I feel like I'm losing my mind: my period is late, and when I checked my blister pack, half my birth control had been pushed out and replaced with tiny mints?! Turns out my 13-year-old brother dissolved my real pills in water for a school science project on tablet solubility. He had no clue what they were. But I had sex last week thinking I was fully covered... am I screwed?

Deep breath: step away from the panic spiral for a second, though your brother definitely owes you first prize in unintentional sibling chaos. Medically speaking, swallowing breath mints instead of hormones means your contraceptive protection took an unannounced vacation. Since sex happened last week, the window for emergency contraception (the morning-after pill, which works up to 3–5 days after the fact depending on the pill) has unfortunately closed. Agonizing over every cramp won't give you answers, but a reliable home pregnancy test will. Take one exactly 14 days after the unprotected sex, and confirm it at 21 days for an ironclad result. Until then, start using condoms immediately, consult your doctor or pharmacist about how to properly reset your cycle on a fresh, untampered pack, and consider getting a lockbox. As for your resident mad scientist, give him a stern reality check: human medication is never science fair material. Next time, buy the kid a box of effervescent vitamins.