Startled by the sensation, I just stood there.Frozen, unsure what to do.
Should I tell my aunt?
No, I decided just as quickly.Not Aunt Kassa.I adored her, but I didn’t completely trust her.The few times I had, it hadn’t ended well for me.Caprice had this tendency to make everything about herself, and Kassa saw nothing but her daughter when that happened.No matter the situation.
It was one of the bigger reasons my parents didn’t often agree to sleepovers at my cousins’ house.Dad grumbled and argued that it was because Sixx was a boy and “boys will be boys.”Whatever that meant.I didn’t know what other boys did.The only ones I was around often enough to count were Evan, Bentley, and Sixx.And while Bentley could be a butthead the majority of the time, Evan and Sixx were different.
Those two were polar opposites, yet, in the most basic ways, exactly the same.Like how they treated the people who mattered, their gentleness with the ones they cared about most.Admittedly, Sixx had a shorter list of people he was gentle with than Evan, and his idea of caring was different from most people.But I saw it.
I sawhim.
He was rough around the edges and subjectively unhinged when it came to me, but no one got to define what love looked like for anyone else.
The squishy feeling got worse, and I could feel the wetness soaking into my pants.
Crap.
I needed help, but Aunt Kassa was too caught up in Bentley’s match and comforting Caprice.Even though Caprice was peeping through her fingers, watching everything and everyone.She wasn’t scared or worried.Her ability to make some people think she was a timid little princess was Oscar-worthy at times.My aunt had barely glanced at me since we’d arrived.I wasn’t even sure she remembered I was there.
Which was fine.I wasn’t there for her or to do any aunt-niece bonding.As much as I adored Kassa, she didn’t even make the top ten list of my favorite grown-ups.We’d never clicked, not the way I had with my godmother, Lucy.Or Sixx’s mom, Roanna.
It wasn’t hard to figure out why I couldn’t connect with my aunt on a deeper level.Caprice.She and I had been butting heads since I was born, and even when Caprice was caught red-handed being a bully to me, Kassa always took her daughter’s side.Neither of her parents had taught her about accountability—or repercussions.At least Bentley was disciplined…sometimes.
If I could have found any other solution to attending this tournament without having to spend the night under the same roof as Caprice, I would have jumped on it.But there hadn’t been, and I would do anything, even willingly subject myself to my bratty cousin, if I could get an extra minute with Sixx.
Logically, I suspected what was going on.I wasn’t stupid or naïve.Talking about periods wasn’t taboo in our house, unlike some of my friends from school.I knew a girl who hadn’t had a clue what menstruation was until recently and only learned about it because she’d gotten her period during class.Her parents made it seem like something she should be ashamed of.
My mom had explained everything to Abi and me when we were younger, even showing us what to do during her own cycle.When my sister got her first period, it was celebrated.Abi got to pick where we went to dinner that night, and then we came home to a surprise party for her, something that Mom and Aunt Lucy had secretly been planning together in anticipation of the day, complete with red velvet cupcakes.We’d had so much fun that night, I’d been excited to get my own.
But Abi had been older when she’d gotten her period.I only turned ten two months ago.Caprice hadn’t even gotten hers yet, and she was older than me.
This sucked.I was a little scared, and no one had warned me that the cramps would be this intense.Abi had moaned and groaned a few days each month, but I thought she was being dramatic.Were these cramps what I had to expect for the rest of my life?
No, thank you.There had to be a way to unsubscribe from this monthly subscription.Medication.Surgery.Maybe a fairy godmother.I could not live like this forever.
On top of all the pain and the headache that was borderline migraine-level, I’d worn white jeans.White!
Embarrassment crawled along my skin, making it heat and itch.I vowed never to wear white again.
Until that moment, it had been one of my favorite colors because I loved daisies.They were so pretty with their soft white petals and those sunshine-yellow centers.Daisies were underrated, in my opinion.Some people called them weeds, but Sixx picked me daisies whenever he saw them.I still had the first one he’d ever picked for me, preserved in resin.It was on my bedside table, right next to the picture of Sixx and me at Disneyland when I was six.For my tenth birthday, he’d given me a tiny bottle of Daisy perfume because he said he thought of me every time he smelled it.
Another cramp hit that made me want to curl into a ball and cry.That was when I looked at Sixx and found him frowning right at me.He’d moved seamlessly through each match all morning.And with one look, he could tell something was wrong.Quickly, I swallowed the sob that bubbled in my chest and gave him the biggest smile I could, while internally cringing from that terrible squishy feeling.
“Ali?”Sin crouched down beside me, already wrapping his band hoodie around my waist, hiding the mess on the back of my jeans.I felt some of the tension that had been coiling tight inside me begin to relax.His brown eyes, almost identical to Sixx’s, scanned my face.“What do you need, sweetheart?”
My eyes stung and my chin wobbled, but only for a moment before I sucked in a deep breath.If I cried, that would definitely throw Sixx off.“I dunno,” I whispered, biting the inside of my cheek harder.With how badly my head was pounding, I’d forgotten everything Mom had explained I should do when this eventually happened.
Sin’s face was already filled with understanding.He had always been one of my favorite adults.He and Ro were in my top ten, for sure.With him, I felt just as safe as if I were with my own dad or my godfather, Harris.I trusted him more than Aunt Kassa, without a doubt.“Okay.We’ve got this.I have four of the most badass chicks with me, who never leave home without every item a girl can dream of needing.”
Reaching behind him, he grabbed his wife’s hand and tugged, getting her attention.Roanna bent down, her own brown eyes shooting from me to Sin and then out to the mats where Sixx was before quickly landing on me once again.“What’s up, my daisy girl?”
I had to suck in another sharp breath to stop the tears from flooding my eyes.She’d started calling me that right after Sixx gave me that first daisy.It was my favorite nickname.“I got my period.”
“Ohh.”Her eyes got wide but then melted into something softer in a way only moms could do.I wanted mine so badly at that moment.If not Mom, then Aunt Lucy.But without either one of them, Roanna was my next choice.She stroked her thumb over my cheek.“Same.I was going to run to the bathroom once this round was over.Want to come with me?”
“Yes, please.”I looked over at Sixx, who had moved to stand with his other teammates, including Bentley.They were all horsing around except for Sixx, who was watching me stoically.
Roanna and Sin followed my gaze.Sixx’s face turned stormy, his eyes flicking from me to his parents, like we were a puzzle he couldn’t solve.I curled my fingers together, making a heart, trying again to give him my brightest smile.He only tensed more.
