Mia a Matter of Taste

by Coco Simon

  But I have enough of my friends in gym so that having Olivia there doesn’t bother me, you know? Things are always easier when your friends are there to back you up.

  So when I got to health class, our teacher, Ms. Chen, was setting up the computer projector thingy to show us a film about the human body or something. I put on my glasses so I could see it. We watched the movie, and then Ms. Chen asked us a bunch of questions. When the bell rang I started packing up the glasses again before we headed to lunch.

  Suddenly, Olivia was next to me. “Are you a member of the Four Eyes Club now?” she asked, and I flinched. But Olivia wasn’t finished. “Don’t worry, they don’t look that bad. You look like a teacher.”

  “What do you care what she looks like?” Alexis snapped. She doesn’t have a lot of patience for the BFC.

  “Okay, chill out! Gosh, can’t a person make a comment around here?” Olivia asked. “Anyway, glasses really aren’t that bad. They’re not as bad as braces, anyway.”

  I turned pale. Did Olivia know I was getting braces? How could she know? She was really getting under my skin. But she was already walking away.

  “I knew this was going to happen,” I said as we walked to lunch. “Forget it. I am not wearing these glasses anymore. I’ll just keep squinting.”

  “Mia, you look like you should be in a magazine, seriously,” Emma said. “You’re gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, don’t listen to her,” Katie piped up.

  “But does she know I’m getting braces?” I wondered out loud.

  “She couldn’t,” Alexis said. “I think she was just trying to make a jab. A ridiculous jab, but just a jab.”

  I sighed. “I can only imagine what she’ll see when I walk in here with braces. This is seriously a disaster.”

  When we got to the cafeteria, Emma and Alexis went up to the hot food line, and Katie and I went to our table.

  “You know,” Katie said as she unpacked her lunch. “When I first met you, you were new and everything, but you didn’t seem to care what anyone thought. And now you seem to be worried about what everyone is thinking. Why do you care now?”

  It was a good question, and I wasn’t sure I had an answer. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I guess . . . it’s like I knew who I was before, and now I’m this whole new person with glasses and then braces and everything. I’m not the same old Mia anymore.”

  “Of course you are,” Katie insisted. “Just because you have stuff on your face doesn’t mean you’re not the same inside.”

  “I guess,” I said, and I knew Katie was right. But I was starting to realize something about myself—something that was embarrassing to admit. All my life I had always been, well, kind of cute, you know? Mom always made sure I had really great outfits, and I was always dressed in a cool way. And fashionable. It was easy to feel confident and good about myself when I looked like that on the outside. And so maybe I had to learn how to feel just as confident about the inside of myself, too.

  “Just stop caring what people think,” Katie advised. “It doesn’t matter. I learned that from you.”

  I felt like hugging her. “What would I do without you?”

  “You’d be very, very bored,” Katie answered, and we both laughed.

  After lunch I had social studies with Katie and all the girls in the BFC, including Olivia. I put on my glasses as soon as I sat down and didn’t look at Olivia once. It felt pretty good.

  Of course, I didn’t know what would happen once I had on my braces, too. But for a moment at least, I was happy. I thought my glasses looked nice, and plus, I could actually see the board!

  CHAPTER 11

  A Gooey, Sticky Cupcake Party!

  Welcome to the cupcake party!” Katie shrieked as she opened her front door Friday night.

  “You are crazy,” I said, shaking my head as she dragged me inside her house.

  When we got to her kitchen, Emma and Alexis were already there. On the table were a dozen already baked cupcakes and lots of bowls of toppings.

  “Am I late?” I asked. “I thought the meeting was at seven.”

  “You’re not late,” Katie replied. “This is a cupcake meeting. It’s also a surprise going-away party to your braces-free teeth.”

  I looked at Emma and Alexis. “What is going on?”

  Alexis pointed to the toppings. “Once you get your braces, you won’t be able to eat sticky, gooey things. Well, unless you brush your teeth right away. So we have prepared a sticky, gooey feast for you.”

