I was shocked when it happened to me. I did not understand the changes in my body. I started growing hair in strange places. I did not understand what was happening.

I decided not to tell anyone about my situation because I thought it was a onetime thing, but I was wrong. I started growing hair even under my armpits. It was a terrible situation.

I did not understand that there was a stage you reached; a certain age that brought about certain changes. My friend was eighteen but she never told me about any new stage in life, any period.

I started seeing blood coming from my vagina. I thought I was going to die. I didn’t tell anyone, especially my family, because they worry too much. I didn’t want to start a crisis at home, so I thought I would act on the situation myself and prevent one.

One day, it happened while I was sleeping. My whole bed was a mess. I woke up early in the morning when it was still dark around and took out the sheets to wash. I was scared of the dark but I had no choice and I didn’t want anyone to suspect anything.

If my mother woke up, I wanted her to find the sheets clean. I knew that she was going to ask questions regarding them, such as when did you wash them and why, because they were clean? I was ready to lie and cover for myself by answering with convincing lies I had practiced.

I was happy when I had finished everything so I went to back to bed to sleep. In the morning, they asked me questions, as I had expected, so I lied. It was so easy; my mother didn’t give me any problem.

“Ah! Pimples again!” I shouted to myself.

I never expected pimples on my face. They made my life a living hell. I began judging myself and I didn’t think that I was my mother’s princess anymore. A princess does not have pimples.

They exposed me, for what I was experiencing. That was when I knew that I was going through my changes. I was experiencing periods all that time. I was so ugly. I was even ashamed to go out of my room. I thought that I would be a joke to people, even just those I passed on the road. I felt like people were gossiping about me. In this way puberty hurt me.

***

Tell us what you think: Was your experience of puberty as bad as the authors?