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Author Topic: Story: Ithabella  (Read 8150 times)

Offline ellers

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Story: Ithabella
« on: 12. October 2022, 06:48:07 AM »
Everybody seems to be writing a story now, so I figured I’d join in on the fun! I have written ahead, but I'm still figuring some stuff out. I haven't even gotten Isabella's treatment started yet. But I'll keep working on it, and I'll be adding new chapters soon!

Chapter 1:

I’d always been one of the more popular girls in high school.

Definitely not in middle school though. No one wanted to be the first to be friends with the strange girl who switched schools in the middle of the 7th grade school year. There were tons of rumors floating around about why I’d moved.

“They say she loves to pick fights.”

“I heard she bit someone.”

“Uh oh, she’s staring at us.”

“Let’s go, c’mon.”

Those are the sort of things I'd had to deal with listening to. The truth wasn’t quite as fanciful as the overactive imaginations of seventh graders. My mom had died after battling cancer for years, and my dad wanted a change of scenery after that. Too many sad memories at home, I guess.

The rumors certainly damaged my reputation, but the braces did their fair share too. They were quite obvious. I had something my orthodontist back home had called an “Activator.” I wore it fairly religiously despite it taking up lots of space in my mouth. I’d lisp pretty badly whenever I had it in, and it was obviously detrimental to my attempts at making friendships.

I was determined to try and fit in, so I threw out the activator at school one day and told my father I’d lost it. Luckily, he didn’t pressure me about it, and I was in the clear.

From then on, making friends was a little easier. At least I could tell people my name without having to lisp.

By the time I entered high school most people had forgotten about that ungainly device that had taken up so much space in my mouth, and it was easy to build myself up to be one of the more popular girls at school.

Okay, well maybe not so easy. But it was worth it. I was part of the most popular squad in school. I was practically nobility.

Life was good.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #1 on: 12. October 2022, 07:00:44 AM »
Chapter 2:

So I guess the story really starts about three weeks after my 18th birthday. I was walking home from cheer (no big deal, even in this frigid weather, considering the fact I’m only a ten-minute walk from school) when one of my friends' moms drove past.

She must’ve recognized me cause she slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road.

“Isabella right?”

“Yes! Hi! You’re Stacy’s mom right?”

“Yeah, I was just going to pick her up. But she can wait a little bit, come on. I’ll drive you home first.”

Stacy had left school early that day to go to the dentist for her six month check-up. It’s a bit of a walk from her house to the office so I guess her mom had decided to drive instead of making her walk in the snow.

“No, really it’s fine. I can walk, go on,” I tried protesting.

Mrs. Ellison wasn’t having it. After a few more rounds of arguing, I hopped in the back of the car. The heat was on full blast, jets of air moving around the stray strands of blond hair that had managed to escape from under my hat. The heat felt nice, especially compared to outside, but I was still a little sweaty from cheer so I needed to get home and shower fast.

Stacy’s mom dropped me in front of my house, and after some quick goodbyes, I ran inside.

On my way up the stairs, I ran into Amelia. She’s my father's second wife. They’ve only been married for a few years and she’s a bit younger than him, only 30 years old, but they seem to be happy. We get along pretty well, I guess. She’s not my mother, and I think she knows better than to try to be. We have a good enough relationship without her trying to act as my mom.

We’re not super close anyways. She spends a lot of time at work. She’s an orthodontic assistant at one of the places in town, and she really seems to have a passion for it. She’s really enthusiastic whenever the subject comes up, like when I mention one of my friends had gotten their braces off. Not that she’d know much about my friends. No way, they’d be caught dead in the office where she works. The doctor there is semi-infamous for being really strict with patients.

Still, it’s not like I’ll just ignore her whenever I walk past her.

“Oh, hey Amelia! What’s up?”

She glances up from her phone.

“Nothing much. How was school?”

“Ugh, remember that history test I was telling you about? Well, I think I bombed it.”

“Really? That bad?”