  Emma held up the first topping bowl like she was a model on a game show. “First, we have delicious gummy worms. So sticky!”

  Getting into the spirit, Katie picked up another bowl. “Marshmallow topping. Like glue, but sweet!”

  “And perhaps stickiest of all—caramel topping!” Alexis said, pointing to a bowl of golden, creamy goodness.

  I couldn’t believe it. “You guys are the best!”

  Katie picked up a spoon. “Let’s do this!”

  Katie had made chocolate cupcakes, which were delicious with both the marshmallow and the caramel. We covered the cupcakes with marshmallow topping, some with caramel, and some with both. Then we added gummy worms.

  I held up my hands, which were coated with marshmallow and caramel. “This is seriously gross!”

  Everyone’s hands were the same. Katie looked over at the sink and yelled, “Mom!”

  Mrs. Brown came into the kitchen. “Oh, my,” she said, looking at the cupcakes. “You are all going to need to brush and floss immediately after you eat these!”

  I could tell she was kidding. Even though she is a dentist, she doesn’t go around making her guests brush their teeth.

  “Can you turn on the faucet for us, please?” Katie asked.

  “Gladly!” her mom replied.

  We all washed our hands and then settled down to eat our cupcakes. Thankfully, Mrs. Brown poured glasses of milk for us.

  “If we didn’t have the milk, I think my mouth would be glued shut,” I said. “Then I couldn’t get braces. Hey, maybe that’s not a bad idea.”

  Alexis took a bite of cupcake. “You know, we seriously need to have our meeting. We still don’t have an idea for the carnival.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “All I can think about these days are glasses and braces.”

  “I must have spring fever or something,” Katie said. “I can’t think of anything.”

  “Maybe spring fever could be a theme,” Emma suggested.

  Alexis frowned. “I don’t know. That kind of sounds like a disease. Not a good way to sell cupcakes.”

  Emma looked thoughtful. “Okay, it’s spring, but we’re really celebrating that school will be over soon. So . . . summer? Lemon-yellow sunshine cupcakes?”

  “Or butterflies?” Katie suggested. “You know, like we’re flying away from school?”

  “Hmm. Freedom!” Alexis added.

  “My teeth have seen their last days of freedom,” I joked. “Tomorrow they’ll be going to jail. Clear plastic jail.”

  Katie took out her phone. “We need a picture of your teeth before they go behind bars. Everybody smile—and show your teeth!”

  She leaned her head next to mine and took the picture of all of us smiling. I felt happy, but deep inside, I was really nervous about tomorrow.

  I hope this isn’t my last smile for a long time! I thought.

  CHAPTER 12

  The Big Day

  I barely slept that night because I kept having weird dreams about my teeth. In one, they got bigger and bigger, like they were inflating. In another one, my teeth were stuck together and I couldn’t open my mouth. Creepy!

  When Mom came in to wake me up, I groaned and put my pillow over my head.

  “Eddie made a nice breakfast for us,” Mom said. “Come down when you’re ready, okay? I don’t want to be late for Dr. Payne.”

  I slowly and reluctantly got out of bed, putting on a pair of jeans I found on my floor and the first shirt I pulled out of my drawer
. Why should I bother dressing up for something like this? I pulled my hair into a loose ponytail and went downstairs.

  The kitchen table was filled with plates of eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, and toast. Dan was there, and his plate was piled high, and I wondered how anyone could eat so much.

  “Wow, this is a lot of food,” I said.

  “Well, I wanted to make sure you had a good meal inside you,” Eddie replied sheepishly. “In case, you know, your teeth hurt later.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” I grumbled.

  “Mia, Eddie went to a lot of trouble to do something nice for you,” Mom scolded.

  “Thanks, Eddie,” I said, and then I sat down. Everything looked delicious, but I could only eat a small spoonful of scrambled eggs and one piece of bacon, because I was so nervous.

