Okay, so this is The Dangers of Maturity, but before you read this, I reccomend that you go and read The Dangers of a Bully (written by The Busy Berry), becuase this is the prequal (what happens before it). While it wouldn't ruin this story if you read mine first, it would ruin the effects of The Dangers of a Bully. But whatever you decide to do, be sure to come back here to read this story as well. Enjoy :)

*Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story, nor do I claim to in any of the chapters.

The Dangers of Maturity

Prequel to The Dangers of a Bully

Chapter 1

As much as they had wished it to be, both of them knew that life could never go back to being a simple summer vacation for children. They weren't children anymore.

The first day of his freshman year, the green-haired fourteen-year-old pondered the changes that had occurred since those summer days. He wasn't the same person. The color black had grown on him a bit since those days. He wished for the past, but faked happiness… once in a while, at least.

Dressing himself in a simple purple shirt and black jeans, he slipped on his converse tennis shoes and headed to the bathroom to ready himself for the day. Entering the shower room shared between himself and his stepbrother, Phineas, he greeted his brother with an empty canvas-of-a-face.

"Hey, Ferb," Phineas smiled, and put some gel into his bright orange hair, "You ready for high school?"

Ferb didn't need to use words to reply; Phineas could decide for himself, and more times than less, he was correct. Phineas' smile fell when his brother expressed nothing. But he would make an effort to get him happy.

"Yeah, me too, man," he beamed, pretending not to notice the darkness his brother felt; determined to get some sort of smile, or anything for the matter, from Ferb, "It's gonna be awesome. Me and you, making the big time!"

Ferb gave a small nod. He was ready for "the big time".

"Well come on, Ferb," Phineas grinned, tugging his wrist, "Isabella's gonna get here any time. We have to eat!"

"Breakfast is the most important meal, they say," Ferb added wisely. That would most likely be all that he would say for the day. He liked it that way—leaving it up to everyone else to decide what he meant by his subtle facial expressions.

"You bet it is, bud," Phineas nodded before sliding down the railing into the kitchen. Ferb followed.

"How many times has mom told you guys not to do that?" Candace rolled her eyes.

"A time too less, I suppose…" Phineas pondered honestly.

Ferb took a bite of cereal and pushed the bowl away.

"Freshman year got your nerves, Ferb?" Phineas asked.

Ferb shrugged. Yes. In all ways yes.

The doorbell rang, drawing Phineas from the table and to the door where he met his fair-skinned girlfriend, Isabella.

"Hi guys," she greeted, walking through the door, "Oh, I love your outfit, Candace."

"Thanks," Candace replied.

"Come on guys, the bell rings at eight," Isabella reminded them, and they wandered out the door in a crowd.

"Now everyone, I feel the best way to get to know each other on our first day of high school," the English teacher began, "is to first know yourself. Everyone take out a piece of paper and write down your deepest thoughts. Scratch that… write a letter… a letter about yourself, to nobody, though. You don't have to give it to anyone if you don't want to."

Ferb followed the directions, taking a mechanical pencil and college-ruled paper and laying them on his desk. He began to write:

To whoever reads,

I suppose that my deepest feelings are those of adventure. But things seem different than before. I can't just make a bunch of machines in my backyard like I used to. I don't think Phineas would even want to any more. Maybe it's just me…

People so often ask me why I stay quiet. One reason is because I feel that words are useless. Words can tell lies, but the expression on a person's face can't. Another reason, is because I'm afraid what people would say. If I say something stupid, then what will they think? Words can make people hate you, or look down upon you. Words can make other people's opinions of you change, or make their first impression of you be that you're just a dipstick. I'm afraid… I'm afraid that people will think of me that way. So I just stay quiet.

-Ferb

He quickly wrote his name at the bottom when the teacher announced that almost the entire second half of the class had been dedicated to this. Looking at the clock in shock, Ferb saw that indeed, the class was over. He stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket; no one was ever reading that cheesy piece of crap.

At lunch that day, it seemed that it was all going to work out quite nicely for their little group. They all sat together around a circular table on the outdoor cafeteria. First Isabella, and to her left Phineas, next to Phineas was Ferb, and then lastly Baljeet. Buford had become a rare appearance around them lately, having become what a true bully was portrayed as.

They laughed and talked of how fast life was going. Phineas made several remarks of how glad he was that they had all stuck together. Baljeet quietly added that he was glad Buford's prey had expanded beyond just him, so that he had a little time to himself.

"We all grew up so fast," Isabella commented, and the group agreed, "I mean, I feel like it was yesterday that I was popping into your yard being all 'watch'ya doing?'…"

Each of them laughed and the conversations continued. The few worries Ferb had of high school disappeared; he felt better now.

Different worries later flooded him when he reached into his pocket to check for the letter to no one, and found that it was gone. It had dropped from his pocket! Panic filled him as he wondered if anyone had found it, and if so, who it was. Would they come to him and say that they hadn't read it, or read it in a microphone to the whole school? He searched frantically around the hallway that he was in, and in the next one over. Realization of how large the whole school was hit when he reached the third hallway with no success. There was no way that he could search all three floors and both buildings. There was no way at all.

He began to calm down when by the end of the day, no one had come up to him and laughed in his face, or threw the crumpled up thing at him. He sighed in relief, that night, as he crawled into bed. Apparently no one had found it.

That was a lie.

The next morning at school, as he opened his locker, a piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Confused, Ferb picked it up. He felt a bit relieved as he saw that it wasn't his note, but then he read on, and relief was the last thing he felt for a long time.

Yo Ferb-man, I couldn't help but read your letter from English when I found it. You sound like quite a depressed man. Reasonable, I suppose, since just today I heard Phin saying to some pretty girl not to go out with you cuz you're silence would freak her out.

Bully

Ferb stared at the paper. Bully… Someone had found his note, and written back. He expected that this "Bully" had shown the note to people in order to humiliate him, but when all the day, no one said anything, he wondered if Bully had something else in mind.

That day at lunch, Ferb couldn't quite look at Phineas the same way. He had told a pretty girl not to talk to him? Because he was weird? Why would Phineas do that? Ferb didn't bring it up.

The group laughed and talked without even noticing Ferb's sadness. He was sad a lot lately, anyway, so maybe they were used to it… Or maybe…Bully was telling the truth, and they all thought he was weird. No one had ever asked why he became so suddenly distant over these past years… maybe…maybe they just didn't care.

Bully

He wrote later that night.

Maybe you're right. Maybe they don't care.

-Ferb

So basically this is what happened before The Busy Berry's story, The Dangers of a Bully, as already said. There's two more chapters :) enjoy!