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“Darn. Why did it have to happen now?”
Louise glared with disgust towards the blood on her green dress, groaning as she looked up towards the light of the bathroom which felt just too bright for her, who was grabbing onto the ears of her hat that even in her thirteen years of living, she refused to part with, entirely, at least.
This couldn't be, could it? She tried to tell herself it wasn't what she thought it was.
She checked once, she checked twice, she didn't even need to check three times as she found her denial soon squashed like a bug under one of Tammy's overly expensive heels (Which she wore even more of in the tenth grade).
This was the "special time" the health ed teacher always went on about in the classes Louise wanted to cover all four of her ears in. This was the big old "rite of passage" her mom went on about the day Tina had her own. This was the day her childhood was officially over.
Louise Belcher, age 13, was getting her first period in the school bathroom, of all places.
And it was only lunchtime.
Louise covered her face, suppressing the urge to just scream at the top of her lungs. She'd rather deal with Logan than this, yet here she was, stranded in the middle of a darn bathroom without anywhere to go until she dealt with this situation.
"It just had to happen right now, didn't it?" She groaned. "Could've happened at home, on the weekend, in the morning, even...But nope! It just had to on the first day of eighth grade...Just my luck! Just my crappy luck!"
Louise tried her best to brainstorm, trying to think of some way to get out of the bathroom, or, more accurately, her situation.
"Okay, so, what do mom and Tina do?" Louise found difficulty in trying to think of solutions her mom and sister would use, having always been far closer to her dad and brother, both of whom would certainly cause more harm than help in a situation like this. God, it was like one of those critical thinking algebra questions all over again, except this one involved her actually bleeding out against the clock…
"Well, guess Tina uses tampons...But pads look easier to use, yeah, I'll go with those...But where would I find pads in the middle of a bathroom?"
Louise took a small peek outside of the bathroom door she was behind, groaning when she saw that the pad dispenser was out of order, just like everything else at school was.
"There goes that option..." She murmured to herself as she sat right back down, wondering if green fabric was even washable. "Dad's gonna freak when he sees this...Can't blame him, I'd freak, too..."
She bent over with a groan, her cramps driving her up the wall. Is THIS why Tina was always so moody? God, Gene was lucky...Not having to deal with this…
"Well, just as long as nobody comes in here, I can camp out and pretend that-“
"Louise?"
Louise heard the voice of her friend Jessica through the door, prompting her to freeze like a deer in the headlights.
Dang it.
"Jessica, I told you I'd be out in a minute!" Louise cried, desperately taking out toilet paper as her last resort, Jessica replying as she did so with slight confusion in her usually fairly flat and almost emotionless voice.
“You said 'a minute' a half hour ago. What's up, Louise? You have an accident or something?"
Louise resisted the urge to retort with her own knowledge of Jessica's elementary school bedwetting habits, deciding this was a possible window of opportunity to get her out of the awkward situation she was in.
"Uh...Yeah!" Louise said, her eyes darting away as she clicked her heels together with an anxious chuckle. "A REALLY bad one! One bad enough that anyone near it would leave the roooooom!"
At least in Louise's eyes, she wasn't entirely lying.
Jessica, however, didn't buy it so quickly. Louise could swear she heard her eyebrow raising from behind the closed door, along with the placing of her hands on her hips.
"You? Having an accident? Louise, we know each other well enough to know that's dumb thinking." Jessica gave her friend a little snark, frustrating Louise despite her own snark at times. "Come on, tell me what's up."
Louise crossed her arms, resilient.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
“Because."
"You didn't answer why.”
"Just forget it!"
"Louise, Morgan sent me to find you, she was wondering why you disappeared in the girl's bathroom for over a half hour. Don't think that's normal, unless something happened, or?”
"I'm fine, okay?!" Louise cried, growing more frustrated than she usually would. "Just go away!"
Jessica continued to persist despite Louise's words.
"Look, Louise, you can tell me, or I can wait here as long as you do."
"That's greeeeeat! Prepare to wait forever, then!" Louise groaned as she rolled her eyes. Jesus Christ, this was annoying…
Jessica found herself growing impatient with her friend as well, but sighed, keeping the cool she was so known for.
"Louise, I can't help you if you don't tell me." Jessica remarked, Louise replying in her most sarcastic tone of voice.
"Who said I need help?!" Louise put her hands on her hips, making a stance if she weren't stranded on the toilet. "I'm perfectly peachy keen, just like always!"
"You, by how you're acting." Jessica replied bluntly.
"Stop being so presumptuous, Jessica!" Louise cried, Jessica crossing her own arms from behind the door.
"Do you even know what that word means?" She asked, Louise's eyes darting as she realized how out of her vocabulary that word was.
"...No, but that's not the point! Get out of here!"
"Bloody hell, it's like herding cats..."
"YOU TRY SITTING IN A BLOODY HELL FOR A HALF HOUR, JESSIE!"
Louise smacked her hand over her mouth as she realized what she said, Jessica coming to a realization in the process.
"...Louise, are you on the rag?" Jessica asked as bluntly as possible, Louise's eyes quickly snapping to the side.
"I'm not on any rag, whatcha talkin' about?" She replied, Jessica sighing as she decided to be even more direct.
