Chapter Two

Standing in front of my mirror in my underwear I sighed deeply. The last few days flew by and now I was getting prepared for my first day at school, and my first day without my dogs all summer. I wished there was a way for me to at least keep Aurora with me, but Matt assured me that she would be fine joining him at a vet technician school that he was attending so he could get a decent job and work up money to get his veterinary degree. I knew she would be fine with Matt since he was her second favourite in the family, but I still worried about my girl.

Going to my closet I picked out a pair of faded skinny jeans, a black plain V-neck t-shirt, and a blue cardigan. Once dressed I put on a bit of make-up, concealer for a few pimples and the bags under my eyes, eyeliner, mascara, and pale lip gloss, all to give me the appearance of life. My hair, by this point, was dried into their irregular relaxed waves. I loved my hair; all I ever had to do was wash it and leave it alone. I went upstairs, grabbed an apple and my to-go cup of coffee, and then headed outside with Aurora towards Matt's pick-up truck.

He was already seated listening to Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show. I smiled at him and opened the door, allowing Aurora to hop in and get herself situated in the tiny backseat. I get into the front seat and do up my seatbelt as I lay my messenger bag at my feet.

"Hey, I don't want you to worry about Aurora today alright? She'll hang out with me all day and get bathed and brushed and played with," Matt told me, reading my mind. I had been worrying about my girl all day, afraid of how she was going to handle being without me. Matt had been spending a lot of time with her though so that she could get used to being with him. "And don't forget, we'll pick you up after school, alright?" I nod at him and look at the side window.

I hadn't seen Phineas, Isabella, or Ferb since that day in their backyard and I wondered if they really meant what they said about hanging out at school. I doubted it, but I guess I'd find out shortly since we were now pulled up in front of the dull brick building. Matt turned to me.

"Do you need me to come in with you?" he asked in a slightly worried tone. I shook my head. "Well if you need anything at all just call me okay?" I nodded and gave him a smile that I hoped would ease his worries, before giving Aurora one last pat, and exiting the car. I place my bag on my shoulder, take a deep breath, and head into the building with the swarms of other students.

I already had my schedule, and glancing down at it I see that homeroom is room 107. I head down a hallway that I hope is in the right direction, trying to keep my head up and not look lost. There were hundreds of bodies surging around me, all blending together to form an ocean-like mass. Their voices were all escalated into one loud sound, each voice indistinguishable to the next. Finally I found the door marked 107 and hastily made my way inside. There weren't many people here, since most students were in the hallway chatting with friends they hadn't seen all summer. It was good news for me, because I was able to snag a seat in the back corner of the room.

Once seated, I pull out my black sketchbook and open it to a blank page. I glance around the room, trying to find something worth drawing, and finally settle on the teacher at her desk. She looked old, with her grey hair in a haphazard bun on the top of her head, glasses perched on a delicate nose as she read through a book. I began the lines without thinking about it. Curves here, shading there, trying in vain to capture the relaxed and peaceful expression. I was so absorbed; I didn't notice somebody sitting beside me, until a voice interrupted my work.

"You're pretty good at that." I looked up to see the goofy grin belonging to Phineas. I couldn't help but smile back at him. "I was worried when I didn't see you the last couple days. I'm hoping you haven't forgotten my offer of being best buds?" I shook my head.

"I was more concerned that you would have forgotten about me," I told him, closing up my book and putting it away. Glancing around I realized that the class was full and the bell must have rang. I didn't see Isabella in the class with us. Phineas reached out and tugged gently on a lock of my hair, bringing his hand almost uncomfortably close to touching my face.

"How could I forget a beauty like you?" There was a teasing note in his voice, and I found it hard to tell if he was joking or not. I figure girls must positively swoon over him. He's extremely attractive with his shocking red hair and bright blue eyes. Not to mention that mischievous smile that always seems to be on his lips.

