Stutter || Larry Stylinson

Prologue (Random ???)

When others heard the soft, squeaky murmur of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, as read from the chess club president Penelope Girodani, they wanted to charge after her with fire and pitchforks. It was all malicious feelings that Monday morning, as the class tried not to groan every time Penelope's voice cracked, which sounded equivalent to the torture of nails scratching slowly down a fresh chalkboard. It was only Lara, though, that sat back in her chair and fluttered her eyelashes, envisioning every little image that Shakespeare flawlessly put through her head. Of course, Romeo and Juliet was not really the play that Lara would've chosen to read, as it was too unrealistic and dramatic for her tastes, but that didn't mean that Shakespeare wasn't an amazing writer. The man was a genius, in Lara's point of view, as he molded the act of writing plays and sonnets for later generations, and had even created words such as 'swaggered'. He used imagery in a way that made everything easy for the young teen to picture, forming a movie to play behind her eyelids as she closed her eyes. So, even though Penelope Girodani had an annoying voice bad enough to make ears bleed, Lara didn't really mind. The images still flashed through her mind, creating a beautiful motion picture that she could keep forever.

This little moment was ruined for Lara, though, when her teacher had decided to interrupt it with a clearing of his throat. Lara frowned when Mr. Leonard cleared his throat once more. She fluttered her eyelashes open, looking around the room in confusion as the class erupted with giggles and whispers, each one making Lara's heart pound harder against her ribs. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach as she knew that they were all laughing at her. It was common for Lara to have a laughing audience no matter where she went. Her stutter paired with her crippling social anxiety was the punchline of many jokes. "D-d-did I stutter," people would mock as Lara tried to order at the counter of Taco Bell, or ask for help on a math question for Calculus. Usually, Lara would blush in response and move on from whatever mistake she had made, and then later on make a mental note of what not to do next time. This time, though, Lara had no idea why everyone was laughing at her. It was like they were all making a conscious effort to make Lara know that they were laughing at her, as well, by pointing at her or glancing at her before giggling with their best friend.

"Why, Ms. Franklin, how nice of you to finally join us," Mr. Leonard said, smirking afterwards. A blush fell upon Lara's cheeks as the class seemed to only become more boisterous. Lara looked down at her lap, too embarrassed to utter a word or show her face to everyone. "Are you going to read for us now?"

Lara's head snapped up, her eyes widening as she paled at the thought of reading aloud for everyone. It was moment Lara always dreaded, as it always went the same way every single day. Mr. Leonard would notice Lara's interest in a story, mistaking it as daydreaming, and then force her to read, making her the laughing stock of the English 12B classroom. For the rest of the hour, Lara would struggle to get through just a couple of pages of whatever book they were reading that month. It was hard enough for the young blonde to get through a page with her stutter, but it was even worse having people mimic and pick on her, forcing her social anxiety to take over. There had been multiple occurrences where Lara had to go down to the nurse's office because of a panic attack Mr. Leonard and the classroom had pushed upon her.

Lara was not a bad reader, though, no matter how horrible she looked in class. At least she wasn't a bad reader on her own. In fact, Lara seldom not have a book on hand to devour while waiting for the school bus or for her mother to get out of work after school. Reading tests were simple for Lara to complete, as she always passed those with flying colors. However, when it came to reading out loud, Lara struggled immensely. Even the worst of readers did better than Lara. At least the people who had trouble reading slow or quiet could force the words out of their mouths properly. Lara could not.

Ever since she was a younger girl, Lara had suffered from stuttering. At first, her parents were convinced it was just a phase, something that Lara could grow out of at some point. They often thought she would one day, with the help of them correcting her words and helping her out, become a fluent speaker. But, Lara's speaking skills didn't become better. Instead, talking became even harder for Lara as she struggled to be better for her parents. It was especially worse when Lara had to talk in front of groups of people, where she would've stuttered without the speech impediment anyways.

