You can Bet on Me

Part 17 ~ First Timer

Maddison
I picked Danielle up from the primary area and drove home. Soon, we arrived home, and I was still unable to get that moment we had out of my mind and exhausted at the mere thought of all the homework and assignments I had that were awaiting me. Eleanor was out of the house with her newly taken up soccer training (which she'll probably end up quitting) and Sammy was once again at Mr Murphy's place. Addison and Abagail could have been literally anywhere – at a party, drunk, making out with their millions of different boyfriends – the list could go on and on.
So it was only me and Danielle, for the night – my parents being at home were completely out of the question. I sat down to do my homework while Danielle went to hide out in her bedroom (probably make a pillow fort, like she did last time we were home alone). But before I could even get my Science textbook out of my bag, Danielle let out a scream. I sighed; she was probably just playing pretend games again.
Despite her age, Danielle still loved playing pretend. Having a younger sister like Eleanor must have rubbed off on her.
"What?" I yelled, staying sitting down.
"B-Blood! T-There's blood everywhere! M-Maddy, help!" Danielle's response alarmed me. She only ever called me Maddy when something was direly wrong or if she was afraid. Forgetting all about my mountain of homework and assignments, I ran straight to Danielle's room. Danielle was on the floor surrounded by blood. I stifled my worry and came closer to her. Her eyes were wide and scared and she was obviously confused. That's when it hit me – she was having her period, and she was having it heavy.
"Wait here, Dani." I said quickly, rushing to the bathroom. I threw open all the cabinets, and began throwing stuff around to find pads. But I had recently got off my period, so there were none. Panic began to rise in me, but I had to try and stay calm. Danielle was panicked, and if I was too, we wouldn't be able to find a solution. That was when the doorbell rang – bad timing.
"Coming!" I yelled as I scrambled to my feet. If it was a girls' scout or something, I would have to sent them away quickly. Rushing to the door, I flung it open to see Michael, his car parked on the street in front of our house.
"Michael? What are you doing here?" I asked, rushing my words out so they came out in a long string of barely understandable words.
"I wanted to come and apologize again, and I was also wondering if..." Michael's words drifted off as he caught sight of the worry and panic in my eyes. 'What's wrong?"
I was hesitant to tell Michael – it was a girls thing, something that we didn't share with guys. But something about how Michael's eyes glistened with concern made me trust him.
"D-Danielle," I said. "She's... got her period." Michael's eyes widened – he clearly had never dealt with something like this.
"What about pads?" it was weird to hear a boy talking about something like that.
"We have none left," I replied, shaking my head. "And I can't leave Danielle's side – she's panicked and frozen. I can't leave her home alone, but I need to go out and buy pads."
"I'll do it," Michael volunteered quickly. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what kind?"
"Doesn't matter – just- as long as it's thick," I was hesitant to tell him anything more. I could already imagine the weird looks he would get for buying pads as a man, but there were no other options at this point. Michael nodded and quickly got into his car.
"Five minutes," he said. I nodded as he drove off quickly, and I looked back inside the house. Closing the door, I raced back to Danielle's side. I sure hoped that he really would take only five minutes.
Just less than five minutes later, Michael arrived back. When he had knocked, I had rushed to the door and flung it open. His eyes mirrored mine – a mix of panic and rushing.
Without a word, he held up the pads – they were thin, and he had obviously been in a rush to choose it. It'll have to do, I told myself as I quickly thanked him and took it to where Danielle was still lying down, still in her state of shock.
"W-What's that?" Danielle asked, her eyes large and wide.
"Don't worry, it'll stop the bleeding." Danielle was certainly young for her period, but I pushed all thoughts aside as I helped her. Looking over my shoulder, Michael was there and I said slowly, "you... should close the door."
"Right," Michael smiled sheepishly – a look that I had certainly never seen on him – and closed the door with a small sound. I turned back to a petrified Danielle and once I finished helping her, she asked shakily, "w-what was that?"
I let out a sigh. "It's called a period. You get it every month from now on, and I'm sorry that you had to get it so soon. Actually, I'll leave—" I'll leave it to our parents, I was going to say. But... they wouldn't. They're too 'busy' to educate her on what a period is. I told myself with gritted teeth. I would tell Danielle about what a period was myself since mum was sure not to do it or have time to do it. Getting up, I opened the door for Michael.
"Thanks a lot," I smiled wearily. "I mean it."
"No problem," Michael rubbed the back of his neck. We stood there in awkward silence. Danielle got up behind me and came over, but I barely noticed.
"Is that your boyfriend?" Danielle asked, recovering from her shock. I felt my face flush, but before I could reply or correct her, Michael crouched down to be eyelevel with Danielle and said softly, "yes. I'm your big sister's boyfriend, and I love her very much."
