A Decision for Alex

An hour later Alex walked into the Mall. She looked around and saw Jo talking with Courtney and her brother, Theo. Alex's throat went dry and she swallowed hard. She had a crush on Theo and recently Theo seemed to have noticed that she existed. Alex hoped that Theo might feel the same way she did.

There was one small problem. Actually one medium sized brunette, and bossy problem. Alex was certain that Courtney didn't like her. She rolled her eyes whenever Alex talked. Courtney would probably embarrass her in front of Theo.

Alex took a deep breath, wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and walked up to the group.

Jo, Courtney and Theo looked up as Alex joined them. Jo grinned at Alex and said, "I was just going to call your house. 1 thought you weren't coming."

"You're late. We've been waiting for ages," snapped Courtney.

"Ten minutes isn't ages, Court," said Theo, moving along so Alex could sit down. She wasn't certain but Alex thought she saw a small smile on Theo's face.

"I'm getting a drink," announced Jo. "Anyone else want one?"

Theo reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of loose change. "I'll have a Coke, no ice. They rip you off by half filling the drink with ice."

"Cheapskate," said Courtney rolling her eyes.

"What do you want, Alex," said Theo. "My shout."

"Well that's a first," said Courtney, looking strangely at her brother. Alex felt her stomach turn. "A Coke would be great Theo. Thanks." "Change that order, Jo. Two Cokes, no ice."

"Would you like some fries with that Sir?" said Jo posing as a waiter. "If you're buying," said Theo quickly.

11 Cheapskate," repeated Courtney

"How about you Courtney," asked Jo. "Do you want anything?"

"Don't worry. I'll have a drink when I've finished my smoke."

Courtney took a packet of cigarettes and a lighter out of her bag. She lit up a cigarette and breathed in deeply. Alex thought she saw Courtney's eyes watering as she exhaled.

"You want a drag, Jo?" asked Couriney, extending the cigarette to Jo.

"No thanks," said Jo, pushing Courtney's hand away.

"I thought you smoked," said Theo. "I'm sure I've seen you with a cigarette before." "I've tried it a couple of times," replied Jo. "But I don't like the taste and I don't want to spend money on something I don't even like."

"How 'bout you, Alex?" said Courtney. "You still look half asleep. This'll wake you up.

"That's a new one, Courtney," said Theo. "If Alex wants a smoke she'll have one, won't you Alex?"

Alex thought quickly. She really liked Theo and if she refused the cigarette, Courtney would probably roll her eyes and make some smart comment. Alex thought she had more of a chance with Theo if she were friends with Courtney.

"Well?" said Courtney. "Do you want it or not?"

"Uh, well, er..." stammered Alex. Courtney thrust the cigarette into Alex's hand. Ash from the burning cigarette fell onto Alex's jeans.

"Hurry up," snapped Courtney. "It's burning away. Are you having it or not?"

Alex made her decision. She liked Theo, but not enough to do something she wasn't comfortable with. "Actually, 1 don't smoke," she said confidently. Alex handed the cigarette to Theo.

"Gross, don't give it to me," said Theo, moving away from the burning cigarette.

"Theo doesn't smoke," said Courtney, taking the cigarette from Alex. "He's the only one in the family that doesn't."

"Mum and Dad don't know you smoke, and Dad's trying to give up to save money," pointed out Theo.

"My Mum says it's my decision if I smoke or not," said Jo. "But she would be disappointed if 1 did. She gave up smoking when she was pregnant and it was really hard for her."

"I don't mind if other people smoke," said Theo. "But some of my friends used to put pressure on me to smoke with them. I just kept saying no or changing the subject and after a while they stopped asking. I think they respect my decision now."

Alex felt her palms go sweaty again. She really liked Theo a lot.

"Okay, okay enough," said Courtney. She turned to Alex. "I didn't mean to pressure you. I was just being polite, 1 won't ask again."

"That's okay Courtney. No problem." Alex turned to Jo. "Shall we go and get those drinks now?"

Before Jo could answer, Theo interrupted. "You stay here Jo. I'll go with Alex." Courtney rolled her eyes at Theo. Alex grinned over her shoulder at Jo as she and Theo walked away.

It was going to be a very good day.

Alex made her decision. She put the cigarette in her mouth, and inhaled a mouthful of smoke.

"I didn't think you smoked Alex," said Theo. Alex tried to answer Theo but instead she spluttered and coughed in his face.

"Thanks a lot, Alex," said Theo, waving his hand in front of his face. Jo stood up looking unimpressed.