When Lara's parents finally accepted the fact that their child had a problem, they moved on to more professional means of curing. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school, Lara had to go to speech therapy, which her elementary school offered for free for the first couple of months. The speech therapist had an amazing track record, showing just how many patients she had helped concur their impediment. Even after three years, though, Lara was simply a lost cause. While her stutter did improve some with a short confidence booster, it was still prevalent. It was then that everyone, including Lara, who only wished she could be normal, finally realized her speech impediment was going nowhere, and there was no helping it.

The stress to be perfect, though, didn't cease there. Lara continued to stress over the want to be the best for not only her parents, but for herself. All of Lara's siblings were fine, and could get good grades in school, do well in sports, and, most importantly, talk fluently amongst others. While Lara was the eldest of all the kids, she was often talked down upon and made to feel small and inferior, like she was just a three year old. She struggled with grades, her 2.3 GPA not budging from its place for a year, and struggled even more with fitting into sports teams. Her brother Kris was much better at sports than she was, and her sister, Haylee, was only in ninth grade, but was vice-president of five different clubs. Lara didn't really fit in anywhere, and only had a couple of good friends that stuck by her side and made her at least feel welcome.

Lara's school, Westington High, didn't have room for social rejects like her. Many of Lara's peers thought of her as a freak, like she didn't belong anywhere. No one had acceptance for the fact Lara was born with her stutter, and it couldn't be fixed, not even with professional help. Ever since she was young, she faced bullying for inability to speak well to others, and it only got worse as she grew in age. Lara faced plenty of humiliation due to her stuttering, especially in moments like those where Mr. Leonard forced her to read in front of the classroom.

"D-do I have t-to?" Lara asked, soft and mousey. She simply didn't want to read, for she was terrified of what the others would have to say about him. Without mercy, though, Mr. Leonard nodded his head slowly, in a condescending way, like it was obvious there was no way out of it. She knew that Mr. Leonard only did this to 'change' the way she talked. Every time Lara would mess up, he'd snap at her to start all over again, or to 'read it like it was written'. Lara, now feeling stupid and worse about herself, looked down at her copy of the play, clearing her throat softly. Carefully, the blonde stood up from her desk, adjusting her glasses on her nose so she could try to better concentrate on the words in front of her.

"If I prof-fane with my unw-worthiest hand, this h-h-holy shrine, the gentle s-sin is this-s," Lara began quietly, flinching as a couple students around her started to chuckle at her words. Lara took in a shaky breath through her nose, chin wobbling as she tried to hold back her tears. "M-my lips, t-t-two blushing p-pilgrims, ready stand. T-to smooth that r-rough t-touch with a tender k-kiss." Lara paused when everyone else started to join in, mimicking the way that she stuttered and stumbled over her words. Desperately, she looked up at Mr. Leonard, her brown eyes begging for him to quiet them down.

The teacher, thankfully, moved to shush the students, causing them to only become quieter. It was better than nothing, Lara supposed, as she gave her English teacher a thankful smile. "Please, continue, Lara. And maybe this time you can try to be a bit louder," Mr. Leonard instructed, acting as if the last statement was a choice, even though Lara knew it was a demand.

"Goo-ood pilgrim, you do wrong your hand t-t-too much, which mannerly d-devotion shows in this-s; for s-saints have hands th-that pilgrims' hand do t-touch, and palm to palm is h-holy palmers' k-kiss," Lara continued, visibly shaking as her peers began to mock again, their laughter echoing through her head, making it impossible to concentrate on the words in front of her. Already, Lara could feel her chest start to tighten in the onset of an attack. Her breathing was going ragged, her mind already jumbled up and light. It was like the whispers each student passed to the other was a scream inside of Lara's ears. Sweaty palms began to stick to the surface of the book Lara had in her hands, making it nearly impossible to ignore.

Before Lara could lose it, the bell rung, signifying the end of the hour and the beginning of lunch. A breath Lara hadn't realized she was holding in blew out, relief crashing over her as she calmed herself down. Lara dropped the book onto her desk, letting it be the next person's problem, and snatched up her things, packing it all into her old, worn down backpack. Everyone else was already filtered out of the room when she had finally gathered all of her things,