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Article 436 of alt.smokers.glamour:
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From: an4@anon.lelnet.com
Newsgroups: alt.smokers.glamour
Subject: The Cameo, part 3
Date: 13 Jan 1997 00:03:16 GMT
Organization: Msen
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Sarah ducked underneath the check from someone. She didn't know who it was,
didn't care. All she saw was the red nylon striping around the goal and the
white webbing of the net. She didn't look down to the hardwood floor to see
if the hollow plastic ball was on her stick because she could feel it.
She picked her spot and let the shot go. It was top shelf, over the glove
side shoulder and the goaltender had no chance. Floor hockey had always been
her favourite gym sport and that was her fourth goal of the class.
But Sarah never saw the peanut butter go up where her mother didn't dust.
Pam Johnson came in from the side and buried her stick under Sarah's right
arm, bruising her ribs.
Sarah wasn't really too sure about what happened next. The world seemed to
go a little fuzzy, and when it reformed, she was on top of Pam and Ms.
Dinkins was holding her right arm pinned behind her. Pam's nose was bleeding
and already swollen. The rest of the girls in the class were just standing
around, dumbfounded. Pam was six inches taller than Sarah -at least- and what
had just happened had to be a little bit of a shock to everyone.
"You two hit the showers," Ms. Dinkins said, letting Sarah go.
Just as she started to stand up Pam reached up and grabbed the cameo in her
hand. She yanked and the clasp gave.
Ms. Dinkins grabbed her wrist hard and the cameo fell away, clattering to
the hardwood floor. Sarah snatched it up immediately
"Showers. Now ! And if I have to come in there after you two, you'll both
have detention for a week. Understand ? And Pam- see the nurse about that
nose."
Both girls began walking dejectedly out of the gym, but Ms. Dinkins stopped
Sarah. "I'm going to let this go this time, but you do anything like that
again-"
Sarah just nodded. She wanted to argue, to but there was no point. Not with
Ms. Dinkins. Not ever. Besides, class was only half over. Once she got out of
the shower, she could go right to the smoking lounge. Last period was a free
one today and that would give more than an hour to study for her Lit
mid-term. Or read Wuthering Heights. And to smoke.
There were three other girls in the smoking lounge when Sarah got there. All
seniors who Sarah didn't know very well.
She took the permission slip out of her backpack and handed it to Ms.
Hooper, her Lit teacher. The teachers loved the smoking lounge because it was
staffed on a volunteer basis. Naturally, only the smokers volunteered. Sarah
had seen her in here once or twice, sitting at the main desk, looking more
like one of the students than a teacher. Of course, she was puffing away on a
Marlboro light. A box of hundreds was on the desk by her elbow.
"I didn't know that you that smoked, Sarah," she said, smiling. Again, there
was that sense of community that she'd felt at the restaurant last night.
"Now I know why you've been going to the bathroom during class so often the
last week. I was beginning to think something must be wrong with your
bladder."
Sarah did feel some minor embarrassment being caught in that series of lies.
But Ms. Hopper quickly made her feel at ease by saying "I used to do the same
thing. Some days I went to the bathroom five or six times."
She put the permission slip in a file and then punched up Sarah's schedule
on the computer.
"Uh-" She looked away from the screen. "You're supposed to be in gym class
right now."
"I got into a fight with Pam Johnson and Ms. Dinkins gave me the rest of
class off."
"Gave you the rest of class off ? That's one way to put it. Pam Johnson ?
You look like you're in pretty good shape for someone who got into a fight
with Pam."
"I got in the only punch," she said, wincing. Not that a stick to the ribs
was anything to brag about.
"That's a very pretty cameo, Sarah."
She was holding it in her right hand and had all but forgotten about it.
"The clasp broke- well, Pam broke it."
"You know, there's a jewelers in the strip mall across the street from
school. Ask for Helena. She'll fix that for you. Tell her Kristen sent you.
She owes me a favour."
"Thanks," Sarah said. Again, there was a feeling of togetherness, which was
so amasing. First, her mom. Now Ms. Hooper, who'd always seemed a little
distant despite the fact that Sarah had been doing very well in her class.
She sat down by one of the windows, liking the feel of the warm sun on her
back. For a moment she sat and watched Ms. Hooper- Kristen- out of the corner
of her eye. She was young and attractive, one those teachers the boys got
crushes on. In fact, Kelly Norton found some reason to hang out at Ms.
