typo [lrh] - discontinued

chapter one

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"Matthews. Wake up." 

I looked up from my desk, peeling my cheek off the worn wood to meet the narrowed eyes of my English teacher. 

"Can I help you, Mrs. Carter?" I yawned.

Giggles erupted from around the classroom. When she turned around to glare at her students, the laughter vanished almost as quickly as it had come.

"Yes, you could actually. Detention. After school." She patted my shoulder and made her way back to the front of the classroom where she continued the lesson that I had slept through.

My friend Lea leaned over from my right to whisper to me. "I told you we should have sat in the back. You totally would have gotten away with that." I rolled my eyes.

Lea Hernandez perfectly suited the role of a "dumb blonde" - except her hair was a muddy brown and she had been awarded for the GPA in our class, two years in a row.

"Mae, Lea," Mrs. Carter snapped, "no talking."

"That too." Lea smirked. We both giggled and attempted to focus on the lesson.

Mrs. Carter let out a long, agitated sigh and massaged her temples. "Okay, class, for tonight's homework, I want you to complete pag-"

The trill of the first period bell and the screeching of chairs being pushed back cutting her off allowed us to all escape her wrath.

"Saved by the bell!" Someone yelled from the back of the room. Everyone laughed in agreement. We all gathered our things and passed by an exhausted teacher, face down on her desk, to exit the classroom.

I turned to Lea and laughed. "Poor thing. I don't know if she's gonna be able to make it through the year."

"It's barely a week into the school year and she's already complaining about migraines."

Just thinking about it brought a wicked smile to my face.

We arrived in front of my history class and parted our separate ways. "Have fun in math," I teased. Lea pretended to gag and walked away.

Since I was a few minutes early, I seated myself in my usual spot in the back row. History was not only my least favorite class, but it had often become a cherished napping place for me. 

I was already resting my head in my arms when I was roughly shoved. The uncontrollable laughter of Michael Clifford gave away the culprit.

"Why am I friends with you?" I groaned. I lifted my head up in time to watch him place himself in the seat next to me. 

"Because you love me."

"Totally."

Michael and I had been best friends ever since he helped me set my pet snake loose in our fifth grade classroom.

Our teacher at the time happened to be terrified of snakes. It was genius.

"I have an hour of library duty already. Beat that," he boasted proudly.

I sat up straight and smirked at him. "I already have detention." Michael's jaw dropped in shock.

"With Mrs. Carter? What'd you do?"

"I fell asleep in class. Twice. Either that or she just hates me."

"She hates you," he confirmed. I gave him a high five, and we burst out laughing. Our laughter was cut short by the

thunk of a backpack falling onto the desk on my other side.

We both turned around and watched a tall, blonde kid sink into the seat that was normally empty. 

"Hi. I'm Mae." I smiled at him. He looked me up and down before scoffing and pulling out a book.

"Asshole," I muttered under my breath. He scoffed again and flipped me off.

Michael rolled his eyes. "His name's Luke. He's in my music class." He checked to make sure Luke wasn't listening to our conversation. "He's a dick."

"Lovely," I replied sarcastically.

Luke didn't bother to make any sound throughout the class. Even when the teacher called his name during roll call,

he simply raised his hand without looking up from his book. 

Michael tapped my shoulder and mouthed the word freak. I nodded in agreement.

I was almost positive that I had never seen or heard of this Luke kid before, due to that fact that as a junior, you become pretty aware of the kids in your classes.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when a thick packet of papers was dropped in front of me. I looked up at Mr. Wilkins. 

"What's this?"

"I'm glad you asked, Mae," he chuckled. "This packet contains the guidelines and rubric for your first and last social studies project. It will be a partner project."

The class erupted into cheers of excitement as Michael and I exchanged a thumbs up.

"However, it counts for a third of your grade and I will be picking your partners."

The cheers were replaced with groans while Mr. Wilkins chuckled and rubbed his hands together. 

"Now, now, it isn't due until second semester, which gives you more than enough time to complete it, and I will be assigning groups today."

He finished passing out the packets and made his way to the front of the classroom where he began searching through papers.

"Great," Michael said. "I know for a fact we aren't going to be partners."

I nodded in agreement. "It would be pretty fucking dumb of him to put us together. I mean, all we do during class is talk and eat."

"Class, settle down," Mr. Wilkins called. "If you want to hear who you're stuck with for the next few months, I suggest being quiet."

He walked around his desk to sit on the edge of it.

"First...Piper Lee and Landon Villon...Kathleen Benson and Alejandra de Rosa..."

Mr. Wilkins continued naming pairs of kids throughout the classroom. Michael and I waited in anticipation, still hoping that there was a tiny chance of us being put together.

"...Michael Clifford and Stephen McCallister...Mae Matthews and Luke Hemmings..."

I froze. Very slowly, I turned to my left to face Luke, but he was already staring back with narrowed eyes.

We sat in silence glaring at each other as Mr. Wilkins called off the rest of the names.

"That's it you guys. Go ahead and take the rest of the period to get to know your partner." He clapped his hands together and moved back behind his desk.

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and opened them as if doing so would make me disappear.

Finally, he spoke.

"Fuck."

-

Hello again! 

It's been quite awhile since I've posted. To be completely honest, I forgot all about Typo. However, I do miss it so I edited the chapters I had (for the twentieth time) and updated to get your attention. Hopefully you are inspired to reread chapters one and two to refresh your memory, and stay with me as I continue to write. I can't promise that I will be consistent, but I miss writing and really want Typo. to go places lol. I will most likely be writing in chunks then posting a chapter maybe every other week or so. That gives you plenty of time to read what I already have up. Thank you for reading! 

- Sam