Hey everyone! Thanks to all who read my first chapter, and of course special thanks to my reviewers: DarthEdocsil, huggablelove, anonymous, NattyMc, 8Tickles, and WordNerb93. I really appreciate your interest and support! As for disclaiming, I don't own Phineas and Ferb, as much as a pleasure as it would be. And now...Chapter 2!

Agent P's lair was silent, dark, and empty. Nothing stirred, no noises sounded…until Agent P himself dropped suddenly through the air and landed on the ground next to his chair. Wincing, Perry got up and took a mental note to tell Carl to fix the trajectory of the entrance chute.

As Perry sat in the chair, the lights switched on and the giant screen in front of him flickered to life. But no one appeared onscreen.

"Is it on yet, Carl?" came the voice of Major Monogram.

"I don't think so, sir," the intern replied, "There's usually a red light blinking somewhere if it's on…"

"Carl, there's a red light blinking right there."

"Oh. Well, then yes, sir, it's on."

"Well, great googly-moogly, Carl, why didn't you say so?"

Major Monogram hurried onscreen and addressed the platypus beneath him.

"Good morning, Agent P," Major Monogram said. "Sorry about the delay there, it was Carl's fault."

"Sorry…" came the intern's voice from off-screen.

"Anyway," Monogram continued, "about your mission: Doofenshmirtz has been buying up all the cloves of garlic in the Tri-State Area – it sounds like he's planning to cut them and make all the citizens cry."

"Uh sir, it's actually onions that do that," Carl said.

"Quiet, Carl! Now on your way, Agent P, there's no time to lose."

Perry saluted the screen and hurried over to his wall of gadgets. Selecting his jetpack, Agent P put it on, fired it up, and launched into the air, crashing through the ceiling and heading in the direction of Doofenshmirtz Evil, Inc.

"There goes a brave agent…" Monogram commented seriously, watching the platypus fly through the air. Walking off-screen, he added, "So Carl, do we have any garlic cloves left? I'm suddenly in the mood for a little garlic bread…"

"Sir, you just said Dr. Doofenshmirtz stole them all."

"Oh, right. Humbug."

.

Meanwhile, as the other teenagers sat in the Flynn-Fletcher dining room enjoying their pie, Phineas fiddled with his fork and stared out the window. He was busy thinking about what had just happened with the boomerang.

Why do I keep getting unfocused like this? Phineas asked himself. I never usually mess up our projects like that. What's wrong with me?

Phineas glanced at Isabella, who had pulled out her Fireside Girls Manual and was searching for new patches to earn while she ate. Phineas smiled in spite of himself: he had always thought Isabella was the best Fireside Girl around. She was always determined, focused, helpful…and cute…and reliable…and cute…

"Phineas?"

"What?" he snapped awake.

"I was just making sure you were okay," Isabella said. "You were kinda staring off into space there."

"Oh, um, yeah," Phineas answered quickly. "I was just, you know, thinking about…stuff."

"Okay then, cool," she smiled. "I'll let you get back to that."

Isabella turned back to her manual, and Phineas breathed an inward sigh of relief.

That was close, he thought. Almost let something slip there.

Phineas couldn't imagine what he would do if Isabella had known what he was just thinking – he would probably die of embarrassment.

Don't worry, he told himself. You just think she's cute, right? I mean, anybody would. It's not like you like her or anything…right?

Phineas glanced back over at Isabella. She brushed her hair over her ear as she turned a page in her manual. Phineas had always liked her hair: silky black and styled around her face; her very pretty face…

Come on, get a hold of yourself, Phineas! he said to himself. Isabella's your best friend, you can't think about her like this! What should she say if she knew?

Not wanting to think about that possibility, Phineas shook himself back into reality. He took a bite or two of his pie and tried to think of something, anything else to keep his mind off of Isabella.

"So everybody," Baljeet asked, "who's ready for school?"

That'll work, Phineas thought.

"Oh, come on, nerd, why'd you have to remind me?" Buford replied grumpily. "I was in a good mood too – I'm eating pie!"

"School isn't for another few weeks, anyway," Phineas added. "We don't have to be ready for it yet."

"You can always be ready for school," Baljeet protested. "I have been preparing all summer, I'm so excited! It is my first year officially in college…"

Buford interrupted Baljeet with a loud belch, and the boy quickly frowned in return.

"While I cannot even believe that this one passed middle school," he added.

"Hey, I didn't do that badly," Buford said. "Only two F's this past year – that's an improvement!"

"In some people's eyes," Baljeet replied sarcastically.

"Ah, high school," Isabella said dreamily, putting aside her Fireside Girls Manual. "Coming of age, taking on new responsibilities, falling in love…"

She sighed contentedly, and Phineas blushed, hoping no one would notice.

"Aren't you excited, Phineas?" Isabella asked him.

"Huh?" he said, flustered. "Oh, uh, yeah…sure, high school, really great…"

"Yeah, but when you're a freshman, it's not that great," Buford said. "You start at the bottom: everyone pushes you around, you have to sit in the worst places…not that anyone's gonna do that to me, of course. I've got a certain reputation around the high school."

"Buford, just because you followed the Bully Club around once doesn't mean you have a reputation," Baljeet said.

"Sure it does," Buford replied. "I'm a card-carrying member."

"Well, I'm sure we could design a way to make things fair for everybody in all grades," Phineas said thoughtfully. "Ferb, I know what we're gonna do when school starts…"

"Okay, slow down, kids," Linda said, coming in to collect plates. "How about you just focus on summer for now? You only have so many more days of school-free life, you should enjoy them."

"Carpe diem," Ferb added, smiling knowingly.

"Exactly," Linda replied. "Now, why don't you kids head into town and find something fun to do? I bet there's something going on in the park today."

"Ok, mom," Phineas said, and then turned to his friends. "Come on, guys, let's check it out. Thanks for the pie, mom!"

The others stood up and headed for the door, talking along the way.

"You know, Ferb," Phineas said, "people don't appreciate pie enough today. I think I've got an idea for something to build when we get to the park…"

Linda chuckled to herself as the teenagers shut the door behind them.

Such active imaginations, she thought.

Ah, if only she knew...thanks for reading all! Please feel free to review... :)