Embarrassed, I snapped my slender legs shut and covered my hairless little pussy with a trembling hand. Only then could I look towards the door, where my sister's unexpected presence shamed and humiliated me. She'd caught me doing something I wasn't supposed to, something that I instinctively knew was wrong, and I had no idea how to deal with that.

"Tanya," she repeated, "I asked you a question -- what are you doing?" Suddenly, she came stalking across the room towards me, her hips swaying back and forth while her breasts bounced and jiggled beneath her t-shirt. Those oh-so-perfect, well- developed globes -- for which I envied her so much -- captured my frightened gaze, making me feel all strange and squirmy inside. I knew I wasn't supposed to feel that way either, but I couldn't help myself.

With her hands on her hips, Michelle halted beside my bed and began tapping her foot impatiently. "Tanya," she snapped, "I am NOT going to ask you again. What are you doing?"

Before I could answer, she reached down to grab my hand, her long red nails pressing sharply against my skin. Although I resisted as best I could, it didn't take much for her to pull my hand away, turn it over, and yank the stolen tampon from my panicked grasp. At that, I blushed even more as the first tears of humiliation began blurring my vision.

Then, to my surprise, she actually laughed! "Oh my gawd," she smiled, "did you have it?" Clutching the pink plastic tampon between her breasts -- a sight that made me feel all funny all over again -- she asked, "Did you finally have your first one?"

I just stared up at her smiling face, at her brilliant halo of wavy blonde hair, and realized I had no idea what she was talking about. Too upset to worry about covering myself again, I wiped the tears from my eyes and sniffled loudly. "M-M-My . . . my first . . . first what?" I whispered.

Michelle laughed again as she reached down to poke my nose with the tampon. "Your first period, silly!"

This time when I blushed, I also allowed myself a tiny smile of adolescent pride. I'd been having my period for five months now, and would be having my sixth any day. Of all my friends, I had been the first to experience the crimson flow, and only three other girls in my class had made it before me. Thanks to the wonders of sex-ed, it hadn't been nearly as traumatic as I'd heard it could be, but I'd still been afraid to tell anyone. Something about me had changed, and . . . well, I guess the thought of growing up made me a little uneasy.

As Michelle tapped the warm plastic tip against my nose again, I suddenly groaned in embarrassment. "My gawd," I whispered, "I feel so stupid!" Our teacher had only made one passing reference to tampons, and none of the others girls had ever mentioned them, so I'd never made the connection. Now, of course, it was so obvious that I just wanted to crawl under the covers and die.

"Tanya, sis, why do you say that?" She hopped up on the bed next to me and gently stroked sweaty red curls from my eyes. "You're the smartest girl I know."

"I . . . I never knew what they really were for," I whispered. As always, the touch of my big sister comforted me, reassured me in ways that even my mother couldn't. Michelle and I had shared so much, as sisters AND as best friends, that I suddenly found myself blurting out the whole embarrassing story.

"I thought it was whatever . . . well, whatever you used to make yourself feel good at night," I told her. Forcing a guilty little smile onto my face, I reached up to hold her hand in mine. "You don't know how many nights I laid awake, listening to the sounds of you moaning and groaning, and wished I could see through the wall between us." Squeezing her hand a little tighter, I sighed in relief when she squeezed back. "I just . . . that is . . . I thought that's what did it for you."

She laughed, but it was the silly kind of laugh that I knew so well, not the mocking kind I had feared. "No offense, Tanya, but didn't you ever wonder about the cotton inside? Huh?"

I blushed again at my own stupidity, but told her my original assumption anyway. "I thought it was there to soak up all your juices when . . . when you were done." When she just stared at me in amazement, I protested, "Well, it seemed like a better idea than having to sleep on a wet spot all night!"

"Silly girl!" With that, she threw herself down upon me and hugged me tight. I was so relieved, so deliriously happy to have finally confessed, I didn't even let myself worry about the good feelings she awakened inside of me. "You know," she whispered a while later, "you could have come to me and asked. Don't you remember our promise, the sacred pledge of the 'Sister's Only' club?"

"Yeah," I whispered back, "no secrets, no matter what." Remembering that strange day in the park, when we'd sealed our agreement with a kiss that had felt like far more than just sisterly affection, I nodded.

"Exactly." She began stroking my hair again, kissing me lightly upon the top of my head......(cont)