Chapter 1

Although I was 18 so technically legally independent I relied on my Dad a lot.
My mum had died when I was 2, I’d never really known her and my dad remarried a couple of years later. Jessica was my step mother. I’d always got the feeling she had never liked me but tolerated me. There was no awful experiences just running tension. She didn’t have children of her own and took me on as hers.

My dad travelled a lot for business and always had, Jessica often left me with grandparents while he was away – spending time with her friends and her own family instead.
I had trouble at school – always trying my hardest but struggling academically. We had multiple meetings and agreed a decelerated programme would be better for me.
I got to take the same number of classes as other peers but got longer to do them – if they had 1 year then I had 2. It would mean I wouldn’t finish school until I was 19/20 but ultimately I would pass and could go onto further education if I wanted rather than failing and being stuck.
This infuriated Jessica because it meant I was stuck at home for longer.
She always pestered my dad about me getting a job and ‘paying my way’ but we had just enough money and my dad didn’t think it was a priority while we could afford for me not to and so I could focus on my studies.
One thing I was into was my netball, it helped me to release my frustrations and gave me something to focus on that I was good at.  Jessica hated that I did this weekly, it kept me fit and healthy but she saw it as a distraction and thought I could be using my time better.

As I didn’t have a job or my own money it meant I needed help and support from my dad and Jessica. Luckily we lived close enough to my school that I could walk there and back but if I needed to go further to friends or appointments then I needed driving there.

On a bleak Monday morning I was sat at the dentist with Jessica who drove me. It was the 6 monthly check up and I had no anxieties as I knew my teeth were in good shape. Jessica insisted on coming in as she always did at any of my appointments. As the chair reclined I saw Jessica flicking through her phone, awaiting the end so we could go home. The dentist tapped away at my teeth like usual. His brow creased as he frowned and grunted slightly.
He muttered something to his assistant and then finished up his exam of me. As he raised the chair he scooted himself round to the side of me and looked between me and Jessica, “so decision time then”. I looked at him questioningly as Jessica raised her eyes from her phone, waiting for him to continue. “It looks as though your wisdom teeth have come through now, which is what we wanted but unfortunately it’s caused some crowding that we didn’t forsee…” Jessica narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk on her face as her eyes flicked over to me.
“I think the decision you need to make is whether it bothers you enough to proceed with treatment.”
I glanced between him and Jessica “what type of treatment?”, he shrugged casually “braces. I can recommend a few orthodontists that previous patients have had good outcomes with”.
I turned to face Jessica, a slightly panicked look on my face – silently communicating to her that she should shut this conversation down and we could move on with our days. Instead of following my prompt, what came next surprised me “Oh that’s a surprise, she hasn’t needed them in the past but it’s a good job you’ve picked up on it now before it’s too late. We wont be needing any recommendations though, one of my close friends is an orthodontist and I’ll make sure he takes really good care of Ellie”

I like where this is going.

Chapter 3

The next two days went quickly and I suddenly found myself sitting in Jessicas car outside the orthodontist. Fear was bubbling away as I did not know what I was letting myself in for. I had checked out her friends website and did not see any mention or Invisalign or clear brackets so that was going to be an interesting conversation to have.
I had begged my dad to reconsider but he said that he was thinking about me in the long run. Both him and Jessica said it was my decision – I was an adult and they couldn’t force me but they wouldn’t enable my ‘bad behaviours’ by funding my lifestyle. Since I wanted to go to school and make something out of my life I realised I had no choice. I needed to continue living with them and couldn’t afford anything else right now.

We stepped inside and the smell immediately hit me. There was a quiet buzz all around and I took a seat as Jessica checked me in, I looked at all the posters and checked out the other people in the waiting room. My knee bounced nervously as time stretched on, after we had been sat there for about 10 minutes a young woman called my name and both me and Jessica stood up. My knees went to jelly as we walked along the long corridor, Jessica placed her arm around my back – looking like a supportive stepmother but actually pushing me along.
The assistant led us into the exam room where a very tall man was seated looking at my notes. He turned to see us and smiled broadly, he reached out and embraced Jessica and then greeted me. He signalled for me to take a seat while him and Jessica chatted. It wasn’t unusual for me not to know her friends as I was often away at my grandparents but I grew more nervous as I realised how close they appeared to be. Jessica could be charming and I suddenly became more aware of how much control she had over my treatment.

