Jamaica was an octoling - they used they/them pronouns, which was the main thing they got bullied for. This is a story of why you should accept people for who they are. Jamaica walked into school on the first day. It was nerve-racking. Last year, they got bullied for being the only octoling with black ink. They quietly walked into their first class and gazed upon the people in it. They saw her bully, Lydia, and her crush. Their crush was an inkling named Andrew, a boy. Jamaica slowly walked to the seat that had their name engraved on it and sat down. "Seems like the 'THING' from last year is back! I would've thought you learned your lesson for telling the teacher on me." Lydia laughed, clearly having no mercy on Jamaica. Jamaica put their head down on the desk, wishing to sink into it as the class laughed at them. The rest of the day did not go well for them. People gave them weird looks, talked bad about them right in front of them. Jamaica went home at 3 PM that day. Jamaica ran straight to the bathroom after getting off the bus. They looked at themself in the mirror with pure hatred. "Why can't I be normal? What did I ever do to deserve all this hate?" The thoughts of death flooded their mind. "I don't deserve to live." Jamaica said out loud. They exited the bathroom, went straight to their room and grabbed a small pocketknife and hurt themself, over and over again. The next day, Jamaica showed up to school in a hoodie and sweatpants, to hide the evidence. They sat through math class, completely zoned out. The teacher went on. "So, who can tell me what the square root of 25 is?" No one raised their hand. The teacher looked around the room, trying to find someone to pick. "Jamaica? Can you tell me what the square root of 25 is?" The teacher asked, her voice filling the quiet room. Jamaica looked at the teacher, and shook her head desperately, not wanting to talk at all. "Well, I just went over this so you should be able to answer. You haven't talked since the first day of school." The teacher explained. All eyes were on Jamaica, some people trying not to laugh. The teacher sighed. "Jamaica, since you really don't want to talk, how about you come up and write the answer on the board?" "No, I-I can't do this, I-" Their thoughts were interrupted by the fire alarm. All the students scrambled for the door, except Jamaica. "Jamaica! Come on, we have to go! This is not a drill!" The teacher shrieked. But the teacher had to keep moving. It was the policy. Black smoke came under the door. and finally, Jamaica panicked. They ran to the door, but it was locked. This had to be Lydia's doing. She was the last in line. Jamaica pounded on the door, but no one heard them over the loud fire alarm. "This is it. I'm.. I'm going to die." They thought. They sat at on the ground, accepting their fate. "Maybe it's for the best, maybe the pain I'm feeling will finally go away." More SH thoughts flooded in. But that wasn't the case. A girl named Bean, smashed through the door. "Jamaica! Let's keep it moving!" Before Jamaica could react, Bean grabbed their arm and ran for the exit. The fire was blocking the exit, but that wasn't going to stop Bean, she jumped and went through the exit, not letting go of Jamaica. They both coughed, but they made it out alive. "What the heck were you thinking!? If I didn't run around the school to make sure everyone was out, you wouldn't have made it!" Bean yelled, her fists clenching. Jamaica looked at her with pure relief, sadness and regret. All in one facial expression. "I'm sorry." They said, their voice no louder than a whisper. Bean sighed. "Come with me." She told them. Part 2?
