3

'I'M DYING!'

'No you're not.' 

'YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST PUT ME DOWN AS A CHILD!' 

'Maybe I should have.' 

'WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!' 

'I give up, Ashton will be over in a minute, maybe he can cheer you up.' Dad sighed, throwing his hands up in the air and leaving the room, leaving me curled up on the floor in agony.

So far my summer isn't going great. 

I have been here for barely a week and already I just want to cry and then die in a hole. Want to know why? It's because of a stupid thing called periods! Boys consider yourself lucky, you don't have to deal with the feeling of something trying to hack it's way out of your stomach every month.

You don't have to deal with your hormones all over the place so that you are switching from happy to angry, to sad all in a matter of minutes. Boys complain about girls complaining about being on their period but they should try bleeding constantly for a week.

I believe someone should just kick them in the balls constantly because I think that will match the pain girls go through.

Even after all these years, my dad is still not used to my time of the month and how I react to it. I genuinely feel sorry for him having to put up with me though because I am a nightmare. This is probably one of the reasons why I am single.

Dad also mentioned Ashton coming over and now I feel sorry for Ashton who has never seen my like this. He doesn't know what I am like and he definitely does not know what he is getting himself into by coming round.

I have only known the boy for a week and we have become extremely close. We have hung out everyday and I have met his friends who are also pretty cool. A little weird but hey, everybody has to have some kind of weirdness in them. I probably have too much. 

Still, as close of friends Ashton and I now are, I still don't believe we are at the stage of our friendship where I can freely torture him with complaints about being a girl, without feeling bad about it. 

Why is life so hard? Why do I exists? Why do girls have to suffer this whilst boys get an easy life? What is life?

See this also happens, I question everything and I give up on everything. 

It really does suck being a girl.

I couldn't move from the floor, I didn't want to move, so when the door bell rang I simple groaned and shouted out to my dad to answer it. He simply laughed at me as he walked past and went to open the door. It was only Ashton anyway.

'Come in. You must excuse the grumpiness like I told your mum, she is being a pain because it's her time of the mo...' 

'DAD!' I shouted, not wanting him to embarrass me. Ash really doesn't have to know that.

'It's okay.' I heard Ash reply. I then faintly heard my dad leaving the room and Ashton moving towards me but I was too busy dying to pay a lot of attention.

'Hey Hal, how you feeling?' He asked and I looked up from my curled position and simply pouted.

'Like I have just been thrown off a cliff several times.' I whimpered. Why hasn't the pain killers kicked in yet? They are not killing the pain!

'I'm sorry. I don't know how you feel considering I am a boy but I do know that being a girl isn't fun at times. So I looked it up and apparently ice cream and movies help, so I brought both.' He smiled, crouching down beside me. I looked him in the eye in shock. He can't be real, no boy does this. Boys are genuinely selfish pigs and I am blaming the hormones for making me say that. 

'You have no idea how happy you have just made me. You are officially my hero.' 

He held his hand out and helped me up. As I crawled onto the sofa, he put the first DVD in and then came and sat down beside me.

'For you.' He said, handing me a tub of ice cream.'I know cookie dough is your favourite.'

'I feel very honoured right now and that is saying something seeing as I am dying of pain.' I replied. I then also noticed he had put Titanic on as well. 'You also chose a film that will make me cry. You really know how to please a girl.' Sad movies are literally the best thing to watch when your in a bad mood. 

'Just looking after my best friend.' He said and we both began to dig into our ice cream as the movie started up. 

Throughout the movie, I somehow ended up cuddling into Ashton but he didn't mind. He has a very comfortable shoulder which he should be proud off. I love a good comfy shoulder to lean on. 

I am not going to lie, I was crying at the end of the film but what I didn't expect was for Ashton to be crying too. I don't know who was crying more but there was a lot of crying going on. I think it is scientifically proven that Titanic makes everyone cry. It's just so sad. Why did she have to let go? Why did Jack have to die?

'Why is this move so sad!' Ashton exclaimed, wiping the tears from his eyes. 'I'm not crying, I got ice cream in my eye.'

'What ice cream? We ate it all after the first hour of the film.' I replied, not letting him get away with it. We all know he is just a big sap. 

We both laughed and then I switched off the TV in protest. 'I am never watching that film again.' I said, wiping away my own tears.