"Are you having your period right now?" Jessica asked once again, Louise shaking her head.
"We studied time periods last week in history, don't you know that?"
"Louise. Belcher." Jessica now spoke with emphasis, Louise herself cringing slightly in response to her tone. "Are. You. Menstruating?"
Louise tried to think a smart way out of this one, but failed. She was gonna have to come clean.
“...Yeah, what's it to you? Wanna point and laugh? Go ahead. Do it."
Silence came from both sides of the bathroom doors before Jessica replied flatly, in a tone of which reminded Louise way too much of their fourth grade days.
"Louise, you didn't make fun of me for wetting the bed. Why would I make fun of you for getting something I get too?"
Louise froze up for a moment, surprised by the lack of judgement, before Jessica dropped her backup, zipping it open as she took a peek.
"Do you need pads or something? Got a few in my pack." Jessica asked as she rummaged through some items, Louise putting her hands behind her back in response.
"Yeah, actually...Can you just...Slip one under the door, please?"
Though Louise wouldn't admit it, she was more than grateful for the help.
"Sure, why not?" Jessica shrugged as she slipped a pad under the door, Louise picking it up as she continued to talk.
“So, you gonna tell your parents about this, or?"
“Please, Jess, you know my mom would broadcast this stuff to the world, and I'd rather DIE than tell dad about this."
"Your siblings, then?"
"...Jess, you think I'd tell Gene, either? Tina's got her own stuff to worry about, anyway, like her boyfriend."
"Jimmy Pesto Jr.?"
"Nah, Josh, she and Jimmy broke up a while ago."
"Doesn't surprise me. Those two have had an on again off again dynamic since middle school."
"Tell me about it, I've been the one who has to deal with it! Can't relate, though, not like I'm really into guys, anyway..."
Louise paused for a moment as she realized she let something else slip, groaning for the how manyith time that day.
"You aren't into guys, Louise?" Jessica replied, surprised as Louise brushed her green dress off.
"Yeah, yeah, Louise ain't into guys, huge shocker, right?" She said as she tossed her ponytails behind her shoulders and straightened out her hat, opening the stall. "Before you ask, found out recently, haven't told my family yet. That answer your other questions?"
"What about Rudy?" Jessica asked, stepping out of Louise's way. "Aren't you into him? Everybody was saying you two totally had a thing going on in 5th grade."
"Rudy? Sure, he was a crush, but it never really escalated. Really thought I was straight back then...Then again, Tina and Gene are…Though I got my doubts with Gene."
"What about Boo-Boo?"
"We don't talk about that phase!"
"But he's a guy and you were into him, right?" Jessica asked, Louise shrugging.
"Guess I just felt like I needed a crush, you know?" She said as she made her way to the door. "Compulsory heterosexuality, or whatever it's called. I'm not telling mom or even dad anytime soon, gotta accept myself first, you know?"
“Yeah, I gotcha." Jessica nodded before stopping when she noticed Louise's grimace. "Hey, Louise?"
“Louise stopped, turning back.
"Yeah?" “You alright? Did the topic bother you or something?" Louise shrugged. "Nah." She admitted, looking away. "Just knowing I've gotta be an adult now and stuff." Jessica raised an eyebrow, clearly weirded out. "Louise, you're 13, where do you get that idea? We're not even out of middle school." "Sure, but I'm not gonna be seen as a girl anymore, y'know?" Louise shrugged as she held up her hands, imitating the voices of adults in her life. "You know how they're all gonna be about this. 'Wow, Louise is a woman now! Louise is so grown up! Louise is such a lady! We're so proud of our grown lady woman Louise'! For the same reason, I don't wanna come out, because I just know everyone's gonna make a big deal out of it, positively or negatively!" "Grown lady woman? Isn't that redundant?" "You get my point!" Jessica smirked as she gave a chuckle, Louise putting her hands on her hips. "What's so funny?" She asked, Jessica shaking her head. "Adults act like that, but you don't gotta listen to them." Jessica shrugged as she walked ahead. "We're still young, and it's not like Morgan or I automatically became adults after we got ours. You're the last of the three of us, after all, and did we treat you any different?" "No..." "Exactly. You just gotta take this in stride, tell yourself you're as young as you are, you know? We still got time, there's no limit, you don't gotta worry, you get me?.” Louise thought about this for a minute before she shrugged, hiding how much these words actually did comfort her. "Thanks, Jessica." "Anytime, let's head back now." "Hold on, before we go-" “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about." Jessica said, Louise shaking her head in reply. “Nah, I wanted to say something else." Jessica raised an eyebrow as Louise spoke in a tone that was very unlike how she usually talked. "...Thanks, Jess." Louise looked down at her feet with a grin, her eyes averted as she kicked her right foot in an almost shy manner, very unlike herself. "It really means a lot." Jessica noticed her very unlike herself mannerisms, blinking a couple of times before smiling back, with emotion in her voice unlike her typical self as well. “No problem, glad I could help out. You're my friend, after all. What are friends for?" Jessica found herself hugging Louise, who wasn't usually the biggest fan of physical contact, but this time, found herself hugging Jessica right back with a grin on her face. Some things would change…But the most important things wouldn't.