103 days later
We had 103 days of awesome vacation now schools come along just to end it. Now it's the last day of summer vacation and we have to choose how to spend it, like maybe…
"Good morning Danville lets make it a great day! Because you know what today is, the last day of summer. That's right tomorrow it's back to school. So let's get you back to the music." The Radio DJ finished his talk, leaving a few seconds of silence before the music started.
A familiar song with meaningless lyrics flowed from the speakers.
A 14 year old boy was sitting up in his bed, leaning against the wall. He looked at the clock radio that stood by his bedside and smiled at the song, it reminded him of all the fun he had over the summer. As the music danced about, the room's other occupant was roused from his sleep. Ferb's eyes opened slowly at first as if to not let as much light in, but then snapped open quickly. Sitting up in his bed Ferb gave his step-brother a curious look, glancing from the pillow on his bed then back to Phineas.
"Yeah sorry about that Ferb, no pillow toss alarm clock today." said Phineas quietly.
His step brother's gaze softened from one of curiosity to one of concern.
A small chuckle escaped Phineas' lips "Chill out Ferb I'm fine, I've just been doing a lot of thinking."
Ferb waved his hand, motioning his brother to explain.
"Well... you know, it's the last day of summer, the end of our adventure. It's bumming me out. We should do something special to close out the season."
Ferb raised his hand as if asking permission to speak.
"It can't be just anything, nothing lame like a party, that's just too... cliché."
Ferb lowered his hand.
"Ferb we've done a ton of cool stuff right?" asked Phineas.
His brother nodded.
"There was the roller coaster, time traveling, s'winter, multiple trips to outer space, finding Atlantis." Phineas counted the projects off on his fingers as he listed each one.
"So many good times..." continued Phineas."After we go back to school it won't be the same, we won't be able to sit in the backyard and just hang out like we do now. "
Phineas sighed. "Ferb, we're growing up, and it stinks. We'll still be able to build stuff when we're older but what about today? Let's just have fun on our last day of summer, no big contraption or complicated plans, let's just be kids."
The voice that invaded Phineas' ears almost startled him.
"Phineas, I know what we're going to do today."
Looking over to his brother Phineas smiled as Ferb got out of bed and pulled out an old book. Following suit Phineas removed himself from his bed and went over to check what his brother was doing. Ferb was quickly searching through the pages of the book. When at last he found what he was looking for he placed the book on the nightstand and pointed to a picture on the page. Phineas looked at the picture and swiftly saw that it was a map of Danville. But what Ferb was pointing to was a small lake that was only a couple of miles from their house.
"I like the way you think Ferb."
"Boys! There's breakfast on the table." The voice of their mother rang out in the early morning silence.
"Coming!" replied Phineas.
Ferb glanced at his brother and then at the door and raced out of the room.
"Hey no head starts to breakfast!" shouted Phineas as he chased the British boy to the kitchen.
After losing what was later described as the race of the century, Phineas sat down and began eating his breakfast. He savored the taste and smell of the hot pancakes that were on his plate.
"So boys, got any big plans for the last day of summer?" asked Linda as she placed the last of the pancakes on a plate.
"Well mom Ferb and I are going to head out to Danville Lake. It's the perfect spot to have a nice relaxing day before school starts." explained Phineas between mouthfuls of pancakes.
"Sounds like fun." said Linda with a smile "Your father and I will be here all day so call if you need anything."
"Thanks mom!" said Phineas as he and Ferb cleaned up their breakfast mess. The two brothers then went out to the garage and pulled their bikes out.
"Oh Ferb! I almost forgot. We need to assemble the troops."
Ferb gave his brother a thumbs up and pulled out a trumpet. He brought the instrument up to his lips and played a quick revelry.
Phineas rolled his eyes at the Brit's antics. "Not quite what I had in mind."
Ferb then shrugged and pulled out a cell phone and dialed several numbers. With the phone pressed to his ear he waited for someone to answer. As fate would have it all three some ones answered at once.
"Hello?" Three voiced could be heard saying the same thing. Ferb inhaled readying himself to speak, and then handed the phone to Phineas.
"Guys come over to our house and bring your bikes, we have a plan." Phineas declared.
Before the red head could even hang up the phone, their raven haired neighbor from across the street stuck her head out the window and yelled "I'll be right there!"
And true to her word Isabella Garcia Shapiro arrived at the Flynn-Fletcher house hold in two minutes flat.
"Good morning Phineas. And good morning to you as well Ferb." Isabella greeted. She looked around in the yard for any hint of the day's plan. When she saw none she turned
back to Phineas "So... Whatcha' doin?" she asked with a sweet smile.
