To the people in my class, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to endure the smell of a foul, rotting tampon that I forgot was inside my body. I think I jammed it up there on Wednesday or Thursday; I can’t remember. When I was sitting at a table, talking with my classroom partner, I smelled an unusual smell, kind of like sweat. At first, I thought it was him. I was confused, because he looked so clean-cut, but he had that strange odor. When I moved away from him and kept smelling it, I thought it might be coming from my biking gear. We moved classrooms, and I took all my gear out of my bag and aired it out on the window sill, hoping that would help. It didn’t. When our workshop ended early, I went to the bathroom. That might have been my first down moment in days. In the stall, I dropped my pants and noticed a string in my butt. I thought my period was long over! What was this? I pulled on the string and perhaps experienced a micro version of toxic shock syndrome—the smell was horrific, and I felt my blood pressure drop, like I might pass out. But I didn’t. I just stunk up the room, all day long. Next cycle, I’ll try to pay more attention to what’s in my vagina.—Anonymous