p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chapter One/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, freedom at last," Phineas sighed, stretching both arms over his head as he exited the classroom./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I do not know what you are talking about," Baljeet replied. "I can't believe Mrs. Romanov didn't give us a single piece of homework to do over the break." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, no calculus for two and a half weeks," Phineas smirked. "However will you survive?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ferb met them in the hallway, which was rapidly becoming crowded as students flooded from their classrooms after the last period of fall semester. The green-haired boy's eyes were faintly bloodshot, and he seemed uncharacteristically shaken./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What's up, Ferb?" Phineas asked his stepbrother, raising his voice to be heard over the din of laughter and slamming lockers. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""English exam," Ferb responded succinctly./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, yeah, I took that one yesterday," Phineas said, looking sympathetic. "I thought my hand was going to fall off, that's how bad my writer's cramp was. Can't beat those essay exams."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Abruptly, Baljeet realized he was still carrying all his textbooks. "Hey, I need to drop some stuff off at my locker," he said. "I'll meet up with you later, all right?" The brothers waved and Baljeet began to weave his way through the crowd, feeling like a fish swimming upstream. When he emerged into the deserted third floor hall, he breathed a sigh of relief and began twirling the dial to open his locker./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Trying to sneak off without me?" a voice growled in Baljeet's ear, so close the speaker's breath fluttered hotly over his neck and cheek. He jumped, books tumbling from his arms./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Darn you, Buford," Baljeet snapped, spinning around to shove the larger boy out of his personal space. "Why are you still here? I thought you had seventh period free."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I do. I stuck around because I thought you might want a ride home. Have you even looked outside? It has to have snowed six inches in the past hour."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet eyed the other boy cautiously. Likely this was a ploy to get him alone so Buford could dump him in a snowdrift or something, though he had to admit it was a bit more complex than most of the bully's schemes. To give himself time to think of an excuse, he bent over and started retrieving his books from the floor./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was supposed to get a ride with Phineas and Ferb," he replied finally, placing the last textbook on the proper shelf./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford narrowed his eyes. "In that stupid British sports car? I don't think so, nerd. Call Phineas and tell him you'll see him tomorrow."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Since when do you get to order me around?" Baljeet asked, miffed. "Besides, I know you love that car!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not when there's a foot of snow on the ground," Buford replied at once, having anticipated this line of reasoning. "The truck's got new snow tires. Much safer."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet sighed and began stuffing his strangely empty backpack with notes he wanted to review before the new semester started. "Fine," he conceded, rolling his eyes. "But you will have to call Phineas yourself. My phone died at lunch."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford smirked in triumph and fished in his pocket for the phone. Even after all these years, it never failed to amuse him that Baljeet couldn't win a single one of their arguments, never mind the fact that he was supposedly some kind of genius. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Phineas was number five on Baljeet's speed dial, and he punched the button and waited impatiently while the phone rang. "Hey, Buford," came Phineas's cheery voice. "What's up?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm driving Baljeet home," Buford replied without preamble. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There was a brief pause during which muffled voices came through the speaker, then Phineas said, "Ferb says to tell you 'nicely done,' whatever that means. You're still coming over tomorrow, right?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure," Buford answered absently, watching Baljeet attempt to stuff an orange notebook into his bulging satchel. "Bye."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Can you carry some of this stuff?" Baljeet asked, looking over and seeing that Buford had ended the call. "I can't fit it all, and there's no way I'm leaving either my history notes or my physics notes behind. That would be a disaster."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since when do I carry your books?/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Buford wondered, unconsciously echoing Baljeet's earlier words. Still, he accepted the surprisingly hefty stack of notebooks Baljeet unloaded into his arms without complaint. He could always drop them in the snow by "accident" once they were outside./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Jeez, I wouldn't have waited for you if I knew you were planning to spend the entire break deciding what to take home," Buford grumbled, earning a glare from the other boy./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I did not /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"ask/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" you to coerce me into accepting your offer of a ride home," Baljeet said prissily. Buford fell silent, probably trying to sort that sentence out, and Baljeet shouldered past him, slamming the locker closed as he went./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford hadn't been kidding about the snow, Baljeet saw. When they pushed through the big glass doors at the front of the school, they nearly ran into a janitor who was shoveling the steps and sprinkling them with salt. Sadly, he hadn't gotten to the stairs that led to the senior parking lot yet, and Baljeet was forced to endure several minutes of Buford's laughter as he slipped and slid down the snowy staircase. Buford, in his heavy boots, seemed to have no trouble at all./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hang on, let me get the door," Buford said when they reached the old rusty-red Ford pickup. "It's been sticking lately, and it gets worse in cold weather. Haven't had a chance to figure out what's wrong with it yet." He turned his key in the lock and heaved upward on the handle. The door opened with a creak and a groan, and Baljeet stepped hurriedly out of the way in case it decided to fall off its hinges just to spite him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a last wary look, Baljeet clambered into the truck, stuffing his satchel onto the floor beside his feet. Buford slammed the door with a force that shook the whole vehicle and walked around to the driver's seat. When he turned the key in the ignition, the engine turned over a few times before coughing reluctantly to life. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As they pulled out of the parking lot, an awkward silence fell. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Buford – " Baljeet began./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So, nerd – " Buford said, then broke off as he realized they'd both spoken at once./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet laughed. "You go first," he said./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was going to ask what you were doing for Christmas," Buford finished./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My family is Hindi!" Baljeet informed him. "How long have we known each other? Ten years? Eleven? Your brain must be even smaller than I suspected!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford struggled to contain his smile. He loved getting a rise out of Baljeet, and loved even more that he antagonized the Indian boy better than anyone else because he knew just which buttons to push. "Yeah, I think you might've mentioned that," Buford said nonchalantly. "But you like Christmas decorations and I've seen you exchange presents with Phineas and Ferb in the past, so I though you celebrated at least a little."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As quickly as it had flared up, Baljeet's anger faded. "Um," he said softly, "Are you mad that I didn't give you a present, too? I would have, it's just that I wasn't sure what you would like, and then I wasn't sure if you wanted me to give you something, and…" He trailed off, fastening his gaze on his hands./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford gave him an inscrutable look. "Don't overthink it," he said. "You're my nerd. You don't give me presents; that's not how it works." And he focused his attention on the road, effectively preventing any further discussion of the subject./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Then how /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"does/spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" it work? /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Baljeet wondered, watching from his porch as Buford's truck turned out of the driveway, leaving tread marks in the fresh snow./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, freedom at last," Phineas sighed, stretching both arms over his head as he exited the classroom./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I do not know what you are talking about," Baljeet replied. "I can't believe Mrs. Romanov didn't give us a single piece of homework to do over the break." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, no calculus for two and a half weeks," Phineas smirked. "However will you survive?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ferb met them in the hallway, which was rapidly becoming crowded as students flooded from their classrooms after the last period of fall semester. The green-haired boy's eyes were faintly bloodshot, and he seemed uncharacteristically shaken./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What's up, Ferb?" Phineas asked his stepbrother, raising his voice to be heard over the din of laughter and slamming lockers. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""English exam," Ferb responded succinctly./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, yeah, I took that one yesterday," Phineas said, looking sympathetic. "I thought my hand was going to fall off, that's how bad my writer's cramp was. Can't beat those essay exams."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Abruptly, Baljeet realized he was still carrying all his textbooks. "Hey, I need to drop some stuff off at my locker," he said. "I'll meet up with you later, all right?" The brothers waved and Baljeet began to weave his way through the crowd, feeling like a fish swimming upstream. When he emerged into the deserted third floor hall, he breathed a sigh of relief and began twirling the dial to open his locker./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Trying to sneak off without me?" a voice growled in Baljeet's ear, so close the speaker's breath fluttered hotly over his neck and cheek. He jumped, books tumbling from his arms./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Darn you, Buford," Baljeet snapped, spinning around to shove the larger boy out of his personal space. "Why are you still here? I thought you had seventh period free."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I do. I stuck around because I thought you might want a ride home. Have you even looked outside? It has to have snowed six inches in the past hour."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet eyed the other boy cautiously. Likely this was a ploy to get him alone so Buford could dump him in a snowdrift or something, though he had to admit it was a bit more complex than most of the bully's schemes. To give himself time to think of an excuse, he bent over and started retrieving his books from the floor./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was supposed to get a ride with Phineas and Ferb," he replied finally, placing the last textbook on the proper shelf./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford narrowed his eyes. "In that stupid British sports car? I don't think so, nerd. Call Phineas and tell him you'll see him tomorrow."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Since when do you get to order me around?" Baljeet asked, miffed. "Besides, I know you love that car!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not when there's a foot of snow on the ground," Buford replied at once, having anticipated this line of reasoning. "The truck's got new snow tires. Much safer."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet sighed and began stuffing his strangely empty backpack with notes he wanted to review before the new semester started. "Fine," he conceded, rolling his eyes. "But you will have to call Phineas yourself. My phone died at lunch."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford smirked in triumph and fished in his pocket for the phone. Even after all these years, it never failed to amuse him that Baljeet couldn't win a single one of their arguments, never mind the fact that he was supposedly some kind of genius. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Phineas was number five on Baljeet's speed dial, and he punched the button and waited impatiently while the phone rang. "Hey, Buford," came Phineas's cheery voice. "What's up?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm driving Baljeet home," Buford replied without preamble. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There was a brief pause during which muffled voices came through the speaker, then Phineas said, "Ferb says to tell you 'nicely done,' whatever that means. You're still coming over tomorrow, right?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure," Buford answered absently, watching Baljeet attempt to stuff an orange notebook into his bulging satchel. "Bye."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Can you carry some of this stuff?" Baljeet asked, looking over and seeing that Buford had ended the call. "I can't fit it all, and there's no way I'm leaving either my history notes or my physics notes behind. That would be a disaster."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since when do I carry your books?/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Buford wondered, unconsciously echoing Baljeet's earlier words. Still, he accepted the surprisingly hefty stack of notebooks Baljeet unloaded into his arms without complaint. He could always drop them in the snow by "accident" once they were outside./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Jeez, I wouldn't have waited for you if I knew you were planning to spend the entire break deciding what to take home," Buford grumbled, earning a glare from the other boy./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I did not /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"ask/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" you to coerce me into accepting your offer of a ride home," Baljeet said prissily. Buford fell silent, probably trying to sort that sentence out, and Baljeet shouldered past him, slamming the locker closed as he went./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford hadn't been kidding about the snow, Baljeet saw. When they pushed through the big glass doors at the front of the school, they nearly ran into a janitor who was shoveling the steps and sprinkling them with salt. Sadly, he hadn't gotten to the stairs that led to the senior parking lot yet, and Baljeet was forced to endure several minutes of Buford's laughter as he slipped and slid down the snowy staircase. Buford, in his heavy boots, seemed to have no trouble at all./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hang on, let me get the door," Buford said when they reached the old rusty-red Ford pickup. "It's been sticking lately, and it gets worse in cold weather. Haven't had a chance to figure out what's wrong with it yet." He turned his key in the lock and heaved upward on the handle. The door opened with a creak and a groan, and Baljeet stepped hurriedly out of the way in case it decided to fall off its hinges just to spite him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a last wary look, Baljeet clambered into the truck, stuffing his satchel onto the floor beside his feet. Buford slammed the door with a force that shook the whole vehicle and walked around to the driver's seat. When he turned the key in the ignition, the engine turned over a few times before coughing reluctantly to life. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As they pulled out of the parking lot, an awkward silence fell. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Buford – " Baljeet began./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So, nerd – " Buford said, then broke off as he realized they'd both spoken at once./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Baljeet laughed. "You go first," he said./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was going to ask what you were doing for Christmas," Buford finished./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My family is Hindi!" Baljeet informed him. "How long have we known each other? Ten years? Eleven? Your brain must be even smaller than I suspected!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford struggled to contain his smile. He loved getting a rise out of Baljeet, and loved even more that he antagonized the Indian boy better than anyone else because he knew just which buttons to push. "Yeah, I think you might've mentioned that," Buford said nonchalantly. "But you like Christmas decorations and I've seen you exchange presents with Phineas and Ferb in the past, so I though you celebrated at least a little."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As quickly as it had flared up, Baljeet's anger faded. "Um," he said softly, "Are you mad that I didn't give you a present, too? I would have, it's just that I wasn't sure what you would like, and then I wasn't sure if you wanted me to give you something, and…" He trailed off, fastening his gaze on his hands./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Buford gave him an inscrutable look. "Don't overthink it," he said. "You're my nerd. You don't give me presents; that's not how it works." And he focused his attention on the road, effectively preventing any further discussion of the subject./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 27pt;"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Then how /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"does/spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" it work? /spanspan style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Baljeet wondered, watching from his porch as Buford's truck turned out of the driveway, leaving tread marks in the fresh snow./span/p