I coughed, the smoke clearing out of my lungs and making my head spin. "Its okay. Is it your first time smoking a cigarette?" asked Brandi while she put her hand on my arm to steady me from the nicotine buzz. My ten-year old eyes looked up at her with guilt, then looked down in shame thinking why am I doing this again. "Hey it's okay, I still like you", said Brandi as she cupped her hand on my cheek while giving me a warm smile. Now I remembered as I looked up into her face. I returned the smile and attempted another drag, this time I was more successful. I flicked the ash off of my cigarette as we continued our forbidden smoke.
Hello, my name is Arian but people call me A.J. This is the story of how I got introduced to smoking. I met Brandi in my fourth grade year at Cherry Creek Elementary. I was sitting alone in the lunchroom contemplating if I should eat my mashed potatoes and gravy or just throw it away and join the other kids in a game of soccer when all of a sudden she walked in. Now I don't know if it was my addled ten-year old brain or if she was that pretty but let me tell you my heart skipped a beat. She has brunette, olive skinned, and curves where God intended them. For some odd reason she decided to plopped down on the seat right next to mine. So she introduced herself as Brandi, said she was a sixth-grader, and that she would like to be my friend. So we got to talking and started hanging out with each other during school. I've noticed that the other kids kept their distance and I wondered why, so I kept my suspicions to myself. Then I find out why they kept their distance... because she smoked.
We stood in the alleyway that separates the school gym and the Springville Museum of Art. She took me straight there to her "secret" smoking spot when the bell for recess
sounded throughout the halls of Cherry Creek Elementary. We bolted out of the lunchroom doors, skipping lunch altogether, and cut through the parking lot to get to the smoking spot. We snuck by successfully, although the janitor did glance our way when we ducked into the alleyway. When we were safely concealed in the alleyway she took out her pack of Marlboro Red 100's took one out and list it. She took a drag and demonstrated to me how to smoke a cigarette. What she forgot to mention is that I have to inhale the smoke slowly for my first time and ended up having a coughing fit.
