Emma Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice (5 page)

I sighed. “Of course he wants the ones that aren't for him,” I said.

“Let me try one!” Jake whined, already starting to tune up a major show.

“Oh, here we go,” said Matt, and he turned on his heel and then left the room.

“Fine by me,” said Alexis with a shrug.

“Are you sure you don't want to try the Snickerdoodle?” asked Katie hopefully.

“Oh, give it a rest with the Snickerdoodle already!” said Mia, laughing. “If I even hear that word one more time . . .”

“Snickerdoodle, Snickerdoodle, Snickerdoodle!” chanted Katie with an evil grin.

Alexis selected a vampire cupcake for Jake and handed it to him.

“This I've got to see,” said Sam, watching.

Jake picked up the cupcake and eyed it suspiciously. “I just bite it normal?” he asked.

“Yes, normal,” instructed Mia. Her face was made all woozy by Jake's cuteness.

Barf.

“Here, hold this under your chin, though,” said Alexis, offering Jake a paper towel.

Jake peeled the wrapper and took a bite. Instantly, the fake blood, which was really raspberry jam,
burst from the inside and started to leak out the sides of the cupcake and drip onto the paper towel. We put in a lot, so wherever you bit the cupcake, it would spurt out.

“Oh, gnarly!” cried Sam, covering his face and turning away, laughing.

“Gross!” I said. I hadn't seen the full effect on an innocent taster yet. I breathed deeply and channeled Mona, trying to think of her reaction in the face of gore:
Divine! Just divine!
It kind of worked.

Meanwhile, Jake dropped the cake back onto the plate, and for a second I thought he was going to pitch a fit; he did not like to feel as if he was the butt of a joke or as if people were laughing at him. But his showmanship won out, and a smile crept over his face. “That's awesome!” he yelled. And he picked up the cupcake and then took another big bite, getting more “blood” on his face.

“What are you kids—Oh my goodness!” my mother yelled as she walked into the kitchen and saw Jake covered in “blood.” She ran to his side. “Jake!” she shrieked, and at this point we all were laughing hysterically. Jake knew he'd pulled a fast one on our mom, and he was thrilled.

“I want these!” he declared, the raspberry filling staining his teeth. “These cupcakes rule!”

“But what about my yummy Snickerdoodles?” asked Katie quietly, with a fake sad face. She lifted it off the plate and then handed it to Sam with a shrug. “Here you go, I guess.”

“Thanks. Snickerdoodle cupcakes rule!” he joked, echoing Jake. But Katie looked pleased, so it was all worth it.

Matt came back and gobbled up a P-B-and-J and two Monster cupcakes. Luckily, with three brothers selecting cupcakes, everyone won in the end.

M
y mom arranged for me to see Dr. Brown after school on Monday. We really didn't have any time to waste since the modeling go-see was on Wednesday.

I really dreaded the appointment all day, to be honest.

By the time my mom got home to pick me up at 3:45, I felt sick and shaky. Jake was coming with us, and he was starting to gloat a little, singsonging about how “Emmy's scared of the dentist!” I wanted to throttle the kid, but the anger
did
help distract me. (Note to self: have Jake annoy me before my modeling appointment on Wednesday.)

When we got to Dr. Brown's, it was kind of busy, since she'd wedged me in. There were two
little kids in the waiting area, younger than Jake (he distanced himself from them immediately and began “reading” a magazine rather than play at the LEGOs table with them), and a really cute boy I recognized from school named Diego Diaz.

Of course I was totally fidgety and nervous and kept trying to read a magazine, chew gum, take deep breaths—all the things Dr. Brown had told me to do. Diego was just sitting there, doing nothing much except laughing at the cute little kids while they played. He was totally relaxed! That was a little intimidating; cute
and
relaxed. Hmph!

