The next morning I woke up hoping that everyone had forgotten about our conversation last night. It was a Saturday, and I wanted to spend the day with my friends and no where near my stepmoms orthodontist practice. I walked downstairs hoping that no one would be home, but was immediately caught by my dad.
“Good morning!” He said cheerfully.
“Good morning!” I said internally sighing with relief because he seemed to have forgotten about our conversation.
“Oh by the way Julia scheduled you in for a 9:30 appointment, so you should head over there soon!” he said.
“Dad I don’t want to go. I’m not interested in getting any kind of orthodontic treatment.” I said
“Abby, this is really nice of Julia, and you need to go. She knows what she’s talking about.”
“Seriously, I’m too old to be getting braces,” I said getting annoyed.
“You still live with us and if you want me to continue paying for everything and pay for college I expect you to get along with your stepmother. If she thinks you need braces she’s the expert.” my dad replied his tone giving no room for argument.
Julia’s office was admittedly really nice. It had a long row of chairs and a nice waiting area. The receptionist was super nice and told me to have a seat. A girl walked out from the chair area with her mouth looking so full it seemed like it could barely close. She looked like she was about to cry and I wondered what happened.
“Abby! Come on back. I’m glad you came,” said Julia who was actually smiling at me for once.
She had me sit in one of the chairs.
“Bite down for me,” she said.
Julia had me bite down in various ways and swallow, then got a few x rays. She sat me back in the chair and called her assistant over.
“I’m going to have you take some molds of her teeth for me,” Julia told the girl.
The assistant put a giant tray of goo into my mouth making me gag.
“Keep your mouth open, I know it’s uncomfortable,” the assistant said. “These are the molds we will use to make your appliances!”
“Whaaa?” I said trying to ask her what she meant by appliances.
She pulled the mold out, “What were you trying to say?”
“What do you mean appliances? This was just supposed to be a consultation?”
“Hmm nope, Julia said that you’re a rush order and need everything ready by tomorrow! She’s already scheduled your appointment for you.”
“For braces?” I said feeling like I was going to cry.
“That’s for sure part of the plan!” the assistant responded cheerfully.
Julia walked back over, “how’s it going over here?”
“Good we just got her molds!”
“Julia, can we talk about what’s happening?” I said frantically. “I really am satisfied with how my teeth look.”
“Well, I just got off the phone with your dad and he is fine with me going ahead with your treatment! I know you like how your teeth look now, but your bite needs to be fixed, so I came up with a two to three year treatment plan, time depending on compliance, and good news we can start tomorrow!”
“I’ll be in college next year! You can’t make me go to college with braces,” I exclaimed.
“Your dad said he talked to you about this and expects you to comply,” she said smiling. I swear she was getting pleasure out of this. “You can ride in with me tomorrow morning, I don’t usually take patients on Sunday so I’ll have the whole day for you!”
I didn’t even know what to say. This was supposed to be the best year of my life and now I was going to be a senior in high school in braces. I was also nervous that her assistant said braces were only “part” of the plan. What did that mean?
