The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it, it was Friday. I barely made it through lunch, I was so nervous about what would happen in Science. We had studied anatomy all week and I knew what was coming. My insides felt like I'd swallowed a grasshopper. Mr. Bidden collected our permission slips, making sure he got one from every single student. Then he passed out instruction sheets, smiling evilly at the class, showing off his long yellow teeth.
Dustin leaned toward me as we read the directions, and my heart flip-flopped. We were so close I could smell the fresh scent of his hair. Then Mr. Bidden passed out the dead frogs and I smelled something else. Something rank and rotting. Dustin took a plastic tray with a dead frog on it from the teacher, and I put my hand over my nose. The frog's skin looked rubbery and it really stunk. Cindy covered her mouth with one hand and leaned far back into her chair, staring at the frog with a horrified look on her face. Mark Oglethorpe gave Dustin a thin smile and said, "You go ahead."
"OK," Dustin agreed, "how about if I remove the organs, Skylar assists me, and you guys takes notes?" They both nodded their heads fast, relieved that they didn't have to touch any frog guts. Dustin looked at the little frog and picked up our scalpel. I hoped that when I assisted him our hands would brush past each other's and touch. Maybe he'd even let his rest against mine for a minute. I wish! Reality check: my fingers might land in rotten frog. I glanced at my anatomy notes and prayed I wouldn't throw up. My new cherry-scented lip gloss combined with the frog stench was making me sick to my stomach.
"Can you pull his legs apart a little?" Dustin asked, but I just sat there. "Don't worry, he won't bite you." He smiled at me with those straight white teeth and I melted.
The frog's tiny feet felt bony and sticky as I gently spread them apart. Dustin looked at me seriously, like a surgeon about to perform an operation. He sliced the dead frog down the middle and I recognized its heart, stomach, liver, and intestines from the diagrams I'd studied in my science book. The smell got stronger and I felt lunch rise up in my throat. "I'm sorry—" Dustin looked surprised when I suddenly screeched my chair back.
I bolted from the room and ran down the hall with Cindy Kowalski right behind me. Fortunately the bathroom was nearby. Shoving the door open, I slammed into a stall and knelt over the toilet bowl. Looking into the water, my face got sweaty and saliva filled my mouth. I spit into the toilet but I didn't throw up. Cindy retched into a toilet at the end of the row of stalls.
"Hey, are you guys OK?" a familiar voice asked.
I stood up and opened the door a crack. "Alexa?"
"Skylar?" We looked into each other's surprised faces.
"What are you doing in here in the middle of class?" she asked, frowning.
"Not ditching, if that's what you think. We were dissecting a frog and I almost barfed on Dustin."
Alexa burst out in a loud laugh and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. That's not funny," she said. Her lips were still twitching like she was holding back a giggle.
Cindy walked out of the stall and rinsed her mouth in the sink. She left the bathroom without looking at us.
"What about you?" I asked.
Alexa looked at me like she was trying not to smile. "I just started my period." It was her first time.
My mouth fell open. "You got it?"
"Just now. I totally just got it." Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes sparkled like she'd just opened the perfect Christmas present.
I took a step closer to her. "What happened?"
"I was sitting in class and my stomach started hurting again. I thought I had to go to the bathroom, so I got excused and came in here. When I pulled down my pants I realized I'd gotten it." Now Alexa smiled so wide I could see all of her teeth, right back to her molars.
"I'm so happy for you," I said, feeling more envious than happy.
"Me too. Except for starting it in school. Good thing I wasn't wearing white pants."
"I know, right? Who knows when I'll finally get mine." I looked down at the floor. "I'll probably need old lady diapers before I need tampons." My face got hot. I couldn't believe I was thirteen years old and had no clue when I would ever get my first period.
Alexa put her hands on her hips and looked at me like a mature girl who was giving advice to a little kid. "Stop it. You'll get it soon too."
My eyes started to water so I looked down and fished around in my purse, pulling out my lip gloss and putting some on. I needed to change the subject. "So did you have anything with you?"
