Her stomach had been hurting since last night. Not a hard pain, really - but more of a dull ache. Way down low. She had experienced stomach aches before, lots of them. But this one was different somehow.
She had asked to go to the restroom thinking she might need to poop. She was more than surprised when she found blood in her pants.
Her period. She just started her period. for the first time. In 6th grade. The last month of 6th grade. Why couldn't it wait until summer? Why did it have to happen during school? She was mortified. She wasn't prepared for this at all. Her Mother had never had "the talk" with her, but her friend's Mom had. So she knew what was happening. But that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.
She knew the nurse had the supplies she needed. That's what they told the girls when they watched the film about "Your Changing Body." She stuffed a wad of toilet paper into her pants and slinked out the bathroom door. She tried hard to keep her legs smashed together from the knees up. Just in case. She poked her head back into her classroom and got her teacher's attention. Ms. Chainey was nice. She liked her a lot. Ms. Chainey knew something was wrong the second she saw her face. She rushed over.
"What's wrong Sweetie? Are you ok?'
"Um, yes ma'a'm. I mean, no ma'am. I mean I will be. I think. Um, may I go to the nurse, please?
"Of course. Honey, are you sick? I can have someone walk you down.." Ms. Chainey felt her forehead and the back of her neck.
"NO! No, its ok. Its really ok. I just, um, I just need to get some supplies from the nurse., please. I can't say, I mean, I'm not sick, I just..."
"Ahhh. Ohhhh, now I understand. You take your time Sweetheart, ok?" Ms. Chainey gave her a big hug. It felt so nice she almost cried. She pulled away and blinked her eyes fast.
"Thank you," she whispered and turned around.
She walked knock-kneed to the nurse's office and asked for some 'girl supplies." The nurse smiled at her and said she would be right back. She came back in the room with a little pink box in her hand. The nurse asked if she knew how to use the items. She nodded her head to say she did - but she really wasn't sure. She was too embarrassed to be having this conversation and just wanted to be alone. She could figure it out herself. The nurse handed her the little box and showed her to the Women's restroom..
She sat on the toilet in the stall and looked at the pad. It didn't look all that hard to use. In fact, she had used them before in dance recitals. She had just never known their real use.. They stuck them around the inside of hats that were too big. The pads made them fit tighter so they wouldn't fly off. You just peel the paper off the sticky back and push it down where you want it. Easy enough. She fiddled with it a bit and tested out the placement a few times. She took her time and talked to herself. She told herself it happens to all girls and that it wasn't a big deal. No one in her class even knew, and Ms. Chainey wasn't going to tell anyone, so it would be fine. She took a few deep breaths and rubbed her ears. Right as she was about to get up, she decided to be extra cautious and stuck a small ball of toilet paper on top of the pad. She wasn't 100% sure how much blood there would be. If it was a gusher, she wanted to be prepared.
As she walked back into the office, she heard voices talking. A man and a woman. She rounded the corner and her stomach dropped. He was there. At school. In the nurse's office. She became light-headed and grabbed the door frame for support. The nurse noticed her movement and smiled at her.
"I thought you might want to go home for the day and rest up" the nurse told her. It was all she could do to keep her moth closed. She was terrified that if she opened it she would vomit.
"Yes, imagine my surprise when I got the phone call saying you'd started your period. You're lucky it wasn't later after I was gone to work" he said. A little too brightly and cheerfully. Lucky. He said she was lucky. She was woozy. She held on to the door with both hands.
He signed her out of school and walked her to the car. He made a big production of opening the door and helping her into the car. He knew the nurse was watching from the doorway. His demeanor made a complete changed as he sat down in the driver's seat.
"Well, well, well...what have we got here. Little Miss all grown up, huh?" he leaned his evil face in close to hers. He reached out his hand and pinched her left breast. "We'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" He started the engine and pulled away from the curb. "You'd better not get blood on my seat, you hear me? You get two dark bath towels when we get home and spread them out on your bed. One on top of the other. Understand? That should keep things clean while I see just how much of a woman you are now. What an exciting day."
As he drove, he kept his right hand in her crotch. She felt nauseous. She wondered how badly she would get hurt if she opened the door and jumped out onto the road. There were a handful of stop signs between school and home. Maybe she could jump out at one of them instead.? As she ran through her options in her head, she realized the seatbelt would prevent her from getting out. And the buckle was on her left side - where he would see if she tried to unbuckle it. She was stuck. She wasn't getting out. Not today. A few tears fell as she decided where to go in her mind and began her countdown. 100...99...98...97