Smoke And Mirrors, Part 5

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 5: The First Lesson:

Jill tried to hide her excitement after hearing her roommate's request. For
Suzanne's benefit, she slowly took another satisfying inhale, reprising her
previous performance.

Jill wanted to make Suzanne's first lesson a pleasant experience. "Suzanne,
before we start your first lesson, I think we need to have something to
drink." This would make Suzanne's first smoking experience easier, lowering
her inhibitions. "I just happen to have an open bottle of wine in the
refrigerator. Would you like a glass?"  Jill said casually

Suzanne was still feeling the effects of the two beers that she had had with
Phil. Looking for a little more courage, she was not about to say no. "It
wouldn't hurt to have a glass of wine," Suzanne said enthusiastically.

As Jill was walking to the small refrigerator that her parents had purchased
for her dorm room, Jill said. "Take one more drag on your cigarette while I'm
getting the wine, but don't overdo it. "

Suzanne tentatively took the cigarette, and took another small puff, inhaling
in her customary manner. Again the predominantly uninhaled smoke was quite
thick as she breathed it out. The dizziness quickly returned.

Jill watched out of the corner of her eye, trying to appear nonchalant. She
returned quickly with the wine, and sat down beside Jill. "Here you go," she
said as she placed the tall wine stems, filled with a chilled Chardonnay, on
the coffee table.

"Why don't you change into something more comfortable?" Jill said, wanting to
make sure that Suzanne was totally relaxed.

Suzanne nodded in agreement, and in a few minutes returned in a pair of pink
pajamas with small white flowers embellishing the sleeves and collar. The
pajamas made her look like she was 12 years old.

"Nice jammies," she said sarcastically. "Now, how are you feeling?" Jill said
with a concerned tone of voice.

"To tell you the truth, I don't feel too bad. I can't quite get used to the
taste in my mouth. It's supposed to taste good, isn't it?  I do feel slightly
dizzy, but other than that, I'm all right." Suzanne said.

"Good, that's natural and it's an acquired taste. You'll see later on. Now,
I will show you how I want you to take your next drag. I want you to exhale
all the air out of your lungs first, and then take a very small amount of
smoke in your mouth, and instead of breathing in air through your nose like
Phil showed you, breathe in through your mouth. Breathe in naturally and
inhale deeply but slowly. Watch. -Like this." as Jill demonstrated.
Exaggerating her every move, she executed a small but deep open mouthed
inhale. She paused for about the count of three before a thin but lengthy
plume of smoke was exhaled from Jill's pursed lips. "Do you think you can do
it?" Jill said.

"Let me try." Suzanne said excitedly. She mimicked Jill's technique, and
deeply inhaled a small sip of smoke. This time, there was no tell tale cloud
of uninhaled smoke. During the first part of her exhale, nothing came out,
and then as she continued, a small but definite plume of smoke exited her
mouth. Suzanne's look of apprehension quickly was transformed to a look of
achievement and a smile crossed her face.

"Very cool. You're a natural," Jill said encouragingly. "So what do you
think?" Jill asked anxiously.

"Well," Suzanne went on, "I must admit, that tastes a lot better doing it
this way. And I didn't feel like coughing or anything. Actually I sort of
liked the feeling of the smoke in my lungs. It felt sort of warm and full."

"Exactly, nothing tastes worse than uninhaled smoke. You are going to do just
great, Suzanne. Most girls don't do as well as you did with their first
cigarette." Jill said laying it on thick.

Suzanne felt rather giddy about this whole experience. She picked up the
glass of the chilled golden wine, and took a long sip. She found that the
mixture of the smoky wine and the taste of smoke in her mouth a pleasing
combination. The formerly aloof and sarcastic roommate was actually paying
Suzanne a complement. She felt good about herself. "Now take one more drag,
and then put that cigarette out, as it gets a bit strong towards the end. I
don't want you to get *too* dizzy" she joked.

Surprisingly, Suzanne felt disappointed, feeling that she could have easily
tried a couple more drags. She complied with the suggestion, and again
inhaled as deeply as she dared. She didn't want to get into trouble with her
"teacher."

Suzanne took another sip of wine, leaned back on the sofa, closing her eyes
for a moment, unconsciously enjoying the pharmacological effects of the
nicotine that had been enhanced by the wine. Jill saw the look of contentment
and satisfaction on Suzanne's face, and knew that it was already beginning to
happen.