"As soon as Buford and Baljeet get here I'll explain the whole thing." said Phineas. So the kids sat and waited in the front yard until Baljeet rode up on his recumbent bike with a scowl etched on his face.
Phineas raised an eyebrow "Hey Jeet what's wrong?"
"You will see soon enough." replied Baljeet. No sooner had the words left his mouth did the sound of laughter reach the ears of the four youngsters. The neighborhood bully Buford was chuckling to himself as he walked up the Flynn-Fletcher driveway.
"I can't believe you still ride that thing nerd." said Buford as his laughter subsided.
"It is better for your back, I have told you this before." retorted Baljeet.
"Uh huh, what ever you say." commented Buford. "So dinner bell what's the plan for today?"
"Well Buford I'm glad you asked." began Phineas "We have had an entire lifetimes worth of fun this summer, so today Ferb and I thought we would just go to Danville lake to go swimming and enjoy this last day of summer."
Buford scratched his chin thoughtfully before loudly declaring. "Lame. But I got nothin' else to do so I guess I'm in."
"That works out great then!" exclaimed Phineas. "Why don't you guys go get your swim suits and meet us back here in fifteen minutes?"
"Alright." responded the kids. They all rode back to their houses to retrieve what they needed.
"That reminds me Ferb, do we have everything that we need?" questioned Phineas. His British brother motioned to a small backpack that was resting at his feet.
"Perfect!" exclaimed Phineas.
"PHINEAS!" a scream that could only belong to one person was heard in the quiet morning.
"Morning Candace" greeted Phineas as his sister stormed out the front door of their house.
"Don't you morning Candace me, what are you guys up to?" inquired Candace
"We're going to Danville Lake to enjoy the last day of summer." answered Phineas
"Yeah yeah Danville Lake whatever, what will you be doing once you get there?" Candace asked.
"Um, swimming? Maybe have something to eat?" said Phineas not understanding his sister's concern.
"That's it? No underwater city? Or hydro powered jet packs?" Said Candace as she eyed her brothers with suspicion.
As Candace spoke Ferb took out a note pad and began writing down his step-sisters suggestions
"Nope, but those are good ideas." said Phineas with a smile.
"Oh no no no that's not what I meant and you know it." replied Candace glaring at him.
"Relax Candace, we're just going to enjoy our last day of summer." Said Phineas.
His sister's hard glare softened. "Well... Um... Ok then. I guess I'll go... call Jeremy?" As her sentence went on Candace sounded more and more confused. She blinked a few times and slowly walked back to the house.
"I wonder what she'll do with herself." pondered Phineas "Something fun I hope."
Ferb nodded in agreement.
Isabella returned to the Flynn-Fletcher house with a small backpack and her bike. and shortly after her arrival came Buford and Baljeet.
"Alright guys are you ready?" asked Isabella. Phineas nodded as he went over a last minute check list of things to bring.
"Yeah we're all set to go." said Phineas. He Buford, Ferb, Baljeet all mounted their bikes and began to ride to the lake. Before he got to far Phineas looked back at his house to see that Isabella was still standing in the driveway.
"Isabella? Are you coming?" called out Phineas slightly confused. The girl from across the street jumped slightly when she was called and a small blush crept onto her cheeks. She appeared flustered and looked around to see that everyone had already begun the journey to the lake. She had been caught up in one of the numerous day dreams about her red headed friend. Isabella quickly got on her bike and followed the rest of her companions.
The teens rode leisurely towards their destination. The warm summer wind passed as they moved, the smells of summer had not yet faded to the aroma of autumn. The smell of freshly cut grass wafted through the air as they traveled. The kids chatted about going back to school and what classes they were taking. They spoke of this and that until the woods surrounding their destination appeared. The trees that covered the area were large proud oak trees. They all stood straight with their brilliant green leaves still holding tight to the branches that gave them life. Every few branches there would be the occasional leaf that was beginning to lose its vibrant green in favor of a more subtle shade of orange or brown. The kids rode their bikes through a small path that led into the forest.
Within minutes they saw what they were looking for. A brightly lit clearing surrounded by large trees. And in the center was a beautiful lake. The blue water reflected the light of the sun onto the leaves of the trees making it seem as though the leaves themselves were glowing.
"Wow." said Isabella "You guys picked an amazing spot."
"I agree, it is amazing" said Baljeet as he looked around.
"Eh, I've seen better." said Buford.
Phineas nodded. "You guys can thank Ferb it was his brilliant idea."
