Steven stared at his cellphone. The green bubble next to Connie's icon was filled with disappointment. No movie marathon. No candy binge, no sword practice. Connie had changed her mind. It was sudden, so sudden Steven had a fleeting thought that Connie had been bodysnatched and an evil slug monster was posing as her, texting all her contacts and canceling all Connie's plans. Nimbly, hit thumbs glided over the screen, with which he sent an inquiry as to why she suddenly decided against a wacky weekend of fun-tastic adventures. Moments later, there was a reply.
'I just started my period for the first time. I want to stay home.'
Steven froze for a moment, the gears in his mind turning rapidly, before quickly replying. Instantly Connie's message glowed on his screen.
'That would be nice, Okay.'
He dropped his phone like it was a hot potato and ran towards the temple doors, hollering.
"PEARL AMETHYST GARNET HELP!"
"STEVEN!" They all shouted, practically materializing before him at his call.
"Where is the danger!?" Pearl questioned, crouching next to him to check for injury. Seeing nothing she scrunched up her face and looked to Garnet.
"Steven, why did you call us here?" The square gem adjusted her glasses, her gauntlets disappearing as she did. Amethyst chewed her gum silently, aside from an occasional pop.
"Connie is having her first period and I don't have any idea what that is like and I want to make her happy how do I do it?" Steven informed them, his sentences all running together. There was a collective silence.
"Nope. You two handle it." Garnet said, walking back into the temple. Amethyst started laughing while Pearl began to stutter.
"Steven, uh, well... Gems don't do that... We can't-"
"Pearl! I know gems don't have periods! But you are good at learning and teaching and I was hoping you could help me understand what Connie is going through." Steven's eyes grew big, teary and glittered as if whole galaxies resided in his irises. Pearl smiled weakly.
"Steven, I'm flattered that you would want my help; but maybe you should ask a human woman, th-"
"heY I KNOW ONE OF THOSE!" Amethyst gasped, the gum in her mouth spat onto the floor as she spoke. She clutched Steven under her arm and bounded off. Pearl glanced at the gum, sighing.
"YO! Vidalia! What is up my Homie!" Amethyst greeted her friend as she entered the garage unceremoniously. Steven followed shyly, still not comfortable with entering the house of Onion so casually.
"Hey Amethyst! I was just about to have some tea. Come on into the living room." Vidalia waved them in, smiling at Steven as he passed her in the doorway. "Hey Steven, its good to see you."
"Hi, Mrs. Yellowtail." Steven greeted shyly, and she laughed.
"Oh god don't call me that, it makes me sound so suburban. Vidalia is fine, Steven." He blushed as she corrected him playfully. He watched as she and Amethyst went into the kitchen, preferring to stay in the hallway and let them chat. Steven loved that Amethyst had Vidalia as a friend, and wanted to respect her space to have that friendship.
SourCream descended the stairs, removing his headphones to address Steven.
"Hey, what are you doing here Steven?" He asked, chiptune nightcore blaring through his headphones. Steven thought to be embarrassed, but decided against it since SourCream had never made him feel ashamed before.
"I'm asking your mom about periods so I can help my friend through her first one." He shrugged, "Gems don't get them, so Amethyst suggested your mom."
SourCream nodded his head. "Cool, cool. That is some good friend stuff, Steven. When Jenny gets hers she likes it when I bring over raspberry & rosehip tea. Says it helps her cramps. My mom has a ton of it," He smiled, and passed Steven as he opened the front door, "Why don't you ask her for some?" Steven grinned, and gave SourCream a double thumbs up. SourCream nodded and shut the door behind him.
"Steven?" Amethyst peeked her head out of the kitchen, and Steven turned to face her.
"C'mon ya goof, Vidalia said she'd love to explain the 'mysteries of womanhood' to you."
Her Cheshire grin did little for the sudden trepidation Steven felt at her wording, but he steeled himself and followed the purple gem to the living room where Vidalia sat, waiting.
Steven sat across from her on the couch, Amethyst to his left, and at that moment he realized how deep he had gone. He didn't even know what kind of questions to ask-
"So! What do you wanna know, Shortcakes?" Vidalia spoke, smiling as always. Her eagerness was only slightly evident in the way she leaned forward, hands on her knees.
"...eh, eheheheh ah- I wa- well," Steven struggled, blushing and pulling at his collar. He took a breath in, and breathed out slowly to calm his thoughts. "I don't know anything about periods. I mean, I know what they are- eh, sort of." He shrugged, a sheepish grin creeping on his face under Vidalia's calculating gaze. Her swiftness startled him as she reached towards the coffee table for her sketch book.
"Okay then lets start at the beginning. Now these aren't accurate, obviously, but this is what us human women are working with." She turned the pad from her to reveal several ovals connected by what looked like tubes or hallways, all arranged to may a T-like shape. She used her finger to point at the big circle in the center. "This is the uterus. It's where we grow people."
"Like the kindergarten for Gems?" Amethyst asked, she and Vidalia having discussed her origin story many times over nail polish and spray paint. Vidalia nodded.
"Similar, but on a way smaller scale. Humans come from eggs. Women are born with a specific amount of eggs, and when you're out, you're OUT." She tapped on the two smaller circles on either side of the uterus. "These are ovaries. It's where the eggs are kept until the body is ready to use them." At this Steven raises his had. "Yes Steven?" Vidalia acknowledged him.