"Its now time for the theory part of your lessons. Are you paying attention
Suzanne? Are you sure you want to continue." Jill chided.

"Oh yes, please. I'm sorry. This is kind of fun. I'm all yours." Suzanne said
humbly.

"Good, the next part is very important." Jill said seriously.



She went on to describe, that although quite enjoyable, smoking was a
feminine art. If it wasn't done with style it could make you look
unsophisticated and trashy. Some women smoked like truck drivers and were
total turn offs to men. If you smoked with style, you could expect to attract
a lot of attention from guys. After all, wouldn't a man want a woman who was
adventurous and confident? This was something that Suzanne had never
considered and thoughts of what Phil had said entered her head.

"First, we have to teach you how to light up, because I am not going to be
always there to give you a light." she said as she laughed. She passed the
lighter to Suzanne, after showing her how to depress the childproof button.
Suzanne quickly learned to make the lighter ignite every time she flicked.
That was easy, Suzanne thought to herself.

Jill then showed Suzanne the proper way to light up her cigarette,
demonstrating as she spoke. "First make sure you know where your lighter is.
Then shake one or two loose from the pack, as she expertly got one cigarette
to magically pop up from the pack. Now, daintily remove the cigarette from
the pack with your right hand, insert it deeply between your lips, in the
middle of your mouth, not on either side. Then let go the cigarette and take
your hand away. Sexy smokers don't need both hands to light up," she smiled.
"Then reach for your lighter with your right hand and with one flick light
the lighter, and then bring the middle of the flame directly to the tip,
sucking deeply at the same time. Be careful and concentrate. Nothing looks
worse than a cigarette that has been blackened on the sides from a careless
light up. Even worse is a cigarette that is partially lit, that needs to be
sucked on to get going. Remember, that style and a confident look are
important. Move the flame back and forth until you are sure that the entire
tip is lit. Once it's evenly lit, extinguish the lighter and put it down.
Continue to suck until you have a full mouthful of smoke, then with your
right hand and these two fingers separated in a nice vee, daintily but
deliberately remove the cigarette, and inhale as deeply as you can. Hold the
smoke in your lungs for a few seconds. Raise your head slightly, and exhale
the smoke skywards, watching the smoke as it leaves your mouth in a long slow
exhale.  Never and I repeat never just blow out the first drag, always inhale
the light up. That is for the girls in the trailer park and for old ladies,"
as she chuckled to herself. "The look of pure satisfaction on your face will
eventually become second nature as the smoke slowly escapes from your lips in
a tight cone."

"Wow," Suzanne interrupted, "I never knew that there was so much to know."

"Oh yes, there is definitely a technique." Jill said smiling. "And if you are
going to smoke, you should smoke to enjoy it. It is part of the smoking
experience."  Suzanne started to think back to when she was at the bar and
realized that Jill had perfectly described word for word the smoking style of
the blonde that Phil had pointed out in the bar. Everything that Jill had
said made sense. Would she ever be able to remember all of this? She smiled
and thought that maybe she should have been taking notes.

"Have you got all that?"  Jill asked.

Feeling more confident Suzanne said impatiently, "Yeah, I got it, but when do
I get to try it myself?"

"Patience, patience. Slow and easy" Jill said pleasantly acknowledging her
student's enthusiasm.

"And another thing," Jill continued. "If it is windy where you are, use the
lighter in your right hand and cup your left hand around the flame." Jill
said demonstrating. Suzanne acknowledged, she had seen people use that
technique, and was surprised that she had even made a mental note of that.

