to smoke and how naturally it came
to you. You didn't seem like one of those girls who just buys a pack for the
weekend and smokes in the bars. You seemed like the real deal. I really find
that sexy."

Amber melted. Her face erupted into a smile more gleeful than she had
displayed for the longest time. At this point, Troy and Amber had made a
serious connection, and spent the rest of the evening engaged in satisfying
conversation.  The two discussed their backgrounds, their aspirations and
their inhibitions without any awkward pauses. Amber chain-smoked cigarette
after cigarette after cigarette, going well into her second full pack, and
accepting a light from Troy every time. Amber became braver and began to
exhale her smoke towards Troy.  He never commented, but he seemed to savor
the thick and smelly smoke that Amber was depositing his way.

The two of them were completely into each other and as closing time
approached, Amber couldn't resist from expressing deeper feelings for Troy
through her body.

"I hope I don't sound bad when I ask this, but would like some company
tonight?"

Troy was not the kind to go for one-night stands, but how could he turn down
this amazing girl whom he had clicked with all evening long. 

"I would love to, baby girl," he said, moving in for a kiss. Amber quickly
pulled her cigarette out of the way and gladly accepted the liplock that Troy
offered. Their mouths remained pressed together for several moments and Amber
couldn't believe a non-smoker would find her tobacco breath anything less
than revolting.

When he finally pulled away, Amber whispered with passion, "Take me home!"

Troy was only to happy to oblige, taking Amber by the hand and leading her
outside the bar. They were wrapped up in each other's arms as they walked the
few blocks to Troy's apartment, exchanging kisses at several different
junctures. 

Amber had been too engrossed in the evening to realize the plunge she was
about to take, and it didn't hit her until she walked hand in hand with Troy
up to his apartment door that she was going to lose her virginity that
evening.  She didn't know if she should tell Troy or not, and decided to wait
until she got to his bed before choosing one way or the other. Troy caught
her off guard as he picked Amber up and carried her up the stairs to his
apartment. He unlocked the door, opened it and carried Amber to his bed,
laying her down and beginning to undress himself.

Laying there, Amber took off her blouse and removed her skirt while watching
Troy remove his jeans and boxers. She was amazed as the size of his erect
penis as she stared at it. She continued watching as Troy rolled a condom on
his cock. Observing the size of it, Amber decided to come clean, "Be gentle
with me baby. You're my first!"

Troy was temporarily taken aback by Amber's statement, but then gave her a
comforting smile as he reached down to remove her bra. He kneeled over her in
his bed and admired her perky naked breasts before slipping off her panties.
Amber felt as ready as ever to become a woman and quickly felt Troy's dick
penetrate her. As promised, Troy was gentle as he thrust himself in and out
of Amber's virgin pussy. Amber's cherry popped and her first experience with
intercourse was proving itself as painful as it was pleasurable. 

Lying there receiving Troy's masculinity, however, Amber knew that she would
have more chances to experience sex with him in the near future. Just like
each successive cigarette following her first got better, she knew her future
sexual encounters would improve as well. And she looked forward to acquiring
a taste for another pleasurable experience.