"You say women are born with these eggs, so how come Connie is starting her period now instead of when she was a baby?" He was worried; what if Connie runs out of eggs too fast. Would she be sad?
"That is because your bodies don't start doing this 'grown up' stuff until you hit puberty-" Amethyst lowers her hand as Vidalia nods to her, "which is when your body reaches a certain age and starts to release chemicals in your brain that tell it to change into a grown up body. Your voice changes, you get hair in weird places, and for women you start to bleed monthly."
"whAT B-BLEED?!" Steven exclaims, before being placed back into a seated position by a still calm Vidalia. At that moment she reminded him of an on-task Garnet, and forced himself to focus- or at least tried to.
"It's only a little bleeding. When the body realizes its not going to have a baby it cleans out the uterus in preparation for the next egg. This whole process is called the Menstrual Cycle." Vidalia gestures back to her makeshift diagram, which had been discarded on a pillow during Steven's outburst.
"The eggs are released usually 1 at a time, once a month, from a ovary, through the fallopian tube, into the uterus; Then at the end of the cycle the uterus sheds its lining and the egg, and it all leaves the body through the vagina."
Vidalia made a waving motion over her vagina sketch as if to portray 'gushing'.
"Does.. Does it hurt?" Steven asked, though he regretted it almost immediately.
"Oh yeah. It can be really excruciatingly painful. And we do it every 3 and a half weeks." Vidalia nods, obviously prideful.
"Woah, you humans are so metal." Amethyst comments in a hushed tone, in awe of Vidalia's graphic explanation. Steven looks faint.
"O-okay. So how can I help someone who is Menstrual Cycling?" He finally speaks, and Vidalia's smile softens.
"Well, if I was menstruating I would want a warm compress for my cramps, my favorite pjs and a tub of peanut butter, but every woman deals with her cramps differently." She stands, stretching her back before moseying on over to the kitchen. she motioned for them to follow before she disappears through the doorway. "I know I have some somewhere...hmm...hmm hmm hmm...HA HA!" As Amethyst and Steven enter, Vidalia tosses a box to Steven, who catches it only with a slight fumble."That is my favorite soothing relief. Raspberry leaf is great for menstrual cramps and rose hips make me feel like I'm having tea with the Queen."
Steven grinned wildly with recognition, "Oh yeah SourCream said Jenny likes this stuff too! Thanks Mrs. Ye- Vidalia!"
Amethyst smiled, then turned to her friend with a mischievous look. " So, anymore gross facts about humans you know? Spill!"
Steven stiffened, then, before Vidalia could reply he quickly thanked her for her help-
"OKAY THAT WAS FUN OH HO HO YEP THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INFO I GOTTA GO NOW SEE YOU AT HOME AMETHYST OKAY BYE!"
-And left.
At home, Steven was met with accurate graphic diagrams and a whole lecture on the human reproductive system, courtesy of Pearl.
Although he did not want to sit through another lesson on anatomy, one was enough for him, the effort Pearl put in made him reluctant to decline, and so he found himself sitting on his own couch while Pearl showed slides of pregnancies, yeast infections, and proper tampon insertion. By the end of it all, the squeamish feeling he had was gone, and he felt good about that. Part of Pearl's lecture included 'Social Stigmatism and the Effect it has on the Female Psyche'. He learned that if he acted grossed out by Connie's period at all, it could really hurt her feelings and make her feel 'gross'. Connie was not gross, and Steven was not going to be the one to make her feel that way.
At 7pm, right as the sun was setting, Steven arrived at Connie's door. Hamburger backpack in hand, he straightened up as her mother answered.
"Steven, how nice to see you. Connie said you'd be by. Come in." She moved aside, allowing Steven entrance to their home. "She said something about a 'Period Party'? Is that what I think it is?" She asked, a smile and an arched eyebrow adorning her face. Steven blushed for what must have been the 100th time that day. He took his shoes off in the foyer and began to explain himself.
"I learned about periods today so I could be there for Connie through her first one. I brought tea for cramps and peanut butter for protien and chocolate for-"
"Hey Steven!" Connie said as they walked into the dining room. She was exiting the kitchen with a bottle of water, dressed in sweats and a 'MR. Universe' T-shirt his dad gave her. It made him smile to think that those where her 'comfy clothes'. Connie's mom patted Steven on the head before she motioned toward the door he just walked through.
"It looks like Steven is pretty prepared. I'm going to have to head over to the hospital, I'm on call tonight. But I think you two will be fine. I have my cellphone, I love you Connie."
Dr. Maheswaran kissed her daughter on the head before walking out the door. Connie seemed shocked.
"My mom. Just left. And didn't lecture me to lock the door? Or stand far enough away from the microwave?! Or anything?!" Turning to Steven, her eyes were wide. "What did you say?"
Steven shrugged, another thing he found himself doing a lot that day, and answered truthfully. "I was just telling her what I brought for you and stuff." Connie squinted at him, but then smiled and grabbed his hand.
"I'm glad you came Steven. Wanna go play Magic Newton Smash Ninjas?"
"Do I ever! Let's go!" Steven replied, and followed his friend up the stairs to the entertainment room.