Author Notes - This is that short (for my standards) story about Zooli that I promised! This one, in case you can't tell, focuses on her first day of school and how she dealt with not just being a new member of the band, but the less-than-savoury reactions from the fans.

Any depictions of Bubble Guppies fans (outside of possible references to various fanfic authors) in this story are not meant to represent real life fans individually, but instead reflect how fanbases often act.

CHAPTER ONE - WELCOME TO THE BAND

Imagine having your entire life change in the span of only a few days. Imagine if everything that you ever knew suddenly disappeared, and you were greeted with a whole new reality. That's what it was like to be Zooli. Her parents - Charles and Phyla - had moved to Big Bubble City years ago since they thought that was best for their daughter, but soon found themselves longing for nature again. Young Zooli herself seemed more happy in the park than anywhere else, so they decided it was best to move to a lovely little countryside town known as Bubbletucky.

As Zooli watched Big Bubble City get further and further away from her through the car window, she couldn't tell how she felt. Was she excited to see grass and rivers everywhere, or would she miss the city life too much? Her parents played her favourite songs on the radio - the fourth (and most recent) album release by the Bubble Guppies, one of the most popular bands for kids her age. How did it get so popular? Because the songs weren't just for kids, but by kids too. Not to mention that almost every single one of them was a banger in their own right.

'Don't worry, Zooli!' Her mother said as she drove them onto a ferry designed to carry cars. 'You'll love our new home, I promise.'

It wasn't so much moving that worried her so much. She had been told months in advance what would happen and it gave her plenty of time to prepare for it, both physically and mentally. It was something else entirely that shot her nerves - school. She hardly fit into the school in Big Bubble City, and she couldn't imagine what it'd be like at this new school. It didn't help that her parents were intentionally hiding some things about the school. They told her it would be a small class with only six other students, and that the teacher was simply wonderful, but that was it.

'There's a bit of a surprise waiting for you at school.' Her father said. 'I know you'll like it!'

To ease up on the introductions just a bit, she made a little introduction video about herself. It was just the basic stuff - her name, her favourite colour (purple), and her most favourite sea animal (seahorse) - and sent it to her teacher.

Next thing she knew, she was already heading to school. Her parents had entrusted her to swim there by herself, which already struck her as a little weird. Big Bubble City was relatively safe for a big populous city, but she was never allowed to roam around by herself and for good reason. It seemed so weird being allowed and even encouraged to travel through this town alone, despite how safe it was.

'Uh, t-then I go… this way?'

Except, of course, she had never been to this neighbourhood before and was still quite new to the place, so it wasn't too surprising that she had gotten a little lost even with the instructions given to her. Still, after a while, she recognised a yellow building resembling a pile of bubbles. The bizarre-looking structure could've only been the school she was looking for. By the time she had arrived, however, she found the building itself completely empty.

'Oh no… i-is this the right place?'

She was about to turn around and head back home, but then she heard the sound of a bunch of kids playing. A smile appeared on her face as she swam around the building to where the sound was coming from - the school's 'backyard', the location of a small playground.

'The sea witch has my jewel!' One of the boys yelled. 'What can we do now?' He then said in a much quieter voice: 'Wait, what do we do now?'

'Yeah, we wrote ourselves into a bit of a corner here…' The girl next to him said.

Another girl gasped. 'I have the PERFECT idea! How about the rest of us make some sort of epic reappearance right at the end?'

Clearly, the six students and their little puppy too were in the middle of some sort of imaginary story. Something to do with a sea witch and magical jewels? Zooli couldn't be quite certain, and as she got closer to the kids playing together, she stopped herself dead before she could get too close. Now, it wasn't because she was too shy or anything like that. It was because she was too busy staring at them in awe with her jaw practically on the ground.

This was the school alright, since it matched the description her parents had given her, but she could hardly believe it. The six Guppies before her - her classmates-to-be - were not just some random group of six Guppies like she had been led to think. It was anything but. Before her very eyes were a group of Guppies than almost any youth under the sea could recognise…

And they were her classmates.

'MY CLASSMATES ARE THE BUBBLE GUPPIES?!' She shrieked out, half in shock and half in excitement.

Since the Guppies were relatively quiet when they weren't singing, they heard her loud shriek and immediately focused all of their attention onto her. She gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth, but it didn't help at all.

