Phineas And Ferb

The Great Garcia-Shapiro Chase

Chapter 1: Brand New Summer!

Disclaimer: Phineas and Ferb does not belong to me. It belongs to Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Congratulations on an amazing run guys and hopefully we see the show someday again!

Earlier that day

The sun began to rise. It was the first day of a brand new 104 day summer vacation. The light shined slowly into Phineas and Ferb's room. Phineas slowly rose out of bed and opened his eyes. He turned to his alarm clock and shut it off before the clock could turn to 7:00 A.M. "Ha! Beat you again, buddy!" Phineas shouted triumphantly. Ferb soon followed his brother's footsteps. "Ferb, can you believe it? We made it to another summer! You know what that means?" Ferb gave Phineas a blank stare. "That's right, Ferb! We gotta throw a party!"

They leaped out of bed - careful not to wake their beloved pet platypus Perry - got dressed quickly, ate a quick breakfast, and then started setting up the party. Very quickly, all of their friends - with the exception of Isabella - came over to enjoy the festivities.

"Great party!" Buford excitedly shouting while enjoying the buffet table. "The food is great!"

"Compliments of Chef Ferb!" Phineas exclaimed happily, as the green haired boy took a bow. "Great job on the meals, Ferb."

"Lovely work on the decor." Ferb said to Phineas. "Everyone is enjoying the party, and we haven't even gotten to the entertainment yet."

"It's too bad Isabella's not here. I'm sure she'd really enjoy this."

"I am sure she is having fun at her family reunion in Mexico." Baljeet said coming over with a plate of horderves.

"Yeah, but it feels weird not having her here."

"What do you mean by "weird?"

"I don't know. I mean, I'm just used to her coming over every single day saying "what'cha doin'" to me and smiling and just wanting to see what we were gonna do for the day. It's a weird empty feeling I guess."

"Huh." Baljeet ate an horderve. "How interesting."

Unlike most days where he shrugged off inflections in the voice, Phineas took notice of this one in Baljeet. "Excuse me?"

"OH, it's nothing. This food is just…quite tasty." Baljeet said in a half-hearted attempt to cover himself. But instead of pressing the issue further, Phineas decided to give Isabella a call. He used the house phone to dial her cellphone.

"Hi Phineas!" She answered cheerfully on the other line.

"Hey Isabella! I was just checking up on you."

"Aww, that's so sweet. Well, I'm having a great time here at my family reunion. Sorry I couldn't be there for the party. You guys throw the best parties."

"That's OK, Isabella. Family comes first. I'll make sure there's plenty of party left for you when you come home. I'll even open the entire decor just for you."

"Just the two of us?"

"Sure! Why not? It'll be fun."

On the other end, Isabella was blushing. "Aww, you're too sweet Phineas. Don't worry, I'll be home soon."

"Have fun Isabella! Bye!" They hung up their phones. Buford came over holding an egg roll.

"So how's your girlfriend doing?" He said in a serious yet joking tone. Phineas chuckled, albeit nervously.

"Buford, Isabella's not my girlfriend. Don't be silly. She's fine, though."

"If that's the word you wanna use, dinner bell." He chuckled as he took a bite out of his egg roll and walked away laughing. Phineas curiously raised an eyebrow and scratched his head.

Meanwhile, Isabella hung up her phone and sighed lovingly. Her grandfather - Moises Garcia Shapiro (for the voice, picture Brian Doyle Murray, also known as "The Flying Dutchman" from SpongeBob) approached her.

"That your boyfriend?" He asked in a playful tone, to which Isabella blushed.

"Boyfriend? Uh, no! No, Phineas isn't my boyfriend. I mean, h-he's my friend, and he's a boy. But that doesn't-"

Her grandfather laughed loudly. "Easy, kiddo. I'm just yanking your chain."

"But I'm not wearing any jewelry." She said, obviously confused by the joke.

"So what's the story with you two anyway?"

"I don't know. I mean, it seems like no matter what I do, he doesn't seem to notice me. I've tried everything, too."

"Have you tried…you know, actually telling him how you feel?"

"Huh?"

"Have you actually gotten him alone, without distractions, and told him how you feel about him?"

"Well, yes! I mean, well…I-I've tried. A couple of times. But then we either get interrupted or I chicken out." She sighed. "I just wish he wasn't so gosh darn oblivious! Or wrapped up in his big ideas. But…that's not fair, because that's who he is. He makes the most of every day. He lives for that thrill. I just wish he'd kinda include me in that equation too."

"But from what you've told me, he does…at least in some way. Look, kid," She took her hand and guided her to a set of chairs where they sat down upon. "I'm going to be pretty blunt with you. Us guys…we're knuckleheads. We're not exactly the sharpest bunch in the group. We're not always going to pay attention to the most minute details of a girl's mannerisms or whatever. But a real gentlemen will find that one special girl, grab onto her, and never let her go no matter what."

