Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 20:01:02 -0500 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part III Chapter 1 W.A.R. Part Three: Self-Destructive Tendencies Chapter One -- The Chair by Jeff Wilson If someone told you life is easy when you're young, they lied to you. My dad has a saying, "Life is never easy. Sometimes it's less hard, but it's never easy." When you're a kid, you're supposed to be carefree. No major troubles. Your main responsibility is supposed to be your school work. Somebody else pays for your food and clothes. So life is supposed to be pretty good! I thought about that as I sat in the chair. I looked out the window at the beautiful April sky. I was supposed to be in school. I'd have rather been in school. Instead, there I was, in the chair. The leaves were beginning to turn the trees into beautiful green plants. But with the leaves, come the flowers. And with the flowers, comes pollen. And with the pollen, comes my allergies. Headaches, stuffy nose, sinus pressure that makes you feel like the front of your head is about to explode, and a general bad mood are the norm for about a month of hell. My mom took me to a specialist last week, and they prescribed a medicine for me. It took care of the headaches and stuffy nose. But now I was feeling drowsy all the time. I fell asleep in history class yesterday. I love history. But one minute I was listening to the story of Theodore Roosevelt, the next the teacher was yelling at me and sending me to the principal's office. I fell asleep in her office before she could talk to me. They called my mom and she explained about the medicine. So I didn't get in trouble. Anyways, there I sat, in the chair. I would have loved to have fallen asleep there. But now I couldn't. "Open up wider, Billy." I opened my mouth even wider than it had been before. A strange tool made its way inside. I hoped it would go quickly this time. POP!! POP!! POP!! POP!! It felt like he was trying to yank my teeth right out. Finally, all the bands are removed from my mouth. Then a pair of pliers, I swear to God, pliers to yank the wire out of my mouth! "OUCH!!! That hurt!!" I yelped. "Now Billy, don't be silly. If you'd brush a little better, you wouldn't have so much trouble." Said Dr. Martin, my beloved orthodontist. "I do brush!! It's just that you don't think any of this hurts! Well it does!! It's easy for you! You're not getting your mouth ripped apart!!" I exclaimed. "Billy... You always are my most vocal patient. I have to get the bottom bands and wire now." Said Dr. Martin, reaching for the strange band popping tool again. "What!?! You said it would just be the top this time!!" "Well, that's what I thought, but I was wrong. This might hurt a little." He said smiling. And so Dr. Martin begins to rip out all of the stuff on the bottom row of braces. POP!! POP!! POP!! And that same pair of pliers. Oh I know they aren't real pliers, but they do the same thing!! Then after a quick cleaning, he had to check on something. While he was out, I quickly grabbed a mirror sitting on the table and held it up. I smiled. It looked weird to see the braces on my teeth with no wires. The gap between my two front teeth was still there. If anything, it seemed larger than before. Maybe it was because I hadn't been able to see it clearly for so long. "Looking good huh?" I heard Dr. Martin say as he came back in. "It will look a lot better when you get all this metal out of my mouth." "Oh don't worry, you're coming along a bit faster than expected. You'll be out of braces by next Christmas. Besides, braces are cool nowadays." "Do you get paid by the American Dental Association to say that?" I asked. He laughed. "I do look forward to our little visits, Billy. Just think, about a year and a half and we'll be all done with you." He said a year and a half, but what I heard was: "Billy, you will have braces for the rest of your life!! AHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The new wires were tighter than the last ones. I'd be in pain for about three days. Then I'd get used to it. Dr. Martin asked what color I wanted for the bonds to keep the wires in place. I don't know why he asks that. I pick gray every time. The less noticeable they are, the less noticeable the whole mess is. He got me all fixed up and then sent me to the lobby. My mom was waiting there for me. She scheduled the next appointment and then we went to the car. "I don't see why I should have to go to school today." I said. "I'm only going to be there for a few boring periods anyway." Mom looked at me and laughed. "No way, mister. You're not skipping school just because of a dentist appointment. Besides, I have to go to work, and you're going to the Smiths after school." "It's not fair, mom. My mouth really hurts this time. Can't you let me go home this one time? Please?" I begged. "Billy, I'm sorry. The answer is no." "Fine. Be that way." I said angrily. "Don't get mad at me. It's the law. Do you want me to go to jail?" "That wouldn't really happen." I knew there was no point in arguing any further. When my mom makes up her mind about something, it's often impossible to get her to change. I looked out the window at the scenery going by. It was a beautiful April day. Mom pulled the car up to the school. I was suddenly feeling sleepy. "Do you have your excuse?" She asked. "Yes." I mumbled as I yawned. "What about your lunch money?" "I'm not hungry. Besides, I already missed lunch, and my mouth hurts too bad to eat." I whined. "Did you take your allergy medicine?" "Yes." "Well, if you feel tired, tell your teacher this time. I don't want another call from the principal." I went through my classes without any trouble. The medicine didn't knock me out this time. I met up with Dustin in between periods and he seemed pretty excited to have me come to his house after school. I would be staying there tonight, and then spend the day with him tomorrow. I would have been torn between going to Dustin's or Brett's, but Brett was going to be out of town anyway. So there would be no conflict in my mind to choose between them. Before my last period, I managed to see Brett in the hall. "Hey bud!!" I said as I saw him. "Hey." He said happily. "So, how'd it go today?" He asked, wondering about my orthodontist trip. I smiled fully, revealing my full metal smile. "Oh, gray again..." He said, disappointedly. "So... You ready for your trip to the Big Apple?" I asked. "I don't know. I haven't been back there in three years. What Aunt Jessica has to get married again for, I'll never know." He said, rather annoyed at the idea. "What is this, marriage number four?" "Three. The first two ended in divorce. There's just something about my mom and her sisters. They have such a good relationships with the men in their lives." "You coming back before Easter?" "Nah... Mom wants me to see the city before we leave. I'll probably be back on Monday..." The bell rang and the hall was almost empty. Even though it was just us, I still felt a little scared as I leaned in to whisper to him. It was as if the school bully was going to pop out at any moment to get us. But I leaned close to him and looked into his blue, clear eyes. "I'm gonna miss you while you're gone." "Me too. It's only for a few days." He whispered back, looking around. "You be careful. Come back in one piece. This isn't like going to the park." I cautioned. "Don't worry. I grew up in New York. I'll be safe." He said, smiling. "Yeah, you grew up there nine years ago... Just remember, I love you." I whispered into his ear. "I know." He whispered back. "If we weren't in school, I'd give you a big sloppy good-bye kiss." "Well, the hall is empty, why don't you?" I asked. He looked around, and saw that the hall was indeed empty now. We were both late for our classes. He quickly leaned into me. I kept my eyes open, looking around. I was sure that at any moment we would be caught. "This is dangerous! This is dangerous!" I kept thinking. I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that my favorite person in the world was not going to be near me for what seemed like an eternity. Our lips came together. I felt myself get light headed. I don't know if it was the medicine or something else, but I didn't want it to stop. As our lips parted, we looked around again, just to make sure. We both giggled a little bit at our dangerous act. If someone had seen us, we would have been in deep trouble. But instead, the only trouble we got into was for showing up late for class. Okay... It's still February, right? I didn't say when in February that I'd start sending in Part Three, just that it'd be in February... Okay, that's it for Chapter One. Just kind of getting you back into the swing of things with Billy again. And again, I have to thank my email buddy for checking it over and giving me some motivation to get on track. We're probably going to go about once a week for the rest of this part of the story. The next chapter, "Goodbye, Hello", is next. We'll be saying goodbye to Brett for a few chapters and we'll get to know a certain red headed boy a little more. But don't worry about Brett... He'll be back in a big way in a few chapters. For those who wrote to ask about the progress of the story, I thank you. It was nice to be thought about during my little break. The response to the first two parts of this story have been so overwhelmingly positive that I can't thank you all enough. You are all special to me, and I hope you realize that. Also, I've discovered the joys of the nifty.org chatrooms. You will sometimes find a certain v_squirrel causing trouble in there. Heh heh heh... That's me. (Unless somebody uses my name...) If you should happen to be in the niftyorg or niftywriters room and see me, be sure to say hi! But be careful about getting me in a private room, because I tend to try to get you out of your clothes... Heh heh... Now, my fantastic reader, I ask you for one small favor... Let me know what you think! I love, love, love to get email from you. Good or bad, let me know! I appreciate all feedback! Here's the address: vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com See you later!