Jill went on. "When you are sitting always keep the cigarette up here by your
cheek with your elbow bent and your wrist cocked and the cigarette pointing
outwards like this." Demonstrating, as she talked. Even Suzanne could see how
that pose made your eye focus on the rising smoke from the long white
cigarette. Jill did look rather glamorous when she did that. "If you happen
to be standing, keep your arm up against your body, bent at the elbow, with
the cigarette in your hand up by your face. No one likes a woman who waves
her cigarette all over the place and any other method is dangerous." She
smiled as she again demonstrated by standing up. Suzanne continued sipping on
her wine, absorbing Jill's lessons.  "Never place the cigarette between your
thumb and your first finger. That is only for Nazis and truck drivers." she
said as she laughed. "Finally, when you are finished with the cigarette,
carefully crush it out in the ashtray and make sure it is completely out. You
do this usually while exhaling your last pleasurable drag. Don't let the
ashtray fill up with too many cigarettes. Have the waitress clean out the
ashtray regularly." She thought to herself sarcastically, yeah sure, after I
smoke my one cigarette, I'll ask them to clean my ashtray. "It's also
important that you eventually smoke the entire cigarette, down to the
lettering."  Suzanne looked with interest at the writing on the cigarette.

"Another thing, while you are smoking, if you need to use your right hand to
put on makeup or something like that, place the cigarette in your left hand
or carefully in the ash tray which you will keep close to you by your right
side, making sure that it is well balanced and does not fall out on the
table. I hate sloppy smokers" she said smiling. "Dangling is only okay when
you absolutely have no choice. Times like when you are backing up your car or
when your hands are just too busy doing something else." she said with eyes
that twinkled mischievously.

Suzanne was taken aback. She just couldn't imagine smoking while driving.
Then she blushed when she finally realized what Jill might be alluding to.

"How does all that sound?" Jill said with a tone that indicated that she was
finished.

Suzanne smiled, "Yeah. I think I can remember all that."

Jill smiled and leaned over and put her arm around Suzanne giving her a quick
hug.

Suzanne blushed. She realized at that moment that she might have made a
friend that night. Jill seemed to be very experienced. Everything that Jill
had said made perfect sense. Jill could teach her many things, she thought to
herself. As she watched Jill take another textbook long drag, she started to
admire her older college roommate. She certainly made it look attractive.

Jill refilled the glasses with the remaining wine and said "Are you ready for
your first `real' cigarette?"

With the effects of the wine now fully taking full hold, Suzanne replied "I
thought you were never going to ask," Suzanne giggled.

"Okay, help your self," as she motioned to the pack on the table. "But I want
you to know, you will be graded on your performance," she said and they again
both laughed.

Suzanne had listened very carefully to each and every word that Jill had
said. Her hand shook nervously as she mimicked each of her teacher's every
move. Everything was going quite well until Suzanne lit up. As she touched
the middle of the flame to the end of the cigarette as she had been
instructed, Jill saw Suzanne's cheeks hollow deeply as she sucked long and
hard on the first drag. The cigarette glowed intensely as the smoke began to
gather in Suzanne's mouth.

"Oh nooooo-wait, wait." Jill said, trying to stop her.

"Too late." she thought to herself. She watched Suzanne inhale a large drag
of smoke deeply into her beginner lungs. Jill expected the worst and waited
for the coughing fit. To her amazement, Suzanne completed the full inhale and
held the smoke in for the count of three. To Jill's amazement, she then
exhaled a long plume of smoke. Jill didn't know whether it was the wine or
whether it had been her vigilance to ensure that Suzanne had not overdosed on
her previous cigarette, but she did not gag.

Jill said enthusiastically, "That's the way! You're the best." A big smile
and look of approval appeared on Jill's face. Jill made sure that Suzanne saw
it.

Suzanne nervously smiled as the last remaining deeply inhaled smoke left her
lungs.

"So, Suzanne, what do you think now?" she said excitedly.

By the look on Suzanne's face, she knew what her response would be.
"Absolutely amazing, truly amazing" Suzanne repeated. Suzanne knew that she
had nearly coughed when she has taken in the large drag. But then she
remembered that Jill had said to exhale very slowly. As she started to
exhale, the thick smoke briefly tickled her throat, but then subsided, as she
was able to continue. She immediately started to feel her hands start to get
cold, her heartbeat quickened, and she felt extremely dizzy. She shared her
sensations with Jill.

Trying to be supportive Jill said, "I'm really sorry Suzanne. I should have
told you to just take a small bit of smoke the first time. The drag you just
took was just like the ones I take. That's way too much for someone just
learning. You need to get used to it. It won't be hard. Just take a break for
a minute and you'll regain your composure.

"That makes me feel a bit better. I didn't want to be one of those girls who
coughed on her first cigarette." Suzanne said smiling and remembering her
friend's prior words.

