"Good morning Danville high..." the morning announcements rang through the speakers of Isabella Garcia Shapiro's morning classroom. Like each morning everyone in her school stood up, pledged allegiance to the flag and listened to whatever events were happening throughout the school. Most mornings Isabella listened but didn't pay much attention to the announcements but this morning was different because there was an announcement that caught Isabella's attention. "Auditions for the school's musical will be this Thursday and Friday, come prepared with a partner and a song to sing with musical accompaniment. Good luck to those who sign up!". Isabella loved to act and adored musicals so she jumped at the opportunity. All she needed now was an audition partner and she knew exactly who to ask. Her morning class had gone by quickly and she dashed off to find the one person she wanted to ask to audition with her. Finally she saw him standing next to his step brother Ferb Fletcher. She walked up to him and said
"Hey Phineas, whatcha' doin?" as she usually did. To which he replied
"Just learning and trying to look for flaws in quantum physics with Ferb here. You know the usual". Phineas was still unaware of the fact that Isabella had a crush on him but Isabella remained hopeful. He has to notice someday right?
"So are you planning on trying out for the musical?" Isabella asked curiously hoping he was.
"I was but I can't find a partner, are you auditioning?" Perfect! Isabella thought to herself.
"I was but I can't find a partner either...hey we should audition together!" Isabella suggested it but she knew Phineas wouldn't turn down the offer.
"Yeah that would be great!" Phineas exclaimed. "I'll sign us up for Thursday then!".
Isabella was happy that she was partnered with not only her crush but with someone with a ton of enthusiasm. She had said goodbye to the brothers and headed to her next class. Her audition was starting to plan itself out in her head. She knew the perfect song to sing. It would not only show off her talent but it may capture Phineas' attention to her feelings. Isabella was bursting with excitement.
Thursday had finally come and Phineas and Isabella were warming up for their audition. Phineas was confident as usual but Isabella had never been more nervous in her life. Phineas had asked Isabella if she was ok but she reassured him that she was fine.
"You'll be great Isabella, I'm sure of it!" Phineas put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly which caused Isabella to blush ever so slightly.
"Phineas and Isabella you're up" said the person watching over the waiting room for the audition. Isabella gulped.
"Break a leg, Isabella" Phineas said.
"You too". Once they entered the audition room they were asked to do a cold read of the scene they were given before their audition. Once they had finished that they were asked to sing the songs they had prepared. Phineas offered to go first. He sang the song Something's Coming from West Side Story. While Phineas was singing Isabella was watching him, amazed by his presence as usual. Even though Phineas' voice was a bit nasally she could listen to it all day. Finally she was up.
"I'm going to be singing the song On My Own from the musical Les Miserables sung by the character Eponine".
The intro music started and Phineas started to watch.
And now I'm all alone again nowhere to turn, no one to go to
without a home without a friend without a face to say hello to
And now the night is near
Now I can make believe he's here
The last line of that verse caught Phineas's attention. He wasn't too familiar with the song but he was interested a lot more now.
Sometimes I walk alone at night
When everybody else is sleeping
I think of him and then I'm happy
With the company I'm keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head
More pretty instrumental music started to play and Isabella prepared herself for the lyrics that were coming next.
On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him till morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever
The tone of the song was happy at this point but the mood of the music started to change as did Isabella happy love struck face.
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Isabella sang the word blind a bit more angrily then she should of have. Phineas didn't know that it was because Isabella had real annoyance behind the fact that the boy she loved was blind as well. He was just astonished by the emotion Isabella was putting into the song.
Still I say, there's a way for us
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers
Isabella had sang that verse tragically like it is sung in the actual production. She sounded like she was about to cry on the word gone. Isabella was making herself sad singing that verse because to an extent it was true to her own life.
I love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life
I've only been pretending
Without me
His world would go on turning
A world that's full of happiness
That I have never known
This verse made Isabella the saddest because it was true. Phineas' world would go on without her smoothly. She started to regret choosing this song for the audition. Phineas on the other hand was completely hypnotized by the performance. He was blown away by the emotion Isabella put into the performance and by how beautiful her voice sounded, especially when she sang the high note on the word known. Isabella wrapped up the song
I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own
As the music came to an end and Phineas couldn't stop himself from applauding Isabella. Of course this quickly became awkward because during an audition you're not supposed to applaud so Phineas found himself clapping by himself. Once he stopped due to the awkwardness the judges asked the both a few questions and their audition had finished. Since the school is less than 5 minutes away from their house they both walked home from their audition together.
"Your audition was really good Phineas!" Isabella complimented.
"Well if my audition was good then your audition was amazing!" Isabella felt herself starting to blush.
"Oh stop it!" Isabella said out of modesty.
"No seriously! I don't think I've ever seen better emotion put into a song! I mean the way you went from happy to angry to tragically sad and your singing was just incredible too! But seriously you have to tell me how you were able to get so much emotion into that performance! What's your secret?".
"Well..." Isabella didn't know how to answer that should she be honest or should she just lie? She decided to be vague. "personal experience, you know?" that could relate to anything right? She hoped so!
"Oh..." what does that mean? Phineas thought to himself. He decided he needed to change the topic. "So I should probably watch Les Mis again huh? It's been awhile".
They spent the rest of the walk home talking about the plot points of Les Miserables and Isabella couldn't stop herself from thinking that Phineas was as blind as ever. The line I love him, but only on my own kept running through her head. Someday Isabella reminded herself. Isabella's vague comment was bothering Phineas though. Who could possibly be that stupid to ignore Isabella's affections? Who could be that blind? Once Phineas had gotten home he had told Ferb about Isabella's performance and how magnificent it was. Then he told Ferb about Isabella's comment.
"Who do you think she was talking about Ferb? She must of been talking about someone if the emotion came from personal experience I mean you cannot love a pet like that. Speaking of pets, where's Perry?" Ferb shrugged, Phineas continued "I mean honestly, who could be that oblivious?". Ferb held back a smirk. "Well, as the song states, he is blind" Ferb looked over "Oh there you are Perry". Everything had returned to normal in the Flynn-Fletcher household. Their monotreme was home and Phineas was still as oblivious as ever but Isabella's comment continued to mock Phineas. He may have been blind but he was starting to become just a bit less oblivious.