A/N: Content warning for menstruation talk.
The first thing Imogen did in the morning when she entered school was run to the cafeteria. Marisol had said after tryouts was over that the sheet saying who made the team would be posted outside the cafeteria on the wall.
As she approached the sheet, she braced herself for the possibility of her not making the team. After all, her and Marisol clearly weren't friends. With each step towards the sheet, she felt her stomach tighten in fear.
She quickly scanned the sheet, and when she found her name, she squealed in excitement and started bouncing excitedly. She was now a cheerleader!
"First practice is at four," she heard Marisol say as the girl suddenly appeared next to her. The other girl looked at her with hard eyes like she did yesterday. "Sharp, and if you miss it, you're off the team," she warned before walking away.
Imogen paid her no mind as she continued to bounce. She was so excited to be on the Pep Squad!
In the girls' locker room, Katie got dressed for gym class. Today, they were starting a floor hockey unit and she was eager to prove her athleticism.
Marisol was quietly changing next to her, and that's when Katie decided it was now time for them to talk. She turned to face her friend.
"Hey Mare about yesterday, I didn't mean to imply that you were fat and I'm sor-"
"Katiekins, you're bleeding," Marisol cut her off as she looked at her in worry.
"Huh? Where?" She asked in confusion as the other girls in the locker room looked at them.
"On your leg," Marisol said while pointing downward. Katie looked down and on her left leg, there was a thin, light trail of blood trickling down.
"Why am I...what's going on?" Katie questioned in horror, more to herself than Marisol.
"Your period, dummy. Plug it up," one of her classmates sneered before tossing a tampon at her head. Katie narrowly dodged it in time as several girls laughed.
Marisol glared at the girl before turning back to her. "I'll get the teacher, okay?" She said, before walking off.
Katie could only stand there in shock as she tried to process what was happening.
Eli was in a crabby mood today, and most of it was due to the sleep he didn't get last night.
The memory of him and Marisol kissing replayed in his mind repeatedly along with the dreams he had about her as he tried to work on the computer for class. It was like being forced to watch the worst movie, and he didn't know how to stop it. He looked over at Mo, who instead of doing computer exercises, was instead looking up adult sites.
"Mo, what are you doing?" He whispered to his friend.
"Looking up hot naked ladies, that's what I'm doing," his friend answered proudly as he clicked on one site. Eli was immediately bombarded with the sight of multiple clips of adults doing very adult things. "You're going to get in trouble," Eli warned him as he immediately shielded his eyes, but it was too late.
He was already fantasizing about him and Marisol doing those things.
"Oh please, Simpson is on the other side of the room. He can't see this," Mo argued as he clicked on one clip. "It's crazy how the school doesn't even have a parental lock on this kind of thing…."
Despite knowing he should look away from the video, Eli could not bring himself to do so. As the adults on the screen performed acts he had never seen before, he was intrigued. He stopped doing his exercises and instead silently watched with his friend.
It didn't take long before they were caught.
"Interesting material to look at, boys," Simpson said in a soft voice, getting both his and Mo's attention immediately. They both whipped around to look at their teacher in surprise.
There was an amused glint in Simpson's eyes, but it wasn't enough to save them.
"I'll be glad to discuss with you two about the harmful effects of watching pornography at such a young age…...in detention."
Katie felt incredibly awkward as she sat in the nurse's office with the sweater Marisol gave her to cover herself up. She was embarrassed when she was led out of the gym by the teacher, who clearly was uncomfortable with dealing with this kind of situation.
How could she not feel her period coming? Was she supposed to feel it coming? She felt like an idiot for not having things under control.
The nurse stepped out with a fresh pair of panties, some fresh shorts, and a pad. "Getting your first period during school isn't an uncommon occurrence and nothing to be ashamed about," she assured her as she handed her the new clothes. "Go into the bathroom, wipe yourself, and put these on.
Katie gingerly took the items, still feeling quite ashamed despite the nurse's words. After she spent the next couple of minutes doing what the nurse ordered, she left the nurse's office.
She barely made it five steps before she was teased by some boys in her grade.
"Hey Bloody Mary, I heard you got blood on the floor in the locker room," one boy sneered. Katie tried to ignore them as she walked back to gym class, only for the boy and his friends to follow her.
"Leave me alone," she commanded, walking a little more faster.
"What's wrong? Already PMSing?" Another one teased. She continued to walk.
"I bet she is. Why are you ignoring us? You're gonna start crying, Bloody Mary?" The third one asked. When she didn't answer, he grabbed her arm. It proved to be a big mistake for him.
Before she could think twice about it, she turned around and punched the kid in the face.