Hooper's desk every day at the end of class and more than once Sarah had
teased him about it, which always brought a blush to his chubby face.
Kristen tossed her long blonde hair, pulled it into a pony tail, and tied it
with a scrunchy, which made her look even more like one of her charges. She
then pulled a long white cigarette from the pack and lit it casually. Sarah
noted how elegantly she smoked, as though it was almost an art. She took
long, graceful inhales, holding them as she brought the cigarette away from
her mouth and moved it to a jaunty angle by her ear, reading all the while.
Her exhales were just as graceful, even elegant.
Sarah had seen the book. Wuthering Heights. She took her own copy out, put
the cameo down on the table.
Then she took her cigarettes and lighter from her small purse- there was
hardly room for anything else.
She immediately noticed something strange. That same feeling that had come
over her this morning was gripping her now. The expectation of the cigarette
was very mild. She lit it with some trepidation, worried.
With good reason. Once again, that almost magically wonderful taste of the
smoke was absent. Oh, it tasted a lit bit better than that first one this
morning, but not much. Not nearly good enough.
The cameo caught her eye. Coincidence and superstition merged and she picked
it up with her free hand, while holding an inhale that was trying to force
its way back up her throat.
Immediately there was a change. There was suddenly no need to exhale. Not
yet. The taste in her mouth became sweeter. She exhaled, a long, misty stream
of smoke trailing from her mouth.
She put the cameo back down on the table.
Took another inhale. Again, it was harsh, neither pleasant or unpleasant.
This was how non-smokers thought smoking was for the- well, the addicted. She
picked the cameo back up, exhaled quickly and inhaled again. Heaven.
The class bell rang and the other three girls left, talking among
themselves. They smiled as they passed by Ms. Hooper and then the teacher
looked straight at Sarah. "You staying ? I see you have last period free ?"
Impulsively, Sarah stood up and walked over to the desk. Ms. Hooper was
still smoking, putting on a wonderful show. Her inhales and exhales were
subtlety different each time and the way that she held the cigarette itself
was-
Sensuous wasn't exactly the right word, but she knew exactly how she'd feel
if she was Kelly. In fact, she wondered if she might not be doing him a
favour by talking him into taking smoking up and learning the volunteer
schedule.
That would be cruel, she decided.
"Yeah, I'll stay." Sarah hesitated. She was standing right by Ms. Hooper
now, trying to find a way to ask the question on her mind in a way that
wasn't awkward. Ms. Hooper must have read the look on her face because she
said "What's up, Sarah ? Wondering why I'm reading Wuthering Heights for the
sixth time ? I saw you're reading it, too. Guess I haven't been giving you
enough homework."
When Sarah didn't smile she hastily added "That was a joke, Sarah."
"Why are you reading it again ?"
"I'm writing a journal article on the use of mood in the novel. Of course,
only about one hundred other academics have written about the same thing, so
I'm just hoping to have one original thought."
"I-" Sarah decided to just ask. She didn't image that Ms. Hooper would think
she was too weird. "Ms. Hooper-"
"Kristen, Sarah. In this setting, I think first names will do."
Sarah puffed on her cigarette and tapped ash into the glass ashtray on the
desk. "How do you smoke like that ?"
"Like what ?" she asked, taking another spectacular inhale that would have
turned Kelly's feet to water in his Cons.
"You just look so- well, I hope you don't think I'm being weird, but if I
could smoke like that I think I'd have ten dates for the prom."
"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," Kristen said, smiling. "I've been
smoking since I was sixteen. That's nine years. You just develop a style.
It'll come to you. But you're right. If you know how to do it, you really can
catch a guy's eye- and keep it squarely trained on you. I remember this one
guy in college- he would following me into the dining centre and just sit and
watch me smoke. It was almost comical after a while."
There was a short pause during which they both smoked quietly, Sarah
watching Kristen intently.
"If you really enjoy it, it shows. You have to look comfortable holding your
cigarette. I think that's terribly important."
"Thanks, Kristen."
Just then three people came into the room. One was Heather, who saw Sarah
and smiled. "I knew sooner or later you'd start coming here. Your mom's cool
with it ?"
"You don't know how cool," Sarah answered, glad to see her friend but sorry
her conversation with Kristen was over.
She was checking schedules, making sure that everyone was on a free period.
But she turned to Sarah and said "We'll talk again another time. Don't
forget to tell Helena I sent you."
Sarah promised she wouldn't and soon she and Heather were sitting in a cloud
of smoke, talking about Ned Williams.
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