Frannie tossed and turned in her bed, moaning loudly. "Oh! Oh!" she yelled. "My stomach hurts so bad! Oh, I don't feel well!"
Frannie's mother rushed into the room.
"What is it? What hurts?" she asked.
"My stomach. I think I'm getting sick. I shouldn't go to school today."
"You wouldn't happen to be
faking it because of what
happened yesterday, would you?"
her mother asked.
"No..." Frannie paused. "But I have to sit in the corner alone, not that it matters, because none of my friends will talk to me anyway. They think I'm
trouble," Frannie blurted.
"Well, honey, you know that you're not trouble, right? But, you also know that what you did yesterday is wrong. I think that if you talk to your friends about it, and show them that you've changed, they will forgive you. That's what friends do, they forgive each other."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure," her mother said.
After she finished her normal morning routine, Frannie swam around outside, nervously waiting for the bus. She was scared that no matter what she did, her friends would still be mad at her.
"How can I let them know how sorry
I am?" she thought.
As the bus came to a stop, Frannie got on. She wondered if there would be anyone she could sit next to today. Maybe she could make a new friend.
She scanned the bus for someone familiar, when one face stood out in the crowd. It was Bonnie, the fish she fought with yesterday! Frannie stopped swimming down the aisle for a minute, paused in shock. "Should I find another seat? Should I try to say something to her?" Frannie wondered. Then Frannie remembered what her mother had told her.
Frannie went and sat next to Bonnie.
"I just want you to know that I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to hit you with the pearl, and I didn't mean to get us in trouble yesterday after school," Frannie said.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Bonnie asked. "I started a fight with you, got you into trouble, and made your friends mad at you."
"It was my fault, too" Frannie said. "I should have tried to talk to you instead of fighting. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too. Do you want to be friends?" Bonnie asked, her eyes looking sad.
"I would like that," Frannie said.
Frannie and Bonnie talked the whole way to school. Frannie didn't even notice her old friends staring at her the entire time.
Just before class started, Frannie's old friends stopped her in the hall. "So when did you and Bonnie become best friends?" Suzy asked.
"Yeah, what's that about?" Carter began, "You'd rather hang with the big bad blowfish?"
"I thought you guys were mad at me," Frannie said. "I wanted to show you that I'm not trouble, and that I can be friends with Bonnie, even if we had a rough start."
"We're sorry we ignored you
yesterday," Tommy said. "We thought you'd get us into trouble too."
"But it seems like you've learned your lesson," Suzy said, "and that's great!"
"Yeah. Bonnie's actually really nice; we're going to sit next to each other at lunch. Of course, you're all invited to sit with us, too" Frannie said.
"Sounds great!" said Suzy, Tommy and Carter.

"I am really sorry about yesterday," Frannie said. "Do you guys
forgive me?"
"Of course we do!" her friends all hugged her.
Morning class couldn't go fast enough. After what seemed like an
endless lecture on land animals, it was finally time for lunch. Frannie and her friends from class went to meet Bonnie.
"Hey guys, this is Bonnie." Frannie introduced her new friend. "Bonnie, this is Suzy, Tommy and Carter."
"Hi," said Bonnie.
"Hi," said Suzy, Tommy and Carter.
The group sat down and started talking about the land animals they learned about in class. Bonnie gave them advice about what they needed to remember for the third grade. They were getting along great, and Frannie realized how important her friends were to her, and how lonely it is
without them.
Frannie looked around the lunch-room, trying to find the clock. The lunch period was almost over. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a jellyfish, sitting alone at a table by the door. She knew that jellyfish were sometimes dangerous, but she also didn't want anyone to be alone. Frannie wondered what she should do.

Next Chapter: "Jordan the Jellyfish"