Chapter 3

Fire trucks had come and extinguished the inferno, and after the paramedics gave the group permission, the bus had returned all students to their homes. After an excitement-filled night, they were glad to get a good night's rest.

Ferb reached out and stretched his arms high above his head. "Aaaaa," he yawned. "Morning."

Phineas was still sleeping in his bed. Ferb looked over at him and commented, "It's 7am."

Rolling under his covers, Phineas reached out from under his bedspread and grabbed the clock to read it. He huffed tiredly. "I guess I'd better get up."

After getting out of his bed and leaving it rather messy, Ferb started to get dressed for school. But when he looked over at Phineas, Ferb saw that he was keeping his eyes down, and he did not have his usual morning smile on his face.

"Are you mad about something?" Ferb asked, but Phineas ignored him.

"It's not about last night, is it?" Ferb prompted. When there was no answer, he continued. "Maybe I shouldn't have yelled. But you have to admit you were being a liiiiitle bit stubborn."

But Phineas just kept pushing his arms through his T-shirt without an utterance.

"Listen, Phin. I'm really sorry if I hurt your wrist. But I... I just didn't want you to hurt yourself by going back into that building for no reason."

A throbbing pain struck Ferb in the head, which caused him to stop. He moved his hand up and felt the tender area. His right eye was warm to the touch, and clearly felt puffy and swollen. He held back a little smile.

"But I think actually thwacking me with a two by four WAS kind of uncalled for."

Phineas threw his school pack over his back and stomped out the bedroom door.

"Come on, I said I was sorry!" Ferb called out after him. He breathed out slowly and mumbled to himself, "he can't stay mad forever."

Ferb had finished dressing as well, and also grabbed his school knapsack. He ran down the stairs and called out, "Bye, Mom!"

Their mom was busy filing paperwork and did not look up. "Bye, hun!"

"See you after school," Phineas said as he pushed the door open.

For the most part, Ferb stayed quiet on the way to school. He figured he would let Phineas blow off his steam on his own time.

They reached the glass doors of the high school building, and Ferb moved up to pull it open in front of both of them. He motioned for Phineas to go ahead of him, but Phineas had stopped walking altogether and just stood in place. After a few seconds, he dipped his head back down and pushed through the doorway, without a glance elsewhere.

Phineas found Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford all waiting by their lockers. He and Ferb approached silently.

"Hey, Phineas," Baljeet said as he pulled out his books.

Isabella did the same. She then struck up a conversation. "So, where's Ferb?"

Ferb just stopped in mid-motion of taking off his bag and stared at her.

Phineas shuffled his feet and stared into his locker. "He, uh... he never came home last night."

"What?" everyone, Ferb included, responded with bewilderment.

"What do you mean by that?" Baljeet asked.

"I mean... last night we all got off the bus and it pulled away, and Ferb wasn't there. And when I woke up this morning he still wasn't back."

"What are you even talking about?" Ferb questioned. "I'm standing right next to you."

"He didn't? Did he call you?" Isabella suggested.

"Is it suddenly April First and I didn't notice?" Ferb looked at the date on his watch. "Phineas, did you make a new holiday again?"

"I'm gonna be late for class," Phineas said quietly as he tucked his books under his arm and pushed down the hall.

Ferb quickly gathered up his things and chased after him. "Phin, physics isn't for another ten minutes."

But Phineas just kept walking until he reached the classroom. There, he set his books on the desk and slid without a word into his seat. Ferb stopped in front of him and wanted to say something, but decided against it and only took his place beside him.

"Quiz today," Professor Dreyman announced once class time had begun. "Look over your notes one last time."

He sat down at his desk and picked up a pen that was placed beside his role sheet. "Sarah Alarid..." he began to read.

Ferb grabbed his notebook from his bag and opened it to his physics section. "I'm trying to remember the exponent for Avogadro's number..." he mentioned as he scanned over his pages.

The professor continued his morning routine. "Randy Droffers..."

Leaning to Phineas, Ferb found the page in his notes. "It's 23, right?"

"Ferb Fletcher..."

"Present," he tossed his reply.

Professor Dreyman did not move, but peered over his reading glasses at the class. "Fletcher?"

"I'm here, Professor," Ferb said a little louder, raising his hand.

The professor set down his pen. "Phineas, where is your brother?"

"Professor Dreyman!" Ferb exclaimed. "You're in on it, too?"

But Phineas had not even pulled out his study sheet. "I don't think he's coming today, sir."

"Hmm," the professor hummed as he marked something on his role sheet. "Well, be sure to bring him his homework, then."

