Phineas couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in curiosity as he exited his woodshop class. He was far ahead of the other kids, as far as his project ideas, but then again, he had been working on projects for at least six years, so he knew all the ins and outs of building. However, all of his projects, despite size, always disappeared. They had been since he had started building, but at least they were able to be graded before disappearing. He walked down the hallway between classes, and he noticed Isabella catch up to him.
"Watcha doin'?" she asked cheerily. He glanced over at her, getting that smile that flitted across his face whenever he heard this special question come from her mouth.
He shrugged. "The usual, I suppose." Her eyebrows pushed together in concern.
"Did it disappear again?" she questioned. Phineas half-grimaced.
"Yeah. I still don't know how that happens…" Isabella sighed after his reply. Since they had gone to high school, they had gotten more distant, and she barely saw him anymore. She wished that this wasn't the truth, but it regrettably was. She never even got to see his inventions before they disappeared anymore.
"Well, I gotta go," Phineas sighed, turning into another class. Isabella was left sadly alone in the hallway, clutching her books to her chest.
"Bye, Phineas," she murmured sadly, before moving on to her next class.
..
Phineas and Ferb walked home in silence that day. At one point, Ferb suddenly nudged Phineas with his elbow. Phineas chuckled halfheartedly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Ferb," he said. "I'm usually more talkative on the way home, huh?" Ferb nodded, and Phineas sighed. "Ferb…" he started, then trailed off, sighing again. "Ferb, do you ever feel bad that we don't talk to Isabella much anymore?" Ferb shrugged. Phineas nodded, then stopped and sat on the sidewalk, inviting Ferb to sit next to him.
"I know what you mean," Phineas said. "We don't take the same classes, and we're far too busy to invent in any spare time we might come upon. It's not really our fault, but honestly, how much has changed?" Ferb pointed up at the sky. "Yeah, you have a point. It's not summer anymore. Even so, during the summer, we don't see each other much. Man, we even live across the street from each other, but we STILL see little of each other."
Ferb raised an eyebrow, curious.
"No, I don't know why I'm so interested right now," Phineas replied, almost mumbling. "Just – forget I mentioned it." After looking back at Phineas suspiciously, Ferb picked himself up. He helped Phineas to his feet, and they finished walking home.
..
The next day, Isabella met up again with Phineas in the hallway.
"Hey, Phineas," she said with an unstoppable smile. "Whatcha doin'?" She looked up and noticed a smile flash across his face, and she knew that she was still prepared to give anything to see that smile, just like when they were ten. She never stopped liking him through all the years, and she also never stopped holding this as a secret from him and Ferb. She would tell them when she was ready, she had always supposed.
"Not much," Phineas said in reply to her previous question. "Just moving on through the school day." Isabella nodded slowly, and looked up ahead of them. She noticed Baljeet holding hands with Mishki, as he always did nowadays. Isabella's eyes flicked down to Phineas's free hand hanging by his side, and her heart began to pound. Her mind quickly began shouting, Take it! Take it! For God's sake, reach out and hold his hand! It felt like her arm had turned to lead, and she could no longer move it just by thinking.
"Isabella?"
Isabella wrenched her gaze from Phineas's hand to his face, her heart pounding even faster from hearing her name in his voice. They stopped in front of their lockers, which weren't far apart. Isabella looked into his eyes and saw concern there.
Concern for her.
"I'm fine," she told him with a shaky laugh. He pushed his eyebrows together.
"You sure?" he asked quietly. Isabella dropped her gaze to the floor, to avoid telling him a lie to his face.
"I'm sure," she mumbled.
At the end of the day, Isabella sped with the crowd to get her books. She was managing her lock when a sob suddenly burst from her mouth. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle more as she fell to her knees and began to cry. The crowd swept past her, no one noticing. Finally, she stood and tried wiping her eyes as she got the rest of her books in her arms. Closing her locker, Isabella began moving with the crowd, still wiping her eyes. She suddenly felt a hand grab her arm and pull her back. Whipping around, her eyes flicked over the familiar green hair and face of Ferb.
"Oh, Ferb!" she exclaimed, flying in and throwing her arms around his neck. After a bit, they broke apart. Ferb gently wiped a tear from her cheek, raising his eyebrows in curious sympathy.
"It's just, that, well, I miss you guys…a lot," Isabella explained, wiping away other tears. "It feels like I never see you, even though we live just across the street." Ferb opened his mouth to explain, but Isabella shook her head and continued. "I know you guys are busy all the time, but still…I miss Phineas so much!" Ferb raised his eyebrows, and Isabella clapped her hands over her mouth.
"And you, of course, Ferb!" she exclaimed, then sighed, realizing that it was now or never. "It's just that I have a crush on Phineas, Ferb. You've probably already guessed, since you're wicked perceptive." Ferb nodded slowly.
"I knew it," Isabella mumbled. "Does Phineas know?"
Ferb shook his head.
"You're okay with this, right, Ferb?" Isabella asked. Ferb wordlessly reached out and pulled her into his chest.
"Of course," Ferb replied. "And I was going to say that we miss you, too."
"You always know what to say, Ferb," Isabella said, her eyes filling. She squeezed her eyes shut and began to sob into his chest.
..
