"And so Cinderella and her prince lived happily ever after. The end." Mike finished, closing the storybook. Elle yawned, resting her head on his shoulder. Elle loved fairytales. The endings were always so simple, and every one ended up happy.
As summer had begun and Mike began to spend all his time with her the two had read many, many fairytales. Every morning they would gobble on eggos and bacon, then read until lunch. After lunch they got together with the boys to play D&D or go to the pool, depending on the weather. In the evenings they would build a fire, get ice cream in town, or watch a movie. It was a nice, easy routine, filled with popsicles, ghost stories, and imaginary dragons.
Elle gasped as a sudden twang of pain made itself known in her gut.
"Ooh." She winced.
"What's wrong?" Mike's face creased in concern.
"Nothing. Just tummy ache. Too many eggos." She joked. Humor was one of those things she was particularly eager to learn. Sure she made the boys laugh plenty now, but she'd like to do so without it being because she was uneducated.
"Oh okay. What do you want to do now?" Mike asked, adjusting his body to try and get a little more comfortable. His shoulder ached, but he would never tell Elle. He didn't understand how this position could be enjoyable for her, given how bony he was, but she seemed to like napping on him.
Mike had grown quite a bit recently- but only vertically. He was still as skinny as ever, it was just that now he had to buy pants with the 'tall' label. Elle, on the other hand, had rapidly gotten to about 5 feet, then stopped her upwards ascent and started spreading outwards- in very specific ways. Not that Mike had noticed.
"Mmm..." Elle slid down the couch so her head was in his lap. "I'm tired. Do the hair thing." One day Mike had lazy combed his fingers through her thick hair, an action Elle found supremely comforting. Elle was apparently part cat and derived far too much pleasure from the simple sensation, demanding the 'hair thing' almost constantly.
Elle closed her eyes as Mike worked his hands through her mane and tried to ignore the discomfort she felt in her abdomen. She really needed to lay off the eggos.
"Hey Mike! Hey- oh shit, sorry." Dustin clomped down the stairs, Will and Lucas right behind him. Mike held a finger up to his mouth in vain as Elle sniffed and woke up from her nap.
"Hey nerds." Elle smiled thinly at the boys.
"Hello Elle." Will curled up on the floor with his sketchbook.
"Whassup Wheeler." Lucas bumped fists with Mike before plopping down next to Will and opening up his book.
"Where you two sucking face?" Dustin unzipped his backpack with a sneer.
"Wouldn't you be jealous? That's what you want to do with Abigail." Elle teased, causing the older boy to flush.
Dustin's furious crush had not abated since the party incident. They had gone to see a couple movies with Megan, Amy, Matthew, and Abigail a couple times and it had been quite interesting to see how the couples formed and interacted.
"Shut up." Dustin muttered, munching on a nilla wafer.
"What are you reading?" Mike asked Lucas to change the subject.
"Oh, um." Lucas showed them the cover, a dull brown thing with the silhouette of a man in a funny hat.
"Father Brown?" Mike read. "Isn't that, like, the weird Catholic dude?"
"Mike, I'm the weird Catholic dude." Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Wait, you're Catholic?" Crumbs spilled out of Dustin's mouth. "Since when?"
Elle sat up and crossed her arms across her stomach. It didn't help.
"I'm going to the bathroom." She whispered to Mike. He nodded, fixated on Lucas and Dustin's argument about Lucas's religiousity.
Elle climbed the stairs slowly. Her head ached too now and she felt so, so tired.
She locked the bathroom door and sat on the toilet to do her business. Then she happened to glance down.
"So Jesus came back life? Dude that's wicked cool." Dustin enthused at Lucas's bible tales.
"Dustin, you're Baptist. You go to church literally every week. How do you not know these things?" Lucas sighed. "His friends really amazed his sometimes.
"Hey!" Dustin protested. "They never make it sound-"
A scream ricocheted through the house and the boys all shot up.
"Elle." Mike breathed.
They dashed upstairs to the bathroom door. Mike pounded on the door.
"Elle, Elle what is it? What's wrong?" The door cracked open and Mike shoved it the rest of the way.
