I know a lot of you were really looking forward to the dance, but sadly that was never in the plans for this story. HOWEVER! We are making plans for a side story (or two) in the pov of different characters to help fill in the blanks from this one. The Spirit Week dance will be included in that.

As for now, MERRY CHRISTMAS/HANUKAH/SANTA DAY/ or whatever else you celebrate. XD

(also, please forgive any blatant mistakes and typos. I'm editing and posting this from my phone since my computer is in my bedroom and my husband is asleep. In the morning I will fix any I made.)

Disclaimer: This is our circus, but these are not our monkeys.

Winter Job

[Isabella's Age: 15]

Winter vacation had finally started, so what was I doing? I was glued to my laptop, of course. I slumped down at my computer and opened up my chat window. Almost instantly the faces of most of my friends popped up. "So, what's this I hear about us working at the Christmas party?"

Phineas' smile was almost brighter than my screen could handle. "Yeah! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Buford groaned from his window. "Fun? Really, Dinnerbell? We just got done with the life crap that is school. Why would we want to take more responsibility when we should be able to play and have fun and be the dumbasses that we are?"

The tick in Phineas' eyebrows appeared at Buford's swearing, as it always did, but the rest of us showed our agreement with Buford's statement. All of us, except for Adyson. Why?

"I don't really care. It's just for one night, right? So long as we're being paid, I'm in." She paused and glanced at the part of her screen where Phineas must have appeared. "We are getting paid, right?" she asked, her tone holding a warning.

Phineas shifted. "Well, my mom said we would be…"

Ferb coughed softly, very obviously hiding a chuckle. I narrowed my eyes at him for a moment before sliding my gaze to the now uncomfortable redhead. "But…?" I prodded.

"I told my mom we didn't need to be paid. Christmas joy, service to others, and all that, ya know?"

Everyone started talking all at once. The noise was awful—I muted my speakers. After a couple of minutes where it looked like they weren't going to be losing steam anytime soon, and poor Phineas looked like he'd just been told someone was taking Perry away from him, I grabbed my phone and pulled up my ringtone options. Making sure the volume on my phone was all the way up; I turned my speakers back on (these on a low volume), held my phone close to the microphone, and selected the worst ringtone I had found.

Instantly, everyone shut up and held their hands over their ears. Except for Ferb, who I noticed had been watching me and had turned his own speakers down.

"Alright," I began. I looked directly at Phineas, not even bothering with any platitudes to anyone. "I, for one, would like to be paid. Because," I paused for effect and gazed at both him and Ferb intently. "Not everyone gets an annual stipend for having barely used seats on the city council."

Phineas blinked, as if that hadn't even occurred to him. But, honestly, that wasn't much of a surprise. When you had enough money to do whatever you wanted, including all that mad stuff we did as children like building a rollercoaster or going to the moon multiple times in one summer, I could understand that it may be easy to forget not everyone had access to that cash.

The rest of our group seemed to realize that keeping quiet and giving Phineas some emphasizing looks would do more for our side of the argument that reiterating anything that had been already said. Ferb, though, looked like all he was missing was popcorn and he'd be watching the best show in the world.

"Oh, um…" Phineas scratched at the back of his head. "Okay. I'll… I'll go tell her that…"

Ferb chuckled. "No need, Phineas. I already told her."

I blinked. Phineas blinked. I think the rest of them blinked as well, but since I was blinking I didn't see for sure. "What? When?" Phineas asked.

"After you ran off when Mum told us about the party. About ten seconds after you told her not to pay us."

"Oh. Okay." Phineas nodded, like that fixed everything. Then he stopped and glared at his screen, likely at Ferb. "Wait, you just sat there and let them all yell at me for no reason?! Dude, not cool."

"Yeah Ferb. Rude!" I exclaimed, trying and failing to hide my amusement. I think there was a little too much sarcasm in there for Phineas.

Phineas gazed up at his ceiling. "Why is everyone against me today?"

Buford responded, which was something you never want to happen to you after you ask that question. "You mean besides signing us up for something we didn't want? Or doing that without even asking us? Or agreeing in our stead that we didn't want payment? Or—"

"I think he gets it Buford." Adyson cut him off with a roll of her eyes.

Katie then spoke, surprisingly gently. "But really, Phineas. You would have realized that this was how we would react… But sometimes you just don't think things through."

Phineas gaped, like his ever-going mind just hit a roadblock. Katie continued nevertheless. "Really, it's fun to imagine where you'd be without Ferb here. Would you have found a way to create the things you plan? Would you be locked in an insane asylum? Maybe you'd be one of those weird criminals that really has no reason for what they did. Or you could have ended up living in the woods because you wandered off as a child after getting distracted by a butterfly. Really, the possibilities are endless!"

