| abstract
| - -Phineas's POV- I woke up bright and early on what was to become a very interesting Monday. Sliding out of bed and stepping over the creaky spot that would wake Ferb, I padded over to my computer and shook the mouse. Select your user, the screen prompted, as I clicked on an avatar of me and typed in my password. Welcome back, Phineas. I clicked on my internet and a window popped up. Typing very slowly so as to not wake up Ferb (I am a considerate person), I logged into my email and looked for unread messages. "You've got mail!" a computerized male voice said, very loudly, making me jump and waking Ferb up. "Wuzzgoinon?" "Just checking my email," I said, clicking the first email in my inbox, from a person I didn't recognize. Congratulations, Phineas Flynn! it screamed. You've won! Go to 82 Chantilly Place to receive your prize! "Ferb," I said. "I... think... I know what we're going to do today!" "As long as I get to eat breakfast first," Ferb's muffled voice said. After we ate our breakfast and whatnot, we raced outside and were about to run down Maple Drive when Ferb threw out his hand, hitting me in the chest. "What?" I asked. "Firstly," he said. "Wouldn't it be prudent to tell Isabella what we're doing? And secondly, where is Chantilly Place?" "I looked up where Chantilly Place is," I said, patting my pocket. "I have the directions. And yes, we should tell Isabella what we're doing." ~Isabella's POV~ "Isa," my mother's voice called. "Isa. Phineas and Ferb are here." "What?!" I said, bolting upright in bed and looking at my reflection in the mirror. I looked pretty disheveled. Crud and a half. "Give me a second, Mom!" I called, hopping around the room with a brush tangled in my hair and my left foot half in a sock. It took me a good fifteen minutes to get ready, and when I was finally ready, I descended the stairs very gracefully — by tripping. "Ouch!" I cried, hitting the tile floor and probably bruising my elbow, not to mention my self-esteem. Getting up and dusting myself off, I accepted a piece of toast from Mom, who immediately began waving me out the door. "Phineas and Ferb said you would be on the go," she said, smiling. "Have a nice day, my little bobos!" "Bye, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro," Phineas said, waving back. The three of us walked down Maple Drive. "So. Whatcha doin'?" I asked. "Well, I got a mysterious email that said to go to Chantilly Place, so that's where we're going." "Ooh. Sounds like a mystery!" I said, half-expecting us to break into a musical number. We came to the end of Maple Drive, and Phineas pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket, examining it. "It says here we have to go down Black Brook Road..." "Oh no," I said, looking down the street and seeing the winding paths of the houses. "Ah well," said Phineas, pocketing the paper and striding confidently forward. Ferb and I followed him, and we were almost past a large blue house when a familiar brown head popped out of a third-floor window. "Hey!" Isabelle Garcio-Shapira yelled. "Whatcha doin'?" ~Isabelle's POV~ I knew I had seen that red hair! I knew it! I called out the window again, "I'll be right down!" and raced down the stairs and right out the front door. "Hi!" I chirped. "What are you up to?" "We're going to 82 Chantilly Place," Phineas replied. "Want to come?" Behind Phineas, Isabella was urgently drawing her hand across her neck. Ignoring this unfriendly gesture, I said, "Sure!" Isabella sighed, and the four of us continued down my road. We came close to a white house with black trim, and a blonde girl stuck her head out the window. "Ah!" she shouted. "Phineas!" A moment later, she came sprinting out the French door. "Comment ca va?" she asked. "Allons-y," Phineas replied, and she joined the fast-growing group of people walking down Black Brook Road. "Any more people and we might as well have a parade," I muttered. ~Candace's POV~ Something was empty today. I recognized immediately what was missing: the sounds of construction. Phineas and Ferb were on the move, and I needed to bust them! I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the contacts to Stacy's name. She answered on the first ring. "What are Phineas and Ferb up to now?" she asked in a bored voice. "I'm not sure," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Do you want to come with me to look for them?" "Sure," Stacy said. "I'll be right over." Before she hung up, I heard her sigh. I pulled on my shoes and raced downstairs. "Mom!" I called. "What?" my mother replied, calmly sitting on the couch with my stepdad. "Do you know where Phineas and Ferb are?" "Last I heard, they were going to Chantilly Place," Dad said. "Why don't you try there?" A knock sounded at the door. "That's Stace," I said. "Gottarunbye!" I ran toward the front door and opened it. "Hey Candace," Stacy greeted me. She stood aside to let me walk past, then fell into step with me as we walked down my street. "So have you heard from Jer — ?" Stacy began to ask, when I cut her off. "Stacy — I see Phineas and Ferb!" -Ferb's POV- I heard the unmistakable sounds of someone breathing heavily and quick footsteps. That could only mean that Candace was behind us. Sure enough, Candace came sprinting up the path and stopped Phineas. "What do you think you are doing?" "Going to Chantilly Place," Phineas said. "Wanna come?" "Does this face look like it wants to come?" replied Candace, pointing at her face. "Of course not!" "Well, that's a shame," said Phineas, looking at the gathering crowd. "More the merrier, I say." "Ugh!" said Candace. "All right, all right, I'll come." And with that, she joined the crowd behind us. Not five minutes later, she gasped. "Stace!" I heard her say. "That's Jeremy's house!" -Jeremy's POV- There was a large crowd progressing down my street as I stood on the front lawn, painting the house. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I turned around and my stomach flipped over. At the head of the group was Phineas, which could only mean that Candace was walking with them. "Hey, Candace!" I called, waving the paintbrush. "Jeremy!" Phineas said. "What's up, man?" "Not much, bro." "Care to join us?" "Oh, yeah, of course!" I said, handing the paintbrush to Suzy, who had chosen that moment to meander into the backyard. I quickly joined the back of the group and said hi to a very nervous-looking Candace. "So, um, where's Shae?" Candace asked. "Oh," I said. "Yeah — her. Shae!" I called, and a brown-haired girl came running out from behind my house. "Hello, Jeremy!" she replied. Turning to Candace, she began a conversation. -Phineas's POV- "Well folks, I think this is it," I said, coming up on a house with the number 82 on it. There was a large tour bus parked in front of it. A perky blonde-haired girl in a forest green t-shirt came running out of the bus. "Hi?" she chirped. "My name's, like, Stephenie? I'm glad to like, see you, Phineas? Are you like, excited for your like, trip?" "Trip?" I asked. "Yes?" Stephenie exclaimed. "Your like, trip?" "Um — yeah!" "We like, found everyone like, connected to you?" Stephenie said. "They're in like, this room over here?" She led us through a hallway and into a small fluorescent room. Inside were Baljeet, Buford, Emily Kinney, Honey Henson, Vanessa, the mayor's daughter, and a girl I didn't recognize. "So like, you know these people, right?" Stephenie persisted, bouncing around the room. We all nodded except for the teens, who were in shock. "Jewel?" "Yep," the girl I didn't know said. "Well!" said Stephenie. "Here's the like, plan? We're going to like, stop at each of your houses? And get like, your stuff? And then we're going to like, drive you to the house? Sound good?" Everyone nodded again. Stephenie led us through the halls again and out to the tour bus. "Whoa," I heard the majority of the group say when they were inside it. "It's like, a triple decker?" said Stephenie. "So like, divide it amongst yourselves?" "Oh, Phineas!" Isabella said, grabbing my hand. "We should be on the top deck! It'll be so — um, cool!" ~Isabella's POV~ That was a very close shave I had back there with Phineas. We walked up the stairs, all the way to the third deck, and settled in there. When everyone was all sorted out, we ended up with Ferb, Emily, Honey, Baljeet and Buford. Phineas began talking animatedly with Ferb about perpetual motion, and I pressed my face against the glass of the window, looking out. When I don't have anyone to talk to, my mind wanders. I thought of Phineas. I thought of Candace and Jeremy, who are the cutest couple I could ever think of. And then I became jealous of Candace. Only vaguely, however, because it wasn't her fault. The story's a little like this: Back at the summer solstice, Phineas and Ferb created a machine to travel the world and create the longest day of summer ever. It was a really dramatic ride, complete with a magical old-timey bathing suit that lived in the Himalayas. Anyway, when we got back, the Fireside Girls had this whole party set up for us. It was amazing, and we all got on stage and sang, except for Candace, who was talking to Jeremy at the gate. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but then they kissed. And I saw it, but I kept singing, even though it kind of hurt me inside. And yes, I know I'm "young". And I know Candace and Jeremy are fifteen and sixteen. But still, I wish Phineas would pay some attention to me, not just like I'm a potted plant that goes everywhere with him. Emily sat down in the seat across from me, startling me out of my thoughts. "Whatcha thinkin'?" "Huh?" I replied. Honey dropped herself next to her. "Wrackspurt got you?" "I — what?" "You seemed really deep in thought," Emily explained. "Oh..." I said, wondering whether or not to tell them about how I felt about comparing myself and Phineas to Candace and Jeremy. "Well, I was just thinking... about Phineas," I said. Emily rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, Isabella," she said. "You're in luuurve." "Yep," Honey said, smiling and joining in on the tease-fest. Like yeah, let's all tease Isabella about Phineas. Sure, that's cool. "Can't stop thinking about the boy, can you?" "Oh no she can't," said Emily, poking me in the arm. "He's burnt into her brain." "Oh really?" I retorted, poking Emily back. "So how's Ferb doing?" Emily turned red and Honey burst out laughing. ~Emily's POV~ The bus juddered to a halt. "Maple Drive!" said the driver's voice over the intercom. "Oh, that's us," I said, trying to get the blush off my cheeks. Ferb began to walk next to me, and I nearly fell down the stairs, I was so nervous/ecstatic/I really don't know. I ran into my house and quickly threw together whatever I figured I needed. "Bye, Emily," my mother called. "Have a nice time!" "Bye Mum," I replied, "love you!" Sometimes I wonder whether my mother really knows where I'm going or not. I ran out of the house and back onto the bus and up the three flights of stairs. I dropped into a seat, trying to look good for Ferb when he came in, but apparently I missed, because next thing I knew, I was on my rear in the middle of the third deck. Isabella and Honey were howling with laughter at my antics, but Ferb, who had just gotten up the stairs, dropped his bags and came to help me up. "Thanks," I said, blushing again and making Isabella and Honey cry with laughter again. I sat down in a seat (really sat down this time) and gritted my teeth. "Thanks, guys." Honey wiped her streaming eyes. "Oh, Emily, you have to admit, that was pretty funny." Pulling out her phone, she clicked in a message. "It was embarassing!" I said indignantly. The bus stopped again and we lurched forward. "Black Brook Road!" "Thank heavens we don't have Isabelle up here," Isabella said. Just then, Isabelle walked up the stairs with her bags. Speak of the devil. ~Candace's POV~ I honestly could not think straight with Jeremy sitting next to me. Stacy had somehow gotten Coltrane into getting onto the bus, and the four of us were now sharing a table. Stacy talked enough for the two of us, but I couldn't stop thinking about Jeremy. Even he drove the thought of busting Phineas and Ferb from my mind. "So anyway," Stacy said, continuing some story that I couldn't process because, as I said, Jeremy was sitting right next to me, "I get off the plane and all my cousins come running up to me, screaming in Japanese. And I know Japanese, but I don't get it when there's twenty people screaming it at me. And then even more heads turned because people thought I was a celeb, and you know that's not my kinda thing, that's Candace's —" "You want to be a celeb, Candace?" Jeremy asked, turning to me. "Yeah, I do," I said, babbling on and on. "I think it would be really nice to have like some sort of stage name, something exotic like... like... Ashley Tisdale or something like that." Jeremy laughed. "Well, I like plain old Candace Flynn just fine." So I'm plain? And old news? Oh no, he's after Shae again. Crud and a half! -Phineas's POV- "See Ferb, the thing about perpetual motion is that it can't have anything powering it but itself. That's why it stumps so many people. Really, I find it quite simple, because all you have to do is —" I cut off and looked up as a new person entered the room, dropping her bags on the floor. She ignored me and went to go sit with Isabella, Honey, and Emily. "What's Isabelle doing here?" I asked Ferb in a low voice. He shrugged. "Well, I'm going to find out." I stood up and walked over to the girls' table. "Hello, ladies and Isabelle." Isabelle gritted her teeth. "Hi, Phineas." "I was just wondering what you were doing up on the third deck," I said, as the bus stopped again and I lost my balance slightly. "Weren't you on the first?" "The bus driver couldn't stand me," she replied. "He was all, 'Hey kid, shut up! You're distracting me!' So then that Stephenie chick shunted me and my stuff up the stairs. I totally wasn't going to stay on the second floor, because you know, all the teens were there, so I decided to come up here." "Charming," I said. "Well, that's all I needed to know. Have fun talking about... whatever girls talk about." Did I really say that? Whatever girls talk about? Obviously they talked about boys, not perpetual motion. Me and my loud mouth. Now I've gone and put my foot in it. ~Honey's POV~ Phineas walked back to his table with Ferb, Buford, and Baljeet, leaving us with Isabelle. Lovely. "So," said Isabelle in a falsely cheery voice, "Whatcha doin'?" Isabella narrowed her eyes. "You need to secure your stuff, unless you want your billion tubes of mascara rolling around the bus." "And now some ship's about to go down," I whispered to Emily, who replied, "B7. Sunk your battleship." "Whatever do you mean?" Isabelle asked, in that same stupid voice. "That time you locked me in your closet, I noticed a lot of mascaras. All popular brands, too. Had a Sephora run lately?" "Let's change the subject," Emily said loudly, standing up slightly and putting her hands on the table. Isabella and Isabelle shut up. Emily's good at playing peacemaker like that. "Anyone hear any good music lately?" "OOH!" Isabelle squealed, and Isabella winced. "You know who I just lurve?" I