Hopefully this isn’t over the line.
Part 9.
I took a big gulp of my beer and told the girls about my day. I thought I would be able to get through it just fine. I told them about all the downed trees, all the damaged and demolished structures, all the work that was still to be done. I explained that for the first half of the day we had just tried to clear areas so people could get around. There were people all over the city and the state doing the same. I then told them how around lunch we took a little break and I went wandering around. I told them how I went to Forest Lake. But as I got to the part about the girl and the dress I felt the tears coming. Despite willing myself not to, I starting bawling like a baby for the second time that day.
Haley was almost immediately by my side, hugging me and telling me it was ok. She was rubbing her hand on my chest, and despite my little meltdown I realized how good it felt. As I got myself under control Brittany returned with some tissue and sat down on my other side of me, embracing me as well. After a few minutes I had regained my composure. I told them how sorry I was. And how embarrassed I was. Brittany told me to quit that, it was completely understandable. Haley told me it was sweet. Brittany moved back to where she had been sitting. But Haley stayed by my side, holding my hand. Then she asked a question that knocked me sideways.
Haley looked at me and asked “so, what do you think about braces?” Oh shit. I asked her “what do you mean?” She replied “I have seen you looking at Brittany’s mouth all night. Do you find them that hideous?” Oh shit. I thought for a moment about how to extricate myself from this situation. I looked at her, then to Brittany, and then back at Haley and told her “no, they are not hideous at all. They are adorable”. I hoped one of them would steer the conversation elsewhere, but the silence was deafening. Maybe it was the alcohol, but I decided I would try to explain it a little better. “I don’t really understand it, but I think braces accentuate how pretty a girl is. Maybe it is because I know they are a pain and I want to hold them and tell them it will be ok. Maybe it is because they are just a little unusual on adults. Maybe it is because while they are generally considered “ugly”, it shows that the person wearing them is improving themselves, despite the pain and inconvenience. And to me that is sexy. Or maybe it is something else I don’t even understand. And I know it is weird. But no, I don’t think they are hideous. Not at all”. There was still silence, so I tried some further explanation. “You know how some guys like blondes, some have an extra attraction to big boobs, some like a ghetto booty while others don’t? Well it is kinda like that. Or do you know how some girls like a guy with a beard? That seems strange to me, it is just some whiskers. But nonetheless some find a beard an added attraction.” Haley looked at me and rubbed the whiskers on my chin “I kind of understand what you are saying.” I mentally exhaled; maybe I hadn’t completely butchered this. Haley then surprised me with her second question.
She looked at me and asked “what would you think if I had braces?” I looked at her and answered honestly “you would be beautiful. You are beautiful now. If you had braces you would be beautiful with braces”. Then I thought back to high school and asked her “didn’t you have braces in high school? And your smile now is gorgeous”. Her reply surprised me. She told me “yes, I had braces from 8th grade to the summer between 10th and 11th grade. I even had headgear like Britt. And it fixed my teeth and gave me a pretty smile. But they didn’t address my narrow arches. And they pulled everything back so far, that now I have a little trouble breathing through my nose. I am getting braces sometime in the future. And I am so nervous and scared. I am worried what people will think and how I will look. The idea of navigating my 30s in braces scares me. Which is ridiculous since I work in a dentist and orthodontic office. But it doesn’t change how I feel. Britt makes fun of me, telling me I’m a chicken and how it isn’t that big a deal”. Brittany chimed in “it isn’t that bad. Now the headgear, the headgear sucks and is embarrassing. But braces are not the end of the world”. I looked at Brittany, who was smiling and displaying her braces to Haley. And to me. This was not going at all how I had feared things would go.
Haley stood up and looked at Britt. She asked “Britt, would you walk with me back to your house. I need to get something.” I asked her, despite the fact I could see her parents back door from where I sat, if they needed an escort. Just in case they encountered a bear or something. She laughed, and said no. Just stay here. She promised they would be back in a minute. As I watched them walk down the steps of the deck and across the lawn, I replayed what had just happened. Did I screw up? Did I chase them away? I didn’t think so, even if it did seem a little strange that they both had just gotten up and left. I went inside to get another beer. As I walked to the fridge, I saw Brittany’s headgear laying on the counter beside the bottle of vodka. I thought that whether I scared them off or not, she would surely need that back. I got my beer and went back out on the deck. After a few minutes, I saw the pair emerge from the house next door. I breathed a little sigh of relief. They were coming back.