Imogen got her lunch and happily went to sit down with her friends, who both had grim looks on their faces. "What's wrong with you guys?" She questioned.
"Mo here got us in detention this afternoon," Eli answered while giving his friend a dirty look.
"Hey, you didn't seem to protest watching the video with me," Mo argued.
"Only because I had no choice! It was a distraction!" Eli argued back.
"What video?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. She watched as both boys flushed red, although Eli's was much more prominent due to his pale skin.
"Um, well…," Mo began before suddenly focusing on the plate of red pasta and juice in front of him. Eli then sighed.
"Porn. We were watching porn, Im," he explained, not really meeting her eyes.
"Porn? What's that?" She questioned.
"You can't be serious…..," Mo said to her in disbelief. She shrugged in response. She really didn't know what it was.
"Wait, you really don't know what porn is?" He asked in surprise.
"No, what is it?"
"It's videos of adults having sex with each other," Eli answered bluntly. "Mo had the bright idea of going on some porn site in class, and Simpson caught. Quite frankly, only Mo should get detention because he was the one who searched it up on his laptop."
"Ew…..," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. When she learned that that was how babies were made, she remembered losing her appetite for a whole day.
"You seemed to be really into it though," Mo pointed out to Eli. "You were probably thinking of you and Marisol doing that nasty stuff."
Imogen tensed at the mention of the other girl's name. A part of her was still scared that the rumors were true about her and Eli hooking up in that closet.
"Like hell I would," Eli denied with narrowed eyes just as Marisol walked by. She had a slice of pizza on her plate, along with fries, a chocolate chip cookie, and a bottle of iced tea.
"You know, for someone who's going to lead a cheer team, she sure does eat a lot," Mo said as he looked at Marisol in wonder. The cheer captain sat down at an empty table while looking around, probably for her best friend Katie. "She eats breakfast here too. I always see her eating some kind of breakfast sandwich."
"I'm surprised she eats anything other than a salad and water honestly. Pizza, fries, and cookies don't seem like cheerleader food," Eli remarked.
"I'm surprised you don't know more about her since you guys were in a closet together," Mo replied.
"Because we did nothing but sit in silence together for the whole seven minutes," Eli said firmly.
"Marisol is too shallow for Eli, and stupid," Imogen said, and when Eli nodded in agreement, she felt her heart soar. His opinion mattered more than anyone else's.
"Yeah, at least one of my friends get me," he agreed while looking pointedly at Mo.
"I'm just saying, that's not what I'm hearing. I heard you were elated to go in that closet with her," Mo replied with a teasing smile.
"He was disgusted. He didn't even want to touch her hand," Imogen corrected him quickly, not even wanting to entertain that one rumor. She saw how uncomfortable Eli looked when the bottle spun on him and Marisol. There was no way his opinion changed during those dreadful seven minutes.
"Exactly, now stop telling me what those stupid kids are saying. I don't want to hear it," Eli requested. "Marisol is the worst and I could go on and on as to why."
"Let's hear them!" Imogen encouraged him.
As her friend ranted about the other girl, she could relax knowing that Marisol could never be a threat to the bond she and Eli have.
"But he grabbed my arm!" Katie exclaimed in anger. She was in the principal's office for punching that kid and for some reason, she was the one getting in trouble despite being the victim.
"Regardless, violence is never the answer, Ms. Matlin," Raditch replied with a hard look, "Three days detention."
She gasped. "Are you kidding me? What are those boys getting?"
"Rest assured that they will be punished too, but as for you, you will be given a lot of time to think about why retaliating violence with more violence only adds fuel to the fire," he explained. Katie felt her blood boil and her skin grow hot.
"So a guy that beats on girls gets to come back to Degrassi but I can't defend myself without punishment when I get grabbed? This is all a joke!" She protested, appalled.
"Ms. Matlin if you don't lower your voice at me, you will be sitting in detention for the rest of the week," Raditch sharply warned her. She simply scowled at him in response as she got out of her seat. She couldn't believe how horrible her day has been, and it was because of her stupid period.
"Be lucky that I'm only giving you three days as a warning. Degrassi has a zero tolerance for violence," he told her. She bit down a smart remark. "You can leave now, you are dismissed," he added.
She stormed out of the principal's office with tears in her eyes.
Marisol was getting books out of her locker after school, waiting for Katie to come up. When she didn't, Marisol closed her locker and promptly left the school.