had a feeling I knew. "JUSTIN BIEBER!" Isabelle yelled, so that the boys looked up. Buford rolled his eyes before going back to giving Baljeet a noogie. "Oh, I love her singing!" I said, nudging Emily in the ribs. She tapped Isabella on the foot, and we all nodded slightly. Hello, major irritation session. "Yeah, she's got such a pretty voice, especially for someone her age," Isabella said. "Isn't she something like eight?" "He is sixteen," said Isabelle, crossing her arms, "and his voice is getting deeper!" "I heard she got a car for her birthday," Emily said, cutting over Isabelle. "She's going to have to wait a while though, she doesn't have the drivers' license to drive it!" "You don't need a license to drive a Barbie Jeep!" I said, and the three of us burst out laughing. Isabelle, however, slid down in her seat and continued looking surly. Us, one, Isabelle, zero, I thought, as the bus stopped again. ~Isabella's POV~ "Urgh," I said, staring out the window at the blurred trees on the highway. "When are we going to get where we're going?" "It's almost nightfall," observed Honey, looking at the sunset. "You guys are such whiners," Isabelle said, stretching her arms above her head. When she brought them down, she whacked her elbow on the table. "Ouch! Oh, my elbow, ow, it hurts..." "Hypocrisy at its best," Emily said, and Honey and I laughed. "But seriously," I said, calming down. "We've been in this bus for... how long?" "Too long," said Honey, and Emily nodded. "Like I said," Isabelle muttered, rubbing her bruised elbow. "Bunch of whiny kids." "Oh, be quiet," said Honey. "You may be a month older than me, but that doesn't make me a kid." "A month?" Isabelle said incredulously. "When were you born?" "Why is it your business?" Their voices were getting louder and louder. I looked to the boys' table, where Ferb was getting up and walking over. "Girls," he said in a mock-stern voice. "Behave." "Um, yes, Ferb," Emily giggled, turning pink. "That's Mr. Fletcher to you," Ferb replied, turning back to his table. -Phineas's POV- "Hey, Ferb," I said as he sat himself back down. "What was that all about?" "The girls were fighting. About what, I'm not sure." "Hmm," I said, looking out the window. The landscape seemed to be slowing down. "HEY!" Buford yelled, and Baljeet, who was still being held in a half Nelson, winced. "I think we're here!" "I think Buford's right," Isabella said from across the deck. "I think I see the house!" Baljeet cried, twisting around in an attempt to look out the window. The bus rounded a corner and drove into a parking lot, near the largest house I've ever seen. Heck, it could be a hotel, the size of it! A "whoa" echoed around the bus as the bus stopped and we grabbed our stuff. -Jeremy's POV- "Hey," I said, feeling the bus stop moving. "Candace, I think we're here." "Oh yeah, man, we are!" said Coltrane, looking out the window. "Wow, that place is huge!" I got up to let Candace out, and she twisted her way out of the seat. Reaching underneath the table, I grabbed my luggage, and the rest of them did the same. Together, we walked down the stairs and off the bus. "Whoa," Stacy said, looking up at the building as the last of the people trickled out of the bus. Whoa was about all that could describe this building. It was huge and pale gold, with what I could tell could be high ceilings. Stephenie skipped into the parking lot and to the front of the group. "Well?" she said. "Welcome to your like, home for the next like, week?" The crowd was silent. "Aren't you excited?" she persisted in that annoying high-pitched voice. Even though she wasn't asking questions, the end of her sentence went up like she was really confused. The crowd let out a half-hearted cheer. Stephenie apparently got that this was probably all she was going to get from the crowd, and sighed. "Let me show you like, where you're sleeping?" She led us through the immense front doors and into a large lobby with a high, embellished ceiling. Stephenie jabbed a hot-pink, inch-long nail into the call button, which summoned an elevator four times the size of an average elevator. "You should like, be able to fit in with your luggage?" she said. "The weight limit's like, really high?" "Oh, I don't know about Isabelle," I heard Isabella's voice say from the back. "You'll probably have to send her up in a seperate elevator, she's got so much stuff." Stephenie ignored this comment and we all piled into the elevator. It even had chairs, a table with a little bowl of mints on it, and a mirror. "Have fun?" Stephenie said as the doors began to close. "My coworker Victoria's going to be like, at the top floor?" ~Isabelle's POV~ That Isabella and her stupid remarks, I thought as we coasted up, floor after floor after floor. Finally, the elevator stopped moving, and very abruptly. I was so scared that we had broken down because of my stuff, and screamed. Everyone in the elevator covered their ears. "Sheesh," I heard Baljeet say as we got out on the top floor, where a brunette with the highest ponytail I've ever seen greeted us. "Hey, y'alls!" she said in the thickest Southern accent I've heard. "This here floor is yars, 'kay? We fagured y'alls could split up theyum beds wid each othah, so go wald!" She gestured to a blank piece of paper on the table, where there was a blank sleeping chart, I suppose you'd call it. Because we wouldn't be sitting. "All right," said Phineas, looking at the paper. "We've got seventeen beds in all here, and seventeen people, so there's no spares. We have two rooms with seven beds each in them, and then we have two living rooms. "Who'd like to be in a bunk bed?" "Oh!" chirped Candace. "I'll share a bunk with Stacy!" Beside her, Stacy was nodding vigorously. "Well, all right then," Phineas said, writing Candace and Stacy's names in the box. "Jeremy, Coltrane, you want to bunk?" Jeremy and Coltrane nodded, and Phineas added them to the other bunk. There were three bunks left on the paper, which meant that there were eight beds in that room, and there would be seven in the kids' room, meaning there would be three bunks and a single. Great, I thought. I'll take the single in the kids' room. "There's two bunks left in this room," Phineas said. "Jewel, Shae, you want to take those?" Jewel crossed her arms and Shae said, "Okay." Phineas added their names to the paper and looked at the last bunk. "I'll take that," a girl in the back piped up. She was a teen, around sixteen, with long brown hair and blue eyes. She reminded me of a spy. "I can bunk with my cousin." A girl with platinum-blonde hair nodded, and I wondered how on earth they could be related. Phineas wrote down Vanessa and Ashley in the last boxes in the teens' room, then surveyed the remaining room. "I can bunk with Ferb," he said, scribbling in his and Ferb's names, "and Baljeet can bunk with Buford." He looked up at Isabella, Honey, Emily, and Veronique. "Any preferences, ladies?" "I'll bunk with Emily," Isabella said quickly. "I'll bunk with Veronique," said Honey. "I'll take the single," I piped up. "There's no single here," said Phineas. He showed me the paper, and there was a triple-bunker instead of a single. "That's stupid," I said. "I guess I'll have to bunk with Honey and Veronica." "Her name's —" Honey began, but Phineas cut her off. "Okay then, let's get settled." ~Isabella's POV~ Getting settled was no mean feat. For one thing, Emily landed me with the top bunk, and while I love top bunks, it isn't exactly easy making a bed six feet in the air. Oh well, I thought, looking over at where Honey was now attempting to make her bed on the top of the