Ferb bowed slightly at the praise.
"So, what do you guys want to do first?" asked Phineas.
"I'm starvin'." groaned Buford "Let's get somethin' to eat."
"Ok, Ferb could you start setting up for lunch?" requested Phineas.
Ferb gave a thumbs up and removed the backpack he was wearing and set it on the ground. He then opened it up and reached into the bag pulling out a table as well as a grill.
"How did you manage to fit a whole grill into a backpack?" asked a very confused Baljeet.
"What can I say? Ferb really knows how to maximize storage space." replied Phineas with a smile.
Ferb turned on the grill and looked at it for a moment. He then snapped his fingers and went back to the backpack and pulled out a small cooler. The green haired boy opened it to reveal several hamburger patties.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Phineas. "Ferb and Buford can cook the burgers Isabella can cut up the vegetables and Baljeet and I can take care of the buns and the condiments."
"Sounds like a plan Phineas." said Isabella.
So the kids began preparing lunch and grilling the burgers. With spatula in hand Ferb and Buford cooked each patty to perfection. The neighborhood bully looked at the plate of burgers then to Isabella, Phineas and Baljeet.
"You guys ready over there?" he called out to his friends.
Isabella looked at all of the sliced vegetables in front of her and nodded.
"How about you guys? Are you ready?" she asked Baljeet and Phineas.
"I think so." replied Phineas. "What do you say Jeet, are you ready?"
Baljeet looked at the buns they had set on the table, then he looked over to the grill where Buford and Ferb were awaiting the signal. Baljeet pushed the bun closest to him two inches to the left.
"We are all set now." called Baljeet.
Buford nodded and turned to Ferb.
"Alright green bean, let's get this show on the road." said Buford.
Ferb nodded and pressed a large red button on the side of the grill. Without warning the burgers were shot into the air towards the table. As the projectile patties flew through the air Isabella tossed all the vegetables up into the air. The burgers collided with the veggies and continued their flight until the landed on the buns that Phineas and Baljeet had set up.
Ferb picked up his spatula blew on it and put it in his pocket. All five teens walked over to the table and sat down.
"Nice shootin' green bean." commented Buford as he patted Ferb on the back.
"That was awesome. Well done everybody." praised Phineas.
"Actually I think mine is a little rare." said Baljeet who was examining his burger.
"Hey unless you want to be eatin' tree bark I suggest you can it!" said Buford while pointing a threatening finger at Baljeet.
The Indian teen nodded quickly and took a large bite of his burger and grinned widely as if trying to prove he enjoyed it.
Everyone laughed at this. They laughed until tears came to their eyes. As the laughs subsided to chuckles then to giggles and finally to silence. They continued eating as the afternoon wore on all the while Phineas was telling them all about his plans for making every school day more bearable.
"We could put together a project in study hall or lunch so long as they're not too big. I guess they would be Phineas and Ferb's small ideas then." explained Phineas. "We could build self sharpening pencils or maybe a super efficient homework organizer." As Phineas went on he grew more and more excited. "How about an anti gravity device for the basketball court?" by this time Phineas had stood up from the table and began pacing. "Oh! We could freeze the school's pool and turn it into a skating rink." the red head ran over to the lakeside where he was muttering about freezing points of liquids and where they could find 70 pairs of ice skates.
"Oh boy, there he goes again. On another invention craze." said Isabella with a smile.
Phineas was now talking to himself as if no one else could hear, all the while making hand gestures to some invisible audience that he was trying to please.
"Yeah, you sure know how to pick em' Isabella." said Buford as he watched Phineas continue to talk about his ideas to no one in particular.
Ferb, Buford and Baljeet knew about Isabella's crush on their red headed pal and never missed an opportunity to poke fun at her for it. Buford usually did most of the teasing while Baljeet made the occasional comment and Ferb only said anything if Isabella was spacing out.
Isabella blushed at the comment. "He's well-"
"Oh! Isabella maybe Phineas will catch on in time to ask you to the prom." said Baljeet.
Isabella sighed and looked over to the red head. "At this rate it's going to take all four years for him to get the hint. But I'd rather focus on today than prom senior year."
Ferb nodded then looked over his shoulder to see that his brother was still on his invention craze.
"All right I think it's time he cooled off." stated Ferb. He got up from the table and walked up behind his best friend. He looked back to the table where the others were watching him curiously, he smiled and then without hesitation he pushed Phineas into the lake water. With a yelp of surprise and a large splash the red headed inventor found himself in the water. Everyone laughed at the two brothers antics.