"Yeah. My mom thought it was probably coming so she's been making me carry around a pad in my purse. She said all those stomach cramps I've been getting lately and my moodiness were probably PSM."
"What's PSM?"
"Pre-menstrual syndrome."
Oh. PMS.
"Good thing you had a pad." I didn't want to talk about Alexa's PMS anymore. Or the fact that she'd gotten her period and I still hadn't. "Come on," I said, shoving the door open. "We need to get back to class."
Alexa's mom gave me a ride home after school and I let myself into the empty house. Crew Gang had the day off while they waited for materials to come in, and for once our house didn't smell like B.O.
I was hungry and ate a package of peanut butter crackers without tasting them. Then I walked up the stairs to my bedroom. Heading over to my water quadrant, I sprinkled a little fish food into the bowl and watched my new black goldfish snap it up. I lit a stick of incense, and for some reason the sweet smell of vanilla made me feel sad. Climbing up to my office, I wandered over to the windowsill where I had found the fingerprint clue and looked down into the backyard. Maybe I would offer to help clean up the greenhouse this weekend so my mom could start to enjoy it. She'd been too busy writing history lectures to plant any flowers.
As soon as I thought of my mom I felt tears come to my eyes and realized that I really needed to talk to her. Forcing myself to do homework for almost an hour, I finally heard the low grinding noise of the garage door opening far below me. Then I had to wait for her to come inside, set down her purse and briefcase, pee like she always had to after being stuck in traffic, and make a cup of tea. I sat on the top step of the first set of stairs with my chin in my hands until I heard the microwave ding, then walked downstairs and went into the kitchen.
"Hi Mom."
"Hi Honey." She took her cup out of the microwave, plopped in a tea bag, and dunked it up and down a few times. When she turned around and saw my face she walked over to me. "What's wrong? Is everything OK?" she asked, folding me into her arms. Then my mom pulled back so she could look me in the eye. "No, it's not," she answered herself as my eyes started to sting. "What happened today?" she asked, her hands still resting on my shoulders. I moved in for another hug.
"Alexa got her period," I mumbled into my mom's blouse. She tried to pull away to see my face but I didn't let go of her.
"And did that frighten her? Or you?" Then she stepped back and looked at me seriously.
This made me smile a little. "No, it wasn't scary or anything. It happened in class but she had a pad with her. She got cramps and thought she needed to go number two. It wasn't really a big deal."
"Let's sit down," my mom suggested, and we sat at the kitchen table. She blew across her tea and took a quiet sip, then looked into my eyes. "So, if it wasn't a big deal, why is it bothering you?"
I looked down, flicking the corner of the placemat. "Because I feel like a baby," I finally admitted. Knowing I'd feel like a really big baby if I started to cry, I couldn't manage to look at my mom after I said it. Just kept flicking the stupid placemat.
"Because Alexa got it before you did?" my mom asked, and I nodded without looking up. "Skylar, everyone matures at different rates. Like you had a growth spurt before Alexa and are taller than she is, and some of the other girls your age are taller than both of you. Just because you haven't gotten your period yet doesn't mean you won't get it soon. And even if you don't, it sure doesn't mean you're a baby."
Now I looked at her. "I sure feel like one. Cindy Kowalski's still twelve and she already uses the Kotex machine in the bathroom. I've seen her."
My mom smiled at me. "Well, periods can be crampy, and messy, and not very fun. But getting them is a mark of womanhood. How about this: be glad you don't have to deal with them for now. And when you do get it we'll do something fun, just the two of us, to celebrate. We'll slip away for secret sushi one night when your dad has his poker game. How 'bout that?"
The thought of a celebration made me smile. "I want him to go to secret sushi too," I said, thinking that the real secret would be that I'd gotten it.
"Deal," my mom agreed, reaching for my hand.
"Hey Mom, how about this weekend I'll help you clean up the greenhouse?" I suggested. Suddenly puttering around that musty old shed with my mom was the only thing I wanted to do.
"That sounds terrific," she said. "Just us girls." We looked at each other and nodded. I still felt envious that Alexa got it and I hadn't yet, but I sure felt a whole lot better.