I sigh, “Yeah, but I think he’ll let me make it up. Anyways, gotta go shower. I’ll be down for dinner soon!”

I run past her, head right past my room, and go straight into my bathroom. It’s got pink glossy tiles on one side of the wall, and some mirrored medicine cabinets on the other.

Making sure the shower isn’t too cold before I enter it, I hop in, clean myself off, and hop back out again.

I run into my room and start looking for some clothes to change into.

Not pajamas, even if I don’t feel like going out tonight. Still a little early for that. Maybe some sweatpants? That’s it.

I pull on some blue sweatpants, and a baggy pink sweatshirt with the words “Class of ‘23” written on the back. Instead of having the sweatshirts given out at the end of the year, the students had decided we wanted them at the beginning of the year (that way we could wear them on all our class trips and have pictures with them in the yearbook).

I admire myself in the mirror real quick. Clear skin, dirty blonde hair tied back in a bun, and a clear pair of glasses covering my green eyes.

I snap a quick photo, caption it “#sweaterweatherishere”, and post it to my story before heading down.

Amelia is waiting for me in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove. She asks me what time it is.

“6:03,” I told her.
 
She sets an alarm, then frowns.

“You’re home early.”

I explain about how Mrs. Ellison gave me a quick lift before she picked Stacy up from the dentist.

Amelia opens her mouth to say something but the timer interrupts her. She busies herself with the food, and calls my dad down for dinner. We all eat our share, then help clear the plates and dishes. Then we each go our separate ways. I head to my room to focus on some schoolwork, maybe read a book, and call a few of my friends (“So Stace, how was?” “Uh, good I guess. No cavities or anything if that’s what you mean”). My dad goes up to his office to continue working, and Amelia mumbles something about checking appointments.

Later that night I’m just about to shut the lights when there’s a knock on the door and Amelia pokes her head in.

“So your story about Stacy got me thinking. It’s been a while since you’ve had a check up, especially since Dr. Booker retired. I’ve made an appointment with that new dentist in my office for tomorrow at three. He’s really good and I think you’ll like him. Plus I'll just be able to take you back with me on the way home from work. No need for your father to have to go out and get you.”

I’m a little upset that she made an appointment without asking me first, especially on a Friday afternoon, but I don’t pay it much mind. We talk a little bit and then I head to sleep.

Offline bracessd

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #2 on: 12. October 2022, 18:09:30 PM »
This should be interesting!

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #3 on: 12. October 2022, 18:22:26 PM »
Chapter 3:

I get out of school early the next day, and while I’d normally be able to go out with my friends, my time is now otherwise occupied by the big nice hour in which I have to sit in a chair and be told my teeth are fine.

At around 2:30 my father comes down and tells me to hop in the car. He’s driving me to the appointment. I try to tell him I don’t have to be there until 3, my dad is someone who likes to be early to everything.

It’s not that far of a drive, and we chat about school and stuff. My dad keeps glancing at me everytime we get to a red light.

“Nervous?”

“Well I wouldn’t be if you stopped looking at me like that!!!”

He chuckles, “Yeah well, I’m just thinking about that time you wouldn’t get out of the car because of how scared you were.”

“Dad, I was nine. And I was scared because they told me I had four cavities that need to be fixed that day. This is just a checkup. I’ll be fine.”

We pull up in front of the building. It’s very new, very modern. Big glass doors are right in front of the building. The words “Clements Orthodontics” are written on the left side of the building, and “Smile Center, by Dr. Shawn Carter” is written on the right.

I hop out of the car and walk into the building, a slight tingle building up in my stomach. My dad had gotten me pretty nervous even though I knew there was nothing to be afraid of.

Worst that could happen is I get a few cavities.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #4 on: 12. October 2022, 18:23:08 PM »
Chapter 4:

I follow the signs up a staircase, and walk into a small waiting room.

“Isabella Anderson for, uh, Dr. Carter?”

The receptionist smiles at me. She’s pretty young, maybe four or five years older than me.

“Oh you must be Amelia’s daughter! She said you’d be a little early. Here, sit down and someone will call you in a few.”

