Girls in Charge by Debra Moffitt Read Free Book Online Page A

speak.
    â€œWe were just talking about Jemma’s twins.”
    â€œJemma’s having twins?”
    â€œLuuuuuuke,” I said.
    â€œOh yeah, I know. It’s your mom. Did you tell her how I suggested Stop and Go?”
    â€œI did, but she’s not accepting traffic signals as baby names,” I said.
    â€œDid you hear about Taylor?” Luke asked.
    â€œWhat is it?” Bet said.
    â€œShe’s moving schools,” Luke said. “She said she’s going to West Fallows High School next year.”
    â€œWhy would she go there?” Bet said. “It’s ten miles from here. And it’s not her district.”
    â€œDunno,” Luke said. “She probably has a boyfriend there or something.”
    â€œTaylor has a boyfriend?” I asked hopefully.
    â€œProbably,” he said. “Great seeing you ladies.”
    Again with the “ladies.” Bet turned to me and said, “Taylor Mayweather. Didn’t she used to go out with…”
    â€œYes, she did. And no, I don’t like him anymore.”

 
    Sixteen
    The next time my mom had a doctor appointment, I offered to go. These were pretty basic visits usually, and I liked knowing how big the babies were getting. My mom was getting pretty big, too, but she continued to eat a healthy diet. I never caught her with her spoon in the ice cream in the middle of the night, but I did catch her eating more than one grapefruit at a time.
    The doctor saved the best part of the appointment for last. He held his stethoscope to Mom’s belly and the fast whoosh-whoosh of their heartbeats filled the exam room. Hearing their hearts made the whole thing seem more real: My mom was really having twins—and soon. Her due date was in June, a little over two months away.
    I had a sneaky reason for wanting to come along on this particular visit, though. Weeks had passed since my period was supposed to come, according to the Period Predictor. We had taken the P. Predictor off the Pink Locker Society site—temporarily, I hoped. That stopped the complaints, but it didn’t stop me from wondering why my plan had failed. Did everything about growing up have to be so confusing and hard to pin down?
    What I hadn’t counted on today, though, was that my mother’s doctor would be a dude. There were a lot of female doctors at this particular office, but when you were having a baby, you saw whichever one was free for regular appointments. I wanted to get a doctor’s advice, a doctor who was an expert in female parts and processes. I was very close to letting Dr. Adams walk out of the room, but I got a burst of courage and leaped up from my plastic chair.
    â€œUm, Dr. Adams? Can I ask you a question—a puberty question?”
    My mother looked surprised, but she didn’t interrupt.
    â€œMy pediatrician told me that a girl gets her period about two years after she starts, you know, getting developed in the chest area. I’m confused because it’s been more than two years for me and still no period.”
    Dr. Adams stopped for a minute and said that sounded exactly right.
    â€œSo what’s the deal, then?” I asked.
    â€œI think the variable that’s hard to pin down here is when exactly chest development occurs,” he said.
    â€œWell, I’ve been wearing a bra for exactly two and a half years,” I said.
    â€œThere you go, then. When a girl wears a bra and when a girl needs to wear a bra because chest development has progressed to a certain point—those are two different things,” he said.
    I stood there almost stunned by my mistake.
    â€œThank. You,” I said.
    I had built the Period Predictor around that very question—when did the girl start wearing a bra? But that’s just whenever, really. I started wearing a bra because all of my friends were and I didn’t want to be the only one not wearing one. Now, when did I need to start wearing a bra?