"No you did great, I promise you it will get easier and easier with
practice." Jill said.

Suzanne carefully placed the cigarette in the ashtray as she had been shown,
and took another long sip of her wine.

Jill went on with the lesson. She reminded Suzanne to never let the ash of
the cigarette get too long, showing her how to daintily tap the ash away.
"It's important that the cigarette retained its long straight look and a long
ash makes everyone nervous. Burns in the carpet or the furniture are not what
you want to be remembered for. And finally she said smiling, "As Smoky The
Bear says, never smoke in bed," They both laughed at Jill's attempt to sound
like the cartoon character.

As Suzanne waited for the effects of the last drag to subside, Jill told
Suzanne how well she had done. She had not looked at all like a novice. In
fact, Jill continued, "I don't want you to take this wrong way, as I am not
that type of girl," she said winking, "but you look very sexy when you smoke.
When Phil sees you smoke, you are going to knock his socks off, along with
probably a few other things." They both laughed and Suzanne felt more
relaxed. She could now feel the dizziness subsiding as she regained her
composure.

"How are you doing?" Jill said in a concerned voice.

"Oh! Much better, feeling only slightly dizzy" Suzanne responded. "I think
I'm ready to try it again"

Jill interjected, "Very good! This time just take a little drag, about half
of what you did last time. After that, drag no more than once every one or
two minutes or so. Just don't let yourself get too dizzy. And remember to
breathe in deeply just like you did before. It tastes much better that way.
If you start to feel a bit queasy, just wait, it will subside."

Suzanne nodded eagerly and picked up the cigarette and positioned it beside
her cheek, just as she had been tutored.

Jill looked on, approvingly saying. "That's my girl, you're looking great"

Suzanne again took a drag, but took Jill's advice and made sure it was
smaller. She again inhaled deeply. She felt the sensation of her lungs
filling with smoke. As she exhaled, she watched in amazement as the smoke
slowly exited her mouth. The smaller drag had not even tickled her throat.
That was much easier she thought. She again posed with her cigarette, as she
picked up her glass of wine. She practiced, holding the cigarette in her free
hand and the wine in the other. She was even successful in managing to hold
the glass and the cigarette in the same hand. She felt very grown up.

Jill noticed that Suzanne was even getting good at the handling part of
smoking. Suzanne was a quick study. There was nothing to worry about.

Suzanne continued to space her small sips of smoke, being careful not to take
in too much. The pauses in between really helped, she thought. If she had
only known someone like Jill in high school, she wouldn't have had to go
through all that embarrassment.

Then she remembered the promise she had made herself. She wasn't going to
become a real smoker. This was just an experiment. She reaffirmed to herself
that she had better be very careful and not get to like this too much. She
took one last drag, and deliberately crushed out the cigarette with her final
slow deep exhale. She proclaimed quite proudly, "Voila, C'est Finis!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Jill asked curiously.

"In French that means, `There it is. I am finished.'"

Jill smiled to herself. After tonight, it won't take long before you will be
really finished. Soon you'll be lighting up cigarette after cigarette as your
body demands you to satisfy its need, she smirked to herself.

Jill then reinforced the thought, "After a little bit of practice, Suzanne,
your smoking is going to get much more enjoyable. You will see."

Suzanne smiled sheepishly. She still wasn't used to the taste in her mouth.

"You have done very well tonight. Do you want to continue the lessons? How
did you put it? `Until you looked like you know what you were doing,'" she
said, recognizing that Suzanne was still feeling a sense of achievement and
hoping that the wine had clouded her judgment.

"Well, it wasn't that bad, I guess. Sure I guess I could," she said, rather
unconvincingly.

"Suzanne? You have to make me a promise," she said with a serious tone of
voice.

"What's that?" Suzanne responded.

"Based on my experience, I know that if you smoke once in a while you won't
enjoy it. It's like having to learn all over again each time. If you want to
really enjoy the experience, you have to give smoking a real try. Otherwise,
the lessons will be a waste of time. I'll help you along. You don't even have
to buy your own cigarettes. You can smoke mine. Let's see, it's now the
middle of August. I think you should practice until Thanksgiving, in
November. Then you will know whether you really like it or not.