Phineas surfaced and looked up at his attacker. Shocked at first he quickly understood what had happened. "Well played bro, but you forgot one thing."
Ferb raised an eyebrow. He waited for his brother to continue.
"You forgot that what goes around comes around." claimed Phineas with a grin. As soon as he finished talking he reached up and grabbed Ferb's arm and pulled him into the water as well.
"Hey don't forget about Buford!" the bully shouted. He got up and started running towards the water.
"Buford wait!" Baljeet shouted.
Buford stopped in his tracks and turned to his nerdy pal.
"You need to wait a half an hour after eating before going swimming." warned Baljeet.
Buford slapped his own forehead. "That's it! You're gonna need a half hour to recover once I'm though with ya."
The bully walked over to the table grabbed the Indian boy and threw him over his shoulder.
"Um... Buford? What is it you are going to do to me?" questioned Baljeet nervously.
"Oh you'll see." answered Buford with a smirk. He walked over to the lakeside and held Baljeet high above his head before throwing him into the water. Both Phineas and Ferb who were attempting to dunk each other had to swim out of the way of the tossed teen. Baljeet came up to the surface of the water coughing and attempting to get water out of his ear.
"Well to be completely honest I did see that coming." said Baljeet in a matter of fact tone.
Buford put his hand out to his friend.
"Aright now that I've balanced your nerdyness with some aggression you can come out of the water." explained Buford.
"I suppose that makes sense." said Baljeet even though he didn't actually understand the bully's logic. He grabbed Buford's hand and began to pull himself up. But no sooner had the Indian teen gotten his feet out of the water did Buford release his grip, causing Baljeet to fall in once again. At this his frienemy began to laugh.
"You make it too easy sometimes Jeet." said Buford between chuckles.
Baljeet rolled his eyes, he saw that coming too. But what he didn't see was Isabella sneaking up behind Buford and pushing him into the lake with all the others. After surfacing the bully glared at her.
"That was a cheap shot, pushing someone in the lake while their back is turned." his glare softened and he smiled. "It's exactly what I'd have done, good job."
"Yeah nice one Isabella" said Phineas.
Ferb nodded his head in agreement.
"I feel as though he deserved that. Thank you." said Baljeet
"No problem boys." said Isabella with a smile. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to get in the water with a little more grace than you guys." and with that said the Mexican Jewish girl dove into the water. She barely made a splash going in, and coming up was equally subtle. Her movements were as fluid as the water itself. She started a lazy backstroke and swam over to the rest of the group.
"Anybody up for a race?" she challenged.
"Bring it on!" shouted Buford.
"Count me in." said Phineas.
"No thank you I think I will just sit this one out." said Baljeet.
Ferb simply shook his head.
"Alright then. Buford? Phineas? Are you ready?" asked Isabella. "We'll swim to the other side of the lake and back ok?"
Both boys nodded.
"Ok, ready? Set? Go!" exclaimed Isabella as she took off quickly followed by Phineas and Buford. The race ended with Isabella finishing with a big lead then Phineas and finally Buford who had quit halfway through the race.
"Eh forget this, I'm a land based guy." complained Buford.
"Wow Isabella that was impressive, you should go out for the swim team." said Phineas while trying to catch his breath.
"You think so?" questioned Isabella. "I was thinking about doing cheerleading, but it really doesn't seem like fun, and I do love swimming. You're right Phineas I think I'm going to try out for swimming."
"Awesome, I'm sure you'll do great." Phineas reassured her.
The kids continued playing in the water for the remainder of the afternoon. Between the racing, chicken fights, surprise dunkings and relaxing the soon to be high schoolers barely noticed the afternoon hours slide away. As the air grew colder and the sky began to fade from blue to orange as the sun went down, Baljeet was the first to speak up.
"I do not know about you four but I am freezing and am going to get out and dry off."
There were general murmurs of agreement from the rest of the group. All the kids got out of the water and began to dry themselves off with the towels that they had brought.
"Hey guys I'm gonna get changed behind this tree over here so don't nobody peek." said Buford as he walked towards the tree line.
"Ew Buford, no one needed to hear that." said Isabella with a shiver.
"Yeah ya did or else you mighta come back here to see what I was doin'."
The fireside girl rolled her eyes and turned to the remaining boys who were all holding their dry clothes and standing awkwardly.
"I think Buford might have a good idea. I do not want to stay in my wet bathing suit any longer than I have to." Baljeet admitted.
"Yeah me either." agreed Phineas.
