puberty sucks
It’s been three weeks since that day in the park with Toni, and Shelby hasn’t even been to school. All the girls have received phones over the past year and have tried repeatedly to reach out to Shelby due to Toni’s pleading that she believes something is wrong. Every search had turned up blank and it makes Toni’s heart feel heavy. Did the kiss mean nothing to Shelby or was Toni over thinking everything?
Nora wasn’t sure what had happened, Shelby had been acting weird for months but to stop showing up to school? That was a new one. How were any of them supposed to handle this. One of their own (could Shelby even be considered that anymore?) had disappeared without a word. Shelby’s family had never really been a big fan of their group, but they tolerated Nora the most since she was a quiet and respectful kid. So, it was decided that Nora would head over to the Goodkind estate to check on Shelby.
Why was she doing this again? Weren’t they supposed to be mad at Shelby? Toni’s so persisted though…why? Whatever, she just has to walk up to the main door and knock, she can do this. The Goodkind estate is your picture perfect 2.3 children family home. White picket fence, toys in the front yard, white paint job with gray trim, a brown door with a doorknocker on the center of the door. A cross hanging above the doorknocker. It shouldn’t be as intimidating as it is. Reaching up to the gold doorknocker, Nora took a deep breath before knocking on the door as hard as her preteen arms could.
Nora stood there, heart racing, as she listened to the footsteps coming from inside the house. The door creaked open as little Melody opened the door. This caught Nora of guard for a second before she knelt down in front of Melody.
“Hey Mel, I’m Nora, a friend of your sister’s do you remember me?”
Mel softly nodded as she hid slightly behind the door before they hear someone call out.
“Melody, I told you not to answer the door…oh hello Nora.” Nora looked up to see Jobeth standing behind Melody with three-year-old spencer on her hip.
“Hello Mrs. Goodkind, hello Spencer.” Nora let out a small wave as Spencer smiled at her, before standing back up.
“Mel why don’t you take spence to the other room for now while I talk to Nora.” Jobeth set Spencer down before Mel grabbed his hand and lead him out of the doorway. Jobeth smiled as she watched her children walk away before turning back to Nora. “Now how can I help you dear?”
“I was looking for Shelby, she hasn’t been to school lately and we were getting worried. Is she here?”
Jobeth’s smile dropped, “Oh, Shelby, of course, unfortunately she’s not here. She went away for a while, she will be back eventually, she just has some things to work though at her aunt’s house.”
“Oh, but she’s ok? Do you know when she will be back? She’s not answering her phone.”
“Yes dear, of course she’s fine, I don’t actually know when she will be back it could take a while. Her aunt also has strict rules about technology, so she had to leave her phone here and won’t be able to be reached. When she gets home, I’ll let her know you stopped by alright?”
“Oh, ok thanks.”
“Of course, dear, I will see you around.” Jobeth said before closing the door in Nora’s face. That was weird, even for the Goodkind’s. Nora stood staring at that closed door for a solid minute before turning and heading back home.
Nora walked into her home expecting to be met with quiet and was surprised to actually hear noise coming from Rachel’s room. She walked up to the door and knocked. She wasn’t prepared for Martha to be the one to open the door. She looked past Martha to see Rachel lounging on her computer chair watching Toni, Dot, Leah, and Fatin playing what seems like an intense game of Sorry! on the floor.
“I didn’t know you guys were here.” Nora said to get the other’s attention. Rachel looked up at her twin with a lazy smile, “They insisted on being here when I mentioned you were going by the Goodkind’s today."
Toni finally looked up from the game to meet Nora’s eyes, “How is she?”
“She wasn’t there, her mom said she was going to her aunt’s for a while she said something about Shelby having things to work though. I don’t know, I feel like she was lying to me.” Nora explained as Martha let her into the room and they both took a seat on Rachel’s bed.
“What does that even mean?” Martha asked.
“I’m not sure, she said Shelby’s aunt has a problem with phones, so Shelby had to leave hers behind and that’s why she won’t respond to us. The whole thing was weird.”
“When is she going to be back?” Dot asked as she sat back from the board.
“She doesn’t know, she said she would tell Shelby I stopped by, I guess all we can do is wait.”
“I hate this.” Toni said as her anger started to boil.
“Shorty, what happened when you guys talked?”
Toni’s face started to get red, “Nothing, I just think she started to question things that her dad taught her, maybe that’s why she got sent away.” Toni reached up to grab the star pendant that she had begun wearing again.
“I don’t know, the whole thing was just weird.” Nora said in a way to end the conversation.
“Well, if there’s nothing we can do can we get back to the game? I was just about to send one of Toni pawns back home.” Fatin said.
Toni looked down at the board and then to Fatin, “In your dreams Jadmani! I’m going to crush you!”
The game continued until Fatin did in fact send one of Toni’s pawns back to start just as she was about to reach the final turn. This caused the others to laugh, they laughed even harder when Toni flipped to board.
Deciding to play a less intense game, things seemed to calm down. Soon they mostly forgot about Shelby and the weirdness of her disappearance. They were just enjoying their Saturday until Nora felt an intense pain in her abdomen.
“Ow, what the-” Nora leaned over gripping her stomach. Rachel was the first to notice the change in Nora. She jumped up from the chair and walked up to Nora who started to lay on the bed.
“Hey, you ok?”
“My stomach, it hurts so bad.”
“I’ll see if mom has any medicine, ok? Can you stand?”
“I think so.” Nora stood up on wabbly legs only to reveal a dark stain on the bed. Looking down Rachel said, “Nora, I think you got that thing mom told us about your, uh, what did she call it?”
“A period. That’s just great. I better find mom.”
Nora was gone for maybe fifteen minutes but upon her return she could tell her friends were different. They all stared at her as she walked though the door wearing different clothes. Nora noticed the sheets had been changed and Dot was missing.
“Where did Dot go?”
“She had to get something, she’ll be back soon, did you need anything Nora? You want to play a game?” Leah asked.
“No, I think I’ll just lay down and watch you guys, my stomach still hurts.” Nora said as she laid down on Rachel’s bed. She turned to the side to watch her friends set up a game of uno. They were halfway though the deck, Martha two cards away from winning, when Dot finally came back.
She walked though the door and straight to Nora. She pulled something out of the shopping bag in her hand before setting it in front of Nora. Nora lifted her head just enough to see the box of dark chocolate that Dot set down, it was her favorite.
“Thanks Dot.”
“No problem.” Dot responded before sitting down on the floor with the others. Nora looked around the room at her friends and smiled. It felt nice to not be alone right now.
Nora felt her heart drop at that though, despite everything she missed Shelby. For the past seven years they have all been there for major events, kindergarten when they met, joining soccer, concerts, pageants, coming outs, snake bites, hospital visits, everything that changed them was witnessed by all until now. Shelby wasn’t here with the others when Nora started puberty. Shelby was gone and they had no way of reaching her, despite the problems they had, despite the fights, she was their family and was supposed to be there.
Nora didn’t mention it to her friends and if any of them had the same thought they didn’t mention it either. Nora held onto that though for the rest of the night not wanting to upset her friends, but how could Shelby not be here for such an important event in Nora’s life? How can they all move forward when one of their own is gone?