Author Notes - There's a few things to tackle regarding Zooli being the 'new girl' in school, and I want to address as much as it as possible. We're delving into the first major thing in this chapter. The title explains it all.

CHAPTER TWO - MISSED OUT

If anyone is worried, there is no need to be. Zooli woke up less than a minute later, quite a bit calmer but still not exactly anyone's definition of 'relaxed'. The others had laid her down on a pillow in the corner, while Mr Grouper opened up his laptop to go onto their official website.

'Are you okay?'

The first thing Zooli heard once she came to again was Oona's sweet and worried voice. When she opened her eyes, she could see most of the Guppies - minus Nonny - surrounding her from all angles. She couldn't stay unconscious for long with a sight like that.

'It wasn't a dream!' She cried in utter joy. 'IT WASN'T A DREAM!'

'Woah now!' Deema said. 'We don't need you passing out on us again!'

'R-Right, sorry.' She cleared her throat. 'C-Can I have some autographs, while I'm here?'

Gil laughed. 'Asking for autographs from your own bandmates seems a little strange, doesn't it?'

'Oh my gosh, I'm already forgetting I'm in the band now!'

While she was busy coming to and freaking out some more, Mr Grouper and Nonny were already on the official Bubble Guppies website. This was where they posted all their latest news (at least the stuff that didn't go too deeply into their personal lives) and newest music, as well as let fans share fanworks and run their own forums. Rarely would Mr Grouper go onto these forums to moderate them, since he wanted them to express whatever they wanted but within reason.

Just a week ago, they had posted an announcement that something big was coming. It would be grand on its own, but the Guppies had gone on a three month hiatus beforehand. So you can guess just how excited these fans were for whatever this 'big announcement' could've been.

'Get ready, Guppies!' Mr Grouper said. 'I'll get my camera, and then we'll shoot the announcement video to introduce Zooli to the fans!'

Zooli gasped. 'Wait, I'll be in an official video going onto the official website? Oh my cods, I really am part of the band!' She stopped to squeal again, one more time. 'Oh, I cannot wait to go on some amazing adventures with you guys!'

As Mr Grouper left to go get the camera, Zooli's remark prompted Deema to smirk.

'Oh, you're telling us!' She said. 'We've gone on some pretty awesome field trips. I think the trip to Australia was probably the best. I mean, it was already a really cool place with kangaroos and stuff, but I've always wanted to be in a Wizard of Oz play! I kinda wanted to play the Scarecrow, but being a koala is a pretty close second!'

'Or what about my trip to the Arctic?' Gil said. 'I stormed through that freezing cold icy desert with Bubble Puppy by my side,' This prompted the dog to bark. 'And I put a real pole in the North Pole! That's pretty cool too. Or, should I say… f-f-freezing!'

Oona giggled. 'I think my favourite field trip was when we went to the zoo to give Monty a friend. We made him so happy! Hm… or maybe it was when we managed to find the Sphinx's missing nose! No, it has to be when Nonny managed to find a whole dinosaur skeleton just by sneezing! I still remember how happy he was…'

'If I had to give a favourite,' Goby added. 'I guess it would be when we went to that observatory. It really felt like we were in outer space! I still have that moon rock at home. I just wish my sisters would stop trying to hide it.'

While the Guppies rambled to each other about which field trip they had enjoyed the most, they were unaware of Zooli's fading smile. With each story that the others related to each other, her excitement and joy dropped lower and lower.

Wait, Goby has sisters? She thought. He never mentioned that before...

Ever been a third wheel in a conversation, where two or more of your friends are talking about people who you don't know, or events you never got to participate in? Imagine that feeling again, up to eleven. Very quickly, Zooli no longer felt like she was surrounded by the other Guppies but instead separated by a six-foot thick glass wall, where she could barely hear what the others were saying.

She opened her mouth to say something beginning with 'what about the time that-?', only to realise that she had nothing. So, she just sat there, struggling to find a way to relate to anything that her new classmates were saying.

They really had a lot of adventures, didn't they? A lot of really cool adventures… without me.

'H-Hey,' She said, finally. 'Those all sound like pretty cool field trips. Do you think you might ever do them again or something?'

This question threw the other Guppies into an awkward silence. They all exchanged worried and confused looks among themselves, which kept Zooli's hopes low.

'I don't think we've ever repeated a field trip before.' Molly answered. 'Mr Grouper always takes us on a new one every time!'

'Oh…' Zooli murmured, before she attempted to smile. 'Well, that's okay! It's cool hearing you talk about all these cool trips you went on. And I'm sure to be a part of a bunch of really cool trips now!'

