Goody two shoes.
Chapter 1: 'The Three Amigos'
The three girls sat chatting quietly at their usual table in the corner of the canteen. All of the girls, aged 18, had recently completed their fifth year at a large Secondary school in a Scottish city and were in the early stages of their final year. The girls were very academic, amongst the brightest pupils in their year.
Jenna Miller was the prettiest. A striking brunette with bright green eyes and a personality to match. An excellent athlete who had achieved running honours at County level. She looked neat in her uniform, skirt just above knee length and black patent t bar shoes. Certainly the chattiest of the group, Jenna held opinions on most things and could probably be identified as the group leader.
The quietest and probably the friendliest of the group was Eilidh (pronounced as alay). Studious and hard working she had a gorgeous smile and remained very loyal to her two friends. Blue eyed with shoulder length blonde hair, Eilidh looked equally neat in her uniform, preferring black trousers and black leather shoes with an elastic strap across the top.
The third of the 'amigos' was Melanie. She was probably the brightest girl in the year group. Appearing 'plain' with her dark eyes and black rimmed glasses, there was nevertheless a 'beauty' about her with her shoulder length dark hair. Slightly surprising was her high heeled 'brogue' type shoes which certainly made her the tallest of the group. Not always a dedicated follower of fashion she certainly made her own statement!
The three girls had been friends for many years having got together early in their primary school years. Although having some different interests they were largely inseparable and were usually found together in school both in and out of class. All three had always been a great credit to their parents winning many prizes in school over the years. No problems had ever been presented with all of the girls retaining great ambitions for the future. One of the school's deputy head teachers was unwittingly about to change the lives of the three amigos.
Chapter 2: Natalie's story.
Natalie Harrison was a vivacious red head who lit up any room very quickly. A bright and witty personality she also had a keen sense of humour. Her father's job had recently changed moving him to a factory in the south of Glasgow. Natalie and other brother Michael were therefore moving schools. At aged 18 though Natalie knew that she had a guilty secret to any new school friends. She was now addicted to cigarettes.
All of her family were smokers. Both parents were heavy smokers and Natalie had once been very resistant to the idea of smoking. Her father worked in cigarette manufacture and therefore could bring many cigarettes into the house. Several years earlier Natalie had caught her brother Michael 'experimenting' with smoking. Calling her 'chicken' he had dared Natalie to try a cigarette herself. Not repulsed by this idea the daring Natalie had tried a few puffs, inadvertently inhaled very quickly and enjoyed the 'buzz' which she had received. Occasional cigarettes with her brother had soon escalated to upwards of six per day. Shortly afterwards her parents had found out and accepting that their children were likely to develop as smokers, allowed them to indulge freely. Natalie could now easily go through a pack per day and had come to rely on her cigarettes. She was not keen on broadcasting this at her new school as she was a bright and academic girl who knew well that admitting and being branded a 'smoker' would more than likely end up in her attracting very much the wrong sort of friends!
The morning of her first day at new school arrived all too soon. Like any pupil she was very nervous about this new start. She sat in her kitchen in her new uniform slipping on her plain black patent ballerinas. Her skirt was a little shorter than her mother would have liked but she was otherwise immaculate with her tie almost buttoned up to her neck! With a little time left she lit up a final cigarette to calm her nerves. 'Inhaling deeply', she knew that this might be the last for some while!
Once in school she reported to the office of Mr Grove, the depute head, who assigned Natalie to a sixth year class. Sussing out quickly that she appeared a bright and articulate girl, Mr Grove had a group of girls in mind that might look after Natalie and ease her settling into the school. He picked up his telephone and sent for Jenna Miller. The girl arrived after a few minutes and was introduced to Natalie. Mr Grove asked Jenna if she would take Natalie to class and befriend her at least over the first few days. Jenna readily agreed and accompanied her to the first History class.
The three amigos always had the problem of having one 'left over' when it came to sitting in class. Sometimes the teacher assigned them specific seats but on other occasions they tended to take turns at sitting together in different classes. In History, Jenna sat alone in front of the other two girls towards the back of the class where teachers often preferred their more cooperative pupils to sit. Naturally the History teacher invited Natalie to occupy the vacant seat beside Jenna. Jenna was initially impressed with Natalie and thought that could perhaps become friends. As Natalie was now sitting very close to Jenna she was more intrigued with the smell which she could detect from her new neighbour. Jenna smelled cigarettes!
Chapter 3: Jenna's story.
As the History lesson developed, Jenna found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the Second World War topic which was normally one of her favourites. She had surreptitiously looked across at Natalie a few times during the lesson and continued to detect the smell of cigarettes. Although disguised by perfume, Jenna knew the smell well. Her suspicions were confirmed when she glanced down at Natalie's blazer pocket and could just make out the top of a very familiar pack of Royal cigarettes! Jenna was strangely excited about where her discovery could lead! Nobody would ever have thought that keen athlete and model school girl Jenna could for a second be interested in smoking!
Jenna had for some time though maintained a curious fascination about smoking. Her aunt Patricia was a heavy smoker and Jenna liked her aunt very much. She never minded her cigarettes and became very familiar with the smell thinking that her aunt actually looked pretty cool smoking! Jenna had also noticed that her aunt was always more relaxed and good humoured after one of her many cigarettes! As she had grown older it increasingly occurred to Jenna that she might like to try smoking. She just never saw how an opportunity might arise and worried particularly about its possible impact on her running and on her relationship with her two friends. Smoking was generally associated with Chav delinquents and Jenna retained ambitions to do very well in school and elsewhere.
Natalie spent the rest of her first day with the three amigos and continued to bond well with all three. Although desperate for a cigarette, the young addict knew that she had to wait until the time was right! A number of common interests were identified and the four girls chatted away quite happily. Jenna seemed a little distracted but worked hard enough to find out about Natalie without mentioning her suspected smoking habit. Jenna felt sure enough that Natalie would probably tell them soon enough if she felt confident in their friendship.
The growing friendship strengthened over a couple of weeks with Natalie fitting in well with her new friends as three was gradually becoming four. Very occasionally she was able to slip out and indulge in a badly needed smoke. Jenna always appeared closest to Natalie but had in truth an ulterior motive! Finally she thought that her opportunity may have come when Natalie asked her around to her house after school to work on some homework which they had been asked to complete together in their Geography class. Having a drink before undertaking the task Natalie, really gasping for a fag, finally confided in her new friend:
