few hours later, and about 4 or 5 cigarettes later for her mom, Denise decided to have an extra cigarette besides the one she would normally have before bed. She enjoyed the extra experience and reveled in satisfaction before having another one and going to bed.The following morning, she joined her mother for a morning smoke and gathered her things for school after she finished her first smoke of the day. She was beginning to enjoy her morning pause from her old routine, as the two of them chatted about the days events and they fished up doing the dishes and what not. While gathering her things, Denise spotted her pack on her night stand and thought about what her mother had said the night before. "What the heck!" she thought and picked up the pack and placed it into her backpack for school.
At lunch she met with Jen and they began talking about what Denise's mom had said the night before.
"I was talking to my mom last night and she said that she didn't have a problem with you coming over in the afternoon if you wanted to smoke." Denise said.
"I would love that...I'm starting to really enjoy it, but I don't have that many opportunities as you do"
Denise broke the moment by revealing her pack to Jen.
"You brought them to school!!"
"Yea...I thought we could have one after lunch if you wanted"
"That would be cool.....we could hang out with the other smoking kids in the smoking area...who knows, maybe we'll meet some new guys out there."
"exactly....." Denise added.
The two girls proceeded out to the smoking area where there were about 20 other kids in groups standing around and smoking. Most of the girls were smoking Marlboro Light 100's, and a few like Denise had Virginia Slims Light Menthols. The two of them were nervous, so they found a quiet spot and gathered up the courage to remove the pack and light one up.
At first, the two of them split a cigarette, but after a few weeks, each would have their own at lunch. After school, they would meet at Denise's house and have an afternoon cigarette, and they added a second one before Denise's mother came home and Jen had to leave.
Between the two of them, they had slowly increased their daily consumption from the 3 or 4 cigarettes that they were smoking a day in the beginning to 6 or 8 a day. The routine had been set and they fed their daily habit regularly. Slowly over time, smoking had become a part of them, and something that they not only looked forward to, but needed to do.
One night, after dinner while Denise and her mother were smoking their after dinner cigarettes, Her mom spoke up.
"I noticed that you're taking a lot longer drags now...how much are smoking now?"
"Oh, about 5 or 6 a day I guess"
"That's not too bad....you look like you're really enjoying it, are you?"
"Oh yes!! Its the first thing I think about in the morning and I really look forward to my daily routine, if you know what I mean."
"I sure do" Then pausing to take a large drag followed by a long inhale. "If you want, I can show you how to get the most out of each cigarette."
"Could you??"
"Sure....the first thing that I would comment on is how you hold your cigarette when you take a drag....you seem to only put the tip of the filter in your lips....see" Demonstrating with her own cigarette "You see where my lipstick marks are? There a little further up the filter....that's to cover the air holes they put in the filter...see them? She asked.
"I see them....I though that was to get a fresher taste"
"no, not really...it mixes air with the smoke, so its a lighter inhale. Try doing like I do and you'll feel the difference.
Denise placed the filter further into her lips and took a drag. She immediately noticed that the drag was stronger.
"The second thing I would say is that you don't inhale the smoke all the way and you just blow it out. If you really want to enjoy each and every cigarette, you might as well take everything it has to offer. Just go like this" She raised her cigarette to her lips and planted it firmly and drew for about 3-4 seconds. She then removed the cigarette and snapped the smoke deep into her lungs and held it there for a second or two. She followed this by a tight exhale out her mouth. When the smoke stopped, she breathed normally and let the rest flow out of her nose.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?" She asked.
"Make the smoke pop out in front of your lips like that"
"Oh that....I think it helps keep the smoke whole when I inhale it...you just need to curl your tongue up while you take a drag and then snap it down when you inhale...see" She demonstrated it again.
Denise tried to do the same, but only managed to make the smoke dissipate from her mouth before inhaling it.
"You'll have to work on that honey....try doing it sometime in front of a mirror and you'll get the hang of it." She said. "There's a lot of other things to consider, I mean you have to look nice if you're smoking. You have to have style."
"Don't I already have that?" Denise asked.
"You do, but I'm talking about the way you look, like making sure your nails look nice and that your lips aren't all dried out and all. Maybe tomorrow we could go down to the mall and pick out some nail polish and lipsticks....sound o.k.?"
"Sounds like fun, mom!"
The two women finished their cigarettes and Denise finished off this Friday night by having three more cigarettes before going to bed. This day was the first day she actually smoked 10 cigarettes in one day.
