Ferb:

A girl with long black hair skipped through the gate

"Whatcha doing'?"

I smiled as she looked at me- but only for a split second as her eyes drifted over to Phineas

"Oh. Hi! We were just discussing that- we have a lot of options- what do you think we should do today Isabella?" Phineas asked her.

Her eyes widened as she thought for a moment. I looked away- I just… didn't like to see her so… so… happy? No that can't be it. I was glad she was happy. I just knew it wouldn't last for long- after all, my brother was constantly ignoring (or perhaps not noticing) her advances- which is why it made me uncomfortable- that she wouldn't be happy for long- that makes perfect sense. Yeah- we'll go with that.

"Oh that's a cool idea Izzy! What do you think Ferb?" Phineas asked. I must have zoned out again. I simply nodded.

"Great! We're gonna build the biggest, bestest, stuffed animal in the Tri-State area!" Phineas exclaimed.

Great… a giant stuffed animal- what would one do with one of those I wonder? I thought about pointing out the obvious flaws in the plan- like how would it hold its shape with all of the weight of the stuffing? Would you have to use thick, plastic-y fabric to solve that issue? Is it even worth building if you can't make it fuzzy?

I tried communicating all of this to my brother with a few hand gestures- and surprisingly he got it.

"Oh- Ferb's right- It would need some sort of internal structure to keep it from collapsing in on itself. Which could be done- but what is the point of a giant stuffed animal if it isn't even squishy?"

"Couldn't you just make some super-strong, high density stuffing or something?" Isabella asked, eyes twinkling.

Duh. Of course that would work. I keep forgetting that Phineas can do almost anything he sets his mind to- with the encouragement of Isabella, of course. They really do make a great team.

[two years later- age: 15]

Isabella:

I strolled into the Flynn-Fletcher yard. "Whatcha doing?" I looked at Phineas, trying to keep in mind the promise I made to the Fireside girls, and to myself. This was the last day I would try; after today, if he didn't realize my feelings, I would move on. I just hoped I could actually handle that.

"We're building a machine that organizes your thoughts!" Phineas exclaimed. "It puts them into files on your computer!"

"That way you can have them stored forever- you won't ever forget what you were thinking when the machine scanned you." Ferb explained.

It was pretty unusual for Ferb to speak, especially this early in the day. I stared at him for a second, surprised. He grinned back. What was that about?

"Exactly!" Phineas replied to his brother. "Are you in?" he asked, turning to me.

"Of course!" I grinned. Maybe today was the day after all. Maybe he would notice me.

Phineas quickly turned to his brother, discussing the blueprints they were drafting. My smile faded.

"I'm going in to get a glass of water." I said. It was pretty hot out today. I turned and walked indoors, heading for the kitchen.

Then a thought hit me- When we ended up using their crazy contraption, would they want to see the files of my thoughts?! This startled me- I wasn't ready for anyone to read my thoughts- much less my crush! But then I remembered my promise to myself- If Phineas didn't understand my feelings today , I would be over him. Maybe this was the perfect way for him to understand… I'm not feeling very confident right now though; I would need to think about this some more. I got a glass of water and headed back outside.

"Oh hey Isabella. We could use some help with the thingy-ma-whatsit" Phineas said.

"You got it!" I smiled

We must have worked for an hour before it was done. Finally, as the sun was high in the sky, we stepped back to take a look at our creation.

"It looks awesome! Who should go first?" Phineas asked excitedly.

Ferb raised his hand. Phineas looked a little surprised, but bounced back quickly. "Great! Just step right over, yeah you got it- after all, you did help build it" He laughed nervously.

Ferb stood in the middle of the contraption and nodded to Phineas. Phineas pulled the lever, and immediately the computer started downloading the files. "It's working!" Phineas whispered triumphantly. Ferb stood still until the computer made a "ding" sound. He quickly walked over to his computer before Phineas or I could click anything.

"Oh- right." Phineas said. "It would be pretty rude of us to look through your thoughts without asking..." He put his hand to his chin, then said; "How about we just email some of them to each other- y'know, the interesting or funny ones that we're ok with sharing."

The smile on my face fell. That meant that I would have to choose to email Phineas about my feelings if he was ever to know how I felt. Somehow that seemed harder than him just looking through the files himself- though I guess it was the right thing to do… I did still want him to know how I felt, right? I wasn't sure...

Ferb nodded with a smile on his face that implied "thank you". He quickly selected some files from the download and emailed them to us. Before I could check my phone to see what he'd sent, Phineas said "Great! My turn!" and stepped into the range of the machine. Ferb pulled the lever, and the computer started downloading.

Before I knew it, it was my turn. I replaced the computer that was there with my own, and stood where Phineas had just been. My heart started racing- they wouldn't look at the files themselves right? No, they said they wouldn't. I closed my eyes as I heard someone pull the lever. I kept my eyes closed until I heard a "ding!"

I raced over to the computer to unplug it and put it in my bag- not that Phineas or Ferb had touched it, or even intended to…

Ferb must have seen the look of concern on my face as he said "It's ok if you don't want to email us your thoughts." Wow that's a funny sentence. He put his hand on my shoulder and I smiled at him. He left his hand on my shoulder for a few seconds- which was… odd. He wasn't very talkative or social generally. Hmm. Odd.

"Yeah Ferb's right, Izzy. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to." Phineas agreed.

"I know! We can play two truths and a lie! Using the thoughts from the files as truths!" I said, glad to have a solution to the situation that I was comfortable with. This could work- and it'd be less, I dunno, awkward? It did seem kinda weird to just email your thoughts to your friends for no real reason…

"Good idea Isabella." Ferb spoke again. Well that was just downright peculiar- when did he start to speak so much?