I was surprised with myself. I never really thought myself to be the type of girl to go weak over a guy, but from the intimate way he was touching my hair, the playful grin he was giving me, and the way his eyes captivated mine, I was finding myself blushing lightly. I wasn't about to let him know that he was getting to me, though, and decided to play back. I leaned in close to his face so our noses touch.

"Now, now Phineas," I whispered softly, "I wouldn't play this game if I were you. I have two older brothers, three dogs, and a Dad who thinks I'm still six." I pulled away and laughed a bit as I saw his face turn the same red as his hair. He laughed it off though and leaned back in his chair, putting a more comfortable distance between us.

"I think we're going to be best friends Elena," he announced. "I like your style." I grinned at him, happy to have past some unknown test of friendship, and actually found myself really enjoying his company as we chatted through the rest of homeroom. When the bell finally rang to send us to our next classes, it felt like no time had passed at all, and I was feeling almost sad that I didn't have another class with Phineas until World History at the end of the day.

"I'll see you at lunch," he told me as he turned to walk in the opposite direction from where I was headed. "Meet me in the front foyer by the office."

I smiled as I headed off to my next class. It was nice finding that I had at lead one friend; especially one as easy to be around as Phineas. He was obviously very popular as everybody greeted him, but he wasn't stuck up about it. Phineas also tried to learn more about me, than he would offer up or answer about himself. It was so refreshing being around a guy like that, that I had found myself becoming more talkative around him.

Reaching the door of my next class I noticed a head of forest green hair, and almost groaned as I realized that none other than Ferb was in my AP English class. I decided not to let it get to me and walked into the class, head held high as I took a seat as far from him as possible. The class quickly filled up and I made it my mission not to look at Ferb or even acknowledge his presence.

The more I thought about it as the class began and the teacher started to outline the course, the more irrational it seemed to me. All Ferb had done was look at me. Granted it made me a bit uncomfortable, but he hadn't said anything that was uncalled for. I suppose it was more of an involuntary reaction to the staring and his attitude.

"Alright students, I'm going to pair you up. You and your partner will do all presentations together and work together on everything. I want you to write a journal entry about this person every week and at the end of the semester I expect an essay based solely on what you've learned through working with this person that you wouldn't have learned otherwise." I stared, almost slack-jawed at what Mr. Malkovich instructed. This seemed like the dumbest assignment I'd ever encountered. Luckily another girl voiced my thoughts.

"Sir? This seems like a dumb waste of time to be honest," she told him with a strangely nasally voice.

"I understand that this is unconventional Ms. Burke, but the reasoning behind this assignment is simple. AP students don't move outside of their comfort zone. If you have a friend in this class, you always partner with them. If you don't, you choose to work alone. In doing this, you'll never learn vital skills that class doesn't teach you, like dealing with people you may not like, or how to learn things about people. Plus I'm looking forward to watching a lot of you write mean things behind each other's back that you wouldn't dare say out loud." The class was stunned into silence. "Any other questions? No? Then let's get you kids partnered up. You'll have to sit beside each other, too."

And that's how I ended up sitting beside Mr. Ferb Fletcher, the guy I was trying – obviously in vain – to avoid.

"It won't be so bad," he leaned over and whispered to me. "You may actually find yourself completely enamoured with me." I snorted and shook my head.

"Unlikely," I replied. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

"We'll see about that Elle."

Luckily the bell rang and I hurried away to Math, which was uneventful, and by lunch I was almost relaxed to a Zen state. As I entered the foyer I spotted the fire red head of hair belonging to Phineas almost immediately, and I walked over to him as confidently as I could. When he spotted me he quickly snatched me up in a hug and soon I was laughing. His personality and good humour was positively infectious.

"I missed you," he informed me, laughing. I simply demanded that I be put down. Phineas was short, maybe 5'7" compared to his brother, but I just managed to reach 5'3". "You're so tiny," he told me while placing me back on the ground, "like a little doll or something." I shook my head, smiling, and almost baffled by the way that this guy spoke without reservation to people. "Come on though, I'm hungry and you need to tell me about your classes. Do they suck?"

