"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
So in the past, we've seen entries from all the members of Isabella's troop, from a part-timer, and from kids whom are neither part of the Firesides or are girls. But we've never had a Fireside Girl from a different troop write an entry for the blog.
Until now.
Welcome to part one of the two-part fourth season finale, folks! Prepare to be shocked!
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
Prerequisites (i.e. read these first before reading this):
- Entry #401 ("Jamboree Jambalaya")
- Entry #512 ("Fireside Diaries," Episodes 409 & 410)
Entry #533 -
Written by Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry, leader of Troop 28933
Good morrow!
Ye know how that lass Isabella Garcia-Shapiro and the rest of her troop have been writing for that blog of theirs? Well, no one said it be exclusive to just them Yanks, so allow me, Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry, to regale ye with a tale worthy of being posted on the Internet.
'Cause face it… me and my girls are the bee's knees!
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Entry #533 [FSD412] - Case of the Cancelled Cupcakes (09.02.13)
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It was lunchtime at Shephardchestersire Elementary, and it was a week before the big day of Valentine. So the gals and I were doing what any other 11-year old lasses would be partaking in at this time of the year.
Selling cupcakes.
"Thank ye," Elizabeth said, taking the dollar bill that was being handed to her. "We appreciate ye loyalty and ye patronage!"
The lunch lady smiled in appreciation as Elizabeth was handed her heart-shaped cupcake. She headed back to the kitchen, tearing into the sweet treat on the way. The next customer stepped up to the table, ready to purchase a cupcake of his own.
"This is going great," stated Lauren, happily.
The dark-skinned, glasses-wearing girl pulled the last tray of cupcakes from the cart and placed it on the table, removing the wax paper sheet covering it as she did.
"It always be this way, Lauren," Elizabeth told her, as she took the next customer's money. "Lads and lassies alike love Fireside Girl Valentine's cupcakes, whether they be for themselves or for that someone special in their lives."
Suddenly, the school bell rang, signifying the end of the lunch period. Everyone still in line groaned in disappointment. Luckily, Elizabeth was never one to let a customer leave unhappy, as her post-sales plan was put into action by Abigail, the troop's resident jockette.
"The Fireside Girls will be selling and taking orders for Valentine's cupcakes this afternoon outside Food R' Us!" she bellowed, passing out fliers as she did.
Elizabeth turned to Lauren, beaming brightly.
"See? Ye have to account for all variables if ye want to have a successful cupcake-selling campaign. And earn our Sweet Love Patches."
"And thinking like that is why we're all glad you're the chief, Chief."
Remember that statement. It be of very high importance later.
But before that…
After packing up and putting the leftover cupcakes in cold storage, Elizabeth, Lauren, and Abigail got in line with the rest of their classmates to walk back to their classroom. The trio was chatting amongst themselves when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth spotted someone of interest.
...I suppose this is as good as any time to be introducing… sigh… him…
Elizabeth became lost in a dream state as she stared at a hunky sixth grader who was in the midst of retrieving something from his locker before his afternoon subjects.
Charles Royale. The cutest, hunkiest, dreamiest 11-year old to ever be a thrice-removed descendant of the Queen.
Yes, THE Queen.
So what's a British hunk like him doing here, ye might ask? Well, he's here as part of the Young Student Exchange program, spending the entire school year here in America.
Charles pulled his head out and turned to face Elizabeth. Their eyes met for a few seconds, giving Elizabeth a view of his stunningly pearl white teeth. Time seemed to stop, as did she, as they just stared at each other for what appeared to be hours on end.
And by golly, I'm giddy that he chose our school to be at.
Elizabeth's mouth opened, as she wanted to say hi to him. But her living dream sequence came to an abrupt end when a curly-haired brunette wrapped herself around Charles' arm.
"Charlie!" she cooed. "I LOVE this bracelet you made, just for me!"
Charles looked at his girlfriend. "Oh. Yes."
He closed his locker and then, taking her hand, the lovely couple started walking to catch up with the rest of their class.
If only I had been the first girl to approach her…
And only if it had been anyone but Isabella Cullen. That… that… wench!
As if hearing Elizabeth's thoughts, Isabella looked back just long enough to stick her tongue out, trying to get a rise out of the British-born Fireside Girl. It worked, as Elizabeth started scowling openly.
Why do all the Isabellas always get what they want? Ugh. I blame that book series all the preteens are into.
"Elizabeth? Elizabeth!"
