First of all, everyone needs to check out this story, because it is GENIUS. It's another P&F, much darker, but still amazing. The author of it did what I'm doing now, so here it is: .net/s/7288381/1/The_Call_at_Night
I would've finished the chapter last night, but I got kind of tired and found it hard to write. I decided it would be better to wait until I'm actually awake, instead of give you guys a bad chapter. Also, per request of another reviewer, Midnight4568 , I'm doing part of this chapter in 1st person again. This one will be way easier though, because I'll be using Olivia for parts of it. It starts basically right after the last chapter. Oh, and one last thing, I don't know the actual rules of volleyball, so I'll be using my own. Enjoy!
Olivia's POV
I watched as Phineas called everyone to start working again, a smile lingering on my face. He didn't suspect that I had purposefully broken him and Isabella apart, although it was obvious that she knew. Not that it mattered. I walked over to him once he finished getting everyone organized.
"So Phineas, what do you want me to do?" I asked innocently. He turned to me and smiled.
"You can help me set up the nets once the sand is laid down," he told me. "And thanks for stopping the concrete truck. That could've been a disaster!"
"It's no problem. I figured someone needed to do something."
"Well I'm glad that you did."
The two of us walked over to start unpacking the nets. There was only going to be one game going on at a time, but we needed to use multiple nets to cover the entire court. I quickly looked over the backyard, and realized something.
"Okay, I swear your backyard used to be smaller than this," I remarked. Phineas looked around, looking slightly confused.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I don't think I've ever noticed that before, but the yard always seems to be the perfect size."
The two of us looked at each other, still confused, but we shook it off and continued unpacking.
Isabella's POV
I watched the two of them there together, my eyes blazing.
Who does that girl think she is, coming in and ruining everything? I thought angrily. And Phineas isn't even doing anything about it! He's just standing there and letting her flirt with him. What if I was right? What if he doesn't actually like me all that much? He could decide he likes Olivia instead...
As I thought, my anger melted into sadness. I noticed my friends watching me, but I ignored them, instead going over and sitting next to Candace, who was sitting leaning against the house with her eyes closed, looking bored.
"Hey Candace," I said. She opened one eye to look at me, and then closed it again.
"Hey Isabella," she replied, sounding sleepy. "I hope your day is going better than my mine."
I opened my mouth to tell her what was really going on, but then closed it, thinking. If I told her, then she would go straight to Phineas, and then it would be even worse than if I had told him myself. Luckily for me, Candace wasn't her sharpest at the moment, so she didn't notice my long pause.
"Yeah, everything's going fine for me. What's up with you?"
Candace sighed, sitting herself up straighter to answer me.
"Well, other than the fact that my mom refused to come home to bust Phineas and Ferb, nothing's up."
I laughed quietly to myself at that. Of course I knew about Candace's many failed attempts at showing their mom what Phineas and Ferb did every day. I understood that she was just looking out for her brothers, but I still didn't see the need to get the in trouble. After all, everything was perfectly safe. Still, she looked like she needed some motivating.
"Don't worry, Candace," I said. "You can accomplish anything when you try your hardest."
And yes, of course I realized that I should be taking my own advice, but we've got to pace the story, right?
Candace turned her head to me, half opening her eyes.
"I suppose so. I'd believe that better if I ever actually bust them. But I've been trying for years."
"I tried for years to get Phineas to notice me. If I had given up, then he'd never know how I feel."
At the mention of her brother, Candace opened her eyes all the way.
"So how are things going between you two lovebirds," she asked, a mischievous smile playing on her face. I had already decided how to answer her of course.
"Everything's going fine," I said again. Candace looked around for Phineas, seeing him with Olivia. The two of them were currently standing together, waiting for the sand to finish being spread out. They were standing very close, much to my annoyance. Candace seemed to pick up on the mood.
"So what's this Olivia girl like then?" she asked.
"Umm, I haven't really talked to her much."
Candace looked between me and Phineas and Olivia for a moment.
"She seems to be taking a liking to Phineas," she remarked. The way she said it made it impossible for me to figure out how she felt about the matter.
"Yeah, I noticed," I said. "Then again, she be crazy not to."
Candace shrugged, turning to look at me, her eyes slightly questioning.
"Isabella, you can tell me if something's going on, you know. I never had a sister to give advice to before, but you come pretty close."
I smiled. There were many times that I'd wished for an older sister that I could go to for anything. Candace was right. She was like a sister to me, and I could trust her.
