Learning to Live

Chapter 20

Stop it!

It was useless, going in circles. I checked my phone for the hundredth time that evening. Nothing. The weight on my heart grew heavier.

Enough!

Tomorrow. Tomorrow if I didn't hear from him, I would text him or call him or even go hunt him down so we can have a proper discussion. We would either work through whatever it was or... Whatever. Tomorrow.

I put my phone aside and tried to focus on the characters being all lovey lovey on the screen. Stupid perfect fictional relationships.

I woke up at dawn with the familiar pain in my lower belly. I groaned and rolled out of bed, squishing Lia in the process. She didn't even stir. Cheddar glanced up then went back to sleep.

The faint street light coming in through the window was enough to go by. My laptop was closed on the nightstand, our empty bags of chips on top of it. I grabbed a clean pair of underwear, warm pants and a sanitary pad and went to my bathroom.

Sure enough, it was that time of the month.

Bleeding out of any hole on your body was not a pleasant experience. Bleeding out of your ladybits wasn't any different. Still, we do it every month and brave the world while our uterus bleeds out and attempts to rip our muscles apart.

Women should get a damn medal just for that.

After cleaning up, I grabbed a spare blanket from my closet and went downstairs. I would just bother Lia if I stayed in my room.

The pain grew increasingly worse, as usual. I swallowed two painkillers from the bottle in the kitchen cupboard and laid down on the couch.

After a few minutes, a familiar weight jumped on top of my belly. Cheddar's paws kneaded my stomach. I swear he always knew when I was in pain. I loved this cat to bits. My eyes stung and my throat closed up.

Why did I suddenly want to cry?

I missed my mom. I remembered the first time I got my period. I freaked out and used almost an entire roll of toilet paper in my underwear. My grandmother had been taking care of us at the time. We never had a close relationship with her, mostly because she never had a close relationship with Mom. She'd become our legal guardian after our mom passed simply because we had no other relatives.

It was summer, and Lia had been on vacation with her family. The only person I knew who could be of help was Jason's mother. I had called her, feeling freaked out and so, so alone. Jason's mother was the sweetest woman alive. She drove over right then and took me to spend the night in her place. She put my mind at ease and talked to me about everything I needed to know.

I knew I was lucky enough to have someone like her in my life. Still, at times like these, I missed my parents. A tear rolled down my temple. I took deep, even breaths. Stupid hormones.

The painkillers must've kicked in, and Cheddar's loud purr lulled me to sleep.

A fly was sitting on my nose. I wrinkled my nose and turned my head. The fly disappeared. A blissful moment of peace. Then the annoying fly made a comeback.

I slapped a hand on my face. It slapped into something wet and cold. Becoming increasingly aware of my surroundings and of the persistent pain in my lower belly, I groaned and cracked my eyes open. My brother's blurry face came into view. Who was it? Stefan or Scott? I blinked, and Scott's devilish grin cleared up. His grin widened and he pulled away.

There was something white on the tip of my nose.

Oh, no, he didn't...

"Please tell me you didn't put cream on my face," I mumbled.