I guess Amelia knew my father would insist on dropping me here early. Figures she’d tell everyone about that.

I sat down in one of the chairs lining the walls, took out my phone, and started going through all my messages.

My legs start shaking. It’s hard to sit still. Damn it Dad! I didn’t need the nerves.

After a few minutes of mindlessly scrolling, not registering anything I’m seeing, I hear my name.

“Isabella?” There’s a young nurse in blue scrubs waiting for me.

“That’s me.”

“Come this way.”

I follow her through the hallways and we make our way to a small room. The nurse (her name tag reads Jackie) sits me down in a red leather chair, and puts a heavy blue apron over my front.

“So we noticed your x-rays are a little bit out of date. The doctor likes to have all the records good before he looks at everything. Think you can handle a few tests?”

I shrug.

“Okay, let's go.”

Jackie pulls some plastic covers over the portion of the machine that will be going into my mouth.

“Open wide, aaaand bite down for me. Good girl.”

It’s a little uncomfortable, but nothing too bad. Jackie walks outside the room, flips a switch, and comes back in. She adjusts the machine and repeats the process for the other side of my mouth.

After that, we’re ready to get started with my cleaning. She takes me into another room, leans back the chair, shines a bright light, and starts.  It’s all pretty standard. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then the doctor walks in.

He looks to be about 35 years old, and has a smile on his face that seems to be permanently fixed there. Perfect teeth, obviously.

He pulls up a stool and rolls over to my chair.

“Alright Isabella, let's see those pearly whites.”

I open as best I can, and he pokes around with a tool. Nothing seems to be off, and I’m confident this'll be the end of my visit and I can just go home after this.

Dr. Carter tsks.

Uh oh.

Offline aktivator82

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #5 on: 12. October 2022, 19:28:08 PM »
I think Ithabella will go home.. but with a mouthful of metal  >:D

Great start of this story... can't wait to read what happens next with Ithabella

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #6 on: 12. October 2022, 20:01:03 PM »
Thank you! I have written ahead quite a bit. So I already know what she'll be getting at her first appointment at least. But I'd like to write what happens after that before adding some more here. There will be some updates tonight, but I can't promise I'll be keeping this pace as the story moves on. Writing is hard!

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #7 on: 12. October 2022, 20:03:41 PM »
Chapter 5:

“Okay here’s the deal. Your teeth seem to be in great shape. Healthy, white, and no cavities that I can see. But.”

Oh, man there it is. This is where it’s all gonna go wrong, I can feel it.

“I was looking at your x-rays and there are some rather big issues that need to be fixed in regard to your teeth's alignment. I know your mother Amel-”

“Step-mother.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Amelia is my step-mom.”

“Ah, I see my mistake. Anyways, Amelia has written here that you’ve been somewhat reluctant to fix your teeth in the past. And I have here some records from your old orthodontist that say you’ve had some appliances. Obviously, you were not very compliant.”

I squirm guiltily in the chair, trying to disappear into the leather.

“I- Uh, I guess so? I mean it wasn’t really that big of a priority for me at the time.”

“Nor, does it seem to be one now. Else, you’d have already dealt with your teeth. So. Here’s what I’m proposing. Why don’t you come with me to Dr. Clements office? We already have some time set aside for you. Amelia wanted us to take care of you. And we can all have a small chat together. About your teeth, and about your general health.”

I’m sweating. This was not how I wanted today to go. They must’ve planned to have me go to the orthodontist from the start. That’s why Dad dropped me off so early.

There’s only one thing I can say. Not like I ever had much of a choice once the appointment was already made.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Offline kelly-Marie

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #8 on: 12. October 2022, 20:27:53 PM »
Good start you've done a good job on your first story. I do occasionally write storys myself so I know how hard it can be all I can say is keep up the good work!!

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #9 on: 12. October 2022, 20:41:08 PM »
Thank you! I‘ve read your stories and I’ve really liked them.

