Krystal Curtis| Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade

The Period.

TW: MENTIONS OF BLOOD

I open my eyes and check the clock in the corner. 8:39 A.M. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I removed my blankets and jumped at the sight. There was a dark red substance pooled around my legs. Blood.

Needless to say, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

My oldest brother Darry got here first. He rubbed his eyes.

"What the hell is going-" He asked before he saw it. "Aw shit."

Soda, my second oldest brother by five minutes, came in second.

"Krystal! What happened- OH MY GOD!" He screamed.

"WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING?" My younger brother Pony asked, covering his eyes.

"I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed back.

Darry stepped forward and grabbed my face with both hands. "Krystal. How old are you again?" He asked.

"Same age as Soda. 13," I responded.

"Shit. Go take a shower and we'll be back. Take your sheets off your bed. Soda, Pony, come with me," Darry responded.

"We're just gonna leave her?!" Pony asked.

"Shut your trap, Pony. Come on," he said and they walked out.

I did as Darry asked. When I took a shower, I realized that my period had started. At first, I thought I had been shot or stabbed or something. Shoot, I felt stupid. After I got out of the shower and put my clothes on, I could hear Darry, Soda, and Pony come back inside. I sighed.

"Hey Krystal?" Darry asked through the door.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Mom told me to get these things. I'm leavin' them at the door, okay?" He asked.

"Okay," I responded.

I opened the door and took them inside the bathroom. My first package of pads. I opened them and followed the instructions on the back. When I finally plucked up the courage, I opened the bathroom door. The three of them were sitting in the living room, staring at the door. When I looked at them, they all looked away. When I saw their faces, I smiled. I imagined them buying pads at the store and started laughing. They looked at me with confused expressions.

"Sorry. I just- can't imagine you three buying those things," I chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah," Darry said.

"Well thanks. I appreciate it," I said.

Suddenly, the door threw open and three people entered. Two- Bit, Steve and Dally.

"Cmon Soda we got a kickball game-" Steve began.

"Woah. Why so serious?" Two- Bit added, noticing that all three boys were sitting on the couch.

"Krystal became a woman," Pony said.

I widened my eyes and threw my shoe at him at full speed. It hit him on the chest.

"No kidding!" Dallas exclaimed, wearing a taunting smile. He thought this was so funny.

Darry hit Pony across the head. "Use your head for once, Pony."

"What?! That's what you said!" Pony yelled in defense.

"You told him that, Darry?!" I yelled.

"What's going on?" Johnny asked, walking in.

"Don't tell him!" I groaned.

"Krystal got her period," Two- Bit laughed.

Teenage boys. They think everything is funny.

Johnny's ears went bright red as he hid his face. Rightfully so.

"Oh my God," I exclaimed, hiding my own embarrassment.

"Would ya shut up, idiots?" Darry asked.

"Well, Darrell. It is a natural thing. Therefore, it's natural to make fun of it," Two-Bit said.

"That's it!" I yelled, tackling Two- Bit.

I ruffled his hair and pulled on the collar of his shirt. The rest of the group joined in and started tackling each other. Pony pulled me off of Two- Bit and I tackled him down before Dally finally pinned me down. I tried getting out of his grip, and I almost did, but Steve came over and helped him.

"Calm down!" Dally laughed, clearly out of breath.

"Fine! Fine! I'm calm," I laughed.

Dally got off of me and I stood up. I stared at all of them. Soda had tears in his eyes from laughing.

"I hate all of you," I said.

"Do you wanna play kickball with us?" Soda asked.

"Yeah sure," I responded as we all filed out of the house.

It had been summer then. School wasn't in session. And those days were some of the best of my life.