Michael's words rang throughout my head. I found myself deep in thought about the true meaning behind his words – how could a guy like him possibly like a nobody like me? I felt my face burn but I let out a forced laughter anyways.
"Yes, and I love Michael very much as well," I decided to play along. I wasn't sure what game we were exactly playing, but I convinced myself that there was no way Michael really liked me and he was just saying things to entertain Danielle. Danielle's eyes lit up and she jumped on him in a hug. I managed to catch Danielle's next words as she whispered, "I'm glad that my big sister has a good person like you. She's been really lonely and nerdy and depressing, you know."
This made Michael laugh and made my face heat up.
"Danielle," I hissed sharply, giving her a well-deserved flick to the arm. She merely cackled like the evil child she was and ran off.
"Don't listen to her. She's only being childish, insulting me like that." I told Michael, feeling a blush creeping up my face in embarrassment. Michael let out a deep laugh that made my heart jump. Why did I feel happy making him laugh? More importantly, why did I care so much about him laughing? I didn't know the answer to either of those questions, but I dismissed them all as I asked, "sorry that the house is such a mess right now. Give me a little time to clean up the mess on the floor and I can get you a drink or something."
"Sure," Michael grinned, making my heart do funny flips. I ignored my heart's tricks as Michael left the room and I was in a rush to clean up the mess Danielle had left on our wooden floor. If our floor had been carpet, then I would have had a lot harder time to clean up the mess. When I came back downstairs, Michael was in the kitchen waiting around our island kitchen benchtop and Danielle was eating the cookies I had laid out to cool. When she saw me, she snickered.
"Seriously?" I scowled at Danielle and she laughed maniacally, snatching the last cookie on the plate and scurrying off like a fucking rat.
Sneaky rat, I thought, rolling my eyes. Turning to Michael, his eyes shone with amusement at my siblings' tussle.
"Can I get you a drink?" I asked.
"Sure," Michael grinned.
I went to the fridge and pulled out a jug of lemonade. Opening our kitchen cabinet, I pulled out a cup and poured some lemonade into it. Returning to where Michael was waiting patiently, I gave him the cup.
"Thanks," he flashed me a grin that made my heart do those funny flips again before drinking.
"I should be thanking you." I said with a light laugh, taking a seat on a chair beside Michael. "After all, you must have gone to a lot of trouble. I doubt that you've ever bought something like that."
"Yeah, well, I did get some weird looks." Michael laughed good-naturedly. I sat stiffly and we both fell into an awkward silence. Upstairs, I could hear Danielle stomping around and her occasional laughter and who knows what she was doing.
"So, I originally came to apologise for... you know. This afternoon. And... I was also wondering if you'd be free this Saturday," Michael asked, breaking our silence.
"Yeah, I am. Why?" I asked.
"So that I can take you for a date, of course." Michael flashed one of his award-winning, signature grins and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "You don't have to meet my parents, if you don't want to. Now that I think of it, that was a bit much. I was thinking to take you to the new diner that recently opened in Central near school."
The new diner in Central had made a big splash when it opened – I had seen it myself. It had a flashy sign and many fairy lights bordered the sparkly windows. From the outside, I had seen in and it was all full-on fancy style. It seemed to be an expensive, fancy diner with glass tables, chandeliers, even fucking candles. The chairs were all a red velvet colour and obviously ridiculously expensive, as all fancy diners were.
"No," I said quickly.
"Why not?" Michael's smile evaporated into a frown. "Sarah used to love going there—"
"But I'm not Sarah," I interrupted. "Seriously, though. I've seen it – it looks expensive like hell. I can't possibly let you bring me somewhere like that."
"Don't worry, I'm paying for all of it." Michael replied.
"I can't let you do that either," I snapped.
"Well, I am. Too bad. I offered, so I'm paying. No arguments, and I'm picking up you at six, if that's good with you." Michael insisted firmly.
Realising that he really wouldn't give it up, I let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. I'll go."
"You're making it seem like you don't want to go to a fancy, expensive restaurant with this hotshot," Michael joked, pointing to himself.
"I don't," I laughed, giving him a playful pinch on the arm. Before he could retaliate, his phone rang from inside his pocket and he abruptly stood up to take the call. When it was over, he looked to me with a strange look of disappointment in his eyes and said, "I've got to go. Remember, Saturday, six P.M. Don't forget."
He left abruptly and I felt a small stone of disappointment drop in my stomach. Something inside me had changed – since when did I feel like this? I couldn't quite understand how I felt or what it was, but I knew something was different. Shaking all thoughts from my head, I went back upstairs to do my homework.
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