Ferb slid over to whisper in Phineas' ear. "I know I'm not going for the Perfect Attendance Award or anything, but does he really have to mark me absent just for some crazy joke you thought up?"

Professor Dreyman pulled a stack of papers from his folder bag and tapped it on the desk to align them. "Holly, please come help me pass these out, if you would."

"Sure, Professor," Holly replied as she got up from her seat. He handed her the stack and she went on her way to hand them to each student.

Going down the front row, she passed one to Phineas, who took it and put his name at the top. Ferb already had his pencil laying in his hand as he reached up to accept his copy, but Holly turned past him and passed one to the student on his right.

"Um, Holly?" he drew attention to himself. "May I please have one?"

But Holly had already turned and was going along the second row. Ferb shrugged it off, and reached over his desk to grab a paper for himself from the pile of extra copies that the professor had made available. He wrote his name on the given line and began to fill it out as best he could.

Next period was Study Hall, which they shared with their other friends. However, both Phineas and Ferb had finished their work due for the week, so they only went there to visit with the others.

Isabella was frantically studying for an art test, and Baljeet read over a thick book with five more stacked beside him. Buford had his pencil stuck in the spine of his textbook but was leaning back in his chair, playing with a yo-yo. Phineas had his eyes in a book but it didn't really look like he was reading it.

"I'll... be back," Phineas said, closing the book and setting it on the table. He pushed off his chair and went towards the library exit.

"I don't think he's okay," Isabella inferred as she watched him walk away. "Someone should go check on him."

Baljeet and Ferb both stood up at the same time. Baljeet was the first to speak. "I have to go to the bathroom anyway."

Ferb found the nearest men's bathroom before Baljeet did. He pushed his way into the door and found Phineas standing near the sink with his back hunched.

"Hey, Phineas," he said as he walked over to his brother's left. He stopped with his hands on the counter and looked down into the sink that Phineas was staring at. "Why are you doing this?"

The door opened again. Phineas looked up at it in curiosity. "...Hey Baljeet."

Baljeet slowly closed the door and moved over to Phineas' right.

"I'm glad you came. I was getting a bit lonely," Phineas said as he glanced at the mirror.

Ferb followed his tired gaze and saw the backwards reflection of Phineas' slouched figure, along with all the pairs of sinks against the mirror's base. He saw Baljeet on Phineas' right; both he and his reflected image were looking at his friend with concern.

But to Phineas' left, Ferb glanced directly into the mirror and saw absolutely no one.

Ferb took his hands off the countertop and found himself backing away from the mirror. He held his eyes fixed on the spot where he kept expecting to see himself, but there was no movement.

He lost coordination of his feet and fell backwards into a stall, hitting the stall door against the plastic wall with a sharp bang.

Phineas and Baljeet spun around. "What was THAT!" Phineas responded.

They both wandered over to the stall where Ferb was sitting with his feet lying awkwardly around him. He had one elbow on the toilet seat and with his other hand he gripped the hinge of the door. His chest moved up and down as he panted heavily and stared up in disbelief at the two looking down on him.

Baljeet and Phineas both seemed to be focused on the floor beneath Ferb as they investigated the source of the noise.

"That was weird..." Baljeet mentioned as Phineas peered upside-down under the stall.

"You... you guys seriously can't see me?" Ferb said between loud breaths as he moved to make room for Phineas' head.

"I'll say," Phineas replied. "I guess a draft came by."

"Loud draft," Baljeet said as he looked at his watch. "Oh! The period's almost over!

"I still have two more chapters to read," Baljeet was saying as he ran out the door.

Phineas finished his investigation and stood up as well. With a dismissive shrug, he too exited the bathroom.

Ferb tried to recover by shaking some air to his brain, and attempted to stand up.

"W-w-wait, Phineas," he stuttered on unstable legs. "Please don't leave me here."

Going out to the hall, he spotted Phineas and Baljeet heading down toward the library.

"I just want you to talk to me, Phineas," Ferb said, reaching forward as he approached and placing a hand on Phineas' shoulder.

Phineas froze, and Baljeet kept walking a few paces before turning around to see what was the matter. Phineas jumped a little and recoiled, pulling his arm closer to his chest. He was staring in surprise at the spot where Ferb's hand had come from.

"What's wrong?" Baljeet asked at the sudden interruption.

Phineas' eyes just raced through the air around the spot for a moment. He then faced back to Baljeet, but not before doing an uneasy double-take behind him. "...Nothing."

Ferb realized that he could not move his legs as he watched his brother departing, without a notice to Ferb's presence. He found himself sitting down in the middle of the empty tile hallway; his mind was far too confused and riddled with thoughts to keep him standing. He watched the two of them turn the corner, and was left alone in the open corridor.