E.J. POV

"You're going to be late", mom yelled up the stairs to my sister.

I was leaning against the bottom of the railing waiting for my ride to school. One week left and I would have my driving privileges back. Thank god, I was going crazy not having control of the CD player in the car. Nessie and I both loved music, something we'd picked up from dad and Esme. We've had piano lessons since our fingers were long enough to reach the keys. We dabbled with most instruments and were encouraged to listen to all genres of music. Nessie and I had similar tastes, I just didn't like relying on her for my freedom. I glance up at her as she appeared at the top of the stairs. It was difficult for her not to look beautiful. One of the perks of being half vampire is you could roll out of bed five minutes before you had to leave and still look amazing to the human eye. I was appreciating this part of my genetic makeup more and more as the semester wore on. I was already growing board with Forks High. I did a double take as she started to come down the stairs, something was off. Her clothes were fine, never flashy or to feminine but always neat. Her hair was pulled back in a lose pony tail and I noticed a few lose strands stuck to her forehead from a few beads of sweat.

Why was she sweating? We had to push ourselves to exhaustion to break a sweat. She had better not of gone exploring La Push with Jacob and left me behind again.

I glanced at my mom and she was looking at Nessie even more intensely then I.

"Are you feeling alright Ness" my mother did her best to sound calm but I could sense the worry in her voice.

"I'm fine, I think it's the nachos we had last night."

So she wasn't exploring without me she had an upset stomach.

"Must be food poisoning" I said as I started to stand up.

Something that would have kept a normal human locked in the bathroom for twenty four hours was a stomach ache for Nessie. Nessie was a lot like my mom. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her. She always tried to conceal her pain both physical and emotional. So I knew she wasn't feeling well.

"Do you want me to drive Ness." I asked eagerly.

"Yea right let's go." She grumbled.

I was sitting in second hour when I started to feel uneasy. The same feeling I got when Nessie cut her head wide open when the neighbor smacked her over the head with an Easton. Something was still off. I threw my hand up for an emergency bathroom pass, acting as if I was going to vomit all over the newly installed carpet.

I found her in the bathroom. Her hands were gripping the sink and her head was faced down with her eyes squeezed shut. What was wrong with her? She walked out and still had a squint between her eyes.

"I'm going home; I'll tell someone you need a ride". She explained.

I watched her walk out the door towards her blue Passat wishing I could go with her. I dragged myself back to Mr. Mcnealy's class room wishing I too had food poisoning. Carlisle warned me earlier that week about my supposed "sick days". He was growing concerned I had been absent a few too many times this semester and I needed to learn how to work my way through the redundancy of high school. I fought long and hard to attend Fork's High. Clearly my expectations were far beyond reality. In retrospect I don't know what I was thinking. Where were the Zack's, Kelly's and A.C. Slater's? Most of the day was spent in silence day dreaming about what I could be doing.

The battery for my cell phone had died by the time 6th period was over. Who was picking me up? Part of me was hoping she had forgotten to mention I didn't have my car so I would have an excuse to walk downtown on my way home. Not a chance, Alice was waiting for me outside. I loved spending time with Alice, she radiated an energy that was pure excitement, and she was an optimist. It was imposable to not be in a good mood around her most of the time. When I got in the car I noticed she had jumped into character. She had her black scarf concealing her hair and part of her face. Large fly like glasses that were far too big for her tiny features. She wore elegant black driving gloves that rested just below her elbows. For my amusement she even fancied herself with bright red lipstick. I found this more humorous knowing that Alice our family fashion consultant would never let Esme, Bella or Rosalie walk out of the house with such a clashing shade to their pale complexion. She was taking her role serious and was not going to break character. She pressed a button on her wrist watch and spoke into it very flat and smooth. "The package has been obtained; I repeat the package has been obtained, over". The package was me of course. "Mission?" I asked keeping my eyes straight ahead trying to recall the last 007 movie I had watched. We went back and forth like this for about four blocks until Alice pulled into Dave's Drug Store. As soon as she put the car in park the corners of her mouth turned up and I couldn't prevent the roaring laughter that came out of my body. The game was over and I was wondering what we were doing at Dave's. Alice quickly removed the red lipstick and gloves but left the scarf and sunglasses on as we entered the store.

Whatever novelty item she needed to pick up, I was just happy for the change of scenery and had the chance to grab an energy drink. Not quite the kick of human blood but it made my teenage body feel a little more alive. After I snagged my drink I found her in isle 6. She looked perplexed staring at the items, as she twirled her fly glasses in her hand. Her eyes went from left to right, up and down, carefully taking in each item before moving on to the next. What was she doing? I could tell she was mulling over the items in her head very intensely. She finally saw me gawking at her and she explained. "It's been a while". I finally took my eyes off her to see what she was talking about. As my eyes shifted from her to a sign that read "Sanitary Napkins", my jaw hung open like it weighed a hundred pounds. In that second I found myself reading the labels and absorbing in the multitude of packages. I finally realized what Alice's problem was, there was just too many options! She said one word, "Nessie" and I knew. It wasn't the nachos from the night before that had her feeling so bad. It wasn't food poisoning it was her, it was her… "her lady time". Umm, ahh, urgh "I don't know buy it all". I dropped my monster on the floor hearing it bang against the floor.

"I'll see you in the car". I stammered.

I bumped into Shane Bennett on the way out knocking him straight into the magazine rack and knocking a few to the floor.

"Sorry. Sorry."

I managed to get out before I caused any more damage. The items in isle 6 kept flashing through my head as I waited in the car for Alice. Playtex Gentle Glide, Tampax, Super, Super plus, regular, maxi pads, with wings, panty liners, Midol, cardboard applicator, plastic applicator. What the hell was a panty liner? Urgh, I finally felt a small resentment toward Alice for bringing me on this little shopping spree. She had held me captive while she shopped for feminine products.

I reclined in the passenger seat closing my eyes and drawing in a deep breath. What did this mean? Nessie wasn't supposed to get a period! Hadn't Carlisle gone over every possibility already? I knew the basics and remember the family covering these questions all ready. There was no history that any other half vamp half human ever had a menstrual cycle before. Most girls get their period between the ages of 11-12. We were three years beyond that and our bodies grew at three times the rate of the average human.

Wow, would Nessie be able to have a baby when she was an adult? This was all very shocking news.

I saw Alice appear from the sliding doors as I pulled my seat back into its upright position. She opened her door and heaved a large brown paper sack on my lap. I peaked in and realized she had bought almost one of everything.

"Geez, did you need to put Dave's out of stock? Where are the remaining women of Forks going to buy their lady products?"

I was finding it difficult to use the appropriate name for the items. I got a half smile out of her and she simply stated;

"They didn't sell these when I was human, Bella should have gone shopping".

Speaking wasn't necessary on for the drive home. We knew what this meant for our family, for Nessie, we just didn't know how it was going to play out. When we walked in the door everyone was home. Carlisle was back from the office; Emmet and Rosie were on the couch across from Mom and Nessie. I looked at Nessie expecting her to look different but she didn't. My mom came to over to Alice and I. She gave Alice a small hug of gratitude and kissed me on the forehead.

"Thanks Alice." She said smiling.

She took the bag from Alice with a bit of a smirk. Alice returned her smirk with a shoulder shrug. Nessie and my mom disappeared into the back of the house.