Isabella started smiling. "You know, now that I think about it, Phineas has gone out of his way more than a few times just to see me smile. Like, this one time when I talked about wanting to see something I never saw before, he went out of his way to make a rainbow for me, even though it was unicorn I was talking about, but it's the thought that counts. And when the Firesides Girls and I wanted to make a fundraise for the Star Nose Mole, he and Ferb dropped everything they were doing to make it happen.

"And this other time it was raining and we needed to get a desert patch so Phineas made this biome that turned into a desert and tried to help us all day getting that patch. He was so sweet about it too. Then he threw this great birthday party for me and took me out for ice cream all by myself, then I wrote him this sweet love letter that he never saw, then we had a picnic together…" She sighed lovingly going down memory lane. "You know, I guess you're right. Even though Phineas hasn't noticed me…romantically, he's still an amazing friend. He's done so many nice things for me and he's always there for me when I'm feeling down." She started blushing again.

"Kids these days - hell, preteens - are just looking for romance and love. I'm so sick of them ignoring the basics of friendship just for the sake of doing…something to which you are too young to know about. My point is, even if your relationship with him isn't where you may want it to be, don't hold that against him, and don't beat yourself up to it either. It's all about communication. If he's as good a friend as you say he is, he'll at least listen to you."

Isabella smiled warmly as Moises stroked her hair. "Thanks, Grandpa. But what should I do?"

"That depends on you. How bad do you want this?"

"More than I've wanted anything! In fact…" Isabella reached into her pocket and pulled out a patch. "It's exactly what I need to do in order to earn this patch. It's the "Emotional Bravery" patch, and a Fireside Girl can only earn it after she tells a boy she likes that she has a crush on him. I think I tried to earn this patch before but…I can't really remember." (Yes, I'm going there. If Dan and Swampy did not think fans would clamor for this to be resolved, they were wrong XD) "What do you think I should do?"

"If you want my advice, you have to completely and utterly blunt with him. Us guys aren't that great with subtly. You'd be surprised at how many things we miss. So whenever you decide to talk to him, make sure you've thought it out and just say it! Got it? Just go out there and say it to him!"

Isabella smiled triumphantly and stood up, clutching the patch in her hand. "You're right, Grandpa! I've gotta stop being afraid. Maybe he'll accept it. Maybe he won't. But I'll never know unless I try once and for all!" She hugged her grandfather. "Thanks Grandpa! I'm gonna go call him right now!" She ran to an open space in the room to gain some privacy, leaving her grandfather laughing.

"You go girl! And remember, no subtly! We do not understand subtly!" He said with a hearty laugh.

Isabella dialed Phineas's cell number. "Hello, Phineas?"

"Hey Isabella! What's wrong? Is everything OK?"

Isabella started blushing again. "OH, yeah. Everything's fine. But, um, actually…th-there's something I want to tell you. I-It's something that I've been holding in for the longest time now, a-and I'm not really sure how to say it, so…" But before she could go any further, she heard loud crashing noises on the other line.

"Buford! Be careful with those!"

"Phineas? What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing. Just Buford carrying more than his own body weight."

"Any particular reason…?"

"Well, I was gonna surprise you, but…well, I felt bad that we were having this party all the way out here and you were all the way in Mexico missing out. So I talked our friends into loading up the supplies into our newly rebuilt Sun-Beater 3000 and bringing the party to you."

"Aww, Phineas, you didn't have to do that."

"But I wanted to. Isabella, you're my best friend, and you don't deserve to miss out on this party."

"Oh Phineas, you are the best!"

"I try. Now what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Isabella started sweating. After hearing Phineas's plans to visit her in Mexico, she was suddenly conflicted. "Um…uh, I-I…you know what? I'll tell you when you get here."

"Are you sure?"

"I'd rather tell you face to face. It's kind of important."

"OK, Isabella. If you're sure. We'll see you later."

"OK Phineas!" She smiled, blushed, and hung up the phone. Once she was sure the line was disconnected, she hung her head in disappointment and smacked her forehead. "What is wrong with me?" She said to herself. "I had the perfect chance to tell him how I felt and I chickened out. Again. Well not anymore. As soon as Phineas gets here, I'm going to tell him exactly how I feel about him!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"That's the spirit, honey!" Her grandfather shouted back, apparently having heard every word of that.

"Grandpa, were you ease-dropping on me?"

"No, you're just screaming too loud!"

Isabella blushed once more, and then went off to another part of the room.

End of Chapter 1.

So far I'm loving this version better than the other one. Hopefully you guys do too. And don't forget to sign the petition in my bio page to keep PnF alive!