"Hey, Molly," Mrs. Siren said, gently shaking her daughter awake. "Time to wake up, sweetie."

Molly opened her eyes and sat up on her bed. "Morning, Mommy," she said with a tiny yawn.

"Are you ready for the first day of school?" the mother asked little Molly.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" the pink-haired Guppy exclaimed as she jumped out of bed and started to get dress for school. Her mother helped brush her hair, and then they head downstairs to the kitchen to join Mr. Siren for breakfast.

"Good morning, Daddy!" Molly said as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning, kiddo," her father said while reading the newspaper. "Today's the big day. Are you excited?"

"Oh, I'm very excited to go to school!" Molly exclaimed. She paused for a bit as she started to eat her cereal.

"But I'm also a bit nervous," she admitted. "What if none of the kids like me? What if I don't make a friend?'

"Oh, sweetie," her mother comforted her. "The first day of school may seem scary at first, but you'll have Mr. Grouper there to help you through."

"And I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends," her father added ruffling his daughter's hair.

"Thanks, you guys!" Molly said with a smile, hugging her parents.

Molly quickly finished her breakfast and then went upstairs to brush her teeth. While she was upstairs, her mother looked at a nearby picture of Molly as a baby. The tiny mergirl was gazing at a toy mobile with a smile on her face.

"My baby girl is growing up," the pink-haired mother thought with a sigh.

Her husband put his hand over her shoulder as if he was thinking the same thing.

"It feels like only yesterday when we first held her in our arms," he said with a smile. "And now she's starting school."

"Molly's just growing up too fast," the mother agreed as her eyes started to water up.

"I'm ready to go, Mommy!" Molly called out as she returned to the kitchen.

The mother quickly wiped away her tears and said to her daughter, "Alright, let's get going!"

Molly grabbed her backpack, waved goodbye to father, and together she and her mother walked to school.


When Molly and her mom reached the school, they saw that Mr. Grouper was there to greet them.

"Well, hello there, Molly. It's so nice to see you again," Mr. G said to her kindly. "Why don't you come on inside?"

Molly was a bit hesitant at first. She looked at her mother. "You'll come back after school, right?" she asked.

"Of course, my little star," Mrs. Siren said, hugging her daughter. "I'll see you at the end of the day."

Molly smiled and went inside the school, but not without waving goodbye to her mother.

Inside the school, Molly saw other kids her age playing in different areas. She saw boy with dark blue hair was drawing pictures, a girl with (ridiculously) curly, blonde hair dressing up in costumes, and a (rather familiar) boy with blue hair playing with blocks.

"Why don't you play around while we wait for class to begin?" Mr. Grouper told Molly. "You might even make a new friend," he added with a smile.

Little Molly decided to play with the boy who was stacking blocks.

"Hi, there!" Molly greeted him. "What are you building?"

"I'm trying to build a castle," the boy said with a sigh. "But it keeps falling down."

"Maybe I can help," the pink haired Guppy said kindly.

"Really? That would be great!" the boy smiled. "I bet with the two of us working together, we can build the biggest castle ever! By the way, I'm Gil!"

"Nice to meet you! My name is Molly!"