Play it cool, Zooli, She thought. Play it cool…

'Hey, it's Zooli!' Gil said, waving at her. 'She's the new student!'

'Hi, Zooli!' Oona said.

And how did Zooli's attempt at 'playing it cool' go?

'EEEEEEEEEEEEE!' She squealed. 'I'M FINALLY MEETING THE BUBBLE GUPPIES!' She took a deep breath. 'AND THEY'RE MY CLASSMATES! EEEEEEEEEE!'

Very poorly, to say the least. She squealed so hard that she grew lightheaded, and collapsed to the ground. The other Guppies - and Bubble Puppy too - rushed to her side and crowded around her, each asking her if she was okay to the point where their voices blended together. When Zooli finally came to again, she saw the pink-haired leader looking down at her.

'Zooli? Are you okay?' Molly asked.

Zooli got back to her tail fins in just a second, hardly able to contain her squeals.

'I-I can't believe it!' She squeaked. 'This is my new school… with the Bubble Guppies!'

She dashed forward and gave Molly a massive handshake. It was done with such vigor that it managed to shake Molly's entire body and made her dizzy.

'Oh, Molly!' Zooli squealed, backing up just a little. 'You were always my favourite Guppy! Your singing voice is soooo good!'

When Molly stopped being dizzy, she said, 'Uh, thanks. I-I get that a lot.'

'You're ALL awesome! Gil, I think your song about the frogs is my favourite song in all your albums. Is that Bubble Puppy? Oh, he's even cuter in real life! Oona, you have to be the sweetest little girl in the world. Nonny, you are the smartest person I know. Goby, your imagination is awesome! Deema, you are hi-laaar-ious! Oh, can you say the line?'

Deema, though she adored being the centre of attention, wasn't expecting to receive such a question from her new classmate. Still, she had received the 'say the line' request so often that she was very aware of what the fans were asking for. So, almost like it was scripted, she cleared her throat and did as she was asked.

'You wanna hear me say the line?' She said. 'Well, you've cerrrtainly come to the right place!'

Zooli squealed again. 'EEEEE! Oh, you even did that jazzy raspy thing that you do sometimes! Oh, this is the greatest day of my LIFE!'

'Well,' Goby said. 'I guess that saves us from the introductions.'

While Zooli stood there, unable to stop squealing at being surrounded by her favourite band, Mr Grouper noticed all the insanity and approached her. The other Guppies instinctively swam away to give him some room, and he chuckled when he saw the massive smile on Zooli's face.

'Looks like someone's excited!' He said.

'Excited?' Zooli repeated. 'I'm… I'm more than excited! I'm ex-hil… uh, ex-zill…'

'Exhiliated.' Nonny finished.

'Yeah, that! My parents didn't tell me that my classmates would be the BUBBLE GUPPIES themselves! Oh my gosh… I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!'

Many of the other Guppies laughed. She didn't mind. Why would she care? She was now classmates with her favourite band! Who cared about how she looked?

Mr Grouper laughed too. 'Well, I think we should go back inside and welcome you to the school!'

Being brought inside the school just made Zooli squeal more. Now, most of their personal lives were not revealed on any webpage or in any music video, and understandably so. Famous singers already got flooded with fans, and Mr Grouper had to take extra care with his students, seeing as these superstars were young kids. Still, they weren't afraid to post a little news onto their website, such as announcing that Nonny had officially become a knight or showcasing a photo of Deema after her first loose tooth fell out. It helped Zooli get a couple of references, if you will. Only a couple though.

'OH MY GOSH, I've seen the photos of this place on your website!' She cried, zooming around the room. 'This is that box of crayons you won from the Crayon Prix. This is that really cool double-diamond shield Nonny had that one time. And that must be Goby's dump truck, which was nearly destroyed by El Bulldoze or whatever its name was! Ooh, and this looks like that photo from the Amusement Parking Lot! I wish I could've gone… OH, and that's Molly's princess crown!'

It took a while before she calmed down enough to sit down, and have the routine explained to her. It wasn't too difficult for Mr Grouper to explain it, since he had already explained some changes of the routine to his original six students before. He decided to mix things up a little, partially because of the new student, to incorporate outside time a lot more. After all, it was always his favourite part of the routine, and he saw no reason not to expand on it.

Zooli understood the routine with ease, and sat down next to Deema since it seemed like a free spot. She was still squealing, hardly able to handle the very thought of being classmates with these Guppies, and the others allowed her to squeal all she wanted.