"Have I got your word that you will practice and give it a real try?" Jill
asked emphatically, making sure that she had direct eye contact with Suzanne.

Suzanne wasn't sure what Jill meant by giving it a "real try", but she felt
quite proud that she had been able to smoke her first real cigarette. She
rationalized that she would only be experimenting with smoking for a few
months. What harm could come from that? It was worth it to have something in
common with her roommate. She wondered if the taste would ever get better and
would she always be dizzy when she smoked?  She would make the best of it.
After a few moments pause she meekly said. "Yeah, sure. I understand."

"Do you swear on this pack of cigarettes, that you will allow me to teach you
the pleasures of smoking?" she said holding the pack out smiling.

Suzanne thought how silly this was, but if that was what Jill wanted, what
the heck? Suzanne laughed as she put her hand on the pack in Jill's hand. "I
swear that I will let you teach me the pleasures of smoking."

"And that you will practice and give it a real try until Thanksgiving?" Jill
reiterated.

"I give you my solemn word." Suzanne said with conviction.

"Excellent,"  Jill said as she gave Suzanne a hug. "You'll soon see how much
you enjoy it, just like I do." Jill said hiding her excitement and relief.

Jill was now certain that her student would become another graduate of Jill's
Academy of Smoking with a diploma in "The Pleasures of Smoking". She had
completed her first course, "Introduction to Smoking" with flying colors. It
was time for her to start the second course "Every Day Smoking," the next
level. If tonight was any indication, she would progress quickly.

First thing tomorrow morning, Suzanne's tutelage would continue. A morning
cigarette always tasted so good with that first cup of coffee. Jill's grin
slowly transformed into a wicked smile. Jill just loved it when nicotine took
a young girl. It filled her with a feeling of power. She was about to change
Suzanne's life forever. She would leave her mark on this girl. Suzanne would
always refer to Jill as "The girl who corrupted me and taught me how to smoke
in college." Jill just loved the sound of that.

It was starting to get late and Jill said that they had better call it a
night. Jill told Suzanne again how well she thought she had done. She
carefully but casually added that she looked forward to their next cigarette
together. She waited for some type of resistance, but none was voiced.

Instead, Suzanne said, "Thanks a lot" and gave Jill a friendly hug. Suzanne
finished by saying "I thought tonight was a lot of fun. I really need to
practice all those things you taught me."

Jill slowly nodded in agreement. Her smile widened.

The cards were all falling into place.

Suzanne walked into to her room, slightly wobbly. It must be from the wine,
she thought. She quickly undressed, and was too tired to brush her teeth. She
sunk into her bed and lay there a moment going over all of the evening's
events. She could still taste the lingering menthol on her tongue. It wasn't
really that bad, she thought.

As she slowly drifted off to sleep, and she quickly began to dream. She and
Phil were back at the bar, and Phil was offering her one of his cigarettes.
She smiled as she daintily took the cigarette. She looked sexily into Phil's
eyes, which were illuminated by the flame of the lighter in his hand. Her
cheeks caved in as she inhaled deeply. After holding the smoke inside her for
what seemed to be an eternity, she exhaled the biggest, longest and thickest
plume of smoke that she had ever seen. The feeling of total satisfaction that
Jill had talked about washed over her entire body, making her shudder with
ecstasy. Oh the relief.

Her eyes slowly moved from Phil's face to the rest of the room. There seated,
just where she had been that very night, was the blonde pony tailed girl
still smoking sexily. When their eyes met, the blonde smiled, then winked,
and gave her a nod of approval. Suzanne knew at that moment that she had just
been welcomed into the sisterhood of smokers. She took another long second
inhale, relishing the minty taste, and then exhaled another thick cone of
luxurious smoke upwards into the air. It tasted simply wonderful.

As she continued to look around the room, she now saw Jill standing by her
side with a pair of wings and halo. Jill, her Nicotine Angel stood there
smiling with a look of total approval and pride. She of course had an
exceptionally long all white cigarette propped by her cheek. Suzanne smiled
in her sleep. Jill made smoking sexy even while wearing a pair of wings she
thought. With that last thought she drifted off to a deep and restful sleep.
The newly introduced nicotine continued to do its magic on the pleasure
center of her brain. It had liked the effect. It would soon want more. And
Jill would be there with an endless supply to satisfy its need.

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