Elle sat on the floor, pantless and sobbing. Blood ran from her nose down her legs.
"Mike, Mike. I'm bleeding." She buried her face in her hands. Mike crouched next to her and hugged her to his chest.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Dustin tugged at his hair right outside the door. Will just stared, face white. Lucas burst into tears and Will hugged him.
"What the hell is going on?" Nancy came down the hall face creased in worry. "I heard a scream."
"El is dying." Lucas wiped at his face.
Nancy looked over the pathetic scene with pity on her face.
"Oh kids." She shook her head. "Elle will be fine." Dustin turned to her with an incredulous expression.
"How can you say that? Elle is fucking bleeding everywhere."
Nancy sighed. "I'll explain this all to you in a minute. Let me help Elle get cleaned up." She ushered the boys out of the bathroom with some difficulty. Then she turned to the trembling little girl with a sigh.
Will sat against the wall with his knees under his chin, white as a ghost. Dustin compulsively gobbled crackers and Lucas just cried. Mike practically buzzed with nervous energy.
The door opened and Nancy lead the pale girl, now dressed in loose, dark sweats to her room. The boys followed without a question.
Elle settled carefully on the bed next to Nancy and Will, Lucas, and Dustin sat on the floor. Mike just stood as close to Elle as possible.
"Alright." Nancy shuffled through her dresser and pulled out a stack of papers. "We're going to do this properly." She held up a diagram. "This is the female reproductive system."
"What does this have to do with Elle?" Dustin asked. Nancy raised an eyebrow.
"Oh my god. Elle is a female. Therefore she has a uterus, ovaries and vagina." Nancy indicated the different parts. "So do I. That's why she was bleeding. The uterus is where a baby lives before it is born. Every month the lining of the uterus is replaced and the woman kind of... gives birth to it."
The children all stared at her with wide eyes.
"That's what the blood Elle had was. She has her period now. You probably noticed some cramps and breast soreness, right?" Elle nodded.
"Wait, so this is gonna happen again?" Dustin blurted.
"Yep. Once a month for the next 40 years or so." Mike blanched.
"That's so much blood. Why would a baby need it?"
"It's what protects it, so it doesn't get hurt when the mom moves around or whatever."
"Can I have a baby?" Elle whispered, eyes on the floor. That sounded like the one possibly positive result of this weird ritual in which she had to wear diapers and felt like ripping off someones head.
"Looking at you Mike." Nancy mumbled.
"What? No!" Mike reddened. Elle looked hurt.
"How do I get babies?" Elle asked, puzzled. Nancy chuckled.
"That's a talk for another time." Nancy handed a sheet of paper to each of the boys. "These are... instruction guides of sorts. I knew this was gonna happen and I figured it would not hurt to be prepared."
They all studied their papers. Elle tugged at Nancy's sleeve.
"I'm gonna go to the fort." She whispered.
Nancy nodded. "I hope you feel better. Women certainly got handed a shit card with this one."
Elle curled up in the blanket fort, arms wrapped around her midsection. This was not what she had wanted to do today. She yawned. She really, really wanted chocolate. Also, to hit something. Why did only girls have to go through this? It wasn't fair.
Elle growled and yanked a comforter up to her chin. Well at least the 'Midol' Nancy had given her helped with the headache. Elle yawned and buried her face in a pillow. Sleep was good.
"Hey Elle." Mike whispered, poking his head under the top.
"Get in." Elle patted the ground near her grumpily.
"Uh, are you sure?" He asked.
She just glared. She wanted some goddamn snuggles.
"I'll take that as a yes."
When she woke up, Elle felt groggy. She blinked a little and pushed her hair out of her eyes. Then she giggled.
"What's so funny?" Mike inquired groggily peering over her shoulder. She pointed to the entrance of the fort.
A stack of pudding cups, chips, and chocolate rested in a pyramid with a folded piece of paper on top. Elle grabbed it and held it up for Mike to read with her.
These were on the list Nancy gave us. We hope your uterus feels better soon. Congratulations on being a woman now.
Love,
Will, Lucas & Dustin
