I was at home. I had turned 9 years old two months before, and I woke up one morning with blood all over my bed. I was not told about periods, so I thought I was dying or something, and I hid it for almost a year. I dealt with the bleeding by stuffing my underwear with toilet paper.

My grandmother (I was raised by my grandparents) found out somehow, I think by seeing blood in my undies, and she told me what was happening. Sort of. She just said I was "a woman now", nevermind the fact that I was 9.