Dr. Brown's assistant called Diego in first, and he smiled at me as he stood to go in for his appointment. I kind of smiled back—it was more of a grimace—but I was pretty psyched he'd even acknowledged me. Inside the examining room, I could hear Dr. Brown greeting him and the two of them chatting and laughing. Laughing! At the dentist's office! Can you imagine?

I bit my nails and did my deep breathing, comforting myself that I had a while to go. But just a few minutes later, Dr. Brown's assistant called me in to the other examining room. I was shocked! I thought I'd have at least twenty more minutes before it was my turn. I stood on shaky legs as my
mom whispered, “Do you want me to come with you?” I shook my head no. If I was ever going to be able to do this, I'd have to do it alone.

Inside the examining room, the assistant settled me on to the reclining chair, but once I was in it, she sat it upright, so it was more like a chair than a bed. She smiled. “My name's Nina. I know you're used to Joanne, but she has today off. Dr. Brown said you're a little nervous, so I always think it's a good idea to start out upright in the chair. Lying down makes you feel like things aren't in your control, and that can make you nervous, don't you think?”

Nina was pretty and chipper and young. She didn't seem nervous about anything! I nodded, not trusting my voice.

“Do you remember about the breathing?” she asked. “Long, slow breaths; in through your nose and out through your mouth.” She did it a few times, and I copied her, watching her face for guidance. I did start to feel a little better. Nina smiled.

“Here's a squishy ball for distraction,” she said, handing me a little rubber ball to squeeze. “And did you bring an iPod or anything?”

I waved my iPod at her.

“That's good!” she said. “Keep doing the deep
breathing!” She jokingly wagged her finger at me.

There was a little rap on the door, and Dr. Brown came bustling in. “Emma! Hello! I'm so glad you could make it,” she said. She came over and gave me a hug. She smelled clean and comforting, and I almost didn't want to let go.

“Now, I have something a little different for you today, but I think it's going to be helpful.” She nodded at Nina. “Emma's going to do a little observation first, just for a few minutes, okay?”

“Great!” said Nina.

“Emma, come with me,” said Dr. Brown, so I climbed out of the chair and followed her.

Down the hall, we entered the room where Diego was waiting, lying in an examining chair that had been tipped all the way back. He smiled and gave a little wave!

“Oh, hi!” I said, feeling shy.

“Diego Diaz, this is Emma Taylor. Emma, this is Diego.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

“I recognize you from school,” he said. “You're Matt's sister, right?”

“Yes, among others,” I said, and rolled my eyes.

“Emma has three brothers,” said Dr. Brown. “Isn't she lucky?”

I laughed. “I don't know if that's the right word for it!” I said.

“Sounds to me like you won the lottery!” teased Diego.

The laughing made me feel better. (It's amazing, the positive side effects of a cute guy making jokes!)

“Okay. So, Emma. Knowledge is power, right?” said Dr. Brown.

I nodded.

“Great, then we're going to let you see what we're doing during a cleaning, so you don't get nervous. Right, Diego?”

“Right,” he confirmed.

“Sit right here, Emma,” she said, pulling another swivel stool up next to Diego.

“Okay, sunglasses.” Dr. Brown handed Diego a cool pair of shades, which he put on. “These are to block out the bright examining light a little,” she said to me.

Diego gave me the thumbs-up.

“Now the bib,” she said as she fastened a protective cloth around Diego's neck. “This keeps the toothpaste and stuff off your nice clean clothes.”

I nodded again.

“Now the suction.” She held up a bent tube and flipped a switch, showing me how weak its suction
was on my hand. She switched to a clean tip and then put it in Diego's mouth. “To suck up the extra toothpaste,” she explained.

I knew all this, so it wasn't exactly new information, but I was kind of interested to see Diego get his teeth cleaned. He had very nice teeth—white, even, strong. I had to remind myself why I was there a few times.

Then Dr. Brown got down to business. First, she showed me her tools, then she reminded me to breathe, because there might be a little blood. Then she numbed his gums with some gel and then started to clean.