triple-bunker. At least I'm not another four feet in the air. Emily flopped onto the bottom bunk and jostled the bed, freaking me out. "Emily!" "I'm sorry!" her voice cried from below. "I'm just so darn tired!" I finally finished making my bed and sat on it, observing the room. It was high-ceilinged and rectangular, making me feel like I lived in a toy box. But no one could say that this wasn't cool! I laid back on my bed and pulled the sheets over my head, waiting for sleep to come. I had a very weird dream. In it, I was stranded on the desert island that I was trapped on the the summer solstice. Emily and Honey were there too, and they were making a fire and roasting what they could find. I woke up with the smell of smoke in my nose, and it took me a moment to realize that the room really did smell like smoke, putrid smoke. "Phineas!" I cried, leaping off the bed and to his bottom bunk, shaking him awake. "Phineas!" "Why does it smell like smoke in here?" he said, looking around for the source of it. A flat iron was sitting in the corner of the room, in flames. Emily had woken up already, and, seeing the flaming straightener, screamed. "Ohmigosh!" The flames were slowly creeping up the walls and toward the bunks where Buford and Baljeet slept. If they didn't wake up in time, they'd be burnt to a crisp. "Baljeet!" I cried, running over. "Buford! Wake up!" The others decided to follow my lead, but it transpired that Buford and Baljeet were very heavy sleepers, and didn't wake up. Meanwhile, the flames were encircling the walls, and the room was full of black smoke. "Buford! Baljeet!" "Wait!" Phineas said, running out of the room. A moment later, he ran back with an air horn in his hands. Holding it near Buford's ear, he pressed down on the nozzle and it let out an earsplitting wail. Buford screamed and fell out of bed onto the floor. The thump was enough to wake Baljeet, who squealed and leapt from his bed. We all ran into the hallway that connected the living rooms and the bedrooms. Phineas ran into the teens' bedroom and woke Candace, who screamed and gave Phineas her phone. Within minutes, the fire department had shown up and was putting out the fire. When the fire was completely out, the firemen evacuated except for one, who Phineas stopped. "Can you tell us what caused that fire, sir?" "We found the remains of a maroon hair straightener in the corner of the room," the man replied in a deep voice. "You definitely won't be able to sleep in there anymore, you'll all have to sleep in the living room." He followed after his coworkers, and I looked in awe at Phineas. "A maroon hair straightener..." We all looked at Isabelle, whose hair was incredibly frizzy. She turned red. "Yes, it was my hair straightener," she said. "Nobody told me it wasn't safe to leave it on overnight!" "That should be common sense, Isabelle!" said an exasperated Ferb. We all stood there for a moment in silence. Then Phineas said quietly, wringing his hands, "I guess we should figure out how we're going to sleep in the living room." "Sleeping!" crowed Isabelle. "Is that all you think about? We can do that later, Phineas!" "No," I countered, "we should get the sleeping arrangements ready." -Phineas's POV- We walked into the living room, which had less couches than armchairs. In fact, the room was full of armchairs. "Hmm," I said, putting my hand to my chin. "These are just ordinary armchairs, but with a little work —" "NO!" screamed Candace, walking in. "You are not modifiying these couches! They aren't ours!" "But, Candace," I said, going into my neglected-orphan act. "We'll be so uncomfortable —" "Tough," Candace growled, stomping out of the room. I sat on the arm of an armchair, then said, "Well, I suppose we'll have to make the best of things." "No way, man!" whined Buford. "Those things are near impossible to sleep in, you kidding me?" "The floor's all yours, then," said Ferb. Isabelle pouted. Just then, Stacy walked in. "Hey guys. I thought I'd let you know that you've got some people out here waiting for you." "Who?" I asked. It was a useless question, because then they appeared in the doorway. "Hi!" said Blythe. "What's up? It was such a long ride here and I got so bored and really cold and that's when I realized I left my GIR hoodie in my luggage —" "Oh, great," said Isabelle. "Now we have another person to add to the fun." Blythe wilted. "I thought you would be happy to see me..." Isabella hugged her. "Well, I'm happy to see you." "Me too," I said, and Ferb nodded. "Now, let's get to work on this." ~Blythe's POV~ I thought I had seen it all with Isabelle's work. Clearly, I was wrong. Phineas and Ferb figured out how to push the armchairs together so that they formed nine neat little beds. The only problem was, there was ten of us. "Hmm," said Phineas, looking at the beds, some of which had already been claimed by Isabelle, Veronique, Emily, Honey, Buford, and Baljeet. "It looks like we've got a remainder here." "What is this, a division problem?" grumbled Isabelle. Phineas put his hand to his chin. "I guess I'll sleep on the remaining armchair." "No, I will," said Isabella quickly, but Phineas shook his head. "No, Isabella, you can sleep on it. I'll suffer through one night, it's not that bad." The one thing I figured out fast with this group was that Phineas and Isabella had a bit of a "thing", so to speak. I think they'd be boyfriend and girlfriend if they weren't ten years old. They began a bickerfest, not in a bad way, but in a "no, I care more about you" kind of way. Ferb rolled his eyes and mouthed lovebirds to Emily, who laughed and tried to pass it off as a cough. "Enough!" said Ferb, stepping between them. "Look at it this way. How about you do rock, paper, scissors and see who wins?" "That sounds good," said Isabella. "Best two out of three? Whoever loses gets the armchair?" "Yep," said Phineas, clenching his hand into a fist. Isabella did the same, and the whole room chanted: "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" Phineas tossed out a pair of scissors, while poor Isabella chose paper. They repeated the process. "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" Phineas chose rock, while Isabella threw paper again, making them in a tie. "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" The final throw was tossed and it transpired that Isabella chose scissors and Phineas chose rock again, so that Isabella would be in the armchair. She stuck her tongue out at Phineas good-naturedly and went to get her bed made, while Phineas shrugged and flopped into his armchair-bed. A perky blonde girl entered and tapped her clipboard. "Hey guys, I just like, wanted to tell you that team-building exercises will start tomorrow?" The room groaned. ~Emily's POV~ "Team-building exercises!" cried Isabella, sitting in her armchair. "Like I have nothing better to team-build with Isabelle!" "I know," I said. Honey's head popped over the back of the armchair. "What're team-building exercises?" "Trust exercises and whatnot, like falling and knowing the other person will catch you," Isabella explained. Honey moaned and jumped over the side of the armchair-bed. "Sorry, guys, I don't trust you..." "No hard feelings," I said. "I wouldn't trust you with a paperclip." The three of us laughed, and the mysterious black-haired girl walked over in a pale green hoodie. "Hey, guys!" "Hey, what's your name?" I asked. "Blythe!" "Bliss?" "No, Blythe. I don't have a lisp." "Oh!" I cried. "I feel so embarassed..." "Don't be, Phineas thought the same thing," she replied, sitting on the edge of Isabella's armchair. I looked over and Honey had