  When I was done, I brushed my teeth really well before we left. When we got to Dr. Payne’s office, the assistant came out to get us right away. I sat in the chair, and she put the paper bib on me again. Then Dr. Payne walked in smiling.

  “Hi, Mia,” she said. “I’ve got your aligners right here.”

  She opened a case and took out two clear plastic pieces. One was shaped like my top teeth, and the other was shaped like my bottom teeth.

  “You already know this, but these are different from metal braces because you can remove them,” she explained. “However, you should only remove them to clean your teeth, when you eat, and when you play sports.”

  I liked the sound of that.

  “But first we need to attach the holders to your teeth. That will help keep these in place when they are in your mouth.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that.

  It took a long, long time—or at least it seemed like a long time—to glue on all the little pieces. I kept running my tongue over the aligners, and they felt rough. Dr. Payne held up a mirror, and I groaned. They were clear, so maybe far away you couldn’t see them, but up close you could definitely see that there was something stuck on my teeth. Gross.

  Then Dr. Payne took out these clear-wired things that would attach to the holders.

  “I’m going to show you how to clean them, and I’ll give you a special case to put them in when you’re eating,” she went on. “And then we’ll try them on, okay?”

  “Okay.” I nodded. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, I thought.

  So I watched Dr. Payne demonstrate how to clean them (with a special soft toothbrush), and then she held up the mirror for me again.

  “I’d like you to try putting them in yourself,” she said. “It’s important that you’re comfortable with them.”

  I nervously picked up the first tray and slid in the aligner. It felt weird—kind of like a glove, but for my teeth. Then I slipped on the bottom one, which felt really tight. Dr. Payne looked at them and then asked me a bunch of questions about how they felt, and she made me bite down and stuff.

  “I think you’re good to go, Mia,” Dr. Payne said with a smile. “Because you’re just starting out with these, I’d like to see you in about two weeks, just to make sure you’re not having any problems. But if you have any questions in the meantime, you can always call.”

  “Okay,” I said, and it felt weird saying the word. It didn’t hurt, really, but I felt like I had a shoe in my mouth or something. Could I ever get used to that? I smiled and looked at myself in the mirror. I reminded myself to thank Alexis for her help in convincing my Dad to get the clear braces. If I didn’t smile too much, nobody would even notice them.

  Dr. Payne led me out to where my mom was waiting for me. “Mia will probably experience some soreness in the next day or two. Some pain reliever should help that.”

  “We’ll take care of her. Thank you.”

  “So how do they feel?” Mom asked me as we walked to the car.

  “Strange,” I replied, and again, it felt weird to talk.

  “Do they hurt?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Not yet. So I was thinking. Maybe we should go to the mall, before I hurt too much to do anything.”

  Mom smiled. “Yes, that’s probably a smart idea.”

  When we got to the mall, I went right to Icon, to a rack of neon shirts, and picked out a bright yellow one. Now that I didn’t have to worry about a metal mouth, I knew I could pull it off. Mom was being supernice to me because of the braces, and she bought it for me.

  I was feeling pretty happy. I had a cool new shirt, and my braces were almost invisible. But by the time we got home, my mouth was starting to feel a little sore.

  Eddie was waiting by the front door.

  “How did it go?” he asked.

  I smiled. “They’re practically invisible! See?”

  “Can’t see them at all!” he said. “Do they hurt?”

  I nodded. “A little.”

  “I defrosted some tortilla soup for lunch,” he said. “Just in case.”

  When we sat down to eat the soup, it felt weird having to take out the braces. I put them in the special case Dr. Payne gave me. When I was done, I really didn’t want to put them back in, but I knew I had to.

  “Maybe you should brush your teeth before you put them in,” Mom suggested. “You should do that every time.”

  “Well, I can’t do that at school,” I pointed out. “Brush my teeth in the school bathroom? Gross.”

  “No, of course not,” Mom said. “But definitely at home.”