I watched as she kind of scraped the edges of Diego's teeth. It amazed me that he held so still while she was doing it. I am a known squirmer at my usual dentist, and the hygienist often has to stop, so I can settle myself down. But Diego was peaceful, listening to his iPod, tapping his toe in sync with the beat coming through his headphones. Every once in a while Dr. Brown would say, “Okay, Diego?” and he'd nod.

It was weird actually seeing her perform what I had only pictured in my mind for years. What feels like violent scraping when it's your own mouth only looks like gentle wiping when it's
someone else's mouth. But while she was working on a molar, she scraped some of his gum, and it suddenly started to bleed.

“Oh!” I said, turning away as the blood seeped into his mouth and was sucked away by the little tube. Instantly, my body started its usual reaction: noises got far away, drowned out by a rushing sound in my ears, my face grew warm, and my head felt weak. Nina stood beside me and held my shoulders.

Do not faint in front of a cute guy!
I scolded myself.
Do
not
do it!

“It's okay, just a very tiny bit of blood,” said Dr. Brown. “Did that hurt, Diego?”

He shook his head no.

“You've got to do a little better on the flossing in the back. Otherwise, things are looking great, okay, honey?”

I couldn't believe she was so businesslike in the face of blood. And Diego was totally unfazed!

She glanced at me. “You all right?”

I took a deep breath, in through my nose, out through my mouth. Then I nodded.
Shape up, Emma!
I told myself.
You're just a bystander! This isn't even happening to you!
I steadied myself and took another very deep breath.
Divine! Divine!
I channeled Mona a little bit.

“It's mind over matter, Emma,” she said. “And I know you are brave in many other ways, so just decide to add this to your list, okay?” She smiled at me.

I nodded in what I hoped was a firm, Monaesque style.
Divine!

Dr. Brown winked at me and whispered, “It's divine, right?”

I giggled in spite of myself.

After Dr. Brown finished the bottom row of his teeth, she suctioned Diego's mouth all over and tilted his chair up, so he could rinse and spit.

“How was it?” she asked him. He tipped up his sunglasses onto his head. “Fine,” he said.

“Did it hurt?” she asked.

“Not really,” he said. “It's just a little pinching, but it goes away fast. Nothing worse than what my sister does to me on a regular basis.” Diego grinned.

“Okay, Emma?” asked Dr. Brown.

“Yeah. It wasn't as bad as I pictured,” I said, crossing my fingers at the lie. “Thanks for letting me watch,” I said to Diego. I still felt a little weak, but I wasn't as shaky as I usually would have been.

“Anytime,” he said.

Dr. Brown left Nina in charge of finishing Diego, and she brought me back to my examining
room. I got nervous again as I sat down, but she reminded me to breathe, and handed me a mirror so I could watch, and sunglasses to block the light, and she left me sitting pretty upright, so I would feel in control. I turned up the volume on my iPod and tried to picture Mona getting her teeth cleaned and how well she'd handle it. But my thoughts kept drifting back to Diego. He really was cute. I owed it to him to not pass out!

Dr. Brown washed her hands and did a mock cleaning, where she gelled my gums for numbness, then very gently did a tiny cleaning on each tooth. It took about five minutes. I watched and found myself actually losing interest as I daydreamed about Diego.

It was over practically before it started, and Dr. Brown sat me up all the way.

“How was it?” she asked with a smile.

“It's already over?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded. “Just a mini cleaning, remember?”

“Thanks!” I said, and I couldn't help it. I threw my arms around her for a huge hug. I was so relieved that I had survived, I felt ecstatic!

“You're welcome, my dear,” she said, laughing and hugging me back hard. “You did very well!”

I practically floated out to the waiting room, where my mom looked at me with a nervous, inquiring look. I gave her a thumbs-up, like Diego had given me, and she broke into a big grin. “Great!” she said. “Well done!”