I Remember My First Period

The Books Never Prepared Me For This... It was November 25, 2002. I was just 12 years old, and my 13th birthday was a little over a month away. I'd read all the books about human anatomy, how obsessed I was with knowing where everything was. My parents were actually a little too open about a woman's development, but like a good little clueless girl, I still listened. My mom started her period when she was 10 years old, and I was thrilled that mine hadn't started yet and I was not looking forward to it in any sense of the word. Then it happened. I went to the bathroom between classes like it was any other day, and for some reason that I cannot recall, I looked at my underwear and saw bright red. Despite all that I knew and despite the fact that I knew exactly what was going on, I freaked out. The most horrible day of my middle school career had come: I was having my first period. What happened next was kind of a blur, but I must've raced out of that bathroom like I was starting the Indy 500, and went straight to the office secretary, and between gasps (I was having a full blown panic attack at this point, complete with hyperventilation) somehow mangaged to tell her that I was starting my period. I could tell by the look on her face that she knew it was my first one ever. She escorted me inside the office and showed me where the staff bathroom was and then handed me a sanitary napkin. After that was all over, I was finally calming down and went to my next class, but throughout the rest of the day every time I stood up to leave, I would always check my chair to see if I'd leaked through. For the record, it was far too light to worry about that, but I didn't know that. And it lasted about 2 days. To this day, I still don't know why I freaked out so hard if I already knew so much about it.