Lauren shook Elizabeth back to her senses before she could descend into a state of mad jealousy.
"No time for love, girl! We're up first for oral group book reports, remember?"
"Oh. Ri-right. Let's crank this out then, shall we? 'Sides, what kind of lass thinks about findin' their mate at 11?"
The two resumed walking, catching up with the rest of their class.
Okay, self? Ignore what I just said. There be nothing wrong with findin' the man of ye dreams at age 11.
Even if some curly-haired harpy has her claws sunk into him.
But this ain't be about my love life. Even though it's seven days until the big day… of love…
IT'S NOT ABOUT MY LOVE LIFE!
It was after school, and a minivan pulled up to the front entrance of Food R' Us. A table was set up, and two Fireside Girls were already standing up behind it, finishing up preparations for the sales day.
This… is about cupcakes!
Elizabeth emerged from the front passenger seat, and Lauren and Abigail came out from the back seat of the vehicle. The three were in uniform, just like their counterparts, who had arrived before them.
"Good job, Betty and Veronica!" Elizabeth exclaimed, complimenting them on their fast set-up work.
The two sisters saluted in acknowledgement. The younger, less talkative yet more muscular sister, Betty, grunted as she pointed at herself and the table. Veronica, the older, taller sister, translated for her.
"Betty carried the table here from the car all by herself!"
Betty nodded in glee. Elizabeth gave her a pat on the back.
"So, girls… where are the cupcakes?"
The two sisters looked strangely at each other. They had brought the order form booklets, which were already on the table. But the cupcakes for people who wanted to buy and take home cupcakes today? They were nowhere to be seen.
"You tell me," Betty said.
"They're supposed to be here!" Elizabeth pointed out. "You're supposed to be unpacking them already and setting up a sample tray!"
"Perhaps the delivery truck is stuck in traffic?" thought Abigail out loud. "It IS rush hour, after all."
Elizabeth whipped out her cell phone. "I'll get to the bottom of this!"
She dialed the number of the delivery company responsible for handling all of their on-site cupcake sales tables.
Like Abigail, I thought the delivery was just running late. But I wasn't expecting what happened… next…
"WHAT DO YE MEAN IT'S BEEN STUFFED?"
"Huh?" the other girls turned to look at Elizabeth, wondering what was up.
"I placed this order weeks ago! Ye… ye just delivered cupcakes to us the day before last!"
Elizabeth walked away from the others, wanting to continue to talk in private.
"You don't understand! I'll have two, perhaps three score of customers on us in minutes! You're telling me I don't have ANY cupcakes to sell?"
"Like I said, Miss Hollingberry," the man on the other end of the line told her, "the order was cancelled this morning."
"Cancelled? By whom?"
"I am not privy to that information."
"Well, I know for sure it wasn't me who cancelled it! So who's responsible?"
"It doesn't say who."
"Really? Well, whomever's responsible is gonna wish they hadn't messed with this Fireside Girl!"
With that, Elizabeth hung up.
"What's up?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah," added Abigail. "We sellin' cupcakes or what?"
Elizabeth took a deep breath, if only just to give herself a second to figure out what to do now, and then she turned to face them.
"Apparently, girls… we have a mystery on our hands!"
We had to figure out who would cancel our cupcake order. Was it a clerical error? Or was it sabotage?
Only one way to find out.
Troop 28933 arrived at the warehouse of their troop's cupcake supplier. The first person they ran into was in the loading dock, where their normal delivery driver was in the process of unloading his truck.
"It surprised me too, girls," the man said, taking time out to answer their questions. "But I'm just following orders. If they said the order's cancelled, I unload the truck. Simple as that."
Elizabeth's brain started working, taking in the driver's testimony into account.
The girls moved on to questioning the guy they had talked to on the phone. He was at his computer, showing Elizabeth the screen showing their cancelled invoice.
"You didn't leave a reason for the cancellation?" questioned Elizabeth.
"Why would I? I wasn't the one who processed it!"
He then pointed out the electronic signature, which was basically the first and last initials of the person who had taken the cancellation order.
"MJ?"
"Mr. Jenkins. The manager. He must've received it."
"Hmmm…"
The gears in Elizabeth's head started turning.
They then approached Mr. Jenkins in his office.
"The order came down from Amy," he told them.
"Amy?" Elizabeth followed up. "As in Amy Bolling, senior Fireside Girl and current Regional Elected Representative?"
"That's the one."
"Why? Why would she cancel our order? We've never done anything to her!"
