4. The facts of Life

One day April, Lyla and another girl named Maggie were swimming in a smaller pool near the river that connected to the ocean and the main drinking pool. Maggie who was only 12, was eager to have more older girls swimming with her rather than all the young boys. Suddenly, she felt something odd between her legs, looking down she saw a dark red liquid escaping from her private areas. "April, Lyla!" she screamed. "Help!" she yelled terrified. Lyla came over first then April. "What is it?" they asked hugging Maggie. "B-Blood." she said shaking, and pointing down. "Did you cut yourself?" "No, it just flowed out." Maggie was starting to cry. "It's ok...um, where is the blood coming from?" "My private area!" "Calm down, Maggie, I think you just got your period." "Really? Aren't I too young?" "No not at all I was 10 when I first got it." said April rubbing Maggie's shoulders. "I learned about menstruation in school, but I don't know that much about it." "Well, it means you can have a baby." "I know that, but why do we bleed and why does it hurt?" "We bleed because, the lining and possible placenta are being expelled. Because we aren't pregnant, it's a nest for the baby to grow in. It hurts because, our uteruses are contracting to push out the tissues." said April trying not to blush. "Its not easy to get used to, but over time you do." said Lyla. "Ok, thanks you guys." said Maggie. "Your welcome honey." said April hugging her and Lyla hugging them all. "I have some pads that you can stuff in your underwear, we could also use plant fluff and palm fronds too." said April helping Maggie out of the pool, Lyla followed behind and found a large elephant ear to cover up Maggie's lower half. They had planned to go back to the shelters, but bumped into Sheraton and Bill. "Hey you girls ok? We heard yelling and were worried if something had happened." "Nope we're good." "Totally." said April and Lyla holding the plant closer to Maggie. "What's with the plant?" "Oh girl stuff bye!" and off they went to the shelters, leaving Bill and Sheraton to wonder what had just happened. They set Maggie up with some items to keep herself clean and cheer her up, they did her hair in a pretty up do. Later that day as Ralph spoke at the assembly, he addressed that the small pool was also a good place to go and swim, however Lyla raised her hand. "Ralph, that's great and all but, couldn't the girls have a place for themselves? That pool is teeny and it would be nice if we could have a little privacy from time to time, you know for girl stuff." "Yea we agree." said the other girls. "Ok, a separate pool for the girls is a good idea. Just like how there are different bathrooms already on the island, alright anyone who is not a girl cannot go into the small pool, however the large one is for everyone and same goes for the waterfall." finished Ralph. "Why should they get privacy?" asked Lance with a sneer. "Damn are you that stupid, it's for when...ah...um...I...they." said Tex blushing and starting to laugh the other boys did too, the girls blushed and laughed nervously. "Geez it's for their time of month." said Pedro. Everyone stopped and looked up at him. "Whats a time of month?" asked the twins in unison. "Yeah what?" asked the other boys. "They need to...ah." "Bleed." said Jack aloud. "Yeah that's it." said Pedro. "Why?" asked a little one and a few others. "We will explain later." said Ralph sensing embarrassment from most of the girls. "Yea, later." said Jack nodding. They dispersed, the girls all walked together, whispering. "Oh my god! Can you believe them?" "Talking about our personal issues like that, seriously!" "Then Jack is saying why out loud, and Tex and the little ones!" "Why can't they just respect our privacy?" "Their hormonally challenged!" said Lyla causing all the girls to burst out laughing. "I know, I think they stare at us a lot more then they let on. Maybe even when we get dressed in the morning and after bathing, even when we use the bathroom." said Ella tossing her head. "Yea, I bet they like like us!" said Faye in school girlish glee."I think so, I mean we met them briefly, but I don't think they had girls at their academy. So we are the new playthings and forbidden fruit." said Sara thoughtfully. "Sara's right, we are their forbidden fruit and I agree they probably like like us and want to be more than friends." said Laura blushing. "No wonder their pants look super tight when we are around." said Tabitha, everyone turned to face her in surprise. "Geez Tabby! I thought you were all innocent and cute!" said Laura. "Yea, did not know you knew that." said April blushing and laughing. "Hey I have four brothers, three older, one younger. I have seen them get boners around girls they like or even just randomly, that will happen to guys all of a sudden. It's weird and kind of funny, my brother says that the average guy will get boners three times a day and four to five times at night." said Tabby with a devilish grin. "Oh my god!" shrieked the girls. "Holy Shit!" "Damn" "What the hell!" they yelled and laughed. They continued laughing and talking about periods, boys, sex and love. Meanwhile the boys were having a discussion about what the time of month was. "Jack do they really bleed?" "From what I'm told, they bleed a lot, sometimes for days." "How do you know?" "Friends back home and a few girlfriends." "Wow, Ralph did you know that?" "Of course we were told in health class." "Wow, I didn't know that at all. But why do they?" "Duh so they can have babies." "Babies? Like moms and teachers?" "Yes Peter just like moms and teachers." "How can they have babies?" "Well, I guess the baby must live the stuff that bleeds out and they only bleed when they don't have a baby inside." finished Ralph. "Cool, can guys have babies?" "Holy shit! Of course not! Men cannot have babies, girls only can have babies." said Jack who was exasperated and tired of the nagging questions. "How does the baby get there? Inside of a girl?" "The girls have eggs inside them that when mixed with a guy's sperm, it becomes a baby." said Piggy, cleaning his glasses. "How does guy stuff get into a girl?" "You little termite, they have sex." said Jack carving a face into a stick with his knife. "Oh, what's sex?" asked Peter. "It's... god damn it! I'm going hunting!" said Jack getting up, Roger, Tex and Bill following him. "Ralph what's sex?" asked Peter. "Sex is something only a guy and a girl do when their in love." said Ralph kindly, but impatiently. "Is it when they take their clothes off and the guy shoves his dick into the girl's hole where the blood comes out?" asked a little one with red hair and freckles. "Yes." said Piggy. "But not exactly like that." said Ralph. "Eww!" yelled all the younger boys, the twins as well. "I'm not doing that to my wife! Don't you have to pee in her too?" Ralph rolled his eyes, now wishing he had gone with Jack. "No, you don't. You put the sperm in her, geez grow up." said Pedro. "That's what you do with your wife." said Ralph. "Eww!" "Guess it will be easier when we're grown ups." said the twins. The awkward conversation was over and Ralph relaxed and ate a banana. The girls were oblivious as to what had gone on with the boys, but they figured that the boys had talked about the time of month and sex. "They are so dense!" said Rosaline brushing her hair. "Agreed, they are. So are most men." said Lyla. "I think Ralph is not dense, I think he is really nice." said Laura. "Oh my god, your in love with Ralph! I knew it our Laura is in love!" yelled Ella. Laura blushed and smiled shyly. The girls laughed loudly, love was such a delightful subject that needed to be prodded. " I know that April loves Jack!" yelped Faye. "What? No!" "Get off it girl your hooked on Jack!" "Ok I like him as a friend...ok more then a friend." said April blushing. They joined the boys later, everyone was by the beach or up in the palm trees. The awkwardness had not been forgotten, though, boys and girls would only talk small talk and not go in depth.