Offline anton08

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #10 on: 12. October 2022, 21:37:45 PM »
A very nice start - take it easy and take your time, quality needs time!  :)

Offline annasun251

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #11 on: 12. October 2022, 22:27:43 PM »
I'm enjoying this so far - thanks for sharing!

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #12 on: 13. October 2022, 07:20:46 AM »
Chapter 6:

I stand up on shaky legs and walk towards the orthodontist’s part of the building. I know where to go. I’ve been here before to drop off some stuff for Amelia.

Dr. Carter and Jackie walk behind me, almost as if they’re herding me along.

We get to the ortho’s waiting room and I turn to the pair.

“I assume we’re going to one of the side rooms. Not a chair.”

“Correct.”

I continue on. The room is full of kids, teenagers all bearing some kind of metal in their mouths. All no doubt wondering if I’m going to be joining them.

Yeah, they wish. No way I’m getting braces. And no way I’m getting them from this guy. Like I’ve said, Dr. Clements is pretty infamous for using harsh appliances and being pretty strict on patients.

I stop at the entrance to Dr. Clements personal office. I glance backwards.

Jackie gives me an encouraging look.

“Go on,” she says.

I walk inside.

Amelia is there, along with an older man I assume to be Dr. Clements. Amelia has a guilty little smile on her face.

Good. She should feel guilty.

Clements, meanwhile, is looking at some papers. My records I’m assuming.

“Uh, hey Isabella,” Amelia makes a tentative attempt at conversation.

I ignore her.

“So what am I here for Dr. Clements? I mean, what do I need to do?”

“Hmm?” He looks up at me.

“Oh goodness, well there’s a lot to be done.”

He starts to point out every miniscule detail, every small thing that’s wrong with my mouth.

My teeth aren’t straight, my jaws are too narrow, my bite isn’t right, bla bla bla.

I just care about one thing.

“Do I really need braces?”

“Undoubtedly,” was the resounding answer from the other 4 people in the room.

When I’d first walked into the office, I’d been dead set against them. Now… I’m not so sure

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #13 on: 13. October 2022, 07:21:24 AM »
Chapter 7:

Looking back on it, it was all my own fault I think. I allowed myself to get bullied into braces. I let them convince me that the braces were necessary.

The next hour passed in a blur. I was being bullied and bludgeoned into understanding that I needed braces. And after a bit I gave in. They were right, after all. I really did need the braces.

And naturally I had to be treated here. My issues were too severe, we’d be getting a discount (thanks Amelia), and Dr. Clements said something about compliance not really being an issue.

And so, despite my concerns here I was. Ready to get some braces.

Once I admitted to them, and myself, that I was ready to have braces things moved quite quickly. Amelia led me out of the room over to a chair situated in the main room. She mixed up some of the pink gunk I remember my last orthodontist used to make molds. She tested out several different tray sizes in my mouth before deciding on one.

She filled the tray with the pink gloop, smoothing the excesses off the top, before telling me to open.

When I do, Amelia maneuvers the oversized tray into my mouth, slipping it past my lips before pressing it up against my teeth.

I can feel the gunk slinking past my teeth, oozing out from the cracks in the tray, and coming to a rest on my lips. I want to gag. I can hardly breathe, and I already know that I’m going to have to do this a second time for the bottom.

“Just two more minutes, honey,” Amelia says.
I glare at her. She does NOT get to call me honey after today's stunt. I’m still not happy with her.

When the two minutes are up, Amelia wrenches the tray off my teeth, and repeats the same process for my lower jaw.

She leaves after that, presumably to take care of the molds, and another assistant takes her place.

He leans back my chair, and moves a tray to rest over my chest.

“Okay Isabella, now I’m just going to be putting in some spacers. These are just so that we can make sure we have enough space for some of the appliances you’ll be having during your treatment.”

Yeah, they mentioned something about appliances, but I’ll be honest I wasn’t really paying much attention to that. I figure I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The assistant is placing the spacers now. I can feel him stretching them, wedging them between my teeth. There’s a lot, I realize. I don’t know exactly how much, but a lot.

