(Excerpt from the story by Erzsi Deak)
"Did you get yours yet?" I asked, like I did every day.
"My what?" Jamie said with a yawn.
"Jamie! Your period. Did you get it?"
"Nope. I hope it never comes." She stopped turning pages and leaned in closer to the magazine. I knew she was reading the article about the girl jockey.
"I wish mine would come -- then I could get my ears pierced." I lay back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I am so tired of people thinking I'm just twelve."
"But you are twelve."
"I know, but I want to see movies like The Last Picture Show, and Mom says, 'not until you're grown up.' And I have to be thirteen or get my period before I can pierce my ears. Jamie, my life is on hold!"
"Your birthday's next week," Jamie said without looking up.
"I don't think I can wait that long for earrings." I sighed, throwing my arm across my eyes.
"Yuck," said Jamie. "Pierced ears hurt. Think about all that blood." She shivered. "I'm perfectly happy being twelve and having hole-less ears. And I've seen what happens when you get your period. Both my sisters become monsters."
"I'll be nice to you when I get my period."
Jamie snorted. "Just you wait!"
"I am waiting! I've been waiting for twelve years, eleven months, and sixteen days!"
