Chapter Five

Resting inside the anemone and sulking was the only thing Nemo could do after school was done. Marlin had picked him up as usual and noticed the boy's odd silence. "I don't feel good," the boy had told him, which concerned his father, yet gave him the option to tell his son to rest up and that everything would be okay.

Everything will not be okay, Nemo thought as he lay silently. He peered up at the service where he could see the sun setting beyond that point. He wondered if after the day was completely over, things would be better afterwards.

By the expressions on his friends' faces, and the tone and anger in their voices, Nemo knew that it was impossible for it to be a better day. The boy sniffled, and could feel darkness surround him, even though the sky wasn't black yet.

Nemo was too down in the dumps to think of a possible way to get his friends back to liking him again. In fact, he felt a heavy force on himself, as if he were drowning in his own depression and sadness. I was only trying to help, he thought.

He felt his eyes burn from the forming tears, which only floated away with the reset of the ocean water. He was glad that his father went on an evening swim with Dory, because he did not want him to see him crying or find out what happened.

Not only would Marlin scold Nemo for doing something so rash as getting Pearl to impress Mr. Hank, but he would also try to fix things himself, which would only embarrass Nemo. The boy knew his father, being protective, that he would do anything to try and get Nemo's happiness back.

There was no way Nemo would tell his father what happened, even if he felt like talking to somebody about it. Dory was an option, but even if she did have short-term memory loss, Nemo knew that her memory was getting better, and she could keep it in her head and tell Marlin about it.

Nemo wanted to talk to his friends about it, but they were the problem. There was nothing the boy could do now. He cried until sleep fell upon him.

Sleep was a way to escape reality, and dreaming was far from torture. However, in some cases, dreaming was torture, because nightmares were beyond horrific.

Nemo found himself swimming passed the Drop Off under the night sky, where darkness surrounded him. It looked like he was hovering through a continued black current that circled around him.

The boy was dizzy, and the water was so thick he could barely breathe. However, he continued to sway ahead, where nothing but bubbles glistened under the crescent moon, which hovered a reflection beneath the surface.

There was nothing on the boy's mind except the way he was feeling. He felt sick, panicky, and fuzzy. He was scared, but he didn't know why.

The young clownfish felt like he was flying for hours. Finally, he saw a faint sight of something familiar. It was his anemone home, which didn't make sense, because it was supposed to be beyond the other side of the Drop Off. Why did home suddenly appear beyond that point?

When Nemo arrived, he noticed that everything around the anemone was different. There were piles of large, tiny cans, and pieces of plastic floating, which began to take over Nemo's home, as if it were eating it.

Nemo didn't understand what was happening, but it made his whole-body ache, and scared him especially. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out, and he struggled to breathe.

"Dad!" Nemo let out as he awoke. Panting away, he noticed that it was still dark, and Marlin was nowhere near him. "Dad?" He swam in circles, even though he knew his father was nowhere inside the anime.

Nemo gasped in surprise when he suddenly heard soft voices. He shifted forward and peaked just so slightly out the tentacles of his home before spotting his father just a few feet away.

Marlin was having a discussion with Dory, which was odd because Nemo's dad wouldn't just do that in the middle of the night. It must have still been early in the evening.

"Try to remember," Marlin said, "remember to be on guard."

Be on guard for what? Nemo wondered. He was too tired to continue listening and backed up before circling his bed. He forgot the nightmare he had and started to think about Pearl and his friends.

There had to be something Nemo could do to make things better. Trying to help Pearl impress their substitute didn't work, so maybe he was trying too hard.

"Apologize," he said to himself. "That's all I need to do." It made sense. Apologies didn't always fix things, but if he meant well and was sorry, his friends would understand. It was settled. With that, the little clownfish drifted back off to sleep.

Nemo was quiet as he swam with his dad and Dory to school. Marlin even asked him if he was okay, but the boy claimed there was nothing wrong, even if that were not true. He didn't want to make matters worse by getting his father involved.

Day two of the last three days, Nemo thought as he arrived at school and started to search for his friends. The little clownfish still had time to make things right before Pearl's crush left as their teacher. Even though he was only apologizing, he was sure that he could convince Pearl to talk things out with Mr. Hank. It wasn't too late.

It only took a few minutes for Nemo to spot Tad, Sheldon, and Pearl, having another conversation that he wasn't a part of. Nemo took a deep breath and hurried over. He wasn't even going to ask what they were talking about, because the last time he did, his friends refused to tell him. That was hurtful.

"She said it's something huge," Tad said to his friends.

"You really think so?" Pearl asked with a look of fear. She did everything she could to keep herself from inking.

"Sandy Plankton knows everything," Tad replied.

Nemo, just a few feet away, waited for them to end their discussion so he didn't have to interrupt. It was the least he could do. Shortly, Tad, who was facing Sheldon and Pearl, went silent, and gave a disapproved look when he saw Nemo.

Tad and Pearl turned to look at the boy. They all frowned before Pearl scurried away.

"Pearl, wait!" Nemo called but didn't go after her. He watched as Tad and Sheldon followed. "I want to apologize!"

They didn't seem to hear him because they kept on going. If they did hear, they didn't care one bit about his apology. That scared Nemo the most.

Once it was time to begin class, and Mr. Hank gathered everyone together, Nemo dashed over to Pearl. He wanted to settle things before the day went on. If not, he didn't know how he was going to get through it. "Pearl," he started.

