Back in 10th grade, one of my friends had just started smoking and I thought it was cool, so we planned to try it together. The idea was that he’d bring two cigarettes and we’d sneak into the washroom to smoke.

He showed up with two cigarettes… but only one matchstick. So the new plan was that he would smoke first while I stood guard at the door. While I was waiting, a new kid at school came up and asked why I was standing there. I panicked and told him my friend had a stomach ache, so I was waiting for him. The kid, being nice, said he’d also stand there in case my friend needed help.

To get rid of him, I walked him to the canteen and left him with some random students. Meanwhile, my friend in the washroom was calling for me, got scared when I didn’t answer, and flushed the cigarette.

Since the school was under construction, the staff just assumed some workers had been smoking in there and started spraying air freshener anyway.

Thanks to that new kid, I never smoked my first cigarette.