pulled out her phone and was tapping in another message. "Who have you been texting all this time?" I asked. "No one..." Isabella looked over her shoulder, and Honey jerked her phone out of the way. "No! No looking!" They began to tussle, and Honey fell onto the floor. Isabelle looked our way and smirked. "How juvenile are they?" she said to Veronique, who cocked her head. "Oh, right, you don't speak English. Hmm... Them! They! Isabella and Honey! Juvenile! Little kids!" She began to do extremely exaggerated sign language, but Veronique shrugged and shook her head. "So really," said Isabella, turning away from Isabelle's antics, "who were you texting?" Honey turned pink. "Kristopher." ~Isabelle's POV~ "What was the point of bringing that French chick with us?" I asked Phineas the next day as we walked down to team-building exercises. I was totally looking forward to doing them. NOT. "She's my friend," said Phineas. "Why wouldn't I bring her?" "She doesn't speak English." "You don't speak French." Touché. "Still, we all speak English here except for you, Mister Multilingual." I nudged him in the ribs and winked, and he recoiled as though I touched him with a hot coal. Oookay. That backfired. We got outside, where a plain wooden platform and a hankerchief stood waiting for us. The annoying blonde girl and the Southern brunette stood on the platform. "Kay, y'all!" called out Victoria. "Here's what yao're gonna do!" "Like, one of you is going to like, stand on this platform? And then you're going to be blindfolded? And then you're like, going to fall and the other person's going to catch you?" She fell backward, but Victoria got a text message and Stephenie fell to the ground. "Like, that's not going to like, happen if you like, trust each other?" "Right, like I trust Isabelle," said Honey's voice from the back. "Okay?" said Stephenie, surveying the group. "Like, here's how you'll be like, paired up?" She grouped everyone into pairs. There were the typical pairs that we all expected: Phineas and Ferb, Isabella and Emily, Candace and Jeremy, yadda yadda yadda. But I got paired with Honey! Ugh! The brown-haired beast walked over and Victoria pointed at us. "Yao two gao farst, kay?" I sighed and put on the blindfold. Hello, darkness. "Okay, now like, fall?" I heard Stephenie's voice say. I tipped backward and lost my balance. She better catch me, or I'll make her life miserable, I thought. I heard a buzz and "Ooh! Kristopher!" and next thing I knew, I was on the ground. "Hey!" I shouted, tearing off the blindfold and looking up at Honey, who had finished typing in her message and was pink. "What was that for?" "I'm really sorry!" cried Honey, putting her hands to her mouth. "Reallyreallyreally sorry!" "Yeah, I bet you are!" I yelled, getting off the ground and starting on her. "You —" "Hey?" said Stephenie. "Stop it like, right now? It was a mistake and it like, won't happen again?" ~Honey's POV~ I honestly didn't mean to let Isabelle fall. I honestly didn't. She didn't believe that though, and it was with unease that I got on the platform and allowed myself to be blindfolded. "Raght, layke layst tayme..." said Victoria's thick Southern accent. "Honay, fall." I fell backwards and knew immediately that Isabelle wasn't going to catch me. I tried to twist and catch my balance, but I fell hard on my ankle. Really, really, hard. I took off the blindfold and stared up at a smirking Isabelle, who sarcastically put her hands to her mouth in an exaggerated fashion. "Ooh!" she squealed in a high-pitched voice. "I'm weallyweallyweally sowwy, Honey!" "You did that purposely!" I cried, but she didn't listen. She spotted my phone that had fallen out of my pocket and picked it up. The case had fallen off and it was scratched now. "I bet the lake's going to like this," Isabelle said, and with that she took off with my phone. Stephenie and Victoria just stood there, but I leapt to my feet and limp-ran after her. "Get back here, you — !" I tried to catch up with her, but my limp slowed me down and she got to the dock first. If they're making us fall off that, I'm totally opting out, I thought as I caught up to Isabelle, panting. "Put my phone down!" "I think the fishies need a phone," cackled Isabelle, dangling the phone over the water, which was fairly deep, deep enough so that I'd probably never see my phone again. "Put it down!" Isabelle took one finger off it, then another, so that it was hanging between her thumb and forefinger. She lifted the last finger off and the phone began to fall. "No!" I cried, running forward and miraculously catching it. Unfortunately, this placed me at the end of the dock, and Isabelle took this opportunity to push me into the water. "I'm going to kill you — !" Isabelle laughed — cackled — and ran off, leaving me with no way to get back onto the dock, because the ladder wasn't in the water. I treaded water to keep myself up, which was becoming steadily harder as my clothes became wetter and I was trying to hold my phone above the water, not to mention, I probably had a sprained ankle. I heard running footsteps, and Phineas appeared. He took the phone, put it on the dock, then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the water. I pushed a bit of hair behind my ear and stooped to pick up the phone. "Thanks." "No problem," said Phineas, looking back at the group, where I could see Isabelle's shocked-looking face. He began to walk away, but I stood there, feeling the water from my shorts run down my legs and into my shoes, and when he realized I wasn't following him he took my hand and started pulling me after him. Isabelle, I could see, wasn't getting in trouble by Stephenie and Victoria; on the contrary, her face stayed shocked as I walked back. But that wasn't revenge enough, considering I don't like Phineas like she does. I needed more payback. And I was going to get it. -Phineas's POV- I couldn't believe that Isabelle had pushed Honey into the lake. I mean, yeah, Isabelle's a cold-hearted beast, but seriously, that's going way too far, considering that Honey had a hurt ankle and clothes on, and the water was too deep to even imagine. After we got back to the group, Stephenie and Victoria called off team-building exercises and sent us back inside. Collapsing on my armchair-bed, I fell asleep for a minute, then woke up because of a burning desire to ask why on earth Isabelle would push Honey into the lake. I tapped her shoulder and she followed me into the hallway. "Hi, Phineas," she said, batting her eyelashes. "What was that for?" I asked. "Pushing Honey into the lake?" "Why, that was a mistake!" said Isabelle. "I bumped her as I was giving her her phone back!" "Yeah, I believe it. Look, Isabelle, lay off her. Don't lay a finger on her, or Emily, or Blythe, or anyone else. Especially Isabella. She's had enough physical and mental torture from your kind." "Mental torture, eh?" said Isabelle, eyeing Isabella as she was walking past. I saw her stop just at the turn of the hallway. Isabelle's eyes followed mine. She smirked, and grabbed me by the shoulders. "I like you, Phineas." "Yeah? Well, I don't like you." I tried to wriggle out of her grasp, but she had a death grip on me. "Kiss me, Phineas." "No!" I said, my hands clawing at my shoulders, trying to get her off me. "Let — go — of — me —" She pinched an area near my neck, and I went numb. I felt paralyzed. "Good," she said, and proceeded to kiss me. The worst part was, I couldn't get my way out of this situation: I couldn't move at all. She stopped kissing me, released my shoulders, and I fell to the ground, the world going black. "Phineas?" I