Silence.

Pure silence as Katie finished. She looked at all of us and her face flushed as she realized what she had said, but she didn't shrink in on herself. Good for her! She owned that madness!

Buford blinked a couple of times before shaking his head. "What… okay… Anyway… Someone come up with something else to talk about. Quick!" he added, as if Katie's madness was contagious.

"Um… Oh!" I had one. "Tell us more about this party that we are supposed to be working at. What exactly are we going to be doing?"

Ferb's lips thinned, as they usually do when he's either trying to hide a grin or he's a little upset or uncomfortable about something.

And once I heard what Phineas had to say, I couldn't tell you which it was.

"YES!" Phineas exclaimed, somehow both hyperly bouncing and running as he passed by me, causing him to almost trip on his oversized red pants. "This is going to be so great!"

I let out an involuntary chuckle at him. Normally, I would be super psyched for this. The annual Flynn-Fletcher Christmas block party was something people looked forward to all year long. Candy canes, peppermint hot chocolate, fudge samples, snowman-building contests: the whole shebang. Unfortunately, I would not be able to enjoy any of that, thanks to a certain someone who thought it would be "fun to work!"

Because that was SOOO much better than attending.

Because teenagers just LOVE working.

Thank you Phineas. You're super smart.

Not.

"Um, Phineas," I stared down at the bundle of fabric I had been given by Phineas' mom. "Did your mom really say we have to wear costumes?"

"Of course! I'm Santa Claus! And what is Santa Claus without his elves?" He was shaking with excitement, but managed a nod towards the clothes in my hand. Granted, I could at least understand his enthusiasm. Getting to play Santa was probably the highlight of his entire life. Getting to be him twice? I'm surprised he hasn't wet himself yet. Or passed out because his heart rate was probably through the roof. "Hurry up and change! The kids will be coming really soon!"

I sighed. Well, ok. I went inside the Flynn-Fletcher home and made my way to the lower level bathroom to don my costume, grumbling the whole time. I didn't know why I had to be an elf anyway… Did people think Santa even had Jewish elves? I mean, seriously! We didn't even celebrate Christmas! But apparently my mother thought I could do with a little more "serving others" or something like that, so there I was. She even ignored my rebuttal explaining that since I was a Fireside girl for my entire childhood and even my tween years—when I honestly had bigger things to deal with—I've met my service quota for at least the next five years.

What was with the costume? It was tight and had absolutely zero give. It must have been either someone else's costume, or there was a size mix up (which, considering my constantly changing adolescent body, was sadly kind of likely). At least I didn't have to wear the fake ears. Although, I did still have that ridiculous hat. Uggh.

Phineas' thrilled voice greeted me as I came out. He was in full-on Happy Santa Claus mode. "YAY!" He turned to look at me and blinked, giving me the weirdest look; a cross between happy and disturbed. "Isabella… you look…"

I held up my hand. "Don't say anything, Santa. I know I look ridiculous."

"No, it's not that…" he trailed off, as if unsure of something for once in his life.

"Whatever," I responded. I waved my hand at him. "Just get out there and greet the kiddos."

"Okay… Well, Ferb's almost ready. He'll be down in a minute. Come to the room when you guys are all set."

Great, I thought as Phineas skipped towards the den, which was to be the Santa Greeting room. The party was half-inside/half-outside—most of the kids' stuff was inside just because it was warmer. Snowmen were staying outdoors though, thank goodness. Now I get to be embarrassed in front of Ferb too.

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I clenched my fists and gathered my self-confidence before I turned around—and promptly burst out laughing.

"Ohmygosh…" I slurred it all together laughing. I think I even snorted a little. Oh, the poor guy!

Ferb looked like a nutcracker! Complete from head to toe—the tall hat, the fake sword, the huge white gloves and the comically big black boots. The costume was perfect! I couldn't stop laughing. So much for me being the embarrassed one!

He rolled his eyes. "Shall we go?" he remarked dryly.

"Oh no, give me a few more hours to laugh! Please!" I begged.

"Hmm, well, I guess that opens the floor for me to discuss your outfit then, yeah?" His voice lowered, and there was a hint of something like smugness underlying in it.

"Nope!" I announced hastily before spinning on my green boots and pointing in the direction of the den. "Let's go!"

Okay, so honesty time; the party was relatively the same as ever, and actually almost as fun, even while playing an elf. The only downfall of the evening was that, as one of Santa's Elves, I had to stay pretty close to Phineas. He was clearly having a blast as Santa. I'm pretty sure he was talking more to those children than they were to him. Ferb was kind of keeping guard, making sure the kids didn't rush and swarm Santa or throw fits about not being able to finish their list, or whatever. Actually, now that I think about it, that kind of always was his job—protecting and supporting Phineas...

