My daughter spent years hiding behind a heavy orthodontic frame.
So when the most popular boy at school asked her to prom, I thought maybe life was finally giving her something beautiful. But halfway through the dance, she ran across the gym crying and shouted, “You paid him to take me, didn’t you?”

For two years, Elsie had worn a complicated orthodontic frame.

The kids at school called it “robot gear.” After that, she stopped smiling in pictures.