More Than Words

With a stretch and a sigh, Leah stood up, following other students off the bus, her luggage dragging behind her. She stopped outside, leant against the wall and fumbled through her purse. She took out a pack of Marlboros and placed the cork filter between her parched lips.

"Where did that fucking lighter go?" She mutters, fishing through her purse and her fingers grasped around her white lighter. Cupping one hand over the cigarette, she flicked the lighter, lighting it and took a long drag. Leah could feel the stress melt away as the smoke surged into her lungs, and nicotine shot through her veins.

What she was dreading the most was the roommate schedule. Roommates were everything at university. Leah knew how important it was that roommates could at least co-exist and tolerate each other’s habits. Above all else, Leah was a passionate, uncompromising smoker. Her roommate the previous term, Mindy, thankfully smoked, and they built a strong friendship based on their mutual addiction. They enjoyed flouting the no smoking rules within their dorm, and were constantly teased by the anti-smokers.

Inhaling a long drag she slowly exhaled, blowing a few smoke rings here and there, watching the new faces stumble off the bus, like fresh meat. Twirling the burning cigarette between her fingers, she wondered how many of the new students smoked.

Taking a final drag, Leah inhaled sharply, staring ahead as the students walked nervously into the main university building.
"Hell doesn't even cover what I’m bringing this term." She says flatly, a devious smirk flickers onto her face as she flicked the cigarette butt onto the grass, and joined the new students inside.

During the holidays, Leah had discovered, by accident, she was a pusher; she found she could implant memories, thoughts and emotions into the minds of others in order to manipulate them. Through her gaze and words, Leah was able to make someone do anything she desired.

Twenty minutes later, Leah arrived at her new dorm.

“You must be Nicola. You can call me Leah.” Leah offered half-heartedly as she leant against a chest of drawers, observing her new roommate for the first time. Nicola sat on the edge of a bed, clutching her backpack and looking towards the floor nervously.
“Yeah.” Nicola replied, almost whispering.

“Lemme guess – this your first year at Uni?” Leah asked as she stood with her hands in her pockets.

Nicola nodded.

“You are gonna love it, trust me…Well, I don’t know about you, but my first class isn’t for another two hours. I’m gonna have a drink.” Leah declared, digging out a bottle of rum and coke.

Nicola declined the glass of rum from her new roommate.

“You don’t drink?” Leah moaned as she sipped from her own glass.

“I drink sometimes, maybe at Christmas or Thanksgiving, but I don’t routinely touch the stuff.” Nicola defended as she shift nervously atop the bed.

“Geez…we gotta change that. This term is gonna suck if my roommate won’t join me for a drink.” Leah declared, as she leant towards Nicola, who looked at her feet.

“Look at me, Nicola.”

Nicola slowly complied, looking into Leah’s brown eyes. Suddenly, Nicola could notice Leah’s pupils fluctuate, and could a sinking feeling came over her. Nicola was suddenly unable to move.

“You need to chill the fuck out. You will accept this rum and you will enjoy it. Rum is your favourite spirit, and it is gonna be your go-to drink when we go out at weeknights and weekends.”

After blinking twice, Nicola suddenly took the offered drink and sipped its alcoholic contents, without further thought.

Leah smiled as her roommate took a second, more convincing sip and beamed as it took effect. God, I love rum, it’s my favourite drink. I’ll be ordering this when we go out together. Nicola thought, unaware they had just been implanted by Leah.
As Nicola took another larger sip, Leah had disabled the smoke alarm in their room as she could feel her nicotine cravings arise once more.
Sitting on the other bed, Leah brought out her Marlboros and extended the pack.
“Smoke?”
“Ugh no. Can we open the window?” Nicola said, almost spitting out rum. Nicola cringed at the realization her new roommate was a smoker.
“Fuck off! No chance! It’s blowin’ a gale out there today. Plus, I don’t want us getting caught by Mrs Fenton on day one.” Leah replied, raising her voice.

“What do you mean us?” Nicola wondered out loud.

“Well, Nic, I ain’t smoking alone.” Leah teased as Nicola looked direct into her eyes. Feeling the power, she captured Nicola in her gaze, as she decided to implant a false memory in her new roommate’s mind.

“You’ve been smoking for two years, but have been hiding it from your folks ever since. You love everything about smoking; the taste, the look, the feel. You wished more people could understand its joy. You are just glad to have a smoking roommate so you can light up and relax with. Since you’re a closet smoker, you didn’t bring your own cigarettes with you, so you will wanna ask me for one.” Leah stated, as Nicola sat, as her mind adjusted to the suggestion.

Moments later, Nicola shook her head, trying to recall where she was, before seeing the pack of Marlboros in Leah’s hand.
“Erm, can I bum one from you?” Nicola asked, as she licked her lips.

“Yeah, here you go.” Leah smiled at her powers in action while Nicola accepted the offered Marlboro and lighter from her.
As she placed the filter between her lips, Nicola readied the lighter, sparked the wheel and leant the tip into the flame. Leah smirked as her new roommate sucked on the cigarette, causing the tip to glow red. Leah smiled as Nicola’s cheeks caved in, her eyes slightly squinting as smoke flooded her system. Moments later, Leah watched Nicola tip her head back and release a perfect cone of smoke towards the disabled smoke alarm.

Thanks to Leah’s manipulations, Nicola showed no signs of being a non-smoker, her posture adapting and relaxing into its “new” role. Leah lit up her own cigarette, joining her new roommate in a haze of smoke, swirling around the ceiling light.

The girls repeatedly took drags off their cigarettes, as Nicola ‘recalled’ her story of starting smoking. Leah was amused to find her false memory invented a scenario whereby Nicola tried with friends at a sleepover. The memory was real to Nicola, and was plausible enough for her to believe for the purposes of accepting her status as a smoker.

Leah was amused to watch Nicola adopt her smoking style, tapping ash into Leah’s ashtray frequently that the student brought with her. After finishing their cigarettes, Nicola didn’t hesitate to accept a second Marlboro when offered. They smoked, drank and discussed their plans for the rest of the year.