I was mostly handling the line, helping to direct the kids one at a time to Santa and to subtly let Phineas know the names of each child. Because Santa knows every little boy and girl, duh!

"No! NO! I don't WANNA!" A sobbing child being gently pushed by his mother towards us cried. Oh joy.

"Hi there." I spoke gently, squatting down so I was his height. "What's your name?"

"R-Ryan." He whimpered. He stared at me with big eyes. "Are you a real elf?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "You bet I am. Now Ryan, you know that Santa brings presents to good little boys, right?" Ryan nodded slowly, still a little shy and unsure. "Have you been a good little boy?" He nodded this time faster, getting more confident. "Did you write a letter to Santa Claus?"

He shifted. "Yeah…" and he held up an envelope that was covered in little scribbles.

"Awesome!" I said, trying to exude excitement towards this adorably shy little man. "Santa would love to hear all about what you wrote in there. So, do you think you can gather up some pluck and tell Santa Claus about all the presents you deserve?"

I held out my hand, hoping he'd grab on. After a moment's hesitation, he did. His mother smiled at me over his head and followed as I led him to Santa's chair. "Santa," I announced. "Ryan is here to see you. And he has something for you too." I gently pushed on the kids shoulder, nudging him towards Phineas.

"Did you really, Ryan? Oh how exciting. Can I see it? Or do I have to wait for Christmas to open it?" The teenager asked, giving the boy a wink from behind the wire glasses and bushy beard. Ryan smiled brightly and, newly energized, rushed to sit on Santa's lap.

I turned to go back to my spot and noticed Ferb, who was standing to the side, giving me a slow round of applause from a few paces away. I grinned and did the best curtsey I could in my elf skirt.

Over the course of Santa's stay there were several more crying Ryans that I had to help calm down, but also a lot of precious bright-eyed Melissas, and one girl so perfect she was practically an Olivia… I wanted to squeeze her tight, but she made me think on that silly baby assignment and that led to… other thoughts about someone else.

At long last, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher finally let us go so we could grab a cup of hot chocolate and actually enjoy the party.

"I'm pretty sure this party was more fun when we didn't have to work." Buford said grumpily, his damp hair sticking to his forehead. He had spent the whole day getting snowballs thrown at him by sixth graders.

"What are you talking about?" Phineas exclaimed, now dressed extremely convincingly as an elf; he had even crafted himself some pointy ears out of some costume clay stuff. "This is the best day ever!"

"You're just lucky no one peed on you." Buford said under his breath bitterly. My eyes widened at the thought. He'd been outside for most of the time I'd been inside. Had one of those kids with the snowballs peed on him? How'd he even let them get that close to do it? Unless it was a part of the snowball… EWWW!

Buford turned to point at Ferb. "And you! You can't say you've enjoyed this party. You look like…"

Ferb uncharacteristically growled at him before pulling off his hat and practically stomping towards the stairs. I started laughing again. I guess he'd had enough teasing for one day. Good thing I had pictures though! That could be a fun gift for him. I could get it blown up huge and frame it.

"I am just happy to be back!" Baljeet interrupted my thoughts, raising his cup of cocoa happily.

"Me too!" I hugged him. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ginger scowl and decided not to push it tonight. We'd had a semi-truce since Baljeet returned. I wasn't expecting it to last past the day he left again, but tonight had been nice and conflict free.

So with that in mind, I left the guys and headed towards the girls—away from Ginger. They were also dressed as elves in variations of red and green. "Ho, Ho, Ho there, fellow elves." I greeted dryly.

Adyson rolled her eyes. "That was awful, Iz."

"It wasn't THAT bad."

"Isabella…" She gave me a look.

I slumped down on a nearby chair. "Ok, ok. Who knew wrangling kids was so exhausting?"

Katie raised her free hand, the other wrapped around a mug of cocoa like it was the only thing keeping her alive. "I knew."

"Yeah, well, you also said Phineas had the potential to become a serial killer." Gretchen pointed out.

"He could! You never know." Katie declared adamantly.

"What a freak." Adyson muttered under her breath, as she raised her hot chocolate to her mouth.

"Well, at least these costumes are super adorable and they make us look fantastic." Holly cheered, doing a little pose. She glanced around the room. "Where's Mark? I want to show him how cute I look." She glanced around desperately for the star of the hockey team.

I raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you and Buford like just dating? Have you really already moved on to a new crush?"

