Class Mates

She'd beat Courtney at her own game.

Rebecca returned to the house, and dumped the two packs of cigarettes on the living room table, in front of Courtney.

"You have fun, Bex?" Courtney smirked.

Rebecca responded with a withering look.

"Look, I bought your cigar..." she corrected herself, "your fags, Courtney."

"Oh no, Bex. You bought your fags. Time for a smoke."

Rebecca had defiance in her eyes, glaring at Courtney as she picked up one of the packets from the table. She struggled with the plastic, and eventually removed it.

And then, she opened up the pack, revealing a number of cigarettes to her. She gulped, and closed her eyes in resignation as she pulled one from the box.

This felt real now.

Since Courtney had told her she was going to smoke, Rebecca had been processing it in her mind. Surely Courtney couldn't make her smoke more than a couple of times over the weekend, and that wasn't going to do any harm. That wouldn't be enough to get her addicted, or cause any real damage to her lungs, and she could put it all to one side and pretend it had never happened once Monday came around. One weekend - it would be one weekend, nothing more, and never again.

She'd rationalised this all, but that didn't make it any easier as she sat there, an unlit cigarette in her hand.

Courtney could see all the indecision in Rebecca's mind as she looked at it, and she forced the issue.

"For fuck's sake, Bex - any time today. Remember, you were so desperate for this smoke, you went out to the shops special to buy us some packs. So fucking get on with it."

"I can't smoke it, Courtney," she said, a pleading tone in her voice.

"Oh? And why fucking not?"

"Because... because..." she searched for an answer, "because I don't have a lighter. I can't smoke with a lighter."

Courtney thought for a moment, and then nodded her head.

"Fair enough," she said.

Rebecca thought - hoped - just for a moment, that she'd got away with it. And then Courtney took a lighter from her pocket, and placed it on the table in front of her.

"No fucking excuse now, Bex," Courtney said as she removed one of the cigarettes from the packet for herself. "Watch how I do it."

Rebecca watched, a sinking feeling in her stomach, as Courtney put the cigarette in her mouth. She brought the lighter to life, and lit up the cigarette. She breathed, her cheeks seeing to hollow, as the end of the cigarette seemed to crackle. Courtney removed it and, after a few moments, expelled a thick stream of smoke from her mouth.

Then, she gave the lighter to Rebecca.

The posh girl felt like she was in a dream, watching herself do something she could never have imagined. She copied Courtney, holding the cigarette with her lips and flicking on the lighter. When the cigarette was lit, she inhaled the smoke into her mouth.

And then, she woke up.

It was dreadful - she immediately blew it all back out, making noises of disgust. Courtney had no time for sympathy.

"Again, Bex."

She did, and again, and again, and then Courtney instructed her to inhale the smoke into her lungs. Rebecca did, and she hated it - she started coughing, her body desperately trying to send it back out.

"Again, Bex - inhale it, and fucking try to hold it in, at least."

The saga continued until the end of Rebecca's first cigarette - the posh girl felt lousy as she stubbed it out and added to the pile of cigarettes already in the ashtray.

"It was a shit try," Courtney laughed, "but we've got all weekend to get it right."

***

Rebecca felt sick, both physically and emotionally, as she sat on that sofa in Courtney's living room.

She'd hoped that, after that first cigarette, Courtney would be kind and allow her some time to breathe fresh air again. But no, she'd hoped in vain - she sat that and stubbed out her fifth cigarette of the evening into that depressing ashtray.

For Courtney, the smirk on her face indicated that the smoking was a joy - she'd only had two, seemingly savouring them as she encouraged Rebecca to smoke again and again.

The coughing had died down a little now, and the taste of the cigarettes and their smoke had evolved from massively unpleasant to simply unpleasant. If she'd been thinking clearly, Rebecca may have found that a little worrying, but her mind was elsewhere. She felt increasingly light-headed and really sick in the pit of her stomach, the consequence of having inhaled so much smoke in her first time smoking. She suspected Courtney would have wanted her to smoke more, but the chav girl took pity on her - Courtney could see Rebecca was reaching the limit, and she didn't want her to break now. She certainly wanted her to break, but this wasn't how she was going to do it.