“All right, and we’re all done! Let me just get the doctor real quick, and then you’re free to go.”

Before he leaves, I make sure to ask him for a mirror. I want to see just what has been done to me so far.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #14 on: 13. October 2022, 09:09:56 AM »
Chapter 6 is missing. Was it just a numbering issue or did it get missed.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #15 on: 13. October 2022, 11:23:11 AM »
Fixed, thank you.

Offline bracessd

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #16 on: 13. October 2022, 17:20:43 PM »
Good job! Sounds like she'll be getting some fun appliances!

Offline bsma189

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #17 on: 14. October 2022, 01:40:53 AM »
Looking forward to more!!

Offline blueblur1997

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #18 on: 14. October 2022, 13:17:17 PM »
I'm really liking this so far and I can't wait to see more to this story.

Offline aktivator82

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #19 on: 16. October 2022, 17:30:16 PM »
Looks like she will get many of lithping applainces in her mouth.

Can't wait for the next chapter

Offline Castlesswonder

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #20 on: 01. January 2023, 18:55:37 PM »
This is a great story can’t wait for the next chapter

Offline annasun251

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #21 on: 01. January 2023, 21:47:34 PM »
I also really enjoy this and would love to read more!

Offline anton08

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #22 on: 02. January 2023, 08:33:31 AM »
It is a pity that such a nice story has stopped. :(

Offline Airximmobilized

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #23 on: 08. January 2023, 20:39:28 PM »
This is a good story. Please continue!

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #24 on: 23. February 2023, 20:02:30 PM »
Chapter 8

Picking up the small hand mirror Jacob (that’s the assistant’s name) gave me, I’m a little shocked at my reflection. Between the pink gunk crusting around my lips, and the baby blue spacers which go all the way up to my canines, I’m reminded of the outfit I wore last night.

Last night when things were normal, and I didn’t even have a thought of braces in my head.

The assistant returns, this time with Dr. Clements behind him. The doctor is carrying some papers in his hand.

He sits down in front of me.

“Hello, Isabella. Before we let you go there’s just a few things I need to see and then you’re good to go.”

 The chair is brought back down into a reclining position, and the light is back over my head for all of thirty seconds before I’m brought back up

“Perfect. Everything seems to be correct here. Now, final thing, for real this time. Amelia has already filled out the rest of the paperwork for you, but as you’re 18 we do need your consent to treat you. All you need to do is sign here.”

I glance at the papers.  I can barely make sense of the words written there. Ah, what the hell.

I sign the papers.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #25 on: 23. February 2023, 20:03:09 PM »
Chapter 9:

I left the office after that (my father was waiting for me. Amelia must’ve called), an appointment made for Monday morning. Three days.

When I get home I head straight to my room. I ignore any attempts from my father and Amelia to talk to me. They don’t get to do that.

Just manipulate me behind my back, setting up appointments, and twisting things until I saw everything their way. They’d need to make it up to me.

I texted my friends about what happened. Told them about how I was going to be a braceface again. A loser with some pieces of metal across her teeth (“Don’t worry it’s not going to be that much.” “Good, because no offense, but some of the people that walk out of that office look like a train wreck happened in their mouth.” Offense taken Brenda. Never liked her anyways).

And just like that the days flew by. I was still anxious about my appointment but I was starting to put it out of my head.

The only things bothering me were the spacers. A constant throbbing in my mouth, my teeth starting to move into place. Getting ready for Monday.

Sunday night was spent out with my friends. We chilled by Stacy’s house where I ran into her mom again.

Then I had to explain what those blue things in my mouth were, why I was deciding to get braces now (“Oh, but I think it’s great that you’re taking care of yourself.”), why I was getting them from Dr. Clements (“Well, y’know how my step-mom works there right? Yeah, so we’re getting a pretty big discount because of that.”).

Despite my attempts to take my mind off of the upcoming appointment,  it was still there.  It’s like I could feel it swimming around in there.

Isabella’s getting braces.