"Well, me and Buford were never really a 'thing'…"

I blinked at her. "I'm not really sure what that means, but… okay, I guess?"

Holly made a little face, but gave me a small smile anyway. I was happy inside; I hadn't lost Holly like I feared I would at the start of the school year. I had swallowed my pride and apologized for my insensitive thoughts about Buford… and really, the whole Holly and Buford thing hadn't been as weird as I'd thought it would be. Nothing really changed. They didn't hang out very often—that we saw at least. They just went out on a few dates together; and presumably made out, which was just not something I want to think about. Buford and kissing just don't go together. Actually, I don't want to think about any of my friends making out with each other. Ew. But that was it. Nobody really cared about the relationship, nobody cared when it ended, and nothing really changed.

"Isabella, sweetheart?" Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher seemed to appear from nowhere behind me, as she came from the attic, and she seemed to be in a hurry to get back outside. "I think I left a light on upstairs, and I don't want people to think it's okay to go up there. Could you please run and check to see if I did and turn them off for me?"

"Sure, Mrs. Flynn." I responded. The poor lady was running around hectic, I was glad to do this little thing for her. I would say it was a weird request, but I'm practically family to these guys anyway. And Phineas was across the room while I was in her path leading outside.

The party was totally rampant and cheerful on the main floor; but since people weren't allowed up, I did my best to sneak up without any children seeing and trying to follow. I was walking the seemingly dark hall for lights when I suddenly felt my wrist being yanked and I was pulled behind the door heading up to the attic. My entire stomach jumped into my throat until I was whipped around, and it was just Ferb.

Vaguely I noticed that yes, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher did leave the attic light on.

I held a hand to my chest. "Oh for the love of Christmas, you scared me! What is wrong with you?" I noticed he had semi-abandoned his nutcracker costume, still wearing the tight green undershirt and a pair of black sweatpants. Actually it reminded me a little of the ballet, when the nutcracker had turned back into the prince. He was giving me an intense look. "What?" I asked.

He pointed up instead of answering. I glanced in the direction and froze.

Mistletoe.

I blinked a couple of times, regaining my cognitive controls. Okay, um, well... now what? I snuck a glance at Ferb, who was watching me with a soft yet neutral look. Alright then… so he wasn't going to trying to request a kiss from me. Or coax one out of me. Judging by the look, he wasn't actually asking me either. He was just alerting me to the fact that the mistletoe was there, in that Ferb way.

Okay, so obviously he wanted one from me—he was the one to pull me under it. But he's putting the ball in my court. I could easily walk away and there'd be no hurt feelings.

Ok… so why wasn't I walking away?

I mean, we didn't have to kiss or anything. No one would know. No one was watching or demanding. And it wasn't like New Year's where I was crying and he made me feel better.

Yeah, this… this… was just unnecessary. And awkward…

"Oh, we don't have to kiss…" I forced out, my voice tight. He nodded in agreement, but he didn't move or look away from me.

Yeah, we didn't have to… except… it's Ferb. He wasn't going to tell anyone. I mean, otherwise everyone would know we've kissed; one, two… five times? I mean… it's tradition, right? Thinking back on New Year's again… If I was whining about a New Year's kiss, shouldn't I want a mistletoe kiss?

"Although, it is tradition…" I tried for hesitant, but it came out a little bit more confidently than I had planned it to—confident enough that about two seconds after the words left my mouth, Ferb and I were kissing… again.

One of my hands was holding one of his, and my other one was running through his hair. The elf outfit felt too tight and my toes were curling in my shoes.

ISABELLA!

WHAT?

Isabella, stop making out with Ferb!

…I'm not making out with him…

You are too. And what if someone comes up here? What will they think? And what does Ferb think, huh? What's with the mixed messages you have been sending him?

Right now I don't care…

ISABELLA!

My inner Isabella might've been screaming her lungs out at me; but at that moment there wasn't a force on Earth that could pull me apart from Ferb.

"Ferb! You still up here?"

Okay, except for maybe Phineas Flynn. Ferb broke the kiss; and suddenly it felt more than a little awkward.

I softly cleared my throat, stepping back a little. "Umm, you should…" I weakly waved my hand towards the barely open door, glancing at the floor. I was violently blushing, I could feel it.

He nodded. "Yes. I'll go." His voice was raspy and I glanced up at him as he moved around me. From my position, I could see Ferb was also trying to hide the blush creeping into his cheeks; as well as trying to hide a smile.

As soon as he was off down the hall, I hit the light switch and sat (more like slumped) down on the dark attic stairs. I rubbed my cheeks with my palms, ran my fingers through my hair, and did my best to stamp down the almost uncontrollable desire to squeal.

ISABELLA!