"I'm getting the drinks," Jo said, and walked off without looking back. "Wait up, I'm coming too," called Theo, and he ran to catch up with Jo.

"Theo doesn't like cigarettes," said Courtney. "He says it makes your breath stink." "Great," thought Alex miserably. "I take a mouthful of toxic waste to impress Theo, and he doesn't even smoke."

Theo and Alex walked back with the drinks.

"You finished that cancer stick yet?" asked Theo.

"You're a funny guy," sneered Courtney, rolling her eyes." Alex realised that Courtney rolled her eyes at everyone.

"Pass your drink, 1 want a sip to clear my throat." Courtney reached for Theo's drink. Theo grimaced and held his drink above his head.

"You're not having any of mine with that stinky sister breath," he said. "Sorry I coughed smoke in your face Theo," said Alex. She turned to Courtney. "I don't smoke Courtney, I should have just said so."

"I don't smoke either," said Theo. I don't like the smell, it gives me asthma."

"Well now that's sorted out," said Courtney rolling her eyes. "Can 1 please have a sip of someone's drink!"

"Here Courtney." Alex handed her drink to Courtney.

"Thanks Alex, at least someone cares." Courtney poked her tongue at Theo. "What are you and Jo doing now?"

Alex and Jo shrugged their shoulders.

"Theo's playing rugby if you want to come and watch with me," offered Courtney. "I'd like you to come and watch," said Theo smiling at Alex.

"Like he'd notice if we were there or not," muttered Jo to Courtney. Courtney sighed and rolled her eyes in agreement.

As the four walked off, Alex reflected on the events of the last five minutes. Being honest had turned out to be a good decision.

"I like that perfume you're wearing Alex," whispered Theo.

"A really good decision," she thought, smiling back at Theo.

Alex made her decision. She had always been quite proud of the fact that she had never started smoking. It seemed silly to start now just to try to impress someone. Alex glanced at Theo who was looking at her expectantly. He really was very good looking...

"Thanks anyway, Courtney, but I've given up." Alex handed the cigarette back to Courtney.

"Sure you have," smirked Courtney. Alex could tell that Courtney knew she had never smoked. Courtney whispered something to Theo and they both started laughing out loud. Alex noticed that Theo had very yellow teeth, making him look slightly less attractive than he had a minute ago. Theo took several long drags on the cigarette. He coughed violently in Alex's direction. "Gross," Alex thought. Theo's breath smelt like a chimney that needed cleaning. The sweaty palms and dry throat that she had experienced earlier had both gone. Alex began to think she didn't like Theo as much as she thought she had.

Alex saw Jo trying to get her attention. "Let's leave," mouthed Jo silently. Alex nodded her head.

"We're off," announced Jo.

" 1 thought you were coming to watch Theo play rugby," said Courtney, pouting.

"Sorry, something came up," said Jo. "See you later."

Alex and Jo walked away quickly. "Good decision to leave," said Jo. "Courtney was driving me mad. She kept rolling her eyes at me!"

"She does that to me too," laughed Alex.

"And how about her brother, bad breathe and zero personality."

"I noticed that too," said Alex wondering how she was going to remove Theo's name from the back of her folder.

"Hey there's Max," said Jo suddenly. 'He says you haven't talked to him all year, but 1 hear he really likes you."

"Not true," protested Alex. "I've talked to him. I congratulated him after he won the inter-school cross~country and he totally ignored me."

"He'd just run 10 kilometres Alex. He could hardly breathe, let alone talk. Hey Max! Over here!" called Jo.

Max turned around. He waved and walked over. Alex decided Max had a nice smile with very white teeth.

"Theo who?" thought Alex.

Today was going to be a good day.

Alex made a decision. She put the cigarette in her mouth and breathed deeply the way Courtney had. She passed the cigarette back to Courtney who took another puff. Theo reached out for the cigarette. "I thought you were giving up, "said Courtney. "I'm trying to," said Theo. "It's harder than 1 thought it would be." "That's why it's called an addictive substance, not an easy-to-stop substance," said Jo. "Loosen up," said Theo.

"Just have a quick puff Jo," encouraged Courtney.

"I said 1 don't smoke," repeated Jo. "I'm going to get the drinks."

"Pass it over, Theo," said Alex, thinking how cool she must look smoking with Courtney and Theo. She put the cigarette in her mouth and inhaled.

"Alexandra Marie Jones!" "What are you doing?"

