Schools of fishies, from head to toe, not one sticking out more than the other. Not one, except Ms. Melody Freeman-Sheldon. Some might say she’s a freak, others, a weirdo, to her, perfect. With a forehead doubling the size of her face, a mouth barely big enough to fit the overwhelming amount of words she says, eyes like a guppy, and a topsy-turvy personality, she never was one to fit into the stereotypical master race society everyone seemed to fit into. Her rag-tag bunch of friends were the only people who genuinely let Melody sing her song. The only faces she could see in a sea of fish: Risp, Phen, and Linus. Melody wasn’t the only outcast within their school though. Peers bullied them each for different reasons: thinking about things differently, walking around a bit bigger, and having mismatched, blotchy skin.

In the past, this never stopped Melody from embracing who she was. Every day, galloping into class with as wide of a smile as she can, embracing those around her, and standing center stage wherever she went. It wasn’t until high school that everything quickly started to change within her. For the first time in her life, she felt out of place. She knew she didn’t belong. 

Walking into her new homeroom for the first time was a completely different experience. She couldn’t help but be quiet and shy. Even though she recognized some of them, like the boy in the blue ballcap, and the girl in the red dress, she didn’t truly know anyone. No Risp to bounce back her out-of-this-world ideas. No Phen to make her giggle with their jolly laugh. No Linus to tease knowing full well his smarter than her.

Swimming home away from the school of fish, another new experience awaiting. Barging into her room, colored in blue, were nothing but tears from her eyes. No gentle hand from up above or down below could save her at this moment. All she could do was sit there and sit some more, tears streaming down her face. For the first time in her life, she felt out of her mind. Nothing seemed right to her. What happened to her carefree attitude? What happened to her wide smile? What happened to her love for herself and others?

Waking up after a long, painful night, something sparked in her, she knew on the surface that something had to change. Storming into the bathroom, shears in hand, she hastily snips away the long brunette locks that frame her face. Cutting away, she creates long bangs, intent on masking the forehead that many of her peers laugh at her for. As she looked up, tears of glee and despair dribbled down her cheeks as the once billboard forehead was now covered in walnut bangs. With just a few minutes left, she dragged herself to school, hoping that she would manage to fit in better with the fish.

Her prayers worked. The moment she walked into class, two different people walked up to her: the boy in the brown pants, Saul, and the girl with the hair clips, Bridgette. This was finally her chance to have normal friends, and with her new hair, she managed to hook and reel them in. Two friends down, a school of fish left.

Hearing the news of Melody’s new friends, Phen couldn’t help but laugh.

“Melody, with normal people, she’s far from normal. Are we not good enough for her?” they scoffed.

“Come on Phen, this doesn’t mean that you are one of my closest friends. We are in high school, it's time for us to get out there.” pleaded Melody.

And with that, Phen knew it best to just let it go.

Second day down, and for the next few weeks, everything seemed to be okay. With a new total of 5 friends, 2 normies, and 3 special friends, Melody felt like things were getting better on the surface, but deep down, she knew she wanted more. 

“It's not enough to have just 2 new friends, and besides, my mouth and eyes still look horrible.” She whispered to herself in the mirror, pulling at her lips and eyelids. Her emotional self-harm ignited a spark in her.

. That night, after reaching into her parents’ dresser, she found some hair bleach and developer and got to work. Stroke by stroke, she painted her brunette hair with white bleach, and after hours and a nice rinse, out walked a blonde Melody, a changed Melody.

Walking up the next day, Melody was ecstatic about the way she looked. Now she can finally say she fits in with everyone else, “Who’ll even notice my eyes and mouth when my hair looks just like theirs?”, she laughs to herself. Upon arriving at school, however, things weren’t getting any better. While meeting the boy with the brown glasses and the kid with the yellow shoes, Josh and Blake, there was a mob of kids behind her, laughing at her mouth and eyes. Holding back tears, she ran away into one of the bathroom stalls, calling up Risp, her closest friend, as soon as possible in a frantic state.

“WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE ME!!”, Melody cried

“We don’t hate you, you’re our, MY, closest friend Melody, we love you.” vocalized Risp as she frankly left class in search of Melody.

“I can’t do this anymore, I just wanna be normal, let me be free!” pleaded Melody.

“Don’t worry dear, I’m almost there.” softly spoke Risp, as she just made it to the bathroom before finding Melody there, on the floor in a pool of tears. 

Picking up Melody off the ground, Risp carried her into the library. Melody has always found comfort within books, placing herself in the story of heroes, winning over the masses, and saving the day. Knowing her friend dearly, she handed Melody a copy of The Lord of the Rings, Melody’s favorite book, a story of adventure and triumph from an unlikely hobbit. Brushing Melody’s hair as she read, Risp sat there to comfort her, whipping away the tears left dripping from her face. 

“Tomorrow is a new day darling, let’s make it a better day” , said Risp.

“I'll try,” quivered Melody, remaining tears left in her eyes.

Waking up the next morning was hard, on one hand, she had her friends there for her, she knew that, but on the other hand, could she really face dealing with the same issues as last time? To Melody, no, nothing could possibly be worse than what she had to deal with yesterday. Slumping over to the mirror, she looked around for sunglasses. Her mother always bought a pair and gave it to her in case Melody decided enough was enough and she needed to hide who she was. Only one issue left to fix, her mouth.

As Melody arrived at school, it seemed like a different world again. Crowds of kids started piling in around her.

“Hey Melody, long time no see”, said the kid in the blue shirt, Micheal.

“Hey, girly, how’s your day?”, uttered the girl with the pom poms, Kate.

“What happened to my Melody?”, asked Linus, the kid with the blotched skin.

That day, Melody finally felt like everything was going her way. No weird looks, snarky remarks, and teasing faced her throughout the day. Lasting up till the end of the day, nothing seemed wrong. Eventually, her friends Phen and Risp found her right before they split paths to different buses.

“What’s up with you, you’ve changed so much lately?” questioned Phen, steam slowly leaking out their ears.

“Ugh”, scoffed Melody, as she turned around.

Grabbing her shoulder and spinning her back toward them, Phen, the kid too big for their jeans, shouted, “If you’re going to be like this, then just leave us alone!”, before storming off.

After the kid left, Risp only had one request, “If you truly care about us and what we’ve done for you, please, be the Melody we know you are, come back to us.” And with that, they went different ways.

After storming into her room, she threw her stuff down and immediately ran into the bathroom. All you could hear from across the hall was the sound of yelling and the thud of everything against the wall. Peaking in, all you would find was Melody spending the next 4 hours putting makeup on her lips to make them look bigger, practicing to make it perfect, cursing about Risp, and the other two kids she once knew under her breath.

Arriving at school the next day, a changed woman, with lips drawn to be normal, glasses to make her eyes normal, and bleached, cut normal hair, she immediately stumbled into Risp, the kid with autism. With a frown on her face, the kid turned around, only to watch as Melody waved hello to the schools of fishies.