Nina
I’ll code after I do my homework. My mom always says do your homework before you code. Today’s different. I have to go to the dentist. I hate the dentist. It takes so long to get there, even though they only check your teeth for five minutes. My dentist is way too serious. He has this way of “amusing” his patients. He’s not very good at it. His idea of amusing is when he says, “I’m a plane coming through your mouth.”
How babyish! Today I’m relieved I have a new dentist. Her name is Catie. I think it stands for Catherine. I hope she has a sense of humor.
It turns out she’s super nice. She also has a great sense of humour. At first she was a bit crazy but now she’s super fun! She always finds ways to amuse me. Once she even said, “Being a dentist is like being a super smart nerd.”
Sometimes I just don’t get her. When I asked my mom, “What did she mean mom?”
She said, “Ask her yourself.”
I wasn’t trying to be funny but it might have come out that way because I said, “I can’t. I sound like blo blah glab. So mom, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll tell her to make more sense.”
So next time I saw her she said, “My dentist likes pizza.”
“Whatever,” I said. I hate pizza. It’s sooo gross.
Next week mom said, “We have to go to the dentist.”
I answered, “Why do we go to the dentist every month?”
“I thought you liked your new dentist,” Mom said.
“Mom, is there something wrong with my teeth?”
“Darling, stop complaining. She’s just getting to know you.”
So off we went to Catie’s office yet again. Hooray. Mom said we had to. The car smelled like chocolate & grape tylenol. Yuck!
“Mom why is there grape Tylenol in the car?” I asked.
“There is no Tylenol in the car,” Mom stated. I did not care. Did she think I would? When we arrived, I saw my friend Lipa coming out of the office.
“Lipa, your dentist is Dr. John,” (my old dentist). “Why are you here?” I asked.
Mom
Nina always is complaining about the dentist. She hates Dr. John. She thinks he’s super babyish. Nina doesn’t really understand why he is so serious. It’s because he really cares about his job. Today I took her to the orthodontist. She thinks Catie’s a dentist instead of being an orthodontist. She won’t go to the orthodontist so she may flip out when I tell her Catie’s an orthodontist. In the office Nina finds all the machines overwhelming. She can’t figure out why there are so many machines in the office. I think Catie’s a bit annoyed with us. She gives Nina lots of x-rays. Nina is getting really suspicious. I think I’m going to need some help. I guess we’ll just have to wait for Mike to come home from his business trip. I have no idea what to do.
It’s a disgrace. Nina is driving me crazy. I think she’ll never like me, if not love me. It’s crazy her feelings depend on what I make her do. It’s really annoying she doesn’t understand why braces are so important. I wish she knew what I meant. Sometimes it’s really hard to know she doesn’t always love me like she should. She should think about her actions. I can’t really see in the grown up world. After all, her 13th birthday is coming up.
On the phone with Mike:
“Hi Mike. What should we do for her birthday?” I asked him.
And he answered, “Don’t do anything.” He hung up. I guess I’m not getting much out of this phone call.
“Should I call my mom?” I asked myself. No. Mom may be napping. Shoot, she’s home, I thought. I really was hoping she’d ask for a sleepover and of course she comes straight up to my room.
Whaaaa.
Catherine
Jeez, Lily’s crazy. Why do I have to be “a dentist.” I think that Lily should just tell Ninaloo, A.K.A Nina, I hate being the new amusing dentist. It stinks. I’m thinking about quitting because of them. I’m an orthodontist for her best friend who had to wear headgear. She thinks it looks hideous. She’s turning 13. I think she can handle knowing I’m an orthodontist. I also don’t see why Lily made me write an entry in the braces diary.
