Chapter 00|PREDULE

GROWING UP as a child, I had always been that happy ten-year-old little girl. But things took a turn for the worse that night. I went through something that a little girl should never have to experience.

It all started that night when everything changed.

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"But, Mom, I do not need a stupid baby sitter." I pouted.

My Mom smiled. "Anna, we will be back soon."

"Soon, means in the morning," I mumbled.

Little did I know that I would be sitting on a hospital bed with an IV drip attached to my veins. I stared through the large window that was separating me from my parents. I could hear the voices between them, and my mind raced as tears ran down my pale face.

"Sweetheart, you are only ten years old. You will be okay until me, and your mother is back," my father said as he walked towards me. He placed a small kiss on my forehead.

"We love you!" They both waved their goodbyes before exiting out the front door.

My eyes followed my parent's every move as the door opened.

"I am so sorry," My Mom greeted me with open arms, and gently smoothed my hair as I cried onto her dress. "Momm-," I tried to talk as tears continued to stream down my cheeks, but my throat was dry from the IV.

"What were you thinking, Anna?" My father stood beside my mom with tears in his eyes.

Mom leaned over and passed a cup of water from the dresser so I could speak.

Cassie was my babysitter's name. She locked the door behind them, then turned and stared at me.

"Well, you already know what to do," she said, pointing to the stairs, and she walked into the living room.

I went upstairs to my bedroom. I hated having a damn babysitter: what ten-year-old has a sitter? It was stupid. I wish I were a grown-up already, like my parents. I heard Cassie's laughter, and some other voice I didn't recognize as they joked downstairs.

"I am sorry, daddy. I started bleeding on my no-no spot; I didn't know what to do." I covered my eyes with my hands. "I tried calling you and mommy, but you didn't answer."

My father sighed. "We are sorry we have failed you, but what was Cassie thinking, giving you a tampon? You are only ten years old for God's sake!"

"That's the only thing she could find in the house."

"Why keep it in there overnight? She didn't teach you how to use it properly and how to change it every 4-8 hours and not overnight," my mom said.

I shook my head in tears.

"Anna, you are smarter than that. I know you saw that long string that was attached to it. You could have taken it out slowly."

"I know, but Cassie told me it would be fine to go to sleep. That you and dad will be back tomorrow morning."

My stomach started cramping, and I crouched down in pain. A warm liquid slid down out of my no-no spot, and as I looked down, I noticed it was blood.

Why was I bleeding? Was I dying?

Tears escaped as my heart started to race. I screamed for help, and Cassie came running up the stairs. 

"Anna, you okay?" she questioned me. I shook my head and looked down at the pool of blood between my legs.

Cassie followed my gaze with widened eyes. "Okay. Everything is going to be okay."

"I am going to die," I cried.

A blond teenage boy walked behind Cassie and wrapped his arms around her. 

"Baby, what's going on?" he asked. He looked at me then glanced at the blood on the carpet.

"She started her period," Cassie stated, looking at me.

"Period? So I wasn't dying from loss of blood," I sniffed.

"No, you're not dying, but let's get you to shower, and I will be there to give you something to stop the blood." She smiled at me. I nodded and headed to the shower.

A knock startled us, and we were greeted with a white coat. It was the same man that had been outside with my parents. 

"Hello again, little Anna. I am glad you're doing better."

"What are the results, doctor?" my dad asks.

"Your daughter has Toxic Shock Syndrome, also known as TSS." He glanced at me as my parents cried.

"That explained your high fever this morning, but are you feeling better?"

He touched my forehead as I nodded.

"Is my little girl going to be okay?" my father sniffed.

"This is a rare case, but in Anna's case, in the future, it will be hard for her to have kids due to having TSS."

"What do you mean, hard?" Mom asked.

"She will likely have a miscarriage down the road; it would be a miracle if she could hold a fetus at all. Only a 10% chance."

I didn't know what the doctor was talking about, but I knew it was terrible for me.

I stepped out of the shower and saw Cassie sitting down on the sink counter. 

"You will enter the tampon inside your no-no spot - or better, your vagina - where you are bleeding from."

That was a tampon. I knew what a tampon was. My mother always used one. But tampons were made for women, not little girls like me.

I nodded. I knew what the no-no spot was because they had taught us in school. She grabbed a pretty wrapped stick and placed it in my hand. "Is everything okay?"

She walked out of the bathroom as I sat on the toilet and opened up the wrapper. I carefully stuck the tampon inside of my no-no spot and changed my clothes. 

"Am I supposed to leave the tampon in as I sleep?" I asked Cassie.

"Yeah, it is fine. I do it all the time. See you in the morning, kiddo."

There was silence in the room. 

"Mom, will my no-no spot be okay?" I look at my mother, who had dry tears on her face.

"No, you will have trouble having kids of your own. When you become a woman."

That day, I promised myself I would never have anything inside of me again. I, Anna Marie Johnson, will stay a virgin until I become old and wrinkled.