sat straight up in my armchair-bed. "Oh! That was a dream!" I cried involuntarily. "What happened in your dream?" asked Isabella. "You were thrashing like mad before you woke up." "Um, nothing..." Like I'm going to tell Isabella I had a dream about kissing Isabelle. I shuddered. ~Emily's POV~ "Did you see this?" I asked Isabella, who was still at Phineas's bedside looking concerned. "Isabella? Honey?" They both came over and I pointed to a spot in the glossy itinerary I was reading. "I decided to do a little research about this place. Check it out, we have a dance on the last day." "I know who I'm asking," said Isabella, looking over at Phineas, who was conversing silently with Ferb. I felt myself turn pink, and thankfully Honey took the spotlight off me by sighing loudly and dramatically. "You guys are lucky you have someone to ask." "Quit complaining about Kristopher," Isabella teased. As Honey began telling Isabella the whole story about Kristopher and how she had known him forever, I stared at the ceiling and thought of Ferb. The problem (and upside) of liking someone who doesn't talk much is that you can only tell what they're thinking by body language. It sounds stupid, but I do think he likes me. I mean, the signs are there. Darn teen mags. ~Candace's POV~ "That was pretty wild with those kids, right, man?" asked Coltrane. "Yeah, it was," said Stacy. "Personally, I'm glad right where I am. I mean, where would I put all my shoes if our room burned down?" Jeremy locked eyes with me and I started giggling uncontrollably. I tend to do that a lot; in fact, I've been doing it since the Solstice, when we... Okay, I can't think of that or I think I might physically explode. Anyway, he told me last week he thought my giggling was cute. Yes, cute! I didn't believe him at first, but now since we're the b word and the g word, I'm starting to — Stacy clicked her fingers in my face. "Candace?" "Huh? What?" I asked. "Jeremy," she said, jerking her head towards him, who had left the circle and was standing by the doorway. I got up to join him, my heart going a hundred miles an hour. "Hi, Jeremy." "Uh, hi, Candace," he said, looking a little nervous. Aww! He's nervous! "I just wanted to —" Just then, Jewel pushed by us, looking sour, and Jeremy turned pink. "Um, never mind." Now I'm dying to know what he was thinking! What was he going to do? Break up with me? Kiss me again? Tell me... Gulp. The l word? -Ferb's POV- "So let me get this straight," I said, as Phineas stopped telling me about his dream. "You had a dream that you were... kissing Isabelle?" "Yes!" cried Phineas, grabbing his hair. "Ferb, I don't like her! I ha — seriously don't like her! Why did I have a dream about her —" I covered his mouth with my hand to keep him from shouting he kissed Isabelle in his dream, because that would be sure to start an uproar. Once he shut up, he nodded in my direction. "Thanks." "Any time," I said, thinking fast and smiling inside. "Oh Phineas, I think you like her!" "No," said Phineas. "I don't like her." "The signs are clear," I said. "Who knows better than the Master of Love himself?" "Really, Ferb?" he asked. "Because, I thought I liked... you know. The whole formula I had worked out —" "Love doesn't go into a formula, Phineas," I say. "You just do what's right." "What's right... what's right!" exclaimed Phineas. "I'll ask Isabella to the dance on Friday! Brilliant! Thanks Ferb, you're a genius!" I know I am, I thought. Now that he was out of my hair, I could focus on trying to ask Emily. ~Isabelle's POV~ "TEAMBUILDING EXERCISES, LET'S GO!" I shouted the next morning, walking between the beds. Just then, I tripped over something silver and smashed my chin into the floor. "Ouch!" I cried, looking at what I tripped over. Turns out it was one of Honey's stupid crutches. Honey blinked from her bed. "Sorry, Isabelle." I growled and got to my feet. Everyone filed out of the room, except for Emily, Honey, and Isabella, who were slowly moving out because of stupid Honey. What kind of name is Honey, anyway? I'll have to ask her in public and humiliate her. "Hey, Honey!" I yelled. Her head turned and she crutched toward me. "What?" "What kind of name is Honey?" I asked, still at top volume. "Is your sister named Jam and your brother Jelly?" "How long did it take you to think up that insult, Isabelle?" asked Isabella. "I'll have you know," said Honey, "that my mom and dad are big Hayao Miyazaki fans and they named me after the sister in Howl's Moving Castle!" "That's not possible!" I yelled. "Honey Hatter didn't exist until two-thousand-five!" Honey turned pink and I felt triumphant. We got down to the ravine where we were supposed to be going for the day, and I saw a zipline. "Oh! I love those things!" said Blythe, clapping her hands. "Me first! Me first!" She ran up and grasped the handlebars, flying over the ravine. "Whee!" She hit the end really hard and went flying off, landing on her face. "Oh my goodness," said Isabella. "Is she okay?" Blythe's voice echoed from over the ravine. "Hi, floor! Make me a sammich!" "Oh, yeah, she's all right," I said. Honey sat on a nearby rock and put down her crutches, adjusting her Ace bandage. "You guys are so lucky," she said. "I love ziplines." "Count me out," said Isabella. "I've never been on one but they seem freaky." "No, it's fun," said Phineas, smiling kindly at her and making my insides boil with anger and jealousy. "Come on, I'll show you." They grasped hands (!) and they coasted down the zipline, landing better than Blythe did. "Wow," said Isabella's voice faintly. "That was fun." ~Honey's POV~ I watched in good-natured jealousy as the group all took their turns on the zipline. Isabelle stepped up to me when it was her turn. "You're such a wimp, I bet you didn't sprain your ankle. You're such a drama queen." I narrowed my eyes as she took the handlebars of the zipline. "Oh, no, get me off — aaah!" she cried, as she went flying down the zipline and crash-landing at the end. "Who's the drama queen now?" I called, smiling. She won't ever get the best of me. We broke for lunch and headed back to the living rooms. I sat in Isabella's armchair and sighed as she and Emily began talking excitedly about Phineas and Ferb. They're so lucky, I thought. They don't have a sprained ankle. They actually have someone to ask to the dance. Me... I don't have either. -Phineas's POV- After crossing the bridge over the ravine, we headed down to rock climbing, which is something I love. Heck, I love everything. I fastened the harness around me and began climbing. Isabelle, in a clear attempt to prove that she could do this better and faster than me, started speeding up the wall. It was a shock to me how she could even see where she was putting her hands and feet. Just as she was nearing the top, her hand slipped and threw her off balance, sending her back down. "Aaah!" I got to the top of the wall and looked down at her. "Slow and steady wins the race." She scowled. "I heard we're going to the lake next," said Emily, as I reached solid ground again. "Really? Did you hear what we're going to do?" I asked, releasing the harness with a loud click. "No," she replied, "but five dollars says it's canoeing." Sure enough, when we got down to the lake, there were four little boats and eight paddles. "There's nine of us," said Isabelle's loud voice. "Sorry, Blythe, looks like you're not going." "Shut your trap, Isabelle," snapped Isabella, looking at the canoes. "Someone's going to have to take a group of three and be in the middle." "I'll go with Isabella," I offered, feeling my face turn red. "Ferb, do