"Well, actually, there's-"
I was cut off by the sudden sound of the giant scoreboard making its annoying buzzing sound. Normally, it only made you jump a little, but with one this big, my ears were ringing afterwards. I looked to see Phineas give thumbs up to Ferb, who was perched on top of the scoreboard wearing earplugs. In the two minutes I had been talking to Candace for, everyone had finished setting up, and we now had a giant volleyball court covering the entire backyard. It struck me as odd once again that the yard was big enough, but I shrugged it off as always.
"Alright, everyone," called Phineas, "everything's ready! It's time to play some volleyball!"
Candace stood up and helped me to my feet, and we started walking towards where Phineas was giving everyone a pair of the shoes that let you jump 50 feet.
"Was there anything else you wanted to say Isabella?" Candace asked me, smiling helpfully. I hesitated for a second, and then made up my mind. I had been going to tell her, but now we were starting and I didn't want to be a nuisance, so I shook my head.
"No, that's about it," I told her. After a second Candace nodded, although I knew she wasn't completely satisfied with my answer. We made our way over to Phineas, who was still standing with Olivia. I stayed by Candace while he was talking, not feeling at all satisfied with myself.
Olivia's POV
I saw Isabella go over to Phineas' sister, and the two of them start talking. Even though I knew that she wouldn't tell Phineas, she may tell someone else. It worried me slightly, but I shook it off and focused on helping Phineas instead. We were just finishing putting up the nets, five in all, and now Phineas was going over his checklist, making sure everything was in order. I looked up to see the slightly reflective membrane that now covered the yard. Apparently it would bounce any material off of it, which was good considering the volleyballs would most likely fly out of the yard on the first serve without it. I smiled. Phineas was a genius! No doubt he could easily outsmart any of my past teachers, and probably even university professors.
He was also the nicest person I'd ever met. Even though he barely knew me yet, he invited me to help them, and now continued to let me partake in the activities. If things kept going this way, then I'd call my parents and ask them for another week here. I'm sure they'd say yes. After all, it was their idea for me to come here in the first place.
"Alright, looks like everything's done," said Phineas. "Now we just need to test the buzzer and we can start. Olivia, you may want to cover your ears for this."
I smiled again and covered my ears, waiting for the sound of the buzzer. I still heard it, but at least I was prepared for it, so all it did was make me ears hurt slightly. I watched in something close to amusement as everyone winced from the sound. When it turned off, Phineas called everyone in and started handing out shoes.
"I'll use this name generator programmed with all of our names to randomly choose the teams," he explained, producing a small machine that resembled an iPod. "Ferb will be the referee and scorekeeper, and the remaining twelve of us will be spilt into two teams. After that, we just have fun! And it doesn't matter if you're no good at volleyball, because with these shoes you'll be able to get to the ball easily."
Once everyone had their shoes on, Phineas started up the name generator and started writing names on a white board that had been brought out earlier, splitting the names into two lists. I smiled, feeling very satisfied with the final results:
Team 1:
-Gretchen
-Django
-Isabella
-Candace
-Buford
-Ginger
Team 2:
-Irving
-Olivia
-Baljeet
-Phineas
-Adyson
-Katie
Having Phineas on my side would give me the perfect opportunity to impress him by making sure our team won. If what he said was true, then I was sure to be the best player here. We all took our places on our sides, and Phineas used the name generator again to choose who got to serve first. As it turns out, it would be my serve. I smiled and went to the back corner to start.
So if I can jump fifty feet then serving should be no problem, I thought, smiling. I bent my knees and jumped high in the air, easily making twenty feet, and served the volleyball, starting the game.
Ten minutes in, we were doing great. I quickly learned who had actually skill, who was decent, and who just could not play, even with the special advances. On my team, Phineas, Adyson and I were definitely the best. Baljeet kept tripping over his feet, but we all made up for it. On the other team, I found out that Isabella was quite the athlete. She was by far the toughest opponent, matching me for skill. Everyone else was pretty good, including the Fireside girl names Ginger, but nowhere near as good as the two of us. So far, the score was 4-3, my team leading. It was Isabella's turn to serve, and I was currently in right front position, waiting. She jumped high and served, obviously aiming the ball right for me. I smirked, and jumped up to meet it, bumping it to my left where Phineas was waiting. He passed it back to Katie, who got it over the net.
This continued for a while, no one losing any points yet. The ball was currently on the other side, on its last pass before needing to be returned over. The ball headed straight for me, so I jumped as high as I could and spiked it to the ground, getting my team another point, earning me a high five from Phineas. I beamed happily as I was congratulated, but quickly returned my attention to the game. We were playing to 15 points, and then we'd switch the teams and do another game. I made my way to the centre of the court near the net, and waited for the serve.
