Woke up early this morning to go to Penang to change my braces, but Mum was busy with the reopening at her shop so it was only Dad and I. Because this trip was quite uneventful and boring, I will explain every single thing in detail and try not to exaggerate in order to make this post more interesting.
I had Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame Monster’ in the car player the whole way to Penang, and drifted in and out of sleep. Waiting at the orthodontic clinic, I read ‘Shiver’ and got to the interesting part when my name was called. Figures.
So it was the normal routine, one of the female (nurses?) digging out my old bands and giving me a bunch of colours to choose from. Mind you, I had a conflict this time because I wanted to choose the perfect colour for this surprise I’d planned for my friends. Ahem.
This time, the doctor came in earlier than expected. Muttered a few things that were alien language to the (nurse?) and she got it done. But this time, she held out a mirror for me to see as she demonstrated the proper way to hook rubber bands onto my braces. No, not those ordinary, used-for-wrapping-vegetables-bought-from-the-market rubber bands, but bands specifically for braces.
Please don’t ask me why there’s a fox on the cover. I have no fricken idea, either.
She wound it tightly on my canine teeth and I came out unable to speak at all.
And for the first time ever since I started to have my braces (excluding the very first time, of course) I felt pain again.
I couldn’t eat, drink, yawn, laugh, talk, sing, sneeze, scream, bite and curse without feeling agony. This was almost as worse as the first time.
Later we went to Sunway Carnival Mall so I could get Joey’s book: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. And to digress a little, we stopped at a Plus toilet on the way home and the weirdest thing just happened. When I got out from the car, I got this feeling that everything was different, and the two old Malay ladies who were walking in front of me weren’t who they seemed to be. But my bladder was screaming at me so I didn’t dawdle much as I headed for the toilet. The toilet was surprisingly clean for a restroom by the highway. But the freaky part was when I reached for the headless water hose and no water came out even when I turned feverishly. I almost gave up, thinking it was spoilt or something, but then all of a sudden, water shot out so high it hit the ceiling and doubled back on me, leaving me soaked. I came out of the toilet, incredulous, wondering how on Earth such a thing could even happen on Earth. But then I thought, ‘Oh hey! I could be the daughter of Poseidon!’
…which leads to the deduction that I read too many books.
After that, Dad drove me to Cosway to help Mum out with her shop reopening, but we left in the end because I was in so much pain.
Pain. But I ate Big Apple’s doughnuts anyway.
Which also meant I had to take off those freaking bands. And the pain multiplied after taking them out. Nevertheless, nothing could stop me from diving into those brilliant and amazing doughnuts so I ate three, all cut into smaller pieces of course. So then, after eating, I wanted to put on those bands back, and you know what happened?
I didn’t remember how to do it.
I freaked out and panicked, and in the end, went on Youtube for advice, thinking, thank Lord I have deliverance, but you know what? None of the tutorials were the same as what the doctor taught me. I flailed around, complained to my Dad, threw a fit, but took those Youtubers’ advice anyway. If I get reprimanded by the doctor at the next appointment, I don’t know what other explanation to give him.
And guess what I’m having for dinner tonight?
Oats.
Oh friggin’ great.
Dear Careful Confessions,
michelle teoh 