you want to go with Emily?" "Sure," he replied. "And Buford and Baljeet can go together, then Honey, Isabelle, and Blythe can be the group of three. See? It all works." I picked up one end of the boat and pushed it into the water. Taking a paddle and climbing in, I motioned for Isabella to follow me and get in the canoe. She got in, a bit reluctantly, but used her paddle to push off from the shore and off we went. It was pretty cool, actually, gliding along the cool water and carving ripples behind us with the boat. ~Blythe's POV~ "If you tip this thing, I'm going to murder you," growled Honey, narrowing her eyes at Isabelle. "Hey!" I said. "Let's not fight!" They ignored me. Honey pushed off from the shore and started paddling. I began to paddle too, and Isabelle just sat there like the Queen of Sheba. "It's a shame you can't yell at me to start paddling or to stop being so lazy," she said loftily, fanning herself with an itinerary. "The middle person doesn't paddle! What are the odds." Honey's face became even more scowlier, and I blinked, not knowing what to do. And so, I did nothing. "Hey guys!" called Phineas's voice from his canoe with Isabella. "We're going to be stopping at this island over here!" Isabelle sighed and fanned herself some more. "I'm so hot." "You're not even doing anything," grumbled Honey, her face shining with sweat. Isabelle leaned over slightly to dip her hand into the water, and that's when the canoe flipped over and dumped all three of us into the water. Honey's head broke the surface, and if looks could kill, Isabelle would be dead meat. "You did that purposely!" she said, clawing her hair out of her face. "I — AAH!" "Are you okay?" I asked, flipping the canoe back over and putting the paddles back in it. "Sort of," said Honey, wincing as she attempted to swim. "I think I just made my ankle worse." There was no way we could get back into the canoe now without flipping it over again, so we swam through the water to the island Phineas had indicated earlier. "Okay, folks, now we're all — Isabelle, Honey, what happened to you guys?" Phineas looked at Isabelle and Honey, crawling up onto the shore. Isabelle's face was confused-looking, and I knew it was because her arch-enemy's name was a term of endearment. "Isabelle tipped the canoe," I chirped. Phineas put a hand to his forehead. "Of course she did." Then he spoke a bit louder, continuing his sentence. "Well, now we're all here, we're supposed to camp overnight —" "NO!" Isabelle groaned. "Are you kidding me?!" "No, I am not kidding you," Phineas said without a trace of remorse or pity on his face. "Isabelle, since we all can't fit into two tents, you're sleeping outside." "Ugh!" Isabelle cried, flopping onto the soggy ground on her back. "Hey!" Honey cried. "You think you have it bad? I have to exist on the same planet as you!" The entire island laughed, and Phineas began taking everyone's belongings out of his canoe. When did he put those there? -Phineas's POV- I seriously did not believe Stephenie when she told (asked?) me to be in charge of the overnight. I mean, yeah, I've been told I'm a good leader, but managing people who are older than me? They should have put Candace in charge. She's pushy enough to keep people in line. "Um," I said loudly. Everyone's heads turned my way. "Should we set up the tents?" There was a murmur of agreement. "Great," I said, clapping my hands together. "Let's get started." It took us a long time to get the tents up. Firstly, we had Isabelle in our group, who acted purposely stupid(er) in a flirting attempt. Please. In the end I told her to just not help, because she hindered us all. "The tents look tiny," she whined. "Hey," said Buford, "you're sleeping outside, so it shouldn't be your problem." "It is my problem," Isabelle said, getting to her feet and cracking her knuckles in a threatening way. "You want a piece of me?" "Bring it." They ran at each other and began wrestling. Even Candace stopped trying to flirt with Jeremy and paid them a tiny bit of attention. Isabelle trapped Buford in a headlock, where he sat there screaming like a little girl. "Lemme go! Lemme go!" he cried. "Say I'm better than you." "Never!" "Okay, then," Isabelle said nonchalantly, making the headlock tighter. "All right! All right! I'll say it!" "You better." "You're better than me and girls rule and blah, blah, blah. LET ME GO!" Isabelle released him and he ran off. "That'll teach you to mess with me." "She's tough," Buford muttered. "Too tough." ~Honey's POV~ "How do you plan to get revenge on Isabelle for spraining your ankle?" Isabella asked me later that night. We had somehow fit into the two tents, and contrary to what Isabelle said, they were pretty roomy inside. I could sit up straight without hitting my head on the side, and that's saying something. "I'm not sure," I said. "I need something good." "The clever streak in me is loving this," Emily chimed in. I grinned. "Tell me, what's the clever streak suggesting?" "Hmm." Emily closed her eyes like she was meditating and put her fingers to the sides of her head, like she was a television aerial. "Let's see... push Isabelle back into the lake..." "She'd probably drown." "...paint her face while she's asleep..." "She'd rat us out." "...publicly humiliate her..." "I LIKE THAT!" shouted Isabella. Then she covered her mouth. "Oops. That was a bit loud." "Just a bit," I said. "No, I like that too." Emily came out of her trance state and blinked. "Well, how would we do it?" "What do we know about Isabelle?" "Her hair's not real," I said. "She has extensions." "Good," Isabella said. She seemed almost evil for once, and I knew this was just as fun for her as it was for me. "Okay, then," I said. "The revenge begins tomorrow." -Ferb's POV- The next morning I got up bright and early — before anyone else. I sat outside, staring at the sky. It was that pale blue-gold color, right before it turns, well, sky blue. I heard a rustle inside the girls' tent and a bleary-eyed Emily staggered out. She jumped at the sight of me. "I always forget you're a morning person," she said, sitting next to me and smiling weakly. "I was up late last night." "Doing what?" "Plotting revenge," she said. "On Isabelle." "Hm." We sat there in silence, staring at the sky for a while. It gradually turned the sky blue color I was predicting. "Emily," I said, seized by a sudden brain wave, "would you — ?" I never got to finish my sentence. Just then, Phineas strode out of the boys' tent. "Hey, Ferb!" he said, walking over and sitting next to me. "Ready to get out of Camp Nightmare?" "Uh, sure," I said. I was a bit peeved at him, just a tiny, miniscule bit, because I was about to ask Emily to the dance today. Well, that's that plan scuppered. "Let's wake up the others," I said, getting to my feet. ~Emily's POV~ That was the most wonderful and surreal moment of this trip, I thought, paddling back with Ferb. It was spoiled by one thing, though: Ferb was going to ask me something, and I don't know what. My romantic self said it was probably asking to the dance, but the overly rational part of me yelled at the romantic side to not get its hopes up too far. Too late. They're to the moon. I was startled out of my thoughts by a bump. The boat hit the land, and Ferb leapt out of the canoe and offered his hand to me, helping me out of the canoe. Stephenie and Victoria came skipping down the steps. "Like, how was your overnight?" asked Stephenie. "Horrible," Isabelle grumbled, rolling her neck around. "I slept on a rock." "Well?" Stephenie said. "The like, dance is like, tonight, so like, we're going to like, let you