Page 52 of Roommating

I gasp. This is not what I expected her to say.

Gabe stops typing but keeps his eyes down.

She blinks and her eyes fill with tears. “My mom is at work in a meeting, and my friends don’t know I’ve never had it before.” She frowns. “I didn’t lie. I just never said.”

I suck in a breath, the memory of my own first period fresh like it was yesterday and not twelve years ago. My mom was also at work that day, and Nana picked me up at school. “Do you have something?”

She shakes her head slightly and tugs on the navy hoodie wrapped around her waist. “There’s nothing in the bathroom. I used toilet paper.” She wipes her eyes.

I sigh and mentally add “have awkward conversation with Jenny about putting a pad and tampon dispenser in the public bathroom” on my to-do list. “Come with me.” I stand and, without a word to Gabe, guide her to the staff bathroom where I unlock the door and use my own money to extract a pad. Teaching this girl how to use atampon is not in my job description. Handing her the small box, I say, “Do you know what to do?”

She accepts the package and nods. “I’ve practiced.” Her cheeks flush red.

A smile escapes. “Did you readAre You There God? It’s Me, Margaretby any chance?”

“I saw the movie.” She giggles.

I grin. “Okay. I’ll leave you to it, but I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

I lean against the wall and wait. My mind wanders back in time to when Nana came to the school and sat in the nurse’s office while I used the pad she brought from Audrina’s stash at home. She let me leave school early and treated me to Dairy Queen on our way home. I miss her so much I ache from it. I change the subject in my mind to a shirtless Adam in the same bathroom just a few hours earlier, except now I ache in other places.

A few minutes later, the girl comes out. Her eyes are no longer red and she actually looks delighted.

“Everything good?”

She nods excitedly.

I grin, assuming her experience so far has not included cramps. “Good. Do you need anything else?”

Her phone vibrates before she can answer. She whispers, “I’m fine, Mom. The librarian helped me.”

I stand up straighter at the librarian moniker.

“Gross, Mom!” She rolls her eyes, and I guess her mom probably said something about being a woman now. I hold in a chuckle. “I will.” She looks up from her phone and smiles shyly. “Thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome.” With a pat on her shoulder, I return to thedesk. Delighted there’s no queue of patrons, I relax into my chair and close my eyes.

“Look alive, Finkelstein.”

Gabe’s voice wakes me out of my resting state. “I’m not dead. Just mentally exhausted.” Getting “juiced” by miniature patrons, almost taking off my shirt in front of Adam in the bathroom, and providing emotional support to a newly menstruating girl seems like a lot for one day in the life of a library assistant.

“Helping a girl with her menses wasn’t on your bingo card for today?” His eyes twinkle.

I open my mouth to tease him about his use of the word “menses,” but the words get trapped in my throat when a woman enters the library. She’s about my age with long blond hair, wearing a plaid shirt jacket over cropped jeans and brown suede booties. Something about her hits a familiar nerve, but I can’t place it. She gives Gabe and me a passing glance before heading to the adult section and walking up and down the aisles without looking at any of the bookshelves. Then she peers her head into the teen section, where the girls are now debating the best Taylor Swift song.

“Why are you following that patron’s every move?” Gabe whispers, lifting his chin in her direction.

“She looks familiar,” I whisper back. Where have I seen her before? The answer is just beyond my reach. Then it hits me, and I gasp.

“What is it?”

In a hushed tone, I say, “She’s the girl from Keybar! The one who was with Adam.”

Gabe’s mouth drops open and he gives her an extended once-over. “Oh, yeah. I see it now. She’s cute.” He cocks his head. “You jealous?”

My stomach tightens. “No! Of course not.”Rude.

“I think the lady doth protest too much.”

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