The little octopus dodged his presence and took a spot a couple rows in front of Tad and Sheldon. She wanted to get as far away from Nemo as she could, so she thought it was best to stay in the crowd.

"Alright," Mr. Hank started, "today's lesson is going to be on keeping our home safe."

Nemo didn't pay much attention on Mr. Hank, and instead focused on Pearl, who kept her eyes glued to the teacher. Nemo overed up a bit so he could get a glimpse of her. "Pearl," he whispered.

She stiffened but didn't look at him.

"Leave her be, Nemo," Tad whispered to him in anger.

Nemo was sure he was even more angry. Was I talking to you? No! He avoided eye contact with Tad, who instantly turned back to face Mr. Hank, who went on about how important it was to avoid unusual items that drifted in the sea.

The clownfish was sure it was an important lesson, but he could care less. He just wanted to make things right with his friends again, and he knew now that it was going to be a challenge.

So, at recess, Nemo asked another student to lead Pearl in a small cave at the playground. The student didn't pry. In fact, he was quite amused, and couldn't wait to help Nemo out.

Nemo quickly swam into the cave, which was silently dark, as his classmate went off to get Pearl. "Okay," Nemo whispered to himself, "please let this work. Please."

Dizziness came, and the flipping of his stomach began. He was so nervous; he didn't know how he was going to approach her. Just say, "I'm sorry,".

"Something shiny in there?" That was the distant voice of Pearl, who was arriving at the cave with the other student.

"Yes, I'm too scared to go in and get it," he replied.

Nemo made sure to keep himself hidden as he watched the octopus slowly glide in. She looked like she was really looking for something, like buried treasure. The boy almost thought it was a bad idea to trick her like this, but he didn't know how else to get her to listen to him.

After ten seconds, Nemo finally approached the octopus. "Pearl," he started.

She shrieked in surprise, and the water turned black. "You made me ink!" she cried.

Nemo had never done that to her before, so he didn't know what to do, except say, "I'm sorry."

Pearl eyed him annoyingly.

"Not for doing that, but for also screwing things up with Mr. Hank. I was only trying to help."

"I knew we couldn't trust you," Pearl said.

Nemo felt a pang. Even after apologizing and explaining himself, his friend was still angry. What else could he do? Is this it? He thought. Is my friendship with her and the others over?

"And once again you throw something crazy like this," Pearl said. "Having Ronnie trick, me into meeting you here? What is wrong with you?"

Nemo bit his lip. "I didn't know what else to do!"

"Just leave me alone," Pearl said. "You've done far enough."

Nemo let her leave. However, he felt like he had failed once again. This time, though, he wasn't sure he wanted to try anymore. For some reason, it was draining his energy and his mentality. He didn't want to suffer anymore.

He decided that he was going to give his friends some more time. It was obvious they were too angry to accept him anytime soon. So, Nemo decided to keep to himself.

After Marlin picked the boy up, and took him home, Nemo went off to play around the neighborhood. He wasn't going to let his friends stop him from having fun.

But after he started wandering around the reef, Nemo began to feel lonely. He hadn't remembered feeling this way before the conflict with his friends began.

Nemo sighed as he slowly turned around to go back home. That's when he suddenly heard a voice. He couldn't make out who it was, nor could he see anyone. It felt strange because Nemo had never heard voices in his head before.

However, it gave him courage to continue playing. "Yes, I hear you," Nemo said with a grin. He continued to glide through the reef, hiding behind corals and sponges. "I, Nemo, will encounter you on this mission," he said in a voice of courage.

Nemo imagined going on an adventure with somebody he couldn't see, although he imagined the outline to be a small fish like himself. "We hide, we cover!" he said as he dashed forward. "And we discover!"

The clownfish froze behind a tall sponge when he heard a faint giggle. It sounded more real than before, which meant it was not his invisible friend. There was somebody lurking about.

Nemo slowly shifted at the corner of the sponge and scanned the area with his eyes. He didn't see anyone yet, but he could still hear the giggle. "Hello?" he said as he came out from hiding and flew forward.

"You're silly," a voice said. Whoever it was, sounded incredibly young, so Nemo was sure that she was a child like he was.

He wasn't offended by her comment because he was more interested in discovering who it was. "I'm not silly," he said just slightly cheerfully while pacing through.

"Hehe, you are small."

She could see Nemo, and that astounded him. Just where was this other child. He kept going, and gasped in surprised when he saw her, just a foot away.

Squishy, light lavender with red spots and yellow that outlined the body was enough to convince the clownfish that she was no ordinary fish. "Ooops, I scared you," she said and chuckled softly.

Nemo had seen lots of sea slugs, but never up close to where he could have an actual conversation with them. She was slightly smaller than he was, which made him want to smirk. If she was calling him small, then she didn't know who she was talking about.

"I-it's okay," Nemo said. "What are you doing?"

"Observing your performance."

Nemo bit his lip. He didn't call what he was doing a performance. He called it make-believing. Did she not understand that? He let it slide, however, and cleared his throat. "I'm Nemo," he said.

"What? You're what?"

"That's my name. Nemo."

"I never heard of that name before."

Nemo ignored her bluntness. "Well, what's your name?" Her name couldn't have been any less weird than his.

"Shelby. My name is Shelby."

"Shelby." Nemo watched her sway to the left. She was squiggly as she moved. He hadn't imagined meeting someone so interesting. The boy's loneliness was completely gone, especially because of the next question she asked.

"Do you wanna play with me?"