She cheered and laughed alongside the others, doing a good job at hiding what she was really feeling. Had she really missed out on that much? She knew about a lot of their adventures from the website, but this seemed a little crazy. Surely she didn't miss out on that many adventures, right? Trying her hardest, she attempted to imagine what it would've been like to be a part of that 'Wizard of Oz-tralia' play. Except, she couldn't. The details on the event were spotty at best, and the more she imagined it, the more she wished she was there for real. Then she thought about that trip to the Arctic.

They went to the ARCTIC?! And they're really never gonna go again?

Her mind jumped to the zoo. She had managed to take a trip there a few days before school, since her mother had gotten a job there. Monty was the name of the zoo's only rhino - she knew that - and he had a little tick bird friend who lived with him. The friendship between the two had been her favourite part about the trip.

The Guppies were the ones who introduced Monty to Meela? I… I never would've thought that. AND THEY SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF THE SPHINX?!

The more she thought about all the adventures they went on before she arrived, the emptier she felt.

They sure had a lot of fun without me… didn't they? Why couldn't I get here earlier?!

'I've got the camera!'

Mr Grouper's voice snapped her out of it. By the time she returned to reality, he had already set up the camera. The other Guppies rushed to their places without any prompting or instructions at all, arranging themselves all in a line. They, left-to-right, in the same order they were in when all in a line during their 'theme song', with the exception of Deema whose massive hair forced her to stay a little bit above everyone else.

She stammered to herself, not sure at all where she was supposed to go. Oona drifted away from the group and gently pushed her along, putting her in between Molly and Gil. When she saw that the camera light was on, she went as stiff as a block of lead.

'Are you okay?' Goby asked. 'Are you camera shy?'

Zooli flinched, and shook her head. 'No! I'm just… a little nervous, that's all. I-I mean, I'll be showing myself to your fans. And you have a lot of fans.'

'Oh yeah!' Gil said. 'We're kinda popular.'

'Don't worry!' Molly reassured. 'Our fans will love you!'

Zooli grinned, trying her hardest to make it seem genuine. She couldn't make it seem like she didn't like this - she loved the idea of being an official Bubble Guppy! It just kind of hurt to know that she had missed out on so much.

I don't need to tell them. They'll just feel bad about something they can't help. We can just move on… I hope.

Mr Grouper adjusted the focus of the camera. 'Okay, time to start… now!'

Zooli just stood there and smiled, holding her arms behind her back. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or say, so she did almost nothing. There was no way she could risk giving the fans a bad first impression.

Her heart began to race. Never before had standing in front of a camera made her feel like she was about to die.

'Hi!' Molly said, waving to the camera. 'I'm Molly, and it's time for an announcement video!'

'WOO-HOO!' Deema yelled, making everyone laugh.

Well, everyone except for Zooli. It came so suddenly that only people who knew Deema well could've seen it coming, and Zooli was just now realising that she didn't know the Guppies as well as she thought she did.

Once Molly stopped giggling, she continued. 'You might remember that we said that we were going on a hiatus for a little while, but we couldn't say when we were returning.'

'But now the Bubble Guppies are back!' Gil yelled. 'And we'll be releasing the first song of our fifth album sooner than you might think!'

'Sorry the last album was so short!' Oona said.

Zooli could remember that, indeed, the fourth album - beginning with Deema's solo in 'So You Wanna Be a Princess' - was only about thirteen songs long (if the various 'Style' remixes were counted as one song), compared to the third that had over thirty. Perhaps it was because that famous crossover with Stylee had used up a lot of their budget, but it was still a bit of a disappointment. Only a bit though, since almost every song on that album was some of their best work! Zooli had to resist humming 'My Favourite Song' at that very moment.

'But this album is gonna be at least twenty-six songs long.' Goby said. 'And they're gonna be some of our best yet, just to make up for the long wait!'

For a moment, Zooli was completely happy again. Now she could be in the newest album, and possibly more if there was more than one! Sure, not being in the first four was a shame, but being in the fifth more than made up for it.

'But,' Molly said. 'There's even more great news to announce. Introducing - ZOOLI, the newest member of the band!'

Zooli flinched upon hearing her name, and then she remembered that the camera - and by extension, the fans when the video got uploaded - were on her. The others were silent, indicating that she had to say something.

'Hi, Bubble Guppies fans!' She said, improvising almost perfectly. 'I'm Zooli, and I'll be joining the band officially! So you get to know me better, my favourite colour is purple and I love animals. Especially animals who live in the sea! My favourite of them all is the seahorse. I can't wait to sing alongside my new bandmates when we make our first song!'

'Don't worry, Guppies!' Molly said. 'Zooli has proven herself to be a great singer, and she'll be a delight when it comes to singing some of the newest songs on the upcoming album.'

