I Don't Like Your Boyfriend

Without Antonio in school everything went uneventful. I actually paid attention to all of my classes and didn’t get in trouble with Mr. Sanyo, whoo! Yeah, it was all fun. Lunch was pretty much Lora complaining how much she missed Antonio’s kisses and in dance she had to sit out. In dance I felt more at home. We were going to do another contemporary dance and I was more than excited to pick the song. I honestly suck at hip pop, but it was fun exploring that. It takes more courage to experience new things than to let them pass by.

It was a code my twin sister lived by and ever since then I’ve tried to do the same. I reached into the hat and smiled at Luke. He liked contemporary as well. I pulled out a sheet of paper and unfolded it.

“Happy by Leona Lewis, hmm… the only song I know from her is Bleeding Love, should be fun to know more,” I said in a shrug.

Lora was next. She took her time.

“C’mon already,” the teacher said.

Lora finally pulled out a paper. “We are broken by Paramore… uh… right… don’t know them.”

“They’re a great band,” Luke said. “The song is pretty good too.”

“If Luke thinks it’s good then it must be,” I said. “I like Paramore. They’re not great and sort of pop rock, but they have powerful lyrics… sometimes.”

Luke chuckled. “We should get started. I know the song Happy. I saw the video in the morning on VH1.”

“You have the song in your iPod, don’t you?” I smirked.

He nodded.

Luke let me listened to the song. I listened to the lyrics. They were pretty good. I liked how it talked about how she didn’t care about being hurt. All she wanted was to have a few moments of happiness even if it meant in the end she would get hurt.

“Wow, I’m loving it, I already have some ideas,” I said and clapped my hands.

Luke and I took our time with this routine. We wanted it to be perfect and almost no mistakes. I laughed when he tried to do a back flip and almost hurt himself. At the end of dance class Luke and I had pretty much the first half of it done, but not really because we were still debating on whether or not to include some moves.

I changed quickly and Lora didn’t talk about Antonio which was good for me. I went to my psychology class and smiled when I saw Sterling. He pecked my lips and we took our seats together. Cruella wasn’t there which made me wonder because I saw her at lunch. After school Sterling told me he had to go.

“But I thought at lunch we agreed to hang out,” I said in a pout.

“I know, but I have to go, I’ll make it up to you, I swear,” he said and pecked my lips.

I nodded. I was about to go look for Luke and Lora to give me a ride to the flower shop when Antonio’s car pulled up. It was long after Sterling was gone. I smiled. I got inside of the passenger seat.

“I came by for Lora, but she was gone with Luke,” Antonio said. “Lucky I found you.”

“Yeah, now we can go to work together, how was the doctor’s?” I asked.

“Well… I had the most uncomfortable talk with Jean about… her monthly gift,” Antonio said in a blush.

“She got her period?” I asked.

Antonio nodded. “My mom is at work and… I don’t know what to tell her.”

“I’ll talk to her,” I said. “I know it’s pretty scary the first time.”

“Good, I came for Lora for that, but Jean prefers you,” Antonio said. “Can we go now? She’s locked in her room and won’t come out.”

I nodded. “I’ll just text my aunt that we’ll be late.”

“I already did… but I forgot to mention you since we haven’t really talked in the last couple of weeks,” Antonio said as he made a left towards his house.

“Oh, yeah…” I said as I took out my phone and texted my aunt that I was going to be late, but because I was with Sterling.

Antonio parked his car outside of his house. We got out and walked inside together. Joseph was watching TV with a bowl of cereal. Antonio pointed down the hall and then to the right. I nodded and went to her room. I knocked on it softly.

“Jean? It’s Edd--” I didn’t get to finish because the door opened and she pulled me inside and closed it behind me. She hugged me and I returned it. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” she sniffled.

“Yes, it is, this only means you’re becoming a woman,” I said as I pulled her away from me so she could see I was telling the truth. “I know it’s scary and you think everyone will notice it, but nothing has physically changed. It’s a normal thing. I bet your friends already have it too.”

Jean nodded. I looked around her room. It was very weird not to see posters of bands. Instead there were articles on her wall about science and discoveries.

“Wow, nerdy room,” I joked and Jean chuckled. “Where are the Jonas Brothers?”

Jean giggled. “Hopefully in hell.”

I laughed and agreed. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I just can’t believe I have to wear these!” Jean said and lifted a pad.

“Well, for the beginning you should, but eventually you can wear tampons which are more comfortable,” I said. “I wear either one, doesn’t matter to me.”

“They feel like diapers!” Jean exclaimed and I laughed.

“That’s what I said! But you get used to it,” I said.

“And these,” she lifted a tampon, “the lady doctor explained how I’m supposed to put it, but it sounds… weird.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t have anyone tell me how to use it. I had to find out myself, but it’s pretty easy. You just stick it up there--you know what? Let’s google it. Do you have a computer?”

She pointed to my left and saw an old computer.

“You know what? Let’s go to my place,” I said and we walked out of her room.

We passed the living room. “Where are you going?” Antonio asked.

“Girl stuff!” I yelled and Jean and I walked to my house. No one was in the house. I led her to my room and she did a full circle.

“Wow, it’s amazingly… unorganized in every way,” Jean said.

I laughed. “Thanks, I’m proud of it. Now, I googled how to insert a tampon and other stuff.”

I went to the website of tampax.com. I clicked on the video and let Jean see it. She made faces. When it was done she had her face scrunched together.

“I think I’ll stick to pads for a while and maybe when I’m ready I’ll use tampons,” she said. “Thanks, Eddy, you’re the best.”

She hugged me again and I hugged her back.

“Antonio tried to explain, but he kept stuttering and then he said ’God, I wish Eddy was here’ and I made him get someone to explain it better to me,” she said. “I’m so glad it was you. I thought he was going to bring his girlfriend. I don’t like his girlfriend.”

I smiled at her. “Lora is… sweet. You have to know her to see it, but she’s a great friend.”

“But you and my brother are soul mates, I know it,” she insisted.

“It doesn’t work that way, you’ll see when you fall in love with two boys… maybe three,” I muttered.

“I would make a list of pro and cons; I always do that whenever I’m in doubt of something,” she said.

“Thanks, Jean,” I said.

“I like having a big sister,” Jean said.

“You consider me your big sister?” I smiled.

Jean nodded. “Yeah, so when the boys do come around you better be there for me.”

I saluted her. “Yes, ma’am, you can count on me when boy trouble come along.”

“Who are they?” Jean asked as she pulled away from the hug and walked over to my The Who poster.

“Who are they?” I repeated shocked. “Hasn’t your brother taught you anything about awesome rock bands?”

“All the time, but I mostly ignore him,” Jean joked and I chuckled a bit.

“Let me show you who The Who is,” I smirked and clicked on my I-tunes and played the most famous song ‘My generation’.