  So I brushed my teeth and put my braces in again. The soreness was getting worse, so Mom gave me some pain reliever. I went upstairs in my room, put on my headphones, and started drawing in my sketchbook. I like to draw models wearing different outfits, and I found myself drawing eyeglasses on all of them. It looked pretty cool.

  The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Mom made a tuna casserole for dinner, which was nice and soft, and then we all rented a movie (except for Dan, who was out with his friends) and watched it in the living room. I probably could have eaten the popcorn, but I was afraid it might hurt. Or that it would get stuck. It was going to be such a pain to start thinking about what I would eat and how much of it could show up in my teeth.

  By the next day, my teeth and jaw were really sore, and I was in a pretty cranky mood. But on the bright side my friends were coming over for a Cupcake meeting.

  “Mia, how are you feeling?” Katie asked as soon as she came in the door. “I texted you all day yesterday, but you didn’t answer.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t feel like it,” I said. “I’m kind of sore.”

  Katie was staring at my mouth. “Where are they? I can’t see them.”

  I smiled to show her. “They’re practically invisible.”

  The doorbell rang, and I let Alexis and Emma in. They made a fuss over my braces too.

  “I owe you one, Alexis,” I said. “You saved me from being a metal mouth.”

  “Maybe you could go into a side business, Alexis,” Katie suggested. “Helping people convince their parents to do stuff for them.”

  Alexis grinned. “That’s really not a bad idea. I’m not sure how to market it, but it’s worth exploring.” She started to quickly type a note into her phone.

  It was a nice day, so we went outside on our back deck to have our meeting. Earlier, I’d helped Mom make some iced tea mixed in with lemonade. We sat around the table, under the umbrella, and sipped our beverages as we talked.

  “So, we still need a theme for the carnival cupcakes,” Alexis began.

  “I know!” Katie said. “I don’t know why I’m so stuck. Usually we agree much faster than this. What’s wrong with butterflies again?”

  “Nothing, really, except that we were trying to think of something more summery,” Alexis reminded us.

  “Then how about fireflies?” Emma suggested.

  “That would be so cute,” I agreed. “But it might take a lot of work to make them out of fondant or candy or whatever, especially if we have to make a few hundred cupcakes. Fireflies can be pretty detailed.”

  Alexis nodded. �
��What else makes summer special? Staying up late?”

  “Fireworks?” Katie added. “Sunshine?”

  An idea was forming in the back of my mind. “When I think of summer, I think of how things are, like, easier, you know? You don’t have to wear a coat or put on a hat or mittens or even a sweater. You can just throw on shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops and you’re good to go.”

  Emma was nodding. “Right. Most mornings I don’t even blow-dry my hair. I just put it up wet in a ponytail.”

  “You mean, like, ‘Come as You Are’?” Alexis asked.

  “Exactly. ‘Come as You Are,’ ” I said.

  “It’s good,” Katie said thoughtfully. “But how do you turn that into a cupcake?”

  Alexis sighed. “I declare us officially stumped. But we have to come up with something at our next meeting. How does Thursday work for everyone?”

  We all quickly checked our schedules and agreed that Thursday was good.

  “Great. We’ll meet at my house,” Alexis said. Then we just hung out for a while in the sunshine, goofing around. It was kind of nice not to have to do anything but hang out.

  After my friends left, I took out my sketchbook and tried to come up with a cool cupcake design. But I couldn’t think of anything because I was stressing about what would happen tomorrow. I would be debuting my braces at school for the first time. Would anyone notice?

  CHAPTER 13

  It Is a Big Deal!

  Mia, hurry up!” Mom yelled up the stairs. “You’re going to miss the bus!”

  “But I’m not ready yet!” I yelled, fighting back tears.

  It had been a terrible morning. My jaw had been throbbing all night, and I didn’t sleep well. I could only get down some oatmeal for breakfast, and then I had to brush my teeth, and then clean the braces and then put them back in, which took forever.