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Mike had always struggled getting the idea of an unreliable narrator to click with his students. No matter what texts he pulled from the school library, if the facts weren't in front of these kids' faces it would go over their heads. They had no intention of looking between the lines of the text to find a secret hidden story that was much more interesting than just the words laid out on the page. Mike had been teaching for a few years now, enough to still feel like a bumbling idiot but still notice patterns between the students in his classes. There is something that students are always interested in; his personal life. And if digging up old letters both the sent and unsent is what it will take to get these kids to understand unreliable narrators he doesn't know what will, cause honestly you couldn't ask for a better example.
His class walks into his classroom to see that on the chalkboard are two letters written large enough for the back of the room to see without problems. Where the recipient of the letters should have been was a squiggle and at the bottom one was signed From Mike and the other Love Mike.
“Hello Everyone. On the board you can see two letters. Both of these are real letters that I sent back when I was teenager. Both my best friend and girlfriend had moved across the state right before the start of our freshman year. I missed them both dearly so naturally I wrote letters to keep in touch. One of these is a letter to my girlfriend and the other is a letter to my best friend. The only question is which one is which.”
Dear~~
I hope the trip was ok. And that you all made it in one piece. How's school going? I hope you've managed to make some friends. And if you ever need help with school work I'm just a phone call away. Especially English cause as you know, that's kind of my thing. Hope to hear from you soon. Cause I miss you and all that. Everyone here says hi btw. You should expect some letters from them soon I think. Write to you soon.
From Mike
Dear ~~
I miss you, I feel like I haven't said that enough. Life isn't really the same without you here. Sure I have the rest of our group here, but it feels like a part of my soul is missing without you here? I knew I'd miss you but I didn't think it would be this bad. I can't eat and I’m either completely sleeping the day away or not sleeping at all. Being attached at the hip since the day we met really puts this all into perspective without you here, I don't like the person I've become. I used to be nice but maybe it's just because you were near, making me nice? I don't know who I am without you by my side. We said we would go crazy together right? But I'm going crazy without you and that makes me feel guilty. Doing anything that reminds me of you just makes me feel guilty. I wish I didn't feel this way. I wish we could just be together. I wish my house felt like home but it can't because you are so far away. I wish I had the guts to call you like I promised.
Love Mike
Mike really hoped this worked. Because otherwise this whole lesson was going to be such an embarrassment.
“Mr Wheeler. What's the whole point of this? It's so clear that the one on the bottom is your girlfriend. I mean you signed it off with Love Mike can't get more obvious than that.”
Mike was so relieved that his lesson idea is going exactly as he planned.
“ So we are all in agreement that the bottom one is to my girlfriend and the top one is to my best friend.”
The class nodded along in agreement.
“Well you would all be wrong. The top one is to my girlfriend and the bottom one is to my best friend since kindergarten.”
The class looked gob smacked. Mike began underlining phrases from both letters and cross comparing. Mike had never seen his class so invested. This is the most successful class participation he has ever had. And to think all he had to do was put one of his lowest moments on the board for his students to pick apart.
“But Mr Wheeler I don't understand. If that's the letter to your best friend why is it so romantic.”
“Oh undoubtedly this letter is romantic. Even if we ignore that I signed it off with Love Mike there's no hiding that this is a love letter. Despite it not being addressed to my girlfriend. Can we think about why that might be?”
The class was silent. None of them wanted to say the answer right in front of them until a shy kid at the front of the class spoke.
“Because you loved your best friend”
Mike nods while smiling.
“Looking at both letters that feels so obvious doesn't it? You can clearly see it. Even thinking that was the letter intended to my girlfriend at the beginning of the lesson. But when I was writing these letters do you think I knew that?”
The class was silent waiting for the answer. It was honestly a bit unnerving to see them so invested. Not that they didn't normally pay attention but this is a whole new level that Mike didn't think he had accomplished before.
“I had no idea. This letter is the start of me realising. But I wasn't quite there yet.”
He continued to rip his past self to shreds. Pointing out every inconsistency. It was hard to do this without pulling more context from his memories and not just the letters but he managed. The point of the lesson was to be able to pull out all this information from the text only and he thought he had picked a good one to this lesson with.
“And another thing that you wouldn't know just from the text. I never sent this letter or any letter for that matter. They laid in a box under my bed for no one to see. Well until the intended recipient found them ”
Class was about to be over and it seemed like his students were really understanding what he was trying to do. Thank goodness he could put his emotionally constipated past self to good use. Mike smiled looking at his class.He looked at the open door to his class room and smiled even more because there stood everyone's favorite art teacher and Mike's favorite person Will.
“Mr Byers, what can I do for you?”
Will’s eyes were fixated on the board mouth agape.
“What part of the curriculum is this?”
“The unreliable narrator. I figured my teenage self was the best example.”
Will was still staring at the board.
“So this is why you were asking if I still had the box of letters you gave me”
The class went silent so fast.
Mike had forgotten that it wasn't common knowledge that he and Will were married to each other. Well it was obvious that they were both married to someone. They both clearly had wedding bands on their fingers. Conveniently the bells rang.
“Alright out y'all get. No homework this week. My treat since you paid attention so well today.”
Many students tried to linger but Mike wasn't having it. He wanted them all out so he could talk to Will. Once the classroom was clear of students, Will spoke up.
“How did you even get a copy of one of the letters you sent to El? I thought she threw them all out?”
“Oh she might've. But I found an old note book which had the first drafts.”
Mike gave Will a flirty smile and wrapped one his arm around Will's waist.
“Well I just hope you know Michael. Even though we are going out for dinner tonight you still have to put away the boxes you pulled out to find those letters.”
Mike dramatically sighs and leans down his head on Will's shoulder.
“I don't wanna. I'll do it later.”
Will looks at Mike with an eyebrow raised.
“Seriously Mike? The apartment looks like we’ve just moved in; there's so much stuff everywhere.”
Will laughs as Mike bends down lower to the crook of Will's neck continuing to groan.
“Well can you at least make a start Mike?”
“Ill try only because I love you.”
Mike gives Will a kiss before hurrying to tidy up his classroom.The quicker he cleans up his classroom, the quicker he can clean their apartment, the quicker he can go on his dinner date with his best friend and husband Will.