As we walked to the cafeteria and stood in line to get something to eat, I recounted the events of my day thus far to him. I even included the exchange with Ferb and all Phineas did in response was chuckle and place an arm around my shoulder.

"Ferb fancies himself a bit of a ladies man," he told me, "but don't let him bother you. He really is harmless at heart." I laughed a bit and smirked up at him as we walked to a table.

"Unlike you that is a ladies man, yet not harmless?" I asked him. He laughed loudly and I found myself really enjoying the sound. It wasn't obnoxious, but had a deep, rich tone to it. As if when he laughed, he did so with his whole body and soul.

We were soon joined by Isabella, a large guy with short brown hair and a small, wiry, Indian kid. Isabella sat on Phineas' other side while the two new boys sat across from us.

"Hey Elena," Isabella greeted me good naturedly, "This is Buford and Baljeet. Guys this is Elena, she just moved here a few days before school started." The guys smiled at me and I noticed that the bigger guy, Buford, had his arm wrapped around Baljeet's waist. 'Interesting dynamic,' I thought to myself. Baljeet smiled at me.

"You are in my math class," he said happily. "You should sit beside me." I nodded and returned his smile, finding it easy to be with these people.

As we ate, I asked the group some questions about themselves, and learned that Isabella was a cheerleader – no surprise there – and wants to get a cheerleading scholarship to become a doctor – plenty of surprise from that revelation. Phineas is on the soccer, basketball, and hockey teams, plus has a band with Ferb and two of Ferb's friends. Phineas plays guitar and sings lead, while Ferb plays bass. Finally, I learned that Buford used to bully Baljeet all the time, but at the beginning of this past summer, they both finally realized why Buford was bullying him, yet was friends with him at the same time. It was a sweet love story, especially since neither of them made a huge deal about being gay. They loved each other, plain and simple.

Suddenly I felt a hand touching my shoulder. I looked up and saw that it was Ferb with a few of his friends. They were all dressed similarly with different coloured hair, piercings, tattoos, etc.; all displaying their "individuality."

"Hey partner," Ferb said with his smooth, somewhat addicting accent. I could see why girls would fall all over him. "Why don't you come sit with me and my friends? That way we could talk about this new relationship we have." It was like every word his spoke had a double meaning. I simply shook my head, smiling up at him.

"I'm good. You seem to have your hands full." And it was true; there were a few girls flanking him, staring at him in adoration. It was slightly nauseating.

"Up to you, just keep in mind that my hands are great at multitasking and always have time for my partner." He winked at me, grinning before leaving with his group.

I turned back towards the group and none seemed to have paid any attention to the exchange except for Phineas who was watching me with a strange look on his face. I ignored it and just immersed myself back into the conversation with the people I hoped would be my new friends.

The rest of the day passed without anything significant happening, but I found, once seated in Matt's truck, that I was exhausted. Trying to be super social seemed to take a lot out of me, and all I wanted was to take the dogs to a dogpark and relax.

"How was school?" Matt asked as he pulled out of the parking lot and Aurora climbed into my lap, licking my face.

"Strange. I made a few friends, but there's one guy who's my new partner in English that I'm finding a bit… weird I guess." I explained the whole situation to Matt, whom has always been my confidant and he listened without judgement.

"Well, if he gives you any serious trouble, just let me know, okay?" I nodded at him and a small smile formed on my lips. I could always count on Matt. "You'll be pleased to know that Aurora made a new friend today in the form of an iguana." I chuckled a bit and listened to Matt's day, hugging my girl and stroking her soft, uncropped ears.

I loved moments like this, when it was just me and Matt, talking and relaxing, but unfortunately the truck pulled into the driveway all too soon. I hopped out and headed inside with Aurora to do some homework and then take the dogs out for a walk before dinner.

The whole time I couldn't get two very different brothers out of my head.