Excerpt:

Not ready to go home, Kay headed to the center of the city. The open plaza was softly coated in moonlight. The stone fountain glowed as each splash of water reflected the white light.
Kay walked up the steps of the courthouse. Halfway up, she paused, seeing something strange. On the second from the top step, against the low railing wall where Kay usually sat, was a small package. It was about the size of her hand and wrapped in brightly colored paper. Kay picked it up. It wasn't heavy at all. Across the top of the package, written in a thick, black marker, was Kay's name.
Kay looked around but saw no one in the shadows. She sat down and slowly opened the package. Inside was a small cardboard box with a flip top lid and a purple lighter. Inside the box was a dozen cigarettes.
Kay stared into the box, not really knowing what to do. A part of her wanted to just throw the box away. Bury all the sticks. There was something about owning these sticks that made Kay uneasy. Sneaking out at night, talking with the S-s, even going to their house - it was all risky. But some reason, Kay felt that they were just circumstantial actions. Keeping an eye on the S-s so that she could turn them in later. At least, that would be her excuse. But by using the cigarettes, she was blatantly, voluntarily, purposefully, breaking the unit’s rules.
And yet, there they were. The little tips of the sticks looked up at her, looking as harmless as one of Amy's baby blankets. Kay pulled one out of the box. Trying to imitate what she had seen JS do, she put the stick in her mouth, then picked up the lighter. It took several tries to get the flame to pop up out of the lighter. She held the tip of the stick in the fire and then absolutely nothing happened.
In her mind, Kay replayed JS lighting up his cigarette. What had he done differently? Then she remembered. Tip of the stick in the flame, Kay took a deep breath in and instantly started coughing. Smoke burned down her throat and curled around inside her lungs. Her eyes watered as she tried to stifle her coughing. Why on earth would someone do this to themselves?
Breathing back under control, Kay took a deep gulp of fresh air. She never appreciated just how clean the air was until that moment. She looked down at the little stick in between her fingers. She watched the paper on the outside of the stick slowly burn and turn into ash. She shook, then tapped, the stick to get the line of ash clinging to the tip of the cigarette to fall to ground.
She then tried the smoke again. This time she took a slower, more controlled breath. She was surprised at how much more flavor she could taste this way. The smoke, with an obviously smokey taste, had under layers of spices and even a hit of citrus of some sort. Orange? It was hard to tell it was so slight, but it was there.
Not being able to hold her breath longer, Kay exhaled, again slowly and controlled. She was delighted at the way the smoke exited her mouth in a thin trail and then dispersed in the air. She smiled.
She took another drag, but this time she didn’t blow the smoke out. She just opened her mouth and let it fall out. Wisps of smoke slowly curled out, riding on the slightest of drafts.
A few drags later, and Kay wasn’t even thinking about her future, let alone about tomorrow and her test results. Instead, she laid face up on the cold concrete, watching the smoke curling up towards the stars. All the tension in her entire body had completely faded. Kay loved the smokey smell that enveloped her, she loved how something as simple as focusing on breathing in and out and wisps of smoke could center one’s life. For a few moments, she existed in a tiny bubble in time - unbothered by tomorrow, or yesterday.