Oh, they’re going to be huuuuuge, you know that Dr. Clements.

What a shame about Isabella. She was so pretty but then she got those awful braces.

No, stop. I can’t focus on that. Tonight I’m going to have fun. Tomorrow is a new day.

————-

The next morning I’m woken up my Amelia shaking me gently. I still haven’t totally forgiven her.

“C’mon let’s get ready! We’ve got to be there in 30 minutes!”

“We? Don’t you have to be in early to set up and stuff? Besides I’m the one getting braces. You’ve got nothing to do with it.”

“Weeeeeeellll…. I may have kinda of sorta askedtobetheoneputtingyourbraceson!”

She finished her sentence in a squeal and hugs me.

Huh. Oh hell no.

“Nooooo,” I groan out. It’s going to be so embarrassing. Imagine having your sister putting your braces on. That’s what that’s like.

Amelia pouts.

“Oh relax. It’ll be fun! It’ll be like a bonding experience.”

She laughs at that last bit and mutters something about there being a lot of bonding today.

“Fun for you maybe. I don’t want you poking around in my mouth. It’s embarrassing.”

“Tell you what. Why don’t you think on it. I’m the meantime you can get ready. And dress comfortably! You’re going to be sitting in that chair for a while.”

I nod and thankfully she leaves me alone. Pushing back my covers and sitting up with a yawn, I think about what to wear.

I got it. Black leggings, a nice white wool skirt that goes till about the knees (I am going to school after), and a nice comfortable shirt and cardigan top.

Then I run out, do my hair, brush my teeth, and head downstairs.

“Ready!” I call out.

I don’t bother with breakfast. I don’t think I could stomach it anyways.

Amelia comes out, her uniform already on.

We get to the office at about half past 9. It’s not completely empty, but also not nearly as full as it was Friday afternoon. It makes sense. Most of the patients are probably in school. These early appointments must be the long ones where the doctor has more to do things. Like putting on braces.

The second we walk through the doors, Amelia turns to me with a pleading look. I know what she wants. And bless my kind soul I’m going to give it to her.

“Fine, but you owe me for this,” I mumble.

“Yesss!!!”

She regains what little composure she had to begin with.

“Alright follow me.”

She leads me to some sinks and hands me a  wrapped toothbrush.

“It already has toothpaste on it. Just add water. And make sure you do a good job brushing! When you’re ready I’ll be by chair number six.”

I take the toothbrush hesitantly, before walking towards the brushing area.

“You can do this. C’mon, you’re okay. It’s just a little bit of metal. It’ll be over before you know it.”

I try to hype myself up but it’s hard. Tears are coming up and I feel myself starting to hyperventilate. My cheeks are flushing and I’m starting to take deep breaths.

Footsteps. Amelia’s back.

“Aw Isabella. What’s wrong?”

I’m covering my face. This is stupid. I’m 18 years old and here I am about to cry because of something I AGREED TO DO.

Amelia kneels down in front of me. Strong hands grip my arms and pull them away from my face. She lets out a small gasp at the sight of the small tears I can feel leaking out of the corners of my eyes.

“Come here.”

She folds her arms around me holding me tight as I shake. This is ridiculous. I’m a grownup crying over some metal.

And I was fine before! I didn’t mind yesterday! Why here, why now?

I think I know.

It’s the finality of it. This is it. The last time I’ll be normal in who knows how long. Now they say “Oh Isabella? The cheerleader? The pretty one with the blond hair?”

After today it’ll be “Isabella’s the one with the braces right?”

And that’s a little scary.

Amelia is still hugging me. I’m half laughing half crying now. Laughing from the absurdity of it all.

“You good?”

“Yeah, yeah it’s okay. I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

And so, I brush my teeth one last time, look at the young girl staring back at me in the mirror, and march onwards.

Chair 6 here I come.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #26 on: 23. February 2023, 20:03:45 PM »
Chapter 10:

Amelia led me over to a different chair than the one I’d been in last time. This one was facing the windows, giving me a pretty good view of outside.

