The evening continued, William getting to know her more and more, even though she strategically stayed off the path of what was going to happen in her future. It was still in the back of his mind, and he wasn’t going to let it go. She was finding out more about him as well, realizing that there was much more behind the handsome face then just a boy who was in love with being cool and chill. There was there that was intriguing, and all she wanted to do was sit and listen to him speak. Talk about how he was excited for senior year, how he was ready to move on to college.
“It’s just getting old, ya’ know?” He said with a sigh, “I’m just getting sick of high school. It’s the same thing every day, which I know college might be like, but like, the people are getting old. But not—not you or anything, just the drama and the pettiness. It’s really old man.”
“I totally understand, trust me,” She agreed, “I want to go to college so bad. But I really would like this,” She circled her face with her hands quickly, “to be fixed before I go away. I don’t want this to continue while I’m away.”
“Do they know how to fix it?” Will finally asked the question he was holding back.
She paused, pulling her face down, but glancing up at him quickly from under her long eyelashes.
“Yes, they know how to fix it. Well, he knows how to fix it.” She said as she kept her eyes up on the ceiling. “His name is Dr. Mark Piper, and he’s a TMJ specialist in St. Petersburg, Florida.”
“All the way in Florida?!” William said in shock, calculating how far it is from home.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a long ways away,” She mumbled, “But he’s the best of the best. He’s the one that came up with the diagnosis of the TMJ, and he’s world-renound. And he takes my best interest in mind with everything he does.”
“Well, what’s his next option for you?”
She hushed again, rethinking if she should tell him. She feared everything about the truth; what would come next, other people’s reactions. But most of all, she feared the reaction of the young man who sat in front of her, looking at her with such curiosity that the truth burned on her tongue. She wanted to tell him, so badly. No one knows what’s coming next.
“My next option,” She breathed in deep, “is major TMJ surgery. A bilateral fat-graft.”
There was a pause, Will trying to imagine a jaw surgery. All he could think about was removing the jaw bone with a metal one, like the face of The Terminator.
She, on the other hand, felt like her heart had stopped. The look on his face was pure confusion, and she didn’t want to go into major detail at all. She was scared, deathly scared to let him into her upcoming struggle.
“So, does that mean your face will be metal, like half-metal-half-human?” Will asked.
She didn’t mean to, but as soon as his question slipped from his lips, she began to laugh, imagining her face looking like the robot from Bicentennial Man.
“What?” Will chuckled, watching her laugh with ease. The ice was officially broken, he thought, about this ‘situation’ she was talking about. They both laughed, doubling over. She looked back at him, wiping her watering eyes as she realized that she could become very close to him, if she wasn’t careful.
“That…that was ridiculous!” She giggled as she finally caught her breathe, “But I won’t be a metal face. That would be pretty awesome if I was though!”
“I’m not sure what you meant, like—what is going to happen?”
“Here you go!” Andrew suddenly arrived, placing a steaming bowl of pasta in front of them. As he placed it down on the table, he flashed a smile in her direction, making Will’s blood boil in anger.
Back. Off. His inner voice snarled.
“Thank you,” She said, looking straight at Will on purpose, “Looks good, doesn’t it sweetie?” She smiled, obviously trying to make Andrew stop.
“Of course dear, it does. Would you like the first spoonful?”
“Oh yes, I’d be delighted, sugar.” She added a touch of sarcasm quickly. Andrew suddenly lost the shine in his eye, glaring at Will harshly before walking away from the table.
They looked back at each other suddenly, and another round of laughter erupted from them both. They laughed in sync with one another, realizing that they enjoyed being with one another. It was a warm atmosphere, welcoming and full of a new sense of affection. They both were falling quickly, and neither one of them knew what was going on with the other.
Will did take her plate, dishing her out some of the ravioli and handing it back softly to her. As he handed it to her, their fingertips gently brushed against each other, suddenly sending a jolt of electricity through before both of them. She immediately blushed, taking her plate and keeping her eyes on the food. He smiled at her and her cute reaction, dishing some food out for himself.
They began to eat; the enjoyment was seen on her face. Will couldn’t take his eyes off of her, watching her with delight. There was something about her, something that flashed waves of heat through him, something that made him unable to pull his eyes away. Her eyes suddenly flickered up to him, and for a moment, they both looked into each other’s eyes, making the world stop.
Nothing moved, no time passed. He was completely lost in her beautiful brown eyes, since there was something different, something that he had never seen in anyone else’s eyes. What was it, Will couldn’t place. But he couldn’t wait to have the time to stare more to realize what it was that made him totally hypnotized.
She also seemed to be captured by his eyes. There was an admiring glow that didn’t seem to fade, even though he knew almost everything that was going to happen in the next few weeks. That was something that shocked her, and yet here he was. As she watched him, she wasn’t paying attention to how she was chewing, and suddenly hit a wrong angle, and a slice of pain ran through her face.
Will saw her flinch for a moment as she chewed, but watched a pained expression that came onto her face suddenly vanish, replaced by an obvious mask she used when situations happened like this.
“Are you alright?” Will asked as he speared another forkful, loading it onto his tongue.
“Yeah,” her voice was softer, “I just moved my face weird the last time I chewed; happens all the time.
He was puzzled, looking at her face.
“So…can I ask you what happens when that happens?”
She paused, slowly lowering her fork onto her plate.
“I get…slices of pain that shoot down from either my ear or the joint itself. It cutes through my cheek bone mucles, and they spasm and hurt when it happens, but it’s never the same. Sometimes, it’s minor—where all I need is an ice pack and an advil, but other times, it can get so bad that I have to take ‘the big guns’, as I call them, and it makes everything go away. Or—it used to. It no longer takes away the pain anymore, but it numbs my mind to it so I no longer have to feel it. I’m so used to the medication that all it really does is distract me. Take me away from this,” She circled her face.