She was still mad at her best friend for daring to imply that she was getting fat but she was still protective of Katie, and she felt so bad that she got her period during gym class. The embarrassment will be talked about for weeks, especially by those girls who were making fun of her after she was escorted out of the gym. She tried to tell them off, but the girls only continued to make jokes about how stupid her bestie was. If only they knew that Katie would break their necks in a heartbeat.
Marisol didn't have her period yet, but she did get some weird white liquid in her panties several months ago and her mama told her it was a sign that it was coming soon. Since her mother was a doctor, she believed her.
She was excited about becoming a woman, but she was also scared, especially after what Katie went through. She overheard from some guys in her class that some boys tried to bully her friend too, only for Katie to punch one of them in the face. Now she thought about it, that's probably why Katie was missing. She was in detention.
"How was school, baby?" Her mother, Martina, asked her as she got in her mom's car.
"Katie got her period in class today," Marisol answered.
"Ooh that must have been embarrassing for her," her mother replied sympathetically, "I remember I got my first period at lunch. I was wearing a nice pair of white jeans and didn't know there was a big red spot on the back of them until a couple boys walked up to me and started making fun of me. I was humiliated and ran out of the cafeteria crying."
"Will that happen to me?" Marisol asked in fear.
"It might. It might not. Unfortunately it's up to your body to decide when to start menstruating," her mother answered. Marisol frowned at that.
If her first period came while she was at school, she might not be able to survive the embarrassment.
"For the next hour, you two will write an essay about why pornography is wrong," Raditch said as he handed him a paper and a pencil. Mo watched as he did the same to Eli, who was forced to sit far away from him on the other side of the room. After he was done with Eli, he then approached Katie, who was sitting in the back of the classroom. "And you will write an essay on why violence is never the solution to any problem."
Katie gave Raditch a death glare, and if looks could kill, the principal would have combust into flames right then and there. Raditch paid her no mind as he walked back to the front of the room and stood at the desk. "During detention there is no talking, sleeping, or eating of any kind. I am keeping a close eye on all of you," he warned. "Now start writing."
'I don't see why we need to write a stupid paper. We're all probably going to get yelled by our parents when we get home anyway,' Mo thought to himself as his mind blanked on what to write with. He could already hear his mother's shrill voice, screaming for him to explain himself as to why he was watching those videos instead of doing schoolwork. He was probably going to be grounded for a month with no access to the TV.
Fifteen minutes went by, and Mo only had a few sentences written. He was bored out of his freaking mind. When Raditch had to leave the room to take a call, he took this as a prime opportunity to talk to Eli. "What do you have so far?" He whispered to his friend.
"Three paragraphs," Eli whispered back as he lifted up his paper for him to see.
"How are you even finding the words to write?" He questioned.
"Writing's easy for me," Eli answered with a shrug. He then looked back at Katie. "You're in here for punching a kid, right?" He asked her.
"Yup," she answered flatly without looking up from her paper.
"And you don't regret it at all," he assumed.
"Nope," she confirmed in the same flat tone as before.
"Did you really need to punch that guy over a period?" Mo asked her. He then put a teasing smile. "I mean, periods are pretty gross and I heard you got it all over the locker room fl-"
"Would you like to get punched too?" She cut him off, and there was a dangerous fire in her eyes.
"Not even remotely," he replied quickly, turning around in his seat.
The more he knew of Katie Matlin, the more he knew that avoiding her bad side was the wisest choice to make.
Imogen came home to just her father. Her mother had moved out over the weekend to temporarily live with her grandmother until she found a new place. She really didn't miss her so far.
She sat her backpack on her living room couch and turned on the TV. One of her favorite cartoons, Powerpuff Girls, was on. She knew that some kids in her grade had stopped watching cartoons, claiming that it was childish to do so. But she would always love watching cartoons because they were a great escape from the real world. She liked watching anime too, and reading manga.
She got up to fix herself a snack when she noticed water leaking down the steps. Confused, she walked over to the scene and looked upstairs. "Dad!" She called, to no answer. She walked up the steps to see water flooding from their main bathroom tub. She carefully stepped inside and turned the water off, nearly slipping in the process. She then walked inside her Dad's bedroom to where he was casually lounging on his bed reading a book.
"Dad? Why was the bathtub running? You flooded the bathroom!" She questioned.
Her father looked at her in confusion, as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "I didn't turn on anything…..," he replied before something clicked in his mind. "Oh! I was supposed to be taking a bath!" He got off his bed and made his way into the hallway, which was soaked. "Shoot! I guess I have to clean this up, eh? Be a dear and get your father a mop and some paper towels, please?"
Imogen nodded as she walked downstairs to get the stuff needed to clean everything up.
She was a little concerned as to how her father forgot a simple task like turning the water off.