She'd certainly made a good dent in the posh girl's spirit, though. She could see that Rebecca was ashamed of what she'd done - it was clear in her face, and in her eyes - and that made Courtney smile. And the best part - she hadn't had to force Courtney to do it. She'd merely advised her that it would be in her best interests to start smoking, and she'd taken to it herself. It had proven surprisingly easy - that boded well for the rest of the weekend.

For Rebecca, the mixture of light-headedness and shame pushed her conscious mind elsewhere - she felt as if she wasn't even in the room as Courtney prepared and made her eat some horrible processed microwave meal that vaguely resembled food. She provided a can of something cheap and fizzy for a drink, and eagerly gulped it down, hoping to get the twin tastes of nicotine and whatever dinner was out of her mouth.

It was, alas, all for nought - as an after-dinner 'treat', Courtney had made her beg for another cigarette. And she had, the lack of enthusiasm clear in Rebecca's voice and her style of smoking. Courtney could see that the late hour, and the deluge of new experiences, were really started to drain her posh rival.

"Aw, you feeling tired, Bex?" Courtney put on a patronising voice and pulled a face. "Well, you're fucking lucky that I need you to get some rest - we've got a big day tomorrow."

"So I can go to bed, Courtney?"

"Not just yet - I got one last thing we're gonna do tonight."

Rebecca looked at her with worry on her face.

"You remember when I came into school with my nails from Monique's, and you made a big fucking deal and said I looked like some kind of skank?"

"Yes?" she asked, uncomprehending for just a second. Oh, she never did her nails, and she remembered that day well - Courtney had got new, bright red talons, and Rebecca made a fuss with school management. It was, she told herself and everyone who asked, because it was one violation of uniform policy too far - in reality, she could see that Courtney loved them and she'd gone to a lot of work getting them done, and she was always happy to find a way to undermine or frustrate her chav girl rival.

Now, as Courtney placed a paper bag with the Monique's salon onto the table in front of her, Rebecca regretted her actions that day.

Well, she could regret them all she liked - it wasn't going to save her now.

"You didn't like my nails then, Bex, did you?" Courtney smirked. "I bet you fucking like them now, though. Go on, Bex - tell me."

Rebecca exhaled heavily.

"Please, Courtney, do my nails. I want to have nails just like you."

"Oh, that wasn't very good, was it? You can do better than that."

Rebecca's patience had hit a wall: "Just fucking do it, Courtney."

Both of their eyes opened wide at the comment. Courtney had never heard Rebecca swear before - she always maintained such a perfect, prim and proper exterior, and looked on unimpressed when the chav girls would use coarse words. But it wasn't an act - she never swore, and she couldn't believe she just had.

"Look at the fucking foul mouth on you, bitch," she laughed. "I didn't know you had it in you. Alright, seeing as you're so fucking desperate, let's do your nails."

Shame ran through Rebecca as Courtney prepped her nails, carefully applying long red falsies and smirking after each finger was done. Eventually, she was through - Rebecca was barely able to look down at the new red talons, direct copies of Courtney's that day at school. She hated them - Courtney knew she would, and that's why she made Rebecca thank her.

"Thank you for doing my nails, Courtney - they look," she swallowed, "really hot."

"Really fucking hot?"

"Really fucking hot," she said. The curse word felt foreign on her tongue - she regretted having opened the floodgate, and she knew that Courtney would take full advantage over the weekend.

But for now, it was late in the day, and the combination of smoking and humiliation had drained her energy. The chav girl led her back upstairs to her bedroom, and smirked at her posh rival.

Courtney handed her a bundle of clothes: "Just for you, Bex."

It was a struggle to get undressed - everything had become so much harder as a result of the false nails. She had no idea how she managed to get the hoop earrings out, but she eventually got there. It was even a pleasure to be naked for a few glorious moments, out of Courtney's chavvy clothes, before she replaced them with a pair of the chav girl's pyjamas - a dirty white spaghetti-strap top and some loose pyjama shorts. It was a far cry from her usual luxurious satin pyjamas - these felt well lived-in. She was sure Courtney had intended them to.

In the bathroom, she reluctantly cleaned her teeth with one of Courtney's worn toothbrushes, and she splashed some cold water on her face after she washed. She looked at herself in the dirty mirror - she could see her old self in her eyes, but not anywhere else. She hated saying it, but she looked like Bex - at that moment, Rebecca felt like a far-off memory.

