Living with the Swaylers

Shorts: Periods

Ok maybe it's not a short cause it's not exactly short.... just like a shorter chapter that has no specific place in the plot of the book! Also I know this topic is uncomfortable with some people... respectfully deal with it or don't read it. 😄 Hope you enjoy!

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Although I had been expecting it for like a week now, once that time of the month finally came, it seemed to hit me like a train with cramps and everything. It doesn't help that yesterday I also had the sudden urge to do a workout a ton for no reason, so now my arms and abs and basically everything was super sore. 

Thankfully dealing with this time living with a group of teenage guys actually wasn't the worst. When it came to getting supplies, either I gave Noelle a few dollars and a few days later she brought me a box or I could sneak away into the girls products section while going to the store with one or two of the boys. Occasionally when no one had to go to the store (and I hated driving on my own) and Noelle wasn't available, I'd take some extra things from the nurse's office at school. Rebellious, I know. 

But today got worse when I realized I was running out of supplies and I still had about 6 days left of this before I was in the clear. I kept my ears open for if any of the guys were planning to go to the store on this nice, sunny afternoon, and fortunately Josh was going to and I think Blake was going to tag along, so I let them know I'd like to come to. 

Since I still had about an hour before they were going to leave, I decided to clean my room or at least pick up the parts of it that were messy, then I decided to re-organize my closet and bathroom since it was getting a little messy too. One of my favorite things to do in my room was re-organize my girl products cabinet in my bathroom. Something about it being full and organized was so satisfying. 

When I got the chance of no one in the kitchen, I went down to microwave my small bag of.. actually I'm not sure what's in it, my microwaveable heating pad thingy that had a cute fabric covered in sloths. It fit perfectly in my sweatshirt pocket just where the cramps were. When I got back to my room, I sat with it on my stomach which was very soothing as I continued organizing. 

Eventually the heat went away and I forgot about it until my cramps returned and started getting really bad. In the middle of organizing my closet, I had to get down on the ground and curl up in a ball from the pain suddenly. Ugh! Gosh this sucks! I need drugs but that means getting up! Owwww. 

And of course the perfect timing, I heard my room door open. "Hey Annabelle, you ready to leave for the store now?" Josh came in my room looking for me, then turned and saw me on the floor in my closet. "Uh.. you good?" he asked very confused. 

"Mm hm," I said laying there in fetal position facing the floor. He was very concerned. 

"Uh..."

"Just cramps," I said. "I'll be fine soon. They usually get less bad in a few minutes I think."

"Oh. My gosh.. you look like you're in a lot of pain," he said coming closer to me and kneeling down putting his hand on my back showing support and concern. "Wait, like.. menstrual cramps?"

I slightly smiled. "That sounds very scientific. Yes I started my period today." I had never told a guy friend that before but right now I really couldn't care less. 

"Ooh," he sharply inhaled knowing this wasn't a good thing. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?" I continued to lay there in a ball on the floor in pain and nodded my head that I was okay. "Are you sure? Do you need to go to the hospital or something?"