'But from now on,' Oona said. 'She is a real member of the band!'

Nonny waved and smiled at the camera. 'Hello.'

That confused Zooli quite a bit, seeing as she didn't understand why he would say hello now instead of when the video started. His smile, as adorable as it was, was short-lived, making her wonder what on earth the point even was. It wasn't like there was anything to make him smile.

'We'll give updates on Zooli more as the week goes on.' Nonny said, no longer smiling.

'See you next time from…' Molly said.

'THE BUBBLE GUPPIES!' They all said at once.

Obviously, Zooli wasn't a part of that final note right before the camera stopped recording. She had no idea that they were all gonna talk at once, and it didn't help her feelings about exclusion at all. But the others smiled - well, Nonny didn't, but he was Nonny - so she chose to just smile along with them. No need to bring the happy mood down, after all.

'And that's a wrap!' Mr Grouper said, taking the camera off its stand. 'It's simple, but it's all the fans need to know for now. If they have any questions, we'll be glad to answer them!'

He took his camera over to his laptop and connected them together through a cable. Isn't modern technology amazing (when it works)? Zooli sighed in relief, thankful that it seemed like the hard part was over. Now, there was nothing left for her to do but let the fans react to the news.

'Are you okay, Zooli?' Nonny asked. 'You're sweating a lot, which is often linked to high levels of stress or anxiety.'

'Good to know!' Deema said. 'Now in English.'

'He's asking Zooli if she's nervous.' Oona translated.

Only then did Zooli realise how sweaty her face and palms were. Geez… she knew her nerves were getting to her, but she didn't think it was this bad. The only problem was that she didn't know if it was caused by the excitement of officially joining her favourite band, or if it was caused by her skyrocketing nerves and stress when it came to the entire situation.

She wiped her brow and sighed. 'I-I don't usually sweat this much. I think I'm just really excited and a little nervous to be part of the band. I mean, y-you guys are pretty popular, and all those people are going to see me.'

'That's okay.' Nonny said. 'The idea of becoming famous was scary to me too. But it's a lot less scary when you have your friends by your side.'

Oona grabbed onto his hand and giggled, which got a slight blush out of him. Zooli was about to blush a little herself. See, like a lot of Bubble Guppies fans, she liked to imagine Oona and Nonny as an adorable little couple. Or, as the fans would put it, she liked to 'ship Noona'. Now that the actual Guppies themselves were standing in front of her, she suddenly realised just how weird it was to 'ship' together real people like that.

If they were, saaay, cartoon characters, it wouldn't have been nearly as bad. Of course.

Another thought dawned on her - would she get shipped with someone too? The pairings within the fandom were a little all over the place, but there was the 'universal three' - Golly, Doby, and Noona, as the fandom had come to name them. Before, it was easy. Six was an even number, and allowed for three pairs. Seven, however, was a prime number, meaning there was no way to divide it up into equal groups that weren't the whole group or each of the individuals.

If I did get 'shipped' with someone, who would it be? Six is a lot of options… but with seven, I'm kinda the odd one out. Oh, there's gonna be a lot of OC's just to ship me with…

'You're sweating a little more.' Gil said. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

Zooli yelped; the last thing she wanted to tell them was that she was thinking about which one of them she would get 'shipped' with.

'J-Just give me a couple days to settle in.' She replied. 'I'll be fine after a while.'

'Well, if you say so.' Molly said, clearly still a little concerned.

Zooli gave everyone the best smile she could. She couldn't deny the fact that everything had left her more nervous and stressed than excited like she was before, but she kept it to herself. Everyone had expected her to love this news, and she didn't want to disappoint anyone.

'Hey Zooli!' Mr Grouper called. 'While the video's uploading, why don't you come over here and help me set up your profile?'

'My… profile?' She repeated.

'Yep! Every single one of us - even Bubble Puppy - has their own little profile on the website that the fans can read to learn a little more about us. Helps any new fans understand who we are too! I think you should have one, so the fans know it's official.'

'O-Oh. O-Okay!'

Author Notes - I wanna make something perfectly clear: I'm just poking some lighthearted fun at 'shipping' the Guppies. I'm just as guilty as the rest of the fandom when it comes to it, including making up an OC just to ship them with Zooli. No personal call-outs, unless they're directed at me. It's no fun if I'm just putting other people down.

So the idea here was to address the whole 'new friend' dynamic. Zooli came in at Season Five, after so many grand adventures had happened. And we all know that some of those field trips can be a bit crazy. I mean, to Australia? THE ARCTIC?! So, how would Zooli feel about missing out on all of it? It doesn't help that the Guppies reveal very little about their home lives, so if, say, Goby mentions his sisters, it'll lead to Zooli being even more confused and isolated.