Oh, honey, I feel your pain!
I was told this summer (on my 20th birthday, no less!) that I had to either get braces or have this awfully painful-sounding surgery on my jaw. Needless to say, neither option sounded good so I did what I do best: cry and cry some more. Oh, the woe! I couldn't handle having my jaw surgically broken (ouch!) and I didn't want to wear braces like some sort of pre-teen. In the end, though, I did get the braces, and a nervous breakdown came with it. I knew I'd have to go back to rush camp, school, and then meet hundreds of PNM's with braces on - I was heartbroken.
News flash - I got this high-tech new clear kind, spent a long weekend in the mountains with my sisters at Rush Camp, and realized that they cared more about giving me Advil every 4 hours (I got them on days before Rush Camp) then laughing at me. People think they're adorable and, since I only have to wear them for four months (six more weeks!) it isn't a big deal. I learned, however, that PNM's would not laugh at me and refer to my GLO as that "braces sorority" (my biggest fear!). I also learned that maybe I'm a little more superficial than I thought. I still go out, have fun, and enjoy just as many laughs and smiles as I used to. At first I was self-conscious but now, since no one pays any attention to it but me, I just let it go. I'm a lot more than a pretty set of teeth! So my advice is this:
Just accept it graciously - let your personality (as it always should be) become the part of yourself you take the most pride in. Bottom line, the calmer you are, the calmer everyone else will be - it's so not a big deal! Even if you have the regular kind, it's just a bit of metal on your teeth; I promise you won't become a social pariah! So good luck, take plenty of Tylenol, and know that when they come off your smile will be ten times as beautiful as it is now!!