August 20th (Bella's Perspective)
"Bella, can you come with me for a second?" My Mom said with a smile.
"What's going on?! Why are you being so nice to me?! You're making me concerned." She laughed and I went downstairs to her room with her. On her bed there was a book, a pair of underwear and a square thing, and a little tube..Whatever it was.
"Mom, what's that stuff on the bed?"
"I'll explain in a minute baby. Sit here with me." I didn't know what was happening and it was making me a bit on edge, if you know what I'm saying.
"So, do you remember how you were like 7 or 8 and we talked about growing up and becoming a young woman?"
"Yeah. It's called puberty, right?"
"Yes it is. Did you learn about it in school?"
"A little. Only about the things you told me."
"So, your body is going through puberty as we can both see." We both laughed and she picked up the things on the bed.
"But, something we never got to talk about is getting your period, and periods in general."
"What's that?"
"A woman goes through something called a menstrual cycle every month."
"What's that also?"
"I'll answer both of your questions in a minute babe." She took a deep breath and put her arm around me.
"In your body you have something called ovaries. They contain millions of eggs and two tubes for the eggs to to travel to your uterus." She showed me a picture and I was shocked. I have that in me?!
"Woah.."
"Now these are very important body parts that have to do with making and carrying a fetus."
"A baby."
"That's correct. Now we can get into the cycle a bit more. Stop me if you feel confused or anything. It's okay to ask questions."
"Okay."
"So your uterus is very weird. Know how?" She said with a smile.
"How?"
"It's always preparing for you to have a baby."
"That is weird." I said with a laugh.
"The uterus creates this lining, this very soft lining along the walls to nurse a baby in your belly for nine months." Lining?!
"After a couple of weeks your ovaries release an egg...to be fertilized and be made into a baby. But, sometimes that doesn't happen."
"What happens next?"
"Your body starts to release all of the lining and nutrients, and the egg."
"Where does it come out?"
"Your area." I looked down and then I nodded.
"That kind of makes sense. It just feels so gross. So you just pee it out?"
"No sweetheart, those nutrients and eggs, your period comes out of the hole below that."
"Oh..that one."
"Typically it lasts 5-7 days."
"What?!! That's a lot!" Mommy laughed as I panicked.
"Aren't we gonna die?! How are you not dead yet if it happened every month?"
"It's not that much blood Bella. Trust me. And then the cycles go on over and over again until you're old. I'm still here and breathing."
"Are those things supposed to catch the blood?"
"Mhm. This is a pad. You put it on your underwear like so, and then wear it as you normally would."
"That's like a diaper!"
"It feels quite awkward at first, but you'll get used to it."
"What's the tube for?"
"This is a tampon. This also catches the blood. Great to use while swimming, since you can't wear a pad in the pool."
"Why?"
"Well, first off it would show. Two, it would absorb all of the pool water instead of the blood, it'll be a big mess."
"How does the tampon work?" She opened it and showed me how there's an applicator and things like that.
"Where to you insert it?"
"In the same hole we just talked about."
"No, that's gross." It made me think of the warehouse, how the men hurt me there. I don't think I wanna shove a tampon up there.
"I was about to say, that I'd like you to wait a few years before trying it. It's not a good one to start off with. It's tricky and requires a lot of work."
"Yeah. I can totally wait."
"So, have any more questions?"
"No. But this was a cool talk at first and then it got really gross out of no where."
"There's nothing gross about this, it's a normal process that makes every girl a woman."
"You're right, but it still feels weird and all Mommy."
***********
Trinity School Orientation
We went into the auditorium where kids were playing music and it was so amazing. I love music so much! I can play guitar and piano mostly...but I can do a bit of violin also. I do music at a music academy so I have the chance to try out many different instruments.
"Good evening." I shook hands with the principal and so did my Mom.
"Olivia Benson." She said calmly.
"And you must be Bella."
"Yes sir."
"I'm looking forward to seeing your work this year. A Trinity scholarship certainly isn't easy to get." My Mom smiled and assured that I would maintain extremely high grades.
"Hey Kylie!" I have Kylie, Axel, Paisley and Paxton in my school. They're amazing so I won't feel too lonely now.
"Hey! Good Afternoon Ms.Benson."
"Good afternoon to you too! Where's your Mom love?"
"She's parking the car. She said you guys wanted to talk or something." My Mom shooed us away as she came inside and we sat down. The people looked average to be honest. Something I noticed though was that there were some black and mixed people. I didn't feel left out at all.
"Hey, my name's Bradley." A blonde haired boy said to me. He seemed really kind.
"Hi, I'm Bella and she's Kylie."
"You guys new huh?"
"Yeah."
"What school are you guys from?"
"Westbury."
"I heard that's a good school."
"If you're not being harassed by annoying stuck up girls then yeah." He laughed and Kylie did as well.
"There's barely any drama here. You'll be just fine." The principal went up on the stage and fixed the microphone.
"He's about to start. It was nice talking to you guys."
"You too. Bye."
"Bye."
"Well we made a friend." She said quietly.
"We're off to a good start." The principal talked about our daily schedules, after school programs, behavior requirements, tuition, and some other crap. I stopped listening until they talked about uniforms. It was to be a white polo shirt and khaki pants or skirt. Although it isn't required for everyday wear. I knew Mom was taking notes so I couldn't try to bend the rules. When it was finally finished we went to grab dinner at Chipotle.
"School starts the 3rd."
"I'm ready to go to school." I admitted.
"Really?"
"To get it over with."
"Wow."
"Bella, middle school is going to be so much fun! Trust me."
"Yeah, Totally."
************
Our Basement (Noah's Perspective)
"So you're going to middle school?"
"Yep."
"Cool, are you ready? Is your bag packed?"
"Not yet..I'm getting a new bigger bag so, gotta wait on that." I smiled at my younger sister and she scrunched her face.
"Why are you being so nice?"
"Because I care. Don't listen to what any of those girls have to say. Just do your work and be you."
"Thanks Noah. But, I want to be popular."
"Popular?"
"Yeah."
"Trust me, you don't want to be."
"Haha."
"What else?"
"Nothing much really." She smiled and Leia came downstairs with Mom.
"We gonna watch family movie."
"Yeah, I brought some popcorn guys." Leia sat on Bella and we all watched Lion King together. It was nice, just laughing and playing around with everyone. At the end of the movie Leia fell asleep and Mom carried her to bed. Bella followed her, because she said she wanted to tuck her in and I just sat in the basement, by myself. Thinking about Morgan, myself, my friends. Never thought about life so deeply before. It was weird. Very weird.
"Noah!"
"Coming!"
A/N: I had this chapter prepped for weeks. I find it interesting how Bella is starting to learn new things. Her and Liv's relationship is starting to become a bit less of an authority figure and child kind of thing, to a friend to friend relationship. Liv is still authoritative, but there's still that sense of friendly understanding that they share~