'I can't WAIT to see you guys making your next song!' She said. 'What's it gonna be about? The sun and the moon? What about rocks? OH, I think the Amazon Rainforest would make an amazing topic for a song! I think we should also make a song about recycling. There was that song about the trees, but it's such an important topic that we need more! What about-?'

'Hey, those were all MY ideas!' Deema said with a laugh. 'Well, except for the Amazon one. I don't know what an Amazon is, but I like rainforests!'

Oona giggled. 'Mr Grouper, should we tell Zooli about the other surprise?'

Zooli did a double take. 'Wait, second surprise? What could be better than this?'

Now, it was the other Guppies who could hardly contain their excitement. Gil bounced up and down in his seat, and both Deema and Oona emitted squeals that put Zooli's to shame. Even Nonny couldn't help smiling. Molly handed her special microphone - the one patterned after her own tail - to Mr Grouper, and he handed that over to Zooli. The new student stared at it for a few moments, unsure of what she was supposed to do with it.

'Uh, thanks?' She said. 'Is this mine to keep, or…?'

'You said you were really big fans of ours.' Molly said. 'So, we thought you might wanna sing one of our songs.'

'To prove you're a true fan!' Gil added.

'Not that you need to know all our songs to be a fan.' Goby said. 'But we wanna know if you know the words to anything we've made.'

Zooli's heart couldn't take much more excitement - now she was being invited to sing in front of her idols! But what song should she choose? There were just too many, and she loved just about all of them. Except for 'Choose the Right Ball', but most of the fans seem to agree it was one of their weaker tunes. Snap Button Zip, Brave Brave Knight, Heart and Lungs, Let It Grow, Orchestra Play For Me, Cos It's Spooky, Arctic Life, A Colour Just Right, Australia… so many songs that she absolutely adored!

In the end, she settled with her most favourite of them all.

'Hey little froggie, little little froggie!' She sang as well as she could. 'Patience, that's the key. Hey little froggie, you'll be a froggie! Just you wait and see. You'll get big and plumb and hang out on a stump, maybe jump through some clumps of lawn. You'll spend your days croaking your heart away, singing your froggiest froggy song… little froggie!'

As an owner of a lovely little frog, of course Zooli would adore a song singing about how awesome those little amphibians were. Once she was finished with the delightful chorus - though, she had to admit, it didn't sound quite as nice without the backing guitar - she did a bow for her audience. The other Guppies cheered and clapped for her wonderful performance, and she blushed hard enough for it to show through her dark skin. Now that she was done, she handed the microphone back to Molly and took her seat once again.

'Congratulations, Zooli!' Mr Grouper declared. 'You're the newest member of our band!'

Zooli's jaw fell wiiiide open, so wide that it hurt. None of the other Guppies had ever witnessed someone rendered so dumbstruck before.

'W-Wait…' She said. 'D-Did you just say that I'm…?'

'Welcome to the Bubble Guppies, Zooli!' Molly announced.

For a few seconds, it appeared that the news had broken Zooli's mind. She stared dead ahead with empty eyes, like it was taking a while for her brain to process the bit of news. Was she dreaming? No, she couldn't have been, seeing how much her jaw was hurting.

'Are you okay, Zooli?' Oona asked, genuinely worried.

And was she ever.

'Oh my gosh oh my gosh OH MY GOOOOOOSH!' She screamed.

She launched from her seat and zoomed around the room with the speed of a cheetah high on sugar. Deema made herself dizzy by trying to follow her, and the others didn't even bother with trying to track her movements. As she ran about, she squealed so loudly that Nonny had to cover his ears.

'I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!' Zooli shouted. 'I'M AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE BUBBLE GUPPIES! THEY MADE ME A MEMBER! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME! I NEVER EVEN DARED TO DREAM THIS DAY WOULD COME! BUT IT HAS! I'M IN THE BAND! I'M SO HAPPY THAT I COULD-'

And with that, she fainted.

Author Notes - For the sake of making the story work, I had to change the ending of 'The New Guppy!' a little.

I wanted Zooli's reactions to seeing the Guppies and knowing she'll be a PART of them to mirror how a diehard fan would probably react. After all, she's able to go from a random nobody to joining a band that (in this story's universe, anyway) is very popular. For now, she's incredibly excited. Later chapters, however, may show a less than happy reaction...