Once they got back, Haley asked if we could go inside. She wanted to show me something. We went back in the kitchen. Once there, Brittany topped off both the girls drinks. She took a couple of straws out of her pocket and put one in each drink. She then put her headgear on. Oh my, I thought, how could the worst day ever become the best day ever so quickly? Haley was observant and I knew she couldn’t miss that my attention was riveted on Brittany. But I just could not help myself, it was like the pull of gravity. Once Brittany got her headgear on, Haley grabbed me and physically turned me around towards her. She said she wanted to show me something. She cautioned that it was embarrassing and she felt self conscious by it. She then pulled a plastic retainer case out of her purse. Haley said “you know how I told you I was getting braces? I actually am in treatment now. I am supposed to be wearing these 24/7 except when I eat. But my lisp is so bad, I was embarrassed to wear them over here. You probably didn’t even realize it, but I had a crush on you in high school. I didn’t want to see you for the first time in 15 years lisping like Daffy Duck.” She then took two acrylic and metal expanders out of the box. “I am supposed to wear these all the time. If I don’t, and I have not done a good job since I got them, I will have to get bonded expanders.” And with that she clicked the lower appliance in place, and then the top. As she had been talking earlier, I had been examining them the best I could. They looked very similar to retainers, but each had a screw in the middle that could be expanded. I noticed the the bottom also had a little bit of built up acrylic along the molars, she wouldn’t be able to completely close her jaw. And finally I had noticed the hooks on the upper appliance. Did she have to wear a face mask too?
She looked at me and earnestly said “pleash be nish. I feel sho embarrashed how I talk with them in. I have had them for three monthsh, and thish ish as good as I think it will get. I obvioushly wear them at work, I have to. And I wear them every night at home. But I am very bad about wearing them the resht of the time. Brittany staysh on me, but it ish jusht sho embarrashing”. I looked at her and told her “you look gorgeous. And the way you speak is adorable.” She looked at me and asked “so it ishn’t a huge turn off?” I simply shook my head no. She continued “I wonder what it feels like to kiss someone with these in?” as she looked me in the eyes. I took this as an invitation. However, I did not want her to think I was trying to go too fast, so I kept my tongue in my mouth. After what I felt like was too brief a time, she pulled back. She looked at me, I think sizing up my reaction, and then initiated another kiss. She took the lead this time, and snaked her tongue into my mouth. I reciprocated. The feel of the expander was almost too much for me to take.
She pulled back and said “I always wanted to kish you in high school. I sure never thought it would happen like thish.” She took a few steps over towards Brittany and picked up her drink. She looked back at me and said “you shcertainly don’t sheem to be running away in horror. I do have to wear shomething elsh though, and it might make you run”. She came back over beside me and dug into her purse. She pulled out a pink Petit facemask and bag of elastics. She said “I am alsho shupposed to wear thish 14 hoursh a day” and looked me in the eye. I asked her to please put it on. She cautioned she didn’t think she wouldn’t be able to kiss me. I told her I didn’t want to stand in the way of her orthodontic treatment. She put an elastic on each hook in her mouth, then held the mask up to her face. With her other hand, she took each elastic and crossed it over to the horizontal bar in front of her delectable mouth. It was spectacular. She looked up at me pouting and said “i know I look sho shtupid”. I told her “no, you are gorgeous. Absolutely stunning”. Still pouting, she said “and I can’t kish you wearing thish”. I had been so absorbed in Haley I had not noticed Brittany move over beside me. She rubbed her hand down my arm and said “I wonder if it is possible to kiss someone wearing headgear?” She had a pleading look in her eyes. I leaned over and maneuvered my lips around her facebow. As we kissed I could feel Haley hugging up on both of us.
The next morning I woke up in a bit of a hangover fog. As I got my eyes to work I saw Haley, wearing her pink facemask, snuggled up against me to my right. I thought she might be the most incredibly beautiful creature I had ever seen. But it would be a close race. I could see Brittany’s arm slung over me from my other side. She had her face resting against my left shoulder, and I could feel her facebow digging into me slightly. I relaxed, just enjoying the moment. How could something so horrible turn into something so wonderful?