“Figured it was the least I could do after spring it all on you,” she tells me.

There’s a small table next to the chair. Piled onto it are a variety of instruments and tools and, I’m sure, my braces.

“Allrighty, let’s get you set up.”

Amelia clips a bib, like the kind you get when you’re getting a cleaning at the dentist, around my neck.

“Just in case some gook starts to go flying.”

She leans the chair back now, bring the light over my head, pulling her mask on.

“If at anytime anything starts to hurt I want you to let me know, okay?”

She must still be feeling guilty. She’s acting all nice and gentle.

I nod.

“Okay, so first thing I’m going to do is put in a cheek retractor.”

A what?

Turns out to be nothing more than a piece of plastic that, well, retracts my cheeks. Keeps me off of my teeth. Doesn’t hurt at all, but it’s not the most comfortable.

Next, Amelia takes out one of those picks the kind the dentist uses to probe for cavities.

She starts pulling out all of the separators which had been wedged into my teeth. They came out fairly easily, unlike how they came in. Guess that means they did their job.

“Now it’s time to start getting your braces on. Normally the doctor does this part, but I’m qualified as well and I wanted to do this with you. He’ll just check everything over.”

I can’t really speak so I shrug to let her know I’m okay with her doing this.

“Great, let’s get started.”

Amelia takes out a tool and starts moving it across my teeth. It white as it goes, and the taste of dentists toothpaste fills my mouth. Probably the same tool they use. She must want to polish my teeth before the braces are put on. A little overkill considering I just had a cleaning last week.

Once she’s done polishing, she doesn’t take out that syringe with the blue stuff that I’ve seen in all the braces videos (etch I think they called it). Instead she reaches over to the tray resting on the table next to her.

She picks up something with four bands on it (two on each side) and something floating in between the bands.

“So. Isabella. This is your first appliance. Your upper jaw is too narrow, and to fix this we’re going to be using something called an ‘expander.’ It’s a little different than other kinds because we’ve adapted it specifically for your problems. The expander itself is lower down in your mouth instead of just resting on the top of your palate. You may find that you have a lisp, but it shouldn’t cause too many issues other than that.”

Um what? Did she just say I was going to have a LISP. No way, uh huh.

I make some grunts in protest and I’m pretty sure Amelia gets what I’m objecting to.

She looks down on me sympathetically, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she smiles underneath her mask.

“I know, but you did sign a contract agreeing to listen to the doctor no matter what. And the doctor really thinks it’s absolutely necessary. All of your appliances are.”

Appliances? Plural? And they were all going to be like this? Oh. My. God.

“Okay let’s continue.”

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #27 on: 23. February 2023, 20:04:19 PM »
Chapter 11:

Amelia brings the expander into my mouth. My eyes are shut, but I can feel her hands moving around inside my mouth. She places the bands over their corresponding teeth.

“Bite down for me.”

She positions a stick under each band and my biting pushes them on.

“That looks good. Let me get the doctor.”

I’m left there, my mouth held open, laying helplessly in that chair. My tongue starts to explore the first part of my braces. The expanding mechanism is extremely conspicuous. It’s practically in the middle of my mouth!

Moving my tongue along the outside of my teeth all I can feel is smoothness interrupted by four bumps. Two of them aren’t that big. I’m reasonably sure these are my brackets. But the other two bumps (one on each side of my mouth) are much much bigger. I’m still trying to figure out what they are when the doctor arrives.

“Ah, I see you’re acquainting yourself with your new hardware.”

He smiles down at me, and I give a small, shy nod.

“Well, everything seems to be good so far. And as for that but you were talking about, yes I definitely see that Mrs. Anderson. Miss Anderson here can definitely benefit from them, and I see no harm in adding those.”

“Perfect. We’ll do those last then.”

The doctor walks away and Amelia rolls her chair back over my head.

“Okay Isabella. Now that I know the expander fits, I’m going to go ahead and cement it it.”

She takes it out of my mouth, fills up the rings with some goo, and we repeat the process of biting the stick.

