Eleven laughed and Dr Pepper squirted up her nose, burning her nostrils. She looked around at her friends Will, Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike of course, who were laughing at her misfortune.
"Ow!" she exclaimed as she wiped up the mess with a paper towel. "If you guys weren't so funny, this wouldn't happen. And you can't laugh at me!"
"I wasn't laughing at you, Elle!" said Dustin defiantly. Eleven rolled her eyes at the boy across from the table.
"Friends don't tell lies." she and Mike said at the same time, making them both blush. This just made the others laugh more. Eleven tried to laugh again, but found her stomach hurting in a way that wasn't related to laughing. She placed a hand on her stomach and breathed in sharply.
"Are you okay, Elle?" Mike said as he looked at Eleven with concern etched in every feature.
"I'm just going to the bathroom." she said quietly as she walked towards the door. She smiled back at Mike like she was fine, but as soon as she got to the bathroom, she doubled over in pain, inhaling sharply. She made her way over to the toilet, and pulled down her white underwear that she wore underneath her blue dress.
She screamed.
"Elle!" he shouted, running to the door and banging on it. "What's happening!?"
Eleven emerged, her face as white as a sheet and practically fell down she was so surprised.
"I'm dying!" She screamed and the pieces of their D and D game flew off the board and hit the wall.
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, concerned about his friend. He, Dustin, Max, and Will made their way over to the sobbing girl who pointed in the bathroom.
"Look!" Eleven sobbed as her bloody underwear floated out of the bathroom and landed next to Mike.
"Son of a-" Dustin exclaimed, too shocked to finished his swear. "What's wrong with her!?" The other boys shrugged and looked as confused as cows on astroturf.
"Guys." Max said authoritatively, but still didn't get their attention. "Guys!" The scream worked, and she suddenly had all their attention on her.
"Do you assholes honestly not know what's happening here?" Max asked them accusingly. All the boys, especially Lucas, shamefully shook their heads. Max sighed and looked sympathetically at Eleven.
"Okay, everyone out." Max said firmly. The boys stared at her dumbfounded but she just gave them her best 'do what I said you pieces of shit' look and they slumped upstairs.
After making sure they were gone, Max turned back to Eleven and noticed her hatred coming from the brunette's eyes.
"I know that you hate me but I'm the only other girl in the party, which means I'm the only one that understands you."
"Mike understands me." Eleven stared matter-of-factly.
"That's true," Max said cautiously. "But this is something that only happens to girls. It's called a period."
"Per-period." Eleven repeated hesitantly. "At the end of a sentence?" Max exhaled slowly through her nose. This was going to be a tough challenge.
"No, Elle, not like at the end of a sentence." she sighed. "Do you trust me?" It took a while, but eventually Eleven nodded. Max gave a small smile and reached for her bag, where she took out a tampon.
"Let's do this."
"So it's is just a different kind of blood. It comes from my…uterus, and not from my nose."
"Exactly!" Max said, finally happy the other girl was getting it. In just half an hour, Eleven had learned what a period was, gone through various mood swings, and succeeded in putting in a tampon.
"Should I go get the boys so we can go back to the game?" Max asked, earning a nod and a small smile. She rose from the cushion on the floor and turned to go upstairs, but a small voice stopped her.
"Max?" said Eleven hesitantly. Max turned and looked at the girl still sitting on the floor.
"What is it, Elle?"
"Just…thank you." Eleven said quietly and Max smiled, internally celebrating that she had finally connected with the girl she had been so anxious to meet since she learned of her.