After what felt like forever the chair was slowly reclined and I opened my mouth for John to examine my teeth. There was a lot of mumbling to his assistant and “hmms” or “uh-huhs”. Eventually he stopped poking around and began to sit me up “Alright then Ellie, I’ve had a good look and I’d agree you definitely need braces. I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to get in. As well as the crowing your bite could do with some work and we can definitely straighten those front teeth out. What we’ll do now is I’ll get Sarah to take you for some x-rays while I speak to Jess about the treatment plan then when you get back we’ll confirm everything with you and if you’re happy we’ll go ahead and take some impressions. How does that sound?” It all sounded like it was moving so quickly but a quick look at Jessica showed there was no getting away from it so I just nodded and meekly followed Sarah to the x-ray room. After dozens of x-rays and measurements Sarah led me back towards the exam room again, as we pushed the door open I could hear John and Jessica laughing and joking together casually. They both turned to look at me, Jessica had a huge grin on her face and her eyes were practically sparkling with joy again. John got me to sit in the chair and positioned himself between me and Jessica. The anxiety grew in my stomach as I sensed some big changes ahead.

“So we have had a chat, Jess is totally on board with the treatment plan – now we just need to check if you are too. I understand your Dad and Jess are paying for this which is awfully nice of them considering your age” I forced a smile onto my face as I looked between them both, wishing he would hurry up and tell me what his ‘plan’ was.
He cleared his throat and proceeded “now I won’t bore you with too many names or details that won't make sense but our thoughts are we would start off by widening your arches, we would need to position your jaws properly and we would want to align your teeth. It would mean using some appliances as well as upper and lower braces. Probably for around 18 months.”
My jaw dropped slightly; I had expected around 6 months. My teeth looked fine to me. I glanced over at Jessica who looked like she was trying to hold in her laughter. I stuttered as I tried to process this information, “Erm, well – I looked online and saw Invisalign or clear braces. Could we maybe do that?”
John looked at me sympathetically as he shook his head “I’m afraid not. Invisalign wont correct your bite and the clear braces aren’t strong enough for some of the forces we need. You’ve actually got quite a few problems and we really need to get on top of them as soon as possible to prevent any further damage.” I swallowed loudly, trying to calm my breathing down but suddenly feeling like things had totally spiralled out of control “You said appliances? What types?” John looked over at Jessica briefly and started “well, expanders, maybe some removeable appliances to correct your bite, we may have to switch to ones that stay in, probably an extraoral device. We’ll discuss them all in more detail closer to the time though.” As I sat thinking about it, I remembered the ultimatum from my dad and sighed as I agreed to the treatment. John sent his assistant off and began taking the impressions he needed.

I gagged as he did the upper jaw but thankfully the lower seemed easy in comparison. After another 15 minutes of opening, closing, prodding and poking John sat me up again. “Right, Sarah has brought in your contracts now if you could check them and sign them?” I was confused by this – I’d never heard of a contract before. My expression must have given it away because John chuckled lightly and told me “It’s standard here. We want to ensure people stick to their treatment and this ensures that happens. Also, because you’re not paying for your treatment yourself it gives your dad and Jess a bit of security that you are on board with the treatment and they can rest assured their money is being well spent.”
This made sense so I quickly flipped through the pages and signed them before handing them to Jessica to co-sign since she was down as the person paying.
John smiled cheerfully “Right then, lay back – we’ll get your spacers in today and look in the diary for a slot for you to come in for the fitting appointment.”
I followed the instructions numbly and laid back and opened my mouth again, tuning everything out as John fitted all the spacers. It was only as he sat me back up that I realised quite how many he had put in. 6 on the top and 6 on the bottom, surrounding all of my molars. I tried to feel them with my finger but John quickly warned me to leave them alone incase I pushed them out.  I sat like a child who had been told off as him and Jessica compared schedules then agreed on Sunday morning at 9am for my fitting appointment. My stomach did flips as I realised that was only a few days away. John quickly went through some aftercare advice and cheerfully wished us goodbye. Jessica continued to grin away while my mouth began to throb and I questioned how everything had happened so quickly. I made a mental note to google some different appliances John mentioned as I had no idea about orthodontics so needed to know what I’d let myself in for.

Great start!

I have a request. Could you number the chapters so that it is easier to keep track of where you are in the story? It can be chapter 1, chapter 2, etc or part 1, 2, 3, etc.

I'm just starting to read through your story and like what I see so far.

really enjoying this so far!

This is starting off well. Centering the story on Ellie and Jessica's relationship was definitely a good move.

Great start, looking forward to reading more