When Phineas explained the rules to everyone, he explained that we weren't using the regular rules; they could be a little complicated if you'd never heard them before, so now the rules were simpler. Three passes max per side, you can't touch the ball twice in a row, and there wasn't really an order in which you rotated, you pretty much just stood where you wanted as long as everyone was basically in positions, 15 points to win, and have fun. That was pretty much what he had told us. The boundaries went to the edge of the sand, and as high as the membrane over the yard. Other than that, you just had to be careful not to hit anyone on purpose, because while not all that hard, a volleyball travelling at 30 mph really hurts when it whack you in the head, or so I've been told.
It was our serve now, and it was Phineas' turn. He shot the ball over the net, and Isabella, who was now front centre, the same position as me, jumped up to pass it to a team mate. The two of us watched each other, her looking serious, while I was smiling. When the ball came towards me, I had to pass it over the net next, so I tried another spike, but Isabella was too fast and dove for the ball, managing to keep it off the ground to pass to Candace, who spiked it over herself, getting their team a point. Her and Isabella high fived as they switched positions, getting ready for the next serve, which would be from their team. I stayed in my position, because no one came to relieve me, and turned my head slightly to see Phineas standing on my right now. He saw me looking and smiled, waving quickly before focusing on the game. I smiled, a genuine one this time, not my usual one when I got something I want. I couldn't get over how cute he was when he was concentrating, but I shook my head to clear it, knowing that I needed to be concentrated now to impress him.
14-14
That's the score right now. It's our serve, and next point wins. I kind of wish that I could be serving this one, but I'd already served enough, and it was time to give someone else a turn. I did, however, have front center again, which was good instead. Phineas was on my right, a huge smile on his face as always. Isabella was in front of me again, regarding me with an unreadable expression. I kept my expression clear as I waited. Then, the serve was up and the ball was flying over the net, clearing this entire court. Candace jumped up in the back to meet it, sending it forward to Buford, who punched it straight up in the air. Normally, that kind of pass would be illegal, but Phineas never said it was, so it worked. Isabella jumped to hit it, and sent it flying over my head. I didn't see who got it behind me, but I saw it on my right, coming to Phineas, who bumped it towards me.
"It's all yours Olivia!" he called, and I jumped up fifty feet, making contact and spiking the ball clear over the net, heading straight for the ground. Isabella saw it coming, but she wasn't in a good position to jump for it. She could, however, dive, which was exactly what she did. But she got there a second too late, the volleyball bouncing off the ground right next to the spot where she hit the ground a second later. She stood up, brushing sand off herself, as the rest of my team cheered. Phineas came over and high-fived me again, giving me a huge smile.
"Wow, you're amazing, Olivia!" he said, making me blush.
"Thanks, Phineas," I replied, smiling. The rest of my team came over to congratulate me on my final spike, and I looked over to the other side to see Isabella watching me, not quite glaring, more just staring at me. I shrugged to her and turned back to my team mates allowing myself to soak up the compliments. Phineas kept telling me how amazing I was, and I noticed with satisfaction how he didn't always specify his compliments as volleyball related.
Isabella's POV
I regarded Olivia from my side of the court, not giving her an expression. I was so focused on the other team that I didn't notice Candace walk up to me at first.
"Good job, Isabella," she said, smiling, seeming to be much more into the activity than usual.
"Thanks Candace," I said, trying not to feel too bad that I lost us the game. Normally, I wouldn't care, but it was the fact that Olivia had given me that spike that didn't help. Candace seemed to pick up on part of this.
"Don't worry, we'll get em' next time," she promised enthusiastically. I nodded slowly, and then a thought popped into my mind, one that made me feel a lot better. Tomorrow we were going to the lake, which meant that I'd have the whole day with Phineas, with no Olivia to bug us. I smiled, and Candace nodded, thinking that the smile was for what she had said.
"Now c'mon," she said, "let's go grab a drink before the next game."
I followed her over to where Ferb had somehow made time to set up a drink station, picking up a bottle of water. I was determined to make up for today with our day at the lake. After all, Olivia didn't stand a chance if she wasn't there.
Or so I thought.
Oooooh, cliff-hanger! I'm very proud to say that this is my longest chapter yet *bows*. Also, did you guys like my fail attempt at breaking the fourth wall? I just felt like throwing that in there. I think I'll do 1st person more often now, but not the whole time like in this chapter. I'll alternate based on which I think would be best. Feel free to request which character you'd like me to do 1st person with, and I'd be happy to oblige. Also, with school coming up (BOOOOO), I won't have quite as much to write, but I promise to update as often as I possibly can. That's it for now! I'll start the next chapter with the next morning, and go from there. Let me know what you thought!