AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I groan and roll over, looking up at her stern face.
I expect her to start a lecture but her eyes drop down to the bed and she makes a small knowing sniff.
“Oh,” she says.
I look down too.
Oh.
“River, why didn’t you tell me?” she asks, her tone disappointed.
There is a small circle of blood on my bed. I sit up and look down at my underwear, and there is a small circle of blood there too.
My mom stopped getting periods when she hit an early menopause a few years ago so I don’t really have any second-hand experiences to go on. I’ve never had a period before.
I’m so amazed by the sight that I stop feeling the pains for a minute.
“It must have just happened,” I say, my tone awe-struck. RIP my underwear.
“Right, I’m going to go out and get you some pads and Ibuprofen. Stay right here.”
Honestly, where does she think that I will go? My own body is stabbing me from the inside and I have sweat running down my forehead. I hear her close the front door and I roll back on my stomach, into my little blood patch.
Then there’s another knock at the door.
Ugh. Why is she trying to torture me? Is this her way of forcing me out of bed so that Ihaveto lock the door from the inside? Why can’t she lock the door from theoutside?
By the time that I reach the bottom step I feel like hell again. Too much jiggling. I catch sight of myself in the mirror and Kit was right. I am all pale and sweaty.
I open the door and my stomach drops.
Tate Coleson is an imposing presence when he’s standing in your doorway. He’s not even sixteen yet and he’s already six foot tall. His face is in the shadow of the porch roof, making his skin an even deeper tan, and when he meets my eyes he looks hard and angry.
Then his face changes completely.
“River, what’s wrong?”
All of a sudden I can’t stand anymore. I want to put my head between my knees but that would look weird in front of Tate, so I opt for lying down on the tiles instead.
“I’m fine,” I lie. From down here on the tiles the lie sounds believable. I think that I might be passing out. When I peek up at Tate he doesn’t look convinced.
“River, please can I come in?” His whole body is straining in the doorway. He looks so desperate that I want to saynoand then continue watching him put up this agonising fight with the invisible barrier, but instead I sigh and acquiesce.
“You can take the player, Tate. It’s in my room.”Just leave me here to die.
He’s at my side in an instant, one hand cupping my head so that it isn’t touching the tiles and the other entwining our fingers.
“What is it? What happened? I saw your mom leave. Tell me, River.”
Suddenly I have this horrible recollection of what I am wearing. Luckily due to my short height the white shirt that I have on technically looks oversized, but still, if he looks any further-
“Tate, please don’t look down,” I say urgently.
Obviously Tate’s eyes immediately flicker downwards and he sees exactly why I am melting like a puddle on my mom’s tiles.
His eyes are back on mine in a second, his expression bashful and guilty.
“I’m sorry,” he says, “I didn’t mean to.”