She returned to the bedroom, where Courtney sat on the bed, a cigarette hanging from her lips. While Rebecca was washing, she'd found an old sleeping bag and laid it out on the floor.

"Get some sleep, Bex - you've a long day ahead of you tomorrow. If you had fun today, you just fucking wait."

Rebecca said nothing as she climbed into the sleeping bag. Courtney was happy to let her stew - she finished her cigarette, making sure that every exhale was directed towards her rival, and then turned off the light. She thought her excitement at what was to come would keep her up, but it was the contrary - she fell asleep almost immediately.

The posh girl lay on the floor, meanwhile, tears running down her face as she thought about the evening and silently cried. She hated the situation that she was in - she hated herself for cheating in that exam, and she hated Courtney for finding out and using it against her. She especially hated herself for going along with it - how could she let Courtney break her like this?

No, she defiantly thought, I'm not going to let her break me. I'll do what she says and I'll come out swinging at the end of this weekend - Courtney is not going to win.

Eventually, somehow, Rebecca fell asleep.

It was a peaceful rest - surprising, really, given the thought that flashed through her mind as she drifted off.

If this was Friday, what did Courtney have in store the rest of the weekend?

***

Just for a moment, Rebecca woke up that Saturday feeling rested and happy, ready for a good day.

That feeling quickly vanished.

She remembered where she was laying on the floor of her chav rival in an old dirty sleeping bag, trapped all weekend because Courtney knew her secret. She hated it, and the things she'd already been forced to do, and there were still two days to go. She went to rub her eyes awake, and remembered the horrible fake nails that had been attached. She wanted to shudder, to cry and to scream, but she needed to do something else first - cough.

Her chest felt horrendous, like it was on fire, and she started coughing - this, she realised almost immediately, was her body reacting to all the cigarettes she'd had yesterday. She coughed for what felt like forever, and her eyes watered as she did - it was horrendous. Eventually, she managed to stop, and she cleared her throat - she could taste the nicotine, and she didn't like it.

Something she liked less, however, was when she'd noticed that her hacking had woken Courtney up, and that the chav girl was smiling a devious smile at her.

"That's a nasty cough you've got, Bex - fortunately, I've got the perfect cure." Rebecca's immediate relief vanished when she saw what Courtney was doing - she pulled a cigarette from the pack next to her bed, grabbed a lighter, and tossed them both onto the sleeping bag. "A fag when you wake up kills your cough stone dead, bitch, so get smoking."

Rebecca looked at Courtney with anger in her eyes, but she didn't object - she knew that there'd be no point. She took them both with her hands - were they trembling slightly - and lit up. She didn't want to admit it, but she did feel a little better when she inhaled for the first time that day. Damn it, that couldn't be a good sign.

They both sat there in that bedroom until Rebecca had finished the smoke. Courtney smiled, remembering the process yesterday - in half a day, her technique had improved considerably. She just wanted Rebecca to suffer the smoking a little bit to prove a point but, at the rate she was going, she wondered if she could have her hooked by the end of Sunday.

Rebecca finished, and struggled to stub out the cigarette due to her giant nails. She eventually managed - Courtney loved the gestures of annoyance in Rebecca's face as she battled.

"Time to eat, Bex. You can't stay in bed all day, you fucking layabout."

Courtney sauntered out of the room and headed downstairs. Rebecca took an extra minute in the room - enough time to put her head into her hands and scream as quietly as possible to let some of the frustration out - before she followed.

The chav girl had already prepared some breakfast for her - some generic own-brand supermarket cereal in a bowl and a can of a knock-off fizzy pop to wash it down. It looked horrendous, and it was a far cry from her usual morning meal, but she knew she didn't have a choice. She sat silently at the table, and she started to eat.

Courtney watched her as she ate her own food, and struck up a conversation when both girls were done.

"You want to know what we're doing today, Bex?"

There was such delight in the way she asked it - Rebecca didn't like that at all.

"What are we doing, Courtney?"

"Oh, it's fucking exciting, Bex. You know any of the lads from the estate?"

She thought back to her one and only encounter with anyone from the estate other than Courtney - last night, when she'd arrived, she'd bumped into a gang of lads led by a yob called Jack, who'd harassed her for being a 'posh bitch'. It was horrible - she'd never felt so uncomfortable and frightened anywhere.

