"Today class we have a new student, this here is Cetine." says Mr. Ray
A little Koran Angelfish steps forward shyly.
"Hello" says Cetine
Tad accidently drops his art project making a huge noise and she hides behind Mr. Ray
"Um.. Cetine has mild autism, loud noises bug her. Cetine why not sit with Pearl, Tad, Sheldon and Nemo?" asks Mr. Ray
"Uh...okay." says Cetine
She swims over quietly and sits with them, they are excited because it is a new friend they get to meet.
"Hi I'm Pearl." whispers Pearl
The lesson was going on and reviewed since Cetine wasn't there yesterday.
"C-cetine." says Cetine
"I'm Tad sorry about spooking you earlier." says Tad
"I-it's okay I know you didn't mean too. Who are you two?" asks Cetine, calming down
"I'm Nemo." says Nemo
"I'm Sheldon." says Sheldon, and he sneezes
"Are sick?" ask Cetine
"No I'm H2o Intolerant, I sneeze a lot." says Sheldon
"Oh. I see." says Cetine
She doesn't know what else to say so she goes back to paying attention.
"Hey. How about we be friends?" asks Nemo
"Yeah, Cetine you can hang out with us." says Pearl
Tad and Sheldon agreed, Cetine blinks but smiles nodding.
"Okay." says Cetine
The five of them hang out during lunch and dinner and they even hang out after school. Cetine hears her parents voices and has her new friends come over. Both her parents are Koran Angelfish, but it isn't clear where Cetine gets her beauty from. She doesn't look like her mother or father that much, a happy mix of both.
"Hi Mama Hi Papa. This is Pearl, Nemo, Tad, and Sheldon." says Cetine
"Are these your friends?" asks Hope
"Yes we are." says the four of them
"Well it's nice to meet you all. I'm Ed and this is my wife Hope." says Ed
"It's nice to meet you as well." says the kids
Their parents call to them they turn that way.
"You guys go on, I'm sure we can talk to you guys more." says Hope
"Bye Cetine, nice to meet you Hope and Ed." says the kids
They hurry off to their parents after making plans to meet up with Cetine the next day. The next day they spend more time with Cetine and a lot of the kids have her feel welcomed, she was new and no one knew a thing about them. The only ones who didn't make her feel welcomed was twin blue damselfishes named Ronald and Donald, they didn't both her for a few days. Though they didn't like her, she acted like a baby from times when it came to loud noises in their eyes and something seemed off about her. It didn't matter if they talked to her or not she wouldn't talk back, because she was shy. They saw that as an excuse and rude that she would do one day, Pearl asks about what her interests are. Cetine got excited about that and answered her very happy.
"Shells! They are so pretty and so smooth, well some of them some of them are rough. Then you have shells that you can hear the ocean in! I have a whole collection of shells like that! They come in many shapes and colors! I love shells they are so cool." says Cetine
"That is true." says Nemo
The four are very excited that they got more than a sentence out of her.
"Hey how about we go out one day and go collect some shells." says Tad
"Yeah that would be fun." says Nemo
"Maybe we will find some with stuff inside." says Pearl
"Or some more shells where we can hear the ocean!" says Sheldon
Cetine smiles and gets very excited about that, she needs to calm down so the four leads her to the hall. The twins take this opportunity to separate the four from Cetine. Donald takes a rock and hits Nemo's lucky fin.
"Ow." says Nemo, he holds his fin
"Oh no nemo are you okay?" asks Pearl
"Uh..I'm not sure." says Nemo, "My fin hurts."
"Tad Sheldon take him to the nurse." says Pearl
They nod and lead him away they wanted to make sure he made it there okay.
"I know someone hit him, I will be right back I'm going to get a teacher." says Pearl
"Okay." says Cetine
"I will be right back." assures Pearl
She leaves to take care of it, hoping Cetine will be okay on her own. Donald and Ronald go over to her mocking the conversation they were having and laughs.
"W-what's so funny about that?" asks Cetine
"Oh nothing if your normal! They don't mean it they were just being nice." says Ronald
"What do you mean by that?" asks Cetine
Donal pushes her gently.
"Your a freak you have something wrong with her." says Donald
"There is something very wrong with you. Look around you everyone looks normal and acts normal. You just don't." says Ronald, agreeing with his twin
"But..Nemo has a fin smaller than the others. He's different too. Why am I freak for being different for being different too?" asks Cetine
"Oh maybe because you don't act normal he does! You don't talk to anyone that isn't them and you act like a child when loud noises are around you." says Ronald
"You forgot brother that her love for shells is abnormal as well." says Donald
"Yes it is abnormal. So childish." says Ronald
"The only children are you! Get away from her." says Tad
"She wasn't bothering anyone!" says Sheldon
"Were just talking." says the twins
"No you weren't you were picking on them." says Pearl
"You got us away from her so you could pick on her." says Nemo
"So you threw a rock at him." says Tad
"You hurt Nemo for your selfish deeds." says Sheldon
They swim over and get them away from Cetine.
"She's not abnormal! She's unique." says Pearl
"Same difference." says Donald
"No. Calling her abnormal in that way is an insult there is nothing wrong with being different." says Tad
"Leave her alone! She did nothing wrong to you." says Sheldon
"Just go away!" says Nemo
"Better yet you two can come with me." says Mr. Ray
The two gulp and look up at Mr. Ray
"Apologize to Cetine and Nemo and come with me." says Mr. Ray
"We're sorry." says Donald and Ronald
They leave with Mr. Ray and nothing else to say.
"Thank you for sticking up for me." says Cetine
"Not a problem, you're our friend." says the four of them
They hug her and go on the rest of the day happily. As for Donald and Ronald they never bothered Cetine again.
The End
A/N: I want to say that I am not okay with bullying of any form. If you are bullied, do know that you are not alone and that being different is not a bad thing. You all are wonderful people. Also I tried to minimize autism moments as much as possible as I only, have a few friends that have autism I don't see them on a daily so I don't know what they go through on a day to day basis. I don't want to offend anyone, I hope you all understand there is nothing wrong with autism. You guys are awesome as you are no matter what.