'That's a lie and you know it. You'll probably watch it again after I am gone.' Ash smirked, nudging my shoulder with his. 

'Says you. I bet you watch it all the time on your own and cry every single time.' I retaliated, giving him a look. He simply glared at me.

'Maybe I do but you can't blame me, it is an excellent film. Don't judge me.' He said, crossing his arms. 'Anyways tell me more about this Tumblr dude, have you talked more yet?' 

Yes I told Ash about Anon, I don't even know why. I just needed to tell someone and he was the first person that came to mind. We are like little gossip buddies anyway, we talk about everything. The two of us together are like that group of girls you avoid at school. 

'There isn't much to tell. We have messaged each other a few times, mainly talking about fandoms and finding out we have a lot in common.' I shrugged, sitting up and facing Ashton. We were both sat cross legged.

'Don't say that isn't much. You never know, it could be one of those cliche love stories.' He replied.

'Yeah right, he is easy to talk to and get along with but he is just some guy on Tumblr, nothing more.' 

'But there is always a guy behind that other computer screen. Let's just hope he is not some freaky old person.'

'I'll probably never known, we have only talked a few times anyway.' I said, feeling glad that the pain is slowly starting to decrease in my stomach. 

'You say a few times but the rest of us would say every night for hours because you're both addicted to Tumblr and always online.' He replied with a smug grin. He knows me so well...it has been a week. A week!

'Whatever.' 

'Just saying. When you guys fall in love you will be thanking me.' He said. 'Anyways I better go, I told my mum I would be home for dinner.' 

'Is it that time already?' I asked, picking up my phone and checking the time. 5.36pm. 'Wow time goes fast but that also means that my painkillers about to wear off, so you are making the right decision to leave now.' He laughed and gave a quick hug before leaving to go next door. 

As soon as he left, I ran to the bathroom because well I had been needing to pee for a while and I couldn't hold it any longer. After that I sneaked into my room to find my laptop, avoiding my dad because I know he would just pull me away from it.

The second I logged into Tumblr, I saw the little message box with a one by it and I smiled, already knowing who it was from. 

Hey Marvel girl, how are you? 

Hey secret one direction fan. I'm great what about you?

You're not going to let that go are you?

Nope. I plan on using it against you a lot. 

Well then maybe I should tell people that you like to talk to yourself on a regular basis

Go ahead, I'm not ashamed of it. At least I get an answer from myself.

Only you, so I have only just realised that we don't know each others names yet.

Is that so? In that case my name is Gwen Stacey and I am the biggest nerd.

Nice to meet you Gwen, I'm Peter Parker and I would like to challenge you on being the biggest nerd.

Oh it's on but I must warn you. I'm allergic to spiders.

Well then we may have a problem on our hands.

And why's that?

Because...I. Am. Spider-man.

Dun dun dun. I would never have guessed. It's not like you wear your costume under your clothes and hope no one would see....oh wait.

You got me. That's it, my career is over.

Well you can always go and hide in a cave with all your other spider friends. No one would miss you.

Ouch, right in the heart. It could be worse, my ending could be like yours.

That was uncalled for! Let's not give away spoilers.

This is a private conversation.

But you never know who might have hacked into our accounts and could be reading this conversation right now.

Of course I am so stupid.

And you call yourself a nerd. 

You caught me. Anyways back to reality. My name's Carter.

I'm Hallie but my friends call me Hal.

*gasp* You have friends?

Shocker I know. I bet I have more than you though.

...Maybe. Probably. 

I laughed and began to type out my reply, just as dad called me from downstairs. 

You know it. Anyways I have to go, my dad is calling. 

Okay talk to you later Hal. Have fun in Australia. 

As always. 

I closed my laptop lid and literally bounced downstairs my cramps not as painful, as the most recent set of paracetamol had settled in. 

'What's up?' I asked, walking into the kitchen, seeing dad cooking. 

'Were you on Tumblr again?' He asked with a sigh. He wasn't disappointed, I think he is past that stage, he just expects it now.

'No...' I replied but couldn't help but smile a bit at the end, no matter how much I tried to contain it.

'What is so amazing about that site?'

'Don't even get me started. We could be here all day.' I said, climbing up onto a stall as dad served up to plates of food. 

'I made steak and chips, your favourite, seeing as you are struggling today.' He smiled, passing me my plate and sitting opposite me. 'Have you skyped your friends yet?'