"You have to ask her. All she told me is that there was a personnel change."
"A personnel change? What could that mean? Hmmm…"
There was only one way to get an answer to that question.
To ask her ourselves.
20 minutes later, Elizabeth and company found themselves inside Fireside Girls Regional Corporate Headquarters. Following the signs inside, they were heading directly for Amy's office.
"There's the receptionist's desk," pointed out Lauren.
Lauren also happened to point out that the receptionist, a woman in her late 20s, was talking to a teenager in a Fireside Girl uniform. A teenager whom Elizabeth recognized from a photo she had seen of her in the past.
"That's Amy. She'll help us get to the bottom of this."
As they approached, Amy saw them coming. Without warning, she bolted down the hallway, in the opposite direction, and disappeared around the corner.
"What the… after her, girls!"
Elizabeth and the girls gave chase. Feeling them coming after her, Amy started knocking over objects as she passed them to delay the troop. She threw a stack of papers, a water cooler, and a full filing cabinet in their path. But the troop would not let those delay them for very long.
Eventually, Amy led them into a hallway with a number of doors on both sides. She opened the closest one and went inside, shutting the door behind her. The troop did the same, going into the same room. A few seconds later, Amy emerged from a room two doors down. She went straight across the hall and went into the room on the opposite side. Again, Elizabeth and her team followed the exact same path. On the next cycle, Amy emerged from one door and went to the next room up; Betty and Veronica came out of a different door and they went one room down the hall; Elizabeth, Lauren, and Abigail appeared from behind a third different door, and they continued directly across the hall.
Not for nothing, but I swear I've seen something like this before.
The 'multiple doors' sequence continued on for quite a while, with everyone coming in and out of different doors at the same time, temporarily forgetting who was chasing whom.
Nah. I must be imagining things.
At one point, Betty stops in the middle of the hallway and just stands there. Everyone keeps running around and around, apparently caught in an endless loop. Finally, after five minutes, Amy unintentionally ran right into Betty's arms. The muscular girl picked the teenager up off the ground and held her up against the nearest wall; Amy's legs were dangling about a foot above the floor.
Upon seeing what Betty was doing, the others broke out of the loop and ran over to join her.
"Betty, no!" hastily reprimanded Elizabeth. "We don't hurt other Fireside Girls."
Veronica coaxed her sister into releasing Amy, letting Betty lower the older girl to a sitting position on the ground.
"So, are you gonna talk?" queried the troop leader.
"Okay, okay!" Amy surrendered. "Look, I was just following orders!"
"Huh. Likely story."
"Like, seriously! THE top!"
"THE top? You mean…"
Amy pointed to a framed painting hanging at the end of the hallway. The painting was of the founder of the Fireside Girls.
"ELIZA M. FEYERSEID?!" the girls all shouted in tandem.
"It must be big," Lauren said with a gulp. "But what?"
"Only one way to find out," Elizabeth replied. "We have to ask her ourselves. And where is she always on every first Thursday of the month?"
The others scratched their heads, unable to come up with an answer. So Elizabeth went easy on them and gave it to them.
"Danville."
I should've known this would lead us to Isabella and her troop. Time to expose those jelly lasses for the frauds they really are! On to Danville!
After a little detour…
"Elizabeth? This isn't Danville."
Lauren was pointing out the obvious as the entire troop was hiding behind some hedges on the edge of a suburban front yard.
"Shhh!" shushed Elizabeth, as the front door opened.
Charles stepped out of the house belonging to the family he was staying with. He headed for the driveway, where he was in the midst of washing a car. Elizabeth sighed dreamily as she saw him soap up the windows.
"You know, in 15 counties this technically qualifies as stalking."
"I said shhh!"
"Charlie!" cooed a familiar, screechy voice.
The girls turned to see Charles was getting help… from Isabella.
"She's too young to be washing a car with a boy!" seethed Elizabeth.
"Um, so are you," Lauren pointed out.
With rage clouding her mind, Elizabeth popped out of the bushes and stomped over to get Isabella away from her man. Boy. Crush. Distant love interest?
Whoa, whoa, nothing to see here, ye Yanks! Note to self: cut this part out of the entry.
The sky was orange as the sun was setting, hidden behind the towering skyscrapers of downtown Danville. Elizabeth and the other members of Troop 28933 were now standing at the end of the walkway leading up the front door of the lodge of Troop 46231. They all had looks on determination and defiance on their faces.
Especially Elizabeth.
Where was I? Oh, yeah…