By the way, Lily is Nina’s mom. Nina complains about having machines in the room she’s in. She’s a scaredy cat. Once I was pricking at a loose tooth and she flipped out. I was an hour behind because of her. Too bad Nina’s mom was at the store. The worst time was when I molded her retainer. I put edible silly putty in her mouth and I said it was an X-ray. She thought I was crazy. What can I say. My one question is why Lily won’t let me be serious? Lily just tells me to be humorous. I really hate Lily. She’s completely crazy. She needs to get more sleep. I don’t know. Not that I care. What’s her problem? I can’t see why she is so outrageous. Sometimes it gets overwhelming. Well, here they are. Today I’m doing a normal tooth check. I don’t do this kind of stuff. It’s not my expertise.
I think Lily has lost reality. Lipa is coming to the orthodontist before Nina. I’m so telling her to tell Nina who I really am. I did, and she didn’t listen to me of course.
Dr. John
Why does Nina hate me? It makes no sense. Lily says everything with Catie is going well. I’m losing a lot of money since she stopped coming to my office. Thank goodness she’s coming back today. Last night I was on the phone with Lily.
“What should I tell Nina when she comes here instead of Catie’s office?” I asked, and of course she gave me the worst answer she could probably possibly give.
“I’ll deal with that. You really don’t have to worry.” I worried anyway. Guess what Nina’s first question was when she walked in? “Why am I at Dr. John’s office and not Catie’s?” I went straight over to Lily.
“You said you’d take care of this!!!” I screamed at Lily. All of a sudden Nina got sort of shy and quiet. I was getting really irritated. Why did I ever want them back? Guess what Lily answered?
“I did. It’s just Nina. Oh, she’s suspicious of you.”
“How do you know that, Lilyann Carlee?!!!” I screamed again.
“I’m her mom. I’ve lived with her her whole life,” she answered quite calmly compared to my tone. I hate Lily. Catie and I have been communicating about Lily. We both agree about her. I wish we were done with them. Too bad Nina has to be 16 to start going to an adult dentist. Too bad she’s only turning 13. I wish I kept my old job. I can’t wait for them to move. Which I don’t think they’re thinking about doing. Too bad. That would be nice though. Catie and I can only wish. When will our lives get any bit easier? It’s hard to go through this drama. Can’t Nina be just a bit more responsible? (sighs)
That night I was on the phone with Catie.
“Hi Catie, how are Nina and Lily doing at your office?” I asked her.
“Annoying, of course. Shouldn’t Nina be old enough to handle braces?” She sounded very annoyed.
“How about I write Lily a letter?” I asked, hoping to cheer her up.
“Let me take care of the letter.” I bet she was smirking. I think we had set a trap. A good one. Hopefully she could pull off her part. I wish I could write our plan but that wouldn’t be appropriate because Lily and Nina both write in this journal. I don’t think Nina cares about what anyone writes, even hers. All I know is she’ll be really mad at me later today when I show up at Catie’s office. I don’t think Lily will either. I’m really worried what will happen. I think Catie and I both have a risk of losing our jobs. I hope that won’t happen. I’m not very good at interrogating. I know Nina is. I hope I can get around it. I have to go now. I’ll ship it to Mike ( Nina’s father ) in Las Vegas. Him, I can tolerate.
Mike
Lily may be the worst wife anyone could have. I wish I could be in charge of this family, not that I care. It’s only that Lily didn’t make much money to begin with. Now that she’s fired, she makes no money at all. I have to make all the money for nothing in return. That’s the only reason I was so rude to her that night on the phone. I really care about Nina and I want her to lead a good life. Lily is planning all these stupid braces. I wish she’d pay more attention to being fired. I hate her idea to get Nina braces. Every orthodontist Nina’s been to says she has perfect teeth. I really wish I could be around Nina more. I wish Lily and I could just get a divorce and be done. I love Nina. I want to get a divorce while Lily doesn’t have a job because then I’d be the only responsible parent.
Nina
Dad and I have been looking into jobs for dentists in Maine for Mom. Dad’s trying to get a divorce. I hope this all works out for Dad and me. Mom is so mean. I know Dad’s trying his best to handle Mom but it’s not working out too well. I hope Dad solves all these problems.