'Yep, last night. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about them.' I said, reassuring him. At the same time I began shoveling the food into my mouth just like a lady. Maybe more like a caveman but who wants to be lady like anyway? In my opinion it requires a lot of effort. The kind of effort that I don't have the time or energy for. 

During this time, I could see my dad staring at me out of the corner of my eye with that look on his face. That look of 'I can't believe you are my daughter.' I get that quite a lot, like I said, I am most definitely not your typical girl. 

'Are you quite finished?' He sighed, taking a bite out of his own food, a lot more gracefully than myself.

'Seriously.' I said with a mouth full of food, so it didn't quite come out like that. 'Do I look like I'm finished?'

'I meant are you finished being a slob.' He stated and now it was my turn to give him the look whilst dropping my fork onto the plate. I swallowed the food in my mouth this time before replying. 

'I'm in pain, I am allowed to be a slob.' I reminded, deliberately shoving another fork full of food into my mouth.

'I thought you said you aren't in as much pain at the moment.' He argued, sitting back on his chair for a moment to cross his arms with a smug look.

'Don't try to challenge a girl on her period!' I exclaimed, mimicking his movements. He simply shrugged and went back to eating his dinner, clearly admitting defeat. I returned to eating my own with a smirk planted on my face. I always win. Periods are an excuse for everything. 

I quickly finished up, clearing the plate so it looked like it had already been cleaned before announcing that I was going out. This only resulted in dad giving me another weird look. He doesn't understand me. I don't understand me most of the time.

'Where are you going?' He asked as I packed my camera into my bag.

'To go and do some photography, it calms me down.' I stated.

'You're angry?' He quizzed, not understanding anything. He then realised that the question was a stupid question because he knew I wasn't angry. He knew the answer was period. He waved his hand at me before turning around to do the dishes.

'I don't know when I will be back but hopefully it won't be too late.' I said and added a goodbye before heading out of the door and towards the beach. 

I spent the next couple of hours, capturing every moment in a picture. From the waves crashing against the sand to the sun setting. Each photo sent chills up my spine because to me the world is a beautiful place and although a picture does not portray the perfection of the real thing, it is not far off.

Photography is one of the only things, I truly love to do apart from blogging of course. It makes me calm, it makes me happy and puts me in my comfort zone. Nothing else matters because in those moments it is just me, my camera and the image in front of me.

'Excuse me? Are you a photographer?' A young man asked walking up to me with his hand entwined with a lady of about the same age. 

'Sort of.' I replied. 'I am kind of a working progress.' 

'Can we see?' He asked, holding his hand out for the camera. I nodded and passed him the camera, watching as he flicked through the photos. 'These are really good.' 

'Thank you.' I smiled.

'How much would you charge?' The lady questioned, looking up towards me whilst the man kept skimming through the photos.

'Charge?' 

'To hire.' The man confirmed, now looking at me as well. 'You see my fiancee and I are getting married in a couple of days and our photographer dropped out last minute and haven't been able to find a replacement. Would you be willing to take the job?' He said and I suddenly felt a rush of excitement flow through me. People actually like my work?

'Uh sure that would be great. You don't have to pay me though, I will do it for free.' I replied as they passed me my camera back.

'Nonsence, we wouldn't want you to go unpaid especially as you would be helping us a lot.' The lady said. 'How does a $100 sound?' 

'Really? sure, thank you for this opportunity.' I said, completely speechless. 

'Thank you.' The man emphasised. 'I'm Tom by the way and this is Mara.'

'Nice to meet you. I'm Hallie' I said, shaking both of their hands with a smile still on my face. I couldn't help it, this was big for me. My first real photography job.

'If I give you my number Hallie, then just text me and then I will reply with the details. I know you seem young as well so if you want to bring a parent a long go for it.' Tom added, taking a piece of paper from Mara and writing down his contact details.' 

'Will do. Thank you again.' 

'No problem, thank you for being a life saver.' Mara said. 'We will see you in a couple of days.' 

I waved goodbye to them and then squealed a little bit in excitement. Although it was only disturbed by a pain shooting through my pelvic area. Stupid periods, ruining my happiness.

I tried my best to ignore it though as I went back to my photography, taking the last few photos of the the sun setting with that smile planted firmly on my face.