Now she reaches over to the tray again.

“I’m going to finish banding your top teeth now.”

She checks the fit, fills the bands with goo, and one by one my teeth are covered in metal, all the way until my canines. These, thankfully, have small(er, but still pretty large) brackets placed on them.

“And there you go! Top jaw almost done, but we’ll finish that later!”

We’re about an hour into the process now, but it feels like forever. The Isabella of yesterday has been replaced with braced Isabella.

“Now time for your bottom teeth!”

Ugh, she is waaay too happy.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #28 on: 23. February 2023, 20:04:57 PM »
Chapter 12:

Amelia’s reaching over to the tray again. This time she picks up two bands with a piece of wire connecting them. Somethings sticking out of the sides of each band too. These must be the same things the expander had.

We go through the same process that we did for the top teeth. A lot of opening, and biting, and cementing.

I can feel the wire from that thing with the bands resting behind my teeth. It’s a little annoying and my mouth is starting to water more and more. The poor suction machine is working overtime.

Amelia finally finishes banding my teeth.

“Just a few more things and then we’re done, okay?”

I grunt. Whatever. Get me out of here.

“So Isabella, you’re going to want to pay attention to this.”

Amelia holds up some tubes. These are part of your appliance. I’m going to connect them to you bands and then put them together. This should move your bite into the correct position. I know it’s a lot right now. It’s going to be a lot to handle. But it’s going to be okay.”

She shoots me a reassuring glance.

She starts fiddling with the tubes, attaching them like she said she would.

“So these tubes DO come apart. So you need to be careful not to open your mouth too wide, otherwise the tubes can be dislodged and they’ll just be hanging out. If this ever happens to you, you can just squeeze them back together okay?”

I nod.

“Okay I’m going to take out the lip spreader now. You may be a bit overwhelmed by everything but it’ll pass, don’t worry. And after this I’m just going to double check a few stuff, put some words and a few other things in, and we’re good to go!”

Come ON, just get it over with already.

Amelia leans over me, slips her gloved hands into my mouth, and slides out the cheek retractors.

And I can feel my braces.

Ho. Ly. Crap.

Offline ellers

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #29 on: 23. February 2023, 20:09:39 PM »
All right, here's the deal. I wrote these a while ago, all of them in one sitting. I haven't looked over them, nor do I think i will in the future. Some parts clearly need to be cut, but that's okay. I kinda just fell out of writing this story, I'll be honest with you guys. If anyone want's to finish this, they're welcome to. I didn't really intend to have a full blown story. I just thought of something, then decided "You know what? Maybe I should do something with this."

Here was the idea that got me to start writing this:

Everyone loves it when someone gets full bands. But I feel like you should save that so there's somewhere for the story to go after a while. Something new to add.

I would give BLANK something intense but not so intense. Like maybe a Herbst with an upper expander in addition to the braces. It might not seem like so much, but it's a lot to start off. Unable to move her jaw as much, constantly having it in an awkward position, big screws poking out at her cheeks giving her that chipmunk look, and that's just the arms!

That little bar that goes across the lower jaw is probably preeettty conspicuous. Something on the back of the teeth on the lower side. And for the top, of course, there's the expander. But maybe there's something different about it. Something to ensure she can't get over the lisp as others do. Maybe it's intentionally placed in an unusual spot. It's lower down than usual, and closer to her front teeth ensuring a perpetual lisp.

Another thing you could add is some bite turbos on the back teeth. Those small little blue mounds of cement that go on the molars. They may look small but man are they a pain. I've had them. And something you can do with that is make it so that the ortho accidentally put more on one side by accident, and that leads to her bite being thrown off. So now she needs even MORE treatment!!!

I don;t think I'll be adding anything else to this.

Offline dr_nick

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Re: Story: Ithabella
« Reply #30 on: 23. February 2023, 23:48:27 PM »
Thanks for continuing this, I enjoyed it. And yeah, maybe someone will find some love for Ithabella and we can finally follow her around her first days.