"Obviously I don't," she snapped back.

"Well, Bex, it's your night. There's a party going on this evening - a load of us are meeting up at the Yard. You'll love it - great music, cheap drinks - and lots of fit lads. We're going to get fucking smashed, Bex, and fucked if we're lucky."

Courtney laughed as Rebecca's eyes opened wide - she looked mortified.

"No, Courtney, I can't do that."

Courtney smirked - she'd anticipated the resistance.

"Oh, Bex? And why not?"

"Because... because..."

Rebecca struggled to think of a reason that she thought Courtney would actually accept - any hint of weakness, or displeasure, and she knew that her chav rival would leap all over it. She was surprised when Courtney jumped in and offered a reason of her own.

"You're worried that you won't fit in, aren't you? You'll turn up, Bex, and everyone will think you're the posh frigid bitch Rebecca, right?"

"Yes, that's right," she jumped on the words. "Yes, Courtney, that's right. I don't want people to know that it's me."

"Of course you don't, you fucking snob." Rebecca's face dropped slightly. "But that's fine, because no-one will. We're going into town today, and we're going to get you ready. And remember," Courtney wagged her finger in Rebecca's face, "you don't get to say no to anything I say, because you're a fucking cheating bitch and I'll tell everything if you do. You understand?"

"Yes," she swallowed in apprehension and resignation, "I understand."

To her surprise, Courtney suddenly perked up, and got to her feet.

"Good. Follow me then, fucker - time to go get dressed."

Rebecca followed Courtney upstairs to the bedroom, ready to see what outfit she'd provide her with today. Ordinarily, on the occasions that she'd head into town with her friends, she'd dress in the latest trends and look like a model. Today, she expected that wasn't going to be on the cards.

Courtney began by passing her what Rebecca thought were barely a pair of pants. It was a horrible black thong, the likes of which she'd never worn before - a piece of material and a few strings. She pulled the thin strings up her legs, and felt as if she was hardly wearing anything even with them on. She felt exposed, the strings up against her crack and her pussy, and she instinctively went to cover up with her hands. Courtney noticed, and she snorted a laugh.

"Oh, you just fucking wait, Bex. You know why chav girls wear thongs, right?" She smiled. "Makes it easier for the boys to get to your pussy when you want a fuck."

Rebecca blushed at the comment, appalled at the idea. Surely Courtney wasn't planning anything like that - she put up with the outfit and the cigarettes, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let some guy assault her.

Courtney could see the conflict in her mind - she did nothing to assuage it, but she did force Rebecca's attention back to the outfit change by thrusting a black bra into her hands.

"We don't have all fucking day, Bex - get dressed."

Rebecca had no issue with the bra, even if it was clearly cheap and horrible and had seen many better days. At least it was semi-respectable - after the thong, she was half-amazed that Courtney let her wear a bra at all.

Next came a pair of light grey leggings - again, simple but effective. She put them on, and saw Courtney smirking again.

"What?" she said, annoyed and a little exasperated.

"Turn around, look at yourself."

Rebecca didn't understand until she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror - through the leggings, clear as day, you could make out the thong she was wearing underneath.

"I can see your knickers, you skank."

Rebecca blushed again, and lowered her head a little in shame.

"Chop chop, keep going."

For her top half, Courtney provided a black strappy crop top - she pulled it on, and was amazed at how little this piece of clothing covered up too. Her midriff was entirely on display - fortunately, she thought, she'd lived a healthy lifestyle and exercised regularly, and so she had a stomach that anyone would be proud to show off. Not that she wanted to, of course.

"Hmm, it's a bit fucking plain, isn't it?" Courtney said, slapping her stomach enough that Rebecca felt it. "You ever had a stomach piercing, Bex?"

Rebecca didn't say anything - her eyes opened wide in shock, and she glared at Courtney, who just laughed.

"Two more things for you, and then you're ready for a day out."

The tracksuit jacket and the dirty white trainers were the same as yesterday - Courtney took great pleasure in reminding Rebecca that they were her clothes. It was strange - she hated the items, but it was weirdly reassuring to have a little bit of consistency. As if everything she knew was one less surprise for Courtney to spring on her.

She pulled the jacket on, and then sat on Courtney's bed to put on her shoes. Then, fully dressed, she looked at Courtney. The chav girl had an idea.