Jenny
11
The loud speaker blares across Jenny's quiet classroom, "Attention fifth grade teachers. Please send all fifth grade girls to the multipurpose room." Jenny looks up from the book she's reading, The Babysitter's Club #15: Little Miss Stonybrook . . . and Dawn, and wonders what could be waiting in the multipurpose room. Filing into the room with all the other girls, Jenny sees that the projector is sitting in the center and the large screen is pulled down at the front of the room. Mrs. Thatcher, the principle, quiets the girls and explains that they will be watching a short film. She hits the light switch and stands guard at the double doors.
The projector roars to life and the words “Your Changing Body” flash across the screen. Jenny watches intently as cartoon drawings of intimate body parts are displayed. Her face turns red at the technical terms for the parts of her body that, until now, have been known simply as “private.” Jenny fights the urge to giggle and tries not to catch the eyes of the other girls. The film concludes with detailed instructions on using maxi pads. As the lights come back on, the girls begin to whisper and giggle.
“Alright girls, back to class,” Mrs. Thatcher says.
Walking back to her classroom, Jenny overhears Amber Penn boasting that her mom told her she would start soon.
“I’m an early bloomer,” Amber says.
Jenny frowns and furrows her brow, eager to get back to the book she was reading.
