The Smoke In Our Lungs [niall]

01

01: [ANTI-TOBACCO IS A BITCH]

 The way he smoked was unbelievable; even if that was what everyone thought, he walked with confidence everywhere. His famous and known phrase to everything was "Fuck it.", and he indeed fucked it all up. 

He knew smoking was bad, but somehow it became his addiction. No, scratch that. It became his life.

Every morning, Niall Horan, would wake up, take a bath, dress up, take breakfast, and at the instant that he finished, he went down to the store and bought a package of cigarettes. That was every day. Every single day for the past five years, and it had started one by one.

First, it was just a cigarette by day; then two, then three. And so it went on and on, until it was a whole package by day. Or two packages by day. It depended on his mood, but he was always smoking. Nobody could stop him, not even his own mother. Or if he ever got a girlfriend –even though that seemed impossible because he always smelled like tobacco-, nobody could stop him.

As he walked down the street on a beautiful Saturday morning, Niall was smoking his tenth cigarette of the day. Today, two packages will be dead before the clock strikes midnight. That was quite dangerous for every single person in this world, but the ferocious Niall Horan absolutely didn’t care. Just superstitions, he always thought, it won’t happen to me.

“Stop smoking, Niall!” Old Bill shouted.

“Old Bill! It’s good to see you’re still alive,” Niall said getting near the old man.

“Don’t take a step closer or I’ll stick my walking up your ass!” Old Bill spitted. “You, my son, smell like cow shit!”

Niall chuckled at Old Bill’s reaction. This same routine happened every morning, every week, and every year, since Niall entered college. But let’s face it, people was always like that to anyone who was addicted to cigarettes. They always smelled bad, had bad breath, and yellow teeth. Who wouldn’t be disgusted by such a repugnant habit?

The only way people liked or came close to Niall, was at parties. He was the party type, the one who stayed at a party until morning light. They came close to Niall because he always brought cigarettes or splif. That was the only time people were hypocrite and believable enough to come near Niall. Unless you were his friend, Gerard Kane, you were always around him no matter what.

Talking about the king of Rome, Gerard was walking up to Niall. As they reached each other, they gave each other a bro hug, and made their secret hand shake.

“Niall, mate! Tonight is our night, like always!” Gerard laughed. “Maybe the greatest party of the year, we might never know if we don’t go!”

“And we will be there, mate!” Niall winked. “                We are always there.”

“Yeah, but like always… Never drink, never smoke, never drug,” Gerard said.

Gerard Kane, Niall’s best mate since pre-k, was straight edge. He had chosen that path since his mother had died overdosed and his father was an alcoholic. Niall was at first angry with him since he thought he would stay away from him, but at the end he understood the main reason why he had chosen that path of life.

“Like always,” Niall chuckled.

“Still angry at me?” Gerard asked a bit sadly.

“Nah,” Niall laughed.

Niall and Gerard walked along laughing and making each other almost trip. Niall felt different somehow. He felt like something really bad would happen at any instant and he needed to be ready for it. Both adults made their way to college and as they both went with their journey they heard screams.

As they got closer, a bunch of people started to take shape. Lots of students with posters and advertisements, stood jumping and screaming about non-sense things. Both came closer, and as they saw what the posters said, Gerard was the only one to smile.

It was an anti-tobacco campaign. Facebook Status: Niall Horan detests it. Niall stared at the bunch of students who declared that smoking was something awful. Smoking isn’t bad at all, Niall thought, it helps you get the stress down.

And so he did what he wanted. He wanted to prove a point in his mind. He wanted to prove that smoking had its benefits and that it helped you through your life. So he lit a cigar and started smoking in front of the students.

“Fuck it,” Niall whispered so only himself could hear.

Gerard looked at Niall in disbelief. He couldn’t believe he was doing this in front of a bunch of students who were against tobacco. Gerard took a step back and joined the students. He took a place beside a girl who was almost red as a tomato, and looked really furious that Niall was smoking in front of them.

She walked out of her place and slapped the hand in which Niall had the cigar. When the cigar fell, the girl stepped on it and made a face of disgust. She had smelled him.

“You are disgusting,” the girl said covering her nose.

“Well, you are not a panty-dropper yourself,” Niall joked.

“You shouldn’t be smoking,” the girl said.

“Why so?” Niall asked furious. “It’s my life, you shouldn’t care at all.”

“Oh, I do care about your life,” she said matter-of-factly. “I care about everyone’s life. That is why I created this campaign.”

“Oh, sure you care,” Niall smiled hypocritically.

“I fucking do!” the girl exclaimed.

“Arabella,” Gerard was the one to say her name.

“Gerard, he is putting his life in risk,” Arabella complained.

“He will never stop,” Gerard confessed.

“He is right,” Niall said. “Smoking is my life, smoking is my passion, and smoking is one of the things I am the best at.”

“It’s killing you,” Arabella couldn’t believe the words Niall said.

“So?” Niall didn’t care. “What if I want to die?”

“You don’t.”

Niall stared at her for a moment. She was petite, no more than 5’2, with pale skin and brown eyes, with soft, almost impossible red lips. How such a babe could waste such a precious invention like smoking for a shit like this, thought Niall. He chuckled at the impression he had of her.

“I might as well get to class, Gerard,” Niall tried to ignore Arabella. “I don’t want to waste my time in non-sense stupidity.”

“O-Okay,” Gerard stuttered. “Save me a place.”

“I always do,” Niall winked at Arabella.

Arabella stood paralyzed. Not paralyzed because of the wink, paralyzed because of the angriness she had inside her. She walked behind him, tapped his shoulder, and as he turned around, slapped him. No one had ever talked to her like that. No one had ever felt like she would fail at doing something she was good at. No one had ever been so stubborn like this mental guy.

“Why would you do that?” Niall asked.

“You will start dying sooner or later,” Arabella fought the tears.

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Niall faked sweetness in his voice. “I’m already dead.”