Ferb nodded in agreement. And looked to see Buford emerge from behind the trees in his usual attire. The green haired Brit tapped his brother on the shoulder and pointed to the bully. Phineas glanced over and turned to his neighbor.
"We'll be right back." he said quickly.
All three remaining boys dashed off to separate trees to change from their bathing suits.
"Oh boy." said Isabella with a sigh. She looked to the trees. She was not particularly fond of the idea of changing out in the woods, but she knew that it was the only way to get into dry clothes. Before she could make a decision her friends returned dressed in nice dry clothing.
"Alright boys I need to get changed so that means everyone has to turn around and face the other way." Instructed Isabella
"Why does it matter? You'll be behind the tree." pointed out Buford.
"Because I'm a girl, now turn around please." asked Isabella. As soon as the boys had their back turned, the raven haired girl went behind the largest tree she could find and got changed. Meanwhile the boys were all still facing the opposite direction of their female friend.
"Sooo, what should we do once Isabella gets back?" asked Phineas. Who was shifting his weight from one side to the other.
"Can you do something about the weather? It's getting cold... And dark." complained Buford who had his arms crossed try to conserve body heat.
Phineas' eyes widened.
"We can't change the weather but we could build a fire to warm us up." Upon hearing this Ferb nodded and went over to his backpack that was sitting by the table.
"A fire? That's a little low tech for you ain't it dinner bell?" asked Buford.
"No it isn't low tech, it's exactly what we need." claimed Phineas. "Now we just need to-" Phineas was interrupted by a quick high pitch whistle. He turned around to see his brother who had set up a fire ring and already had a good-sized fire residing in its borders.
"That is amazing, wasn't he over there a second ago?" questioned Baljeet as he looked to the left of Buford.
"Nice one Ferb." said Phineas with a chuckle. Just then Isabella emerged from the tree line.
"I'm gone for three minutes and you guys start having fun without me?" she wagged a finger of mock disappointment at the boys.
"Nah Ferb just set this up a minute ago. Come on have a seat." Phineas said as everyone sat down around the fire.
Isabella walked over to the fire and sat by her crush. The group of kids all warmed up and sat in silence enjoying the flames that danced in front of their eyes. Every so often embers would fly up out of the fire moving towards the sky as if hoping to join the stars up in space. The only light came from the campfire the newly risen moon and the stars, this combination of soft light gave the woods a peaceful appearance. For a long while no one said anything, they were all hypnotized by the flames.
Isabella glanced around the fire ring and knew that she wanted to tell them her secret. Of course not the secret that involved the red head to her right but a different secret that needed to be shared.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm actually kinda scared about going to high school." confessed Isabella.
Baljeet looked at her from across the fire ring, his eyes looked at all of his friends he let out a sigh. "Me too, high school seems like a scary place. There is so much to worry about there."
"I know what you mean Jeet. Grades, friends, sports and as soon as we get there we have to start thinking about college. It's terrifying." added Phineas.
Buford whispered something inaudible.
"Sorry Buford what was that?" asked Phineas.
"I said I'm scared too." revealed Buford.
"Really? What do you have to worry about?" questioned Baljeet.
"Alota stuff. I'm not gonna be the one big bad bully in high school. There's gonna be lotsa guys that are tougher and stronger than me there. And also I gotta make sure I pass. If I don't graduate that could be end of any kind of decent career." explained Buford.
"Don't worry Isabella you're not alone we're all scared, but you know you can always count on us to help you out." Phineas told her. He grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We'll make it through high school together, all of us. And you have
nothing to worry about you're the smartest girl I know, plus you're great at making friends. High school will be a piece of cake for you.
Isabella smiled at her best friend's kind words. She looked at all her friends, they smiled at her and to each other. Phineas was right, they could survive high school together. She looked at Ferb who looked her in the eyes then glanced at her hand which was still being held by Phineas'. She smiled at him, she knew that Phineas was only being supportive not romantic, regardless she enjoyed it.
Phineas smiled. "We just have to look at high school like our next big adventure. Of course it will be hard to compare to the space travel, roller coasters, trips around the world and countless other projects."
Everyone smiled at the memories of their vacation.
"It really was an amazing summer." concluded Phineas.
Ferb smiled and said. "Yes, yes it was."
Shortly after that the group of soon to be high schoolers packed up their things and began the ride home. The kids left there not knowing that spending the last day of summer at that lake would become something of a tradition for their group. Every year throughout high school the teens would return to the same spot to enjoy one final hurrah of summer before returning to school. It was not a big project but it was a nice relaxing day before starting their next big adventure.