Alex went pale. The only person who called her by her full name was... "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I was going grocery shopping," said Mr Jones. " 1 didn't expect to see you - and certainly not smoking. Get rid of that cigarette."

Alex realised she was still holding the cigarette. She tried to pass it to Courtney.

"I don't want it, said Courtney backing away. "Come on Theo, let's go." Theo shrugged his shoulders at Alex and walked off with Courtney. Alex put the cigarette into a bin.

"I didn't want to be left out," said Alex trying to explain. "It's not my cigarette." "Your mother and I decided that you were old enough to start making more of your own decisions," said Mr Jones. "Maybe we'll have to discuss that again if smoking to impress people is an example of one of your decisions."

Alex felt miserable. She'd liked the freedom of making more decisions on her own. "I know it wasn't a good decision Dad, I'm sorry."

"It's not me I'm worried about Alex", said her father. " It's your health. You must understand that I'm upset because I care about your wellbeing."

Jo walked up with the drinks. "Where are the others?" she asked. "Oh, hi Mr Jones.'

Jo quickly summed up the situation from Alex's expression. "Alex doesn't smoke Mr

Jones. Courtney pressured her into it."

"Thank you Jo. I'm sure Alex appreciates your support. Let's hope that this is a one off." Alex nodded. Mr Jones smiled. "See you at home, Alex."

Alex saw Courtney and Theo lighting up another cigarette across the room. "Some friends," she thought to herself. Alex realised that if Courtney and Theo really liked her, they wouldn't have cared if she smoked or not.

Alex made her decision. She passed the cigarette back to Courtney and said, "Come on, we haven't got time to muck around here. The sports shop is giving away a netball signed by the Silver Fems in 5 minutes."

Courtney flicked the cigarette away. "Let's go. The Silver Fems are my favourite team." Jo winked at Alex and whispered, "Next time I'll change the subject. Courtney will stop asking sooner or later." Alex smiled back at Jo. It was great to have a friend who was understanding and supportive."

Theo won the netball by answering a sports question correctly. He gave it to his sister, who screeched in delight. "Thanks so much Alex," she said. "If it wasn't for you, 1 would never have won it."

"Excuse me, but 1 think 1 deserve some of the credit," said Theo rolling his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes Theo," said Courtney. "It's rude."

Jo and Alex looked at one another and grinned.

Today was going to be a good day.

Alex made her decision. She had been in situations before when people had offered her cigarettes and she had said no easily. But this was a different situation to any of those. Alex felt pressured by Courtney, and she was trying to impress Theo.

Alex put the cigarette in her mouth and inhaled the smoke. She handed the cigarette back to Courtney who took a few more puffs before flicking the butt away.

Alex didn't feel good about her decision. Neither Theo nor Courtney had reacted to her smoking, Alex wondered if they even cared if she smoked or not.

Jo had seen a group of their friends from school; she waved at them and walked over. Alex knew that if she were with them, she would not have felt pressured, her other friends knew her well enough to know she didn't smoke.

Courtney was lighting up another smoke. Alex didn't want Courtney to offer her a cigarette again. Alex realised that the situation she was in was making it difficult to make the choice she really wanted to make, which was not to smoke.

Alex made another decision. "I'll go and get the drinks," she said.

"I'll help you carry them," offered Theo.

"Thanks," said Alex, surprised. She has thought Theo would stay smoking with Courtney.

Alex and Theo went off to get the drinks leaving Courtney puffing on her cigarette. When they returned, Alex noticed that Courtney hadn't finished the cigarette. Alex didn't want to go back into the same situation, so she said to Theo, "I'm just going to talk to Jo and the others for a minute, back soon." Alex decided that she would wait until Courtney finished the cigarette before joining her and Theo again. Alex was annoyed at herself for not feeling that she was able to face up to Courtney and say she didn't smoke, but she decided that the next best thing was to take control of the situation in another way, by not being around Courtney when she was smoking. Alex realised that different situations resulted in different choices than the decisions she made at other times.

Alex joined Jo and her other friends. She was pleased to see how happy her friends were to see her.

"You and Theo look cosy," grinned Alex's friend Lionel. "Tell all, what's he like?" "Mind your own business," said Alex grinning back. She glanced over at Theo and was relieved to see that Courtney had finished the cigarette. Theo saw her looking and smiled. Courtney and Theo walked over to join them. Alex noticed how well Theo fitted in with her friends, he was already deep in discussion with Lionel. Alex felt relaxed, and she was confident that in this situation, she would be able to make good choices and decisions. Theo caught her eye and smiled.

It was going to be a good day.