Hey, kids. Want some kandy?

Oh crap. I need a tampon. Oh crap. Anna's having a conversation with a bunch of people, I can't ask her in front of boys...that's embarrassing.

This happened a lot in middle school.

In seventh grade, my two best friends were Anna and Becca. We had all gotten our periods in like...fifth grade. And we all knew this about each other because we were best friends. It was helpful because I wasn't comfortable telling anyone else that I had my period (because some girls still hadn't gotten theirs yet). Sometimes I forgot to bring "supplies" and would need to mooch of Anna or Becca.

One day, we were poking fun at our friend Walter (whose real name is Kevin, but middle name is Walter and we liked it), and Becca was digging through her pencil pouch and said, "Walter. Do you want some kandy?" Then she pulled out a tampon and threw it at him.

So ever since then, we had always referred to it as kandy. And we came up with "Tootsie Rolls" and "Hershey Bars" to distinguish. Some girls needed pads, you know.

Then, every time I needed some, I was fine shouting down the hallway to Anna's locker, "Do you have any Tootsie Rolls?" and solve my problem without being embarrassed.

Just wait, that's not even the good part, yet.

So one day, Becca and I were sleeping over at Anna's house. I was in her bedroom and she was downstairs making breakfast. I was about to go to the bathroom to get ready, and I needed a tampon. So I yelled down to Anna, "Hey, where's your kandy?" And she replied, "In the bottom drawer!".

So I finished getting dressed, and when I got to the bathroom, Billy (Anna's younger brother) was rummaging around in the bottom drawer.

"What are you doing? You can't go through your sisters personal things!"
"What personal things, I'm looking for candy..."
"Yeah, Billy. Kandy is pretty personal."
"What?"
"Why would you even want tampons?"
"Tampons? What are tampons?"

Then Becca walked in.

"Tampons are for your period."
"What's a period?"

So we proceeded to explain. We even took one out of the wrapper and put it under the sink to show him how absorbant they are.

Billy was only in fifth grade. And he didn't really understand.

"Wait. So blood comes out of your butt?"

That's when Anna walked in.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!"
"We're telling your brother about periods. Accidentally; he was going through your drawer looking for candy, and I thought he knew about kandy. So I told him he shouldn't go through your personal things...and voila."

Poor poor Billy. He was still confused though, and despite Anna feeling highly uncomfortable with the whole thing, she clarified Billy's questions. And yeah.
That's the story of how I accidentally told Anna's fifth grade brother about periods.