Hydrophobia

More Trouble?

                                                                    *Uncle John's POV*

Why would she want to go there? Wasn't she sick? Hadn't she told me to tell Bobby she wasn't well enough to do anything? And now here she was asking for me to agree to let her go to these teenagers' house. I'd agreed of course, but only because she'd sounded so desperate.

"What's wrong?" Opal asked as I stared down into the clownfish tank.

"Hm? Oh... Nothing, I'm fine." I answered sprinkling food into the tank and closing it.

"You're thinking about Rose aren't you?" Opal said, more as a fact then a statement.

I sighed. "You know me to well. Yes, I was. I feel like she's not telling me something."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, about her stay with those teenagers. It's almost like she's scared to talk to me now or something." I said.

"She is sixteen now. She could just be missing her parents and having a mother figure around." Opal offered.

"I just don't know I guess I'll just have to trust her, though I'm not comfortable with it." I said moving to the next tank. 

Guests would be arriving at an moment and I didn't want to be in the middle of feeding the fish when they showed up. The Smoothe man, Aidon, had already set up his stand near the entrance and the consession guy, Henry, had unlocked and was setting up at that very moment.

"Hey, since Rose will be gone tonight would you like to go somewhere for dinner with me?" I asked Opal as we exited the building.

It was a risky move. As far as I knew Opal was still dating this wierdo from the bank.

"Where were you thinking?" She asked and I cheered silently.

"I don't know. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?" I asked innocently.

"Um... How about Stack's Pepper Mill? Robert and I were going to go there last week but he broke up with me the week before." She said.

She'd broken up with her loser boyfriend. That was the best news I'd heard all day. Not that I was going to show her that.

"You guys broke up? That's to bad!" I said sympotheticly.

I really did feel bad for her. She seemed to like the geek a lot.

"I'm not very upset about it." She said honestly.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"I have my mind on someone else. I was only dating him because he asked." She said. "Not to sound mean. He's a sweet guy and all. He's just not my type." 

I smiled. "That's alright, I get it."

"So, how are things with you and April?" She asked.

April was a girl I'd dated for the past year, who decided she didn't like me because I owned an aquarium, had broken up, and then the next day I'd seen her with this quy from the museum.

"She dumped me." I said simply.

"Really? Why?" Opal asked shocked.

"I own an aquarium. Apparently I'm not cool enough." I answered. "I'm like 30 and I can't keep a steady girlfriend."

Opal laughed." Don't worry. I'm 27 and I can't get a steady boyfriend."

It was so odd that we could talk like this. So casual. 

My phone rang and I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Uncle John, It's Rose. Um... I'm going to Jack's a little earlier then planned." Rose said in a shaking voice.

"Um... Ok. When will you be home tomorrow?" I asked slightly worried.

Something didn't seem right. She sounded terrified. 

"I don't know. Um... If I don't get home at like 12 you might want to......." She said and then hung up.

Want to... What? She'd hung up to fast. I closed my phone and looked at it.

"Something wrong?" Opal asked.

"I don't know." I said.

Something was seriously not right.

"Is dinner still on?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

 I was just going to have to trust her, I guess.