like, off like, free tonight?" The entire group cheered. ~Isabella's POV~ I had something to tell Emily. And quickly. I rushed over to her before Honey came over. "Emily, quickly: good news! Phineas asked me to the dance!" I squealed quietly, hoping that Phineas and Honey hadn't overheard. "I'll tell you more about it later. But don't bring up the dance in front of Honey." "Why not?" "Because," I said. "Last night I saw on her hand the initials 'KWT'. I know that's Kristopher's initials, whoever he is, and Honey's bummed about not being able to go to the dance with him." "Yeah, me too," said Emily. "Ferb was about to ask me something, but then Phineas interrupted us —" "Emily?" She turned around to face Ferb, who whispered something in her ear. Her face lit up, and she squeaked, "Yes!" I nodded my head slightly, as in, I know what he just said. I gave her a thumbs-up and flopped on a sofa. "Still, though," said Emily. "It stinks that she's so bummed. I'll feel bad about dancing with Ferb!" "Same here, but with Phineas," I agreed. "But I thought of a plan." I took out my phone and punched in the number I had found in Honey's contacts the other night. The phone rang twice, and someone answered. "Hello?" a boy's voice said. "Hi. Is Kristopher there?" "This is Kristopher." "Good. Now, I'm going to tell you directions, you have to follow them exactly. Don't ask, just listen..." -Phineas's POV- I sat around for most of the day. I'm not a person to laze around, but what with the overnight and the trust exercises and the burning down of the room, I was exhausted. "So what happened with you and Isabella?" Ferb asked. "It's a very dramatic and sappy story," I said jokingly. "I asked her to go and she said yes." "What a thrilling tale," said Ferb. "Fantastic. You should get it published. It'd be a New York Times bestseller." "It would be," I said. "How I Asked a Girl to a Dance, by Phineas Flynn." "There's the title for your autobiography when you're all rich and famous and stuff," Ferb said. "Phineas!" Isabelle said, running over in an ugly maroon dress and grabbing my hand. "It's time for the dance!" "Get off me," I said. "I'm going with Isabella." "No," said Isabella. I hadn't noticed her behind Isabelle. Her arms were crossed and she looked upset. "Isabelle and I worked out a deal." "Yep!" Isabelle said, twirling me around. "I get to escort you to the dance!" "And nothing else, right?" I asked, looking at Isabella. Last time there was a deal involving Isabelle, it included a talent show and Honey. Not a pretty tale, but funny. She nodded. Isabelle nearly dislocated my shoulder for the next few minutes, pulling me down the stairs and out into the parking lot. "Well, would you look at that," I said, prying her fingers off my elbow. "We're here. Bye!" ~Honey's POV~ Was there any point in going to the dance? I looked at the pale yellow party dress I packed. I might as well wear it and have a good time, I thought as I pulled it on with difficulty. When I finally got into the dress, I grabbed my crutches and jabbed the elevator button in the hallway. The parking lot looked like a stereotypical school dance. Disco ball, DJ booth, kids everywhere. I sighed and sat down on a stone bench away from the hubbub. I saw Phineas and Isabella twirling around. Even in my sad state, I couldn't help but feel happy for them; they're a really cute couple together. Same with Ferb and Emily. I was just about to go back inside and pack up when a familiar voice said, "Honey?" I looked up and my heart stopped. Kristopher. ~Candace's POV~ This could not get any better, I thought as I slow danced with Jeremy. For one, I didn't have to worry about some insane invention the boys came up with. I could actually relax and be with Jeremy, which was totally awesome. But what was even better was that Jeremy chose Shae over me. Well, sort of. He asked me to the dance, and when I asked why he wasn't taking Shae, he looked all confused (in a cute way, because everything he does is cute) and said, "But I want to go with you." Eep! The disco ball shut off, announcing the end of the dance. "Well, I guess it's over," Jeremy said, pulling away from me. "I guess," I said, looking at my feet. He looked at me in that same way he did on the Solstice, and I knew what was going to happen before it did. Jeremy kissed me, smiled, and swept away into the darkness. EEP! ~Isabella's POV~ The night went perfectly. I can't say it any other than that, besides ticking off a list: One, things worked out for Ferb and Emily. Two, things worked out for Honey and Kristopher. And three, things worked out for me and Phineas! The disco ball had shut off and people were moving in the general direction toward the door. They had almost all gone in when Phineas tapped my shoulder. "Isabella?" I turned to look at him, and shot a glance at the stairs. The last people there were Honey and Kristopher, going very slowly because of Honey's crutches. Phineas gave me a hug, looked at me and said, "I don't know why I've waited this long." He kissed me, then blushed and ran up the stairs. I stood there, wondering what just happened. ~Emily's POV~ The next day would have been relatively normal if it weren't for a startling revelation on the bus. It was the same triple-decker that took us here, and we had just gotten settled when Isabelle stood on a table and whistled to get everyone's attention. "Okay!" she cried. "You can all thank me for this wonderful trip!" "What?!" everyone asked. "I entered Phineas's email address in this contest and he won! So yippee!" She clapped, then realized no one else was clapping for her. "Clap for me. NOW." Phineas stood up and shrugged. "You do have to give her credit, guys. I mean, she did enter my email address in that contest... how do you know my email address, anyway?" he asked Isabelle, who whistled innocently and hopped off the table. "Well, I'll be," said Honey, turning around to face me and Isabella again. "Yeah," said Isabella. "I mean, what are the odds?" While I wanted to dwell on the mystery too, I was itching to ask Honey what happened. "What happened with you and Kris?" I asked eagerly. "Oh, it was wonderful," she said, looking out the window in a dreamy fashion. Isabella clicked her fingers in front of her face. "Honey. Hello?" "What? Oh, I'm here," Honey cried, starting. "Well anyway, things went kinda like Isabella's night..." "You mean — ?!" Isabella shrieked. "Honey, that is so cool! Good for you!" "Wait," I said. "I never got the details on what happened to you, Isabella." "We kissed," she said in a whisper, looking at Phineas and turning pink. "What happened with you and Ferb?" "Well..." I looked over at Ferb, who caught me glancing at him and winked. I turned red and looked back at them. I wasn't wanting to spill right now that Ferb and I kissed last night. I wanted to hold it to my chest and savor it before I turned it into a fresh piece of gossip for Isabelle. "Not much happened." "You mean you didn't kiss?" "Hey, look!" Honey said, cutting over Isabella and pointing out the window, saving me the trouble of coming up with an excuse to not tell Isabella without sounding fishy. "There's Maple Drive!" Sure enough, the bus was slowing down. "Maple Drive!" said the driver's voice over the intercom. "Well, would you look at that," I said, jumping to my feet and running down the steps. "Bye guys, I have — um — a lot of summer homework to do." I waved and ran into my house, up into my bedroom, dropping my luggage on the ground and flopping onto my bed, which creaked. All's well that ends well.
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