Stutter || Larry Stylinson

Prologue (Rewrite)

note (april 2020) no i will probably not continue on the rewrite, i do not really ship larry anymore and the story is just at this point kind of offensive and overdone for me at this point. but (!!!) i may at some point have some passion for this book again...so if you are a fan, because i MAY at some point continue on with the rewrite (and probably rewrite the rewrite...lol) but at this very moment i'm not going to actively work on it. love you guys and again...thank you so much for the support. 

Hearing the soft, squeaky murmur of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet falling from Penny Geronimo's mouth should have made Louis want to stuff a large, sweaty sock down her throat. Everyone else in the class were ready to do exactly that, except a lot more heinously than Louis could. Instead, Louis sat back in his seat and fluttered his eyelids, envisioning every little image Shakespeare put through his mind. Personally, Louis didn't like The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, because it was too unrealistic and dramatic for his tastes. Shakespeare, though, was still an amazing writer who could use imagery to the complete maximum. When Louis read something by the phenomenal playwright, he could play out every scene in his mind, like he was watching a movie. So even though Penny Geronimo's voice sounded like nails scratching down a chalkboard, Louis didn't mind it. The images still flashed inside of his mind like they did when he read, or someone else did.

Louis was 'watching' Romeo talk to Juliet at the party when Mr. Langston suddenly interrupted his daydream. Louis looked up at him, furrowing his eyebrows as everyone giggled. He was confused as to why they were laughing at him this time.

"Ah, Mr. Tomlinson. I see you have finally decided to join us," Mr. Langston said, smirking afterwards. A blush invaded Louis' face as the class laughed harder and louder. Louis looked down at his lap, too embarrassed to even show his face. "Are you going to read now for us?"

The heartbeat that was slowing down in Louis' chest came to a complete halt. He was absolutely dreading this moment. It was always like this; Louis would get into a story, Mr. Langston would notice, and then everyone would laugh at Louis while he struggled to get through the rest of the hour reading. That's how long it took for Louis to get through a whole page of any story. It could be a first level reader's book and Louis would still spend most of his time on just one page.

Louis not a bad reader, no. At least not on his own. In fact, he was an avid reader who always had a book in hand or around him. Reading tests and check-ups were simplistic to Louis, and he passed those with flying colours. When it came to reading out loud, however, Louis struggled immensely. Even the worst of readers did better than Louis. At least the people who had trouble reading could force the words out of their mouths properly. Louis could not.

Ever since he was a young boy, Louis had been a stutterer. At first, his parents were convinced it was just a phase. At some point, Louis was going to grow out of it and become a fluent speaker. But his talking skills never got better. Instead, they became even worse. Especially when Louis had to talk in front of groups of people, when he would have stuttered of nervousness without the speech impediment in the first place.

When Louis' parents finally accepted the he had a stutter, they put him through speech therapy. Many kids had speech impediments, but simple speech classes helped them a lot. The Tomlinsons had high hopes that Louis was going to leave that class a better and efficient talker. Alas, Louis did not improve his speech at all. It deteriorated, actually, from the stress of wanting to be perfect for his parents. They then had to accept the fact that Louis' stutter was permanent, and was not going to go anywhere.

That doesn't mean they treated Louis fairly. Sure, they still loved their son and wouldn't trade him for anything else. But Louis' parents paid more attention to his younger siblings who were perfect in so many aspects that Louis fell short in. Speech being one of them, grades being another.