Quinn woke up in pain. Her entire mouth ached, and it wasn't until she ran her tongue over her new metal additions that she remembered why. She groaned as she remembered the appliances Pearl stuffed her with the day before. She rolled out of bed, not brushing her teeth, and went to the kitchen. Her mouth was too sore for a full breakfast, so she had a quick smoothie instead, feeling depressed about the lack of eggs or bacon.

Later in the day, Quinn was surprised to notice how few stares she got around town doing errands. Not to mention, when she did see the occasional braceface, she felt smugly satisfied about the slight difference her lack of bands made in her appearance. She was still feeling better when she met Charlotte again for lunch.

"So you got the braces after all, huh?" Charlotte asked.

Quinn didn't want to tell Charlotte about her ex's photo. "I just thought about it... and it's just a once in a lifetime opportunity, right?" she lied.

Charlotte laughed, showing off her dazzling new smile. "I guess so right? Pearl's a genius, I swear."

Quinn groaned. "Maybe. Can't believe I have to see her every week though."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "She's nice. And so is Flossie. It's a shame I never really talked to either of them in school, they both grew up to be so interesting."

"Fine, whatever. She's nuts if she thinks I'm gonna wear that headgear every night though."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "You're not wearing the headgear? And come to think of it, you don't have any bands either. You're sure you're going to go through the treatment like that?"

Quinn laughed. "They're not gonna know. Besides, it's so much less painful, and the bands make your mouth look even grosser. Worst case scenario, the treatment takes a bit longer."

Charlotte shrugged. "Your funeral, I guess."

---

Quinn was pleased to find that the pressure on her teeth relaxed as the week went on. By Friday night, her mouth almost felt like it did before Pearl started her torture, and she of course wasn't going to ruin that with a night of headgear.

She made her way to the office the next morning. The waiting room was empty, once again, with Flossie at the reception. "There'th our favorite patient! How wath the firtht week?"

Quinn had almost forgotten about Flossie's extreme treatment, and her nearly unintelligible lisp. "It was... better than I expected." Quinn replied.

Flossie grinned, giving Quinn a full view of her appliances. "That'th alwayth good to hear. Did you bring your headgear?"

Quinn shook her head. "I didn't know I was supposed to."

"It should have been in the pamphleth I gave you, but that'th okay, jutht bring it nektht time, okay? I'll take you to the chair now, if that'th okay."

Flossie once again lead Quinn to the braces room. As Quinn sat down in the chair, Flossie began to clip the bib around her neck. "Pearl will be with uth in jutht a few momenth, tho jutht thit tight, okay." she said with a smirk. Quinn nodded, nervously resting her hands on her stomach. "So, Flossie, I've been kind of wondering, how long have you been in braces exactly?" Flossie smiled as she began to put on her gloves. "Thinthe 9th grade, I think. Weird, I know. They're not out of any medical nethethity at thith point of courthe, but Pearl alwayth needth a willing tetht thubject, and I love theeing what she planth to do to my poor little mouth nektht." She giggled a bit. "Altho, the bratheth were thuch a big part of my gender tranthition, they honethtly feel like a part of me now, not to mention that my treatmenth are alwayth quality wife time. In fact, she'th planning on her nektht big thtudy to focuth on tranthgender orthodontic patienth."

As Quinn was processing this, Pearl appeared in the doorway. "Good morning, Quinn!" she said, beaming. "How was the first week?" Her uniform seemed to cling tightly to her athletic frame, giving Quinn an impressive view of her body as she adjusted her mask and sat down beside her.

"It... wasn't so bad. I might need to get a hang of the uh... maintenance." Quinn didn't want to admit her apathy to the treatment so far.

Pearl almost seemed pleased. "Yes, that is normal for the first week. We try to be lenient with the rules at the beginning, but I'll expect some more effort next week, m'kay?" After snapping on her gloves, she began to recline the chair. "Would you like to be sedated like last time?" Quinn nodded, looking at the ceiling.

She watched Flossie once again bring the mask to her face as Pearl adjusted the examination light. "Jutht breathe deeply like latht time, okay? Go to thleep like a good girl." She brushed some hair out from Quinn's face as she drifted off.

---

When Quinn opened her eyes once again, she looked up at Pearl looking down at her with a rather stern expression. "Quinn, I'd like to discuss your treatment a bit more."

Quinn took a moment to adjust, gently rubbing her jaw and wincing. She felt a throbbing pain in her jaw, twice as bad as last time. Pearl continued. "By looking at the state of your bite, I'm wondering if you paid any attention to my instructions at all. You are taking this seriously, aren't you?"

Quinn nodded. "Sorry, it takes some getting used to, and there's a lot of info in those pamphlets..." she lied.

Pearl seemed to relax. "It's okay, I just don't want to see your treatment fall behind schedule is all. I'm looking forward to seeing your new smile once the time's up." She gave a warm smile, which was offset by her jarringly perfect teeth. "All I ask is that you take this a bit more seriously this week. We had to tighten you up a bit more than usual today, and I don't think either of us would like it if we got any further off track, right?"

Quinn nodded. "I promise I'll do better next time." She said solemnly.

---

Quinn stepped back in her apartment, clutching her jaw once again. She took some ibuprofen and went to work getting rid of each of the fresh bands Pearl had gracefully threaded into her mouth. She was glad Pearl seemed to take her excuses seriously, and of course that she didn't have to see her for another week. She went to bed without the headgear, letting it gather dust under the sink for another night.