Phineas walked home alone, that day. As he walked by the Garcia-Shapiro house, he stopped and turned to it. Why was all this stuff with Isabella striking him now? It was true that every time he told her he was busy, he had felt a pang of guilt in his heart, but this wasn't like any other time before. He felt the immensely strong desire to go up to her and apologize, to hug her in his arms, and to invent something to make her smile. He turned and rushed into the house, but screeched to a halt before reaching the doorknob. Why was all this striking him know? God...he must like her or something! This was unprecedented. What were the schematics for troubleshooting a problem like this? He shook his head, trying to get the engineering aspect out of his head. All he would do was tell her his feelings, and, knowing Isabella, she would accept that, no matter how she felt towards him.
His mind made up, Phineas entered his house, and quickly ran upstairs to his room to begin working on blueprints for something for Isabella. Ferb got home later that afternoon, and Phineas glanced up at him as he walked in their door.
"Hey, Ferb," he said, looking back down at his blueprints. "Where were you?" Ferb just shrugged, and Phineas took that into stride. Ferb was always staying afterschool for US government work. He excelled in that class, although he was still passionate about building things. Ferb raised an eyebrow at Phineas's nonstop work.
"It's…um…" Phineas mumbled, realizing it was too late to hide the blueprints. "It's…for…um…woodshop?" Ferb gave Phineas a completely skeptical look.
"Cut me some slack, here, Ferb!" Phineas exclaimed. "I know, I know…I don't plan stuff for woodshop ahead of time, and putting a question at the end of that sentence might have been the wrong choice. But that's unimportant! What's important is that this is for…um…" He trailed off. He had never kept a secret from Ferb before, but he had never known something like this before.
"It's for Isabella?" Phineas looked up at Ferb so quickly, his neck cracked. He winced and rubbed the area where it had cracked.
"Yeah," Phineas said, sounding slightly shocked. "I guess I like her, Ferb. Why didn't I realize this before? I mean, we've been seeing each other all the time for at least…what? Six years? More?" Ferb nodded, and Phineas sighed again. "Then why am I realizing this now? God, tomorrow will be so awkward!"
Ferb shook his head, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"Yeah, you're right…it won't be awkward for her," Phineas mumbled. "She doesn't know." He paused, an idea forming in his mind. "Hey, Ferb, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow!" Ferb sat up, an old, familiar twinkle coming to his eye. "Do you think you could sneak this into Isabella's locker tomorrow?" Phineas held up the blueprints in front of Ferb's face, and gave Phineas the thumbs-up.
..
The next day, using advanced technology he had invented the night before, Ferb snuck Phineas's invention into Isabella's locker before she had even arrived that morning.
Isabella opened up her locker for the first time halfway through the day. She opened it with a sigh, having not seen Phineas yet that day. As she stuffed books into her locker, she looked up and saw a strange metallic box in the compartment at the top of her locker. A small tag ran from it, and scrawled out on it was a note in familiar handwriting.
'Dear Isabella,' it read. 'I'm sorry I haven't gotten to see you much lately, but I hope this will make up for it. Press that red button once you're alone, preferably afterschool. With complete, unfeigned, sincerity, Phineas.' Isabella sighed happily just looking at the note. Phineas always had a way with words, even if it was just a note.
At the end of the day, Isabella snatched the box from her locker and dashed outside, her mind burning with curiosity. She secluded herself, then pressed the red button. A holographic image of Phineas sprang from the box, and Isabella released a happy sigh.
"Hey, Isabella," holographic Phineas said. "Watcha doin'?" He paused for a small chuckle that was passed on to her. "So…um…as you probably read on the note, I'm really sorry about not being by your side much, like I always was in the old days. Well, recently, I've been feeling really bad, and I think I finally figured out why." He took a deep breath and sighed. "it seems that I like you, Isabella. I like you a lot. Near as I can figure, this all started probably way back when." He paused again. "And…I just thought I ought to tell you. See you later, Isabella. I'll be thinking of you." With a small zapping sound, he disappeared.
Isabella was left completely speechless, staring at the spot where Phineas's holograph had stood. Her eyes filled, and she began to cry, a smile forming across her face.
"Yes," she breathed. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" She squeezed her eyes shut, turned up to the sky, and screamed. It was a scream of pure joy, and nothing else was contained in it besides happiness, relief, and love. Tears splashed down her cheeks in her elation and she held Phineas's message to her chest, not wanting to let it or the fresh memory of it slip away. She heard footsteps off to her side and she clumsily stood, turning around.
"Phineas," she whispered, elation taking her mind.
"Hey, Isabella," he said, and for one of the first times in her life, she could detect nerves in his voice. "Um…did you get my message?"
"I did," Isabella replied quietly, every nerve in her body tingling, her voice wanting to shout, to scream in joy.
"And…?"
"And what, Phineas? Haven't you known that I've been madly falling head-over-heels for you ever since we met? Ferb was able to figure it out. I'm surprised you hadn't. So you're honestly telling me that you want me to be your girlfriend? You like more than a friend?"
Phineas thought for a minute. "Yes. Yes, I do."
Isabella sighed happily, looking at him with an uncontrollable smile. "Then this is wonderful." Phineas nodded. "it took me a bit to get the engineering out of my mind when I was contemplating it, but -"
"Oh, shut up and kiss me," Isabella interrupted her. In two brief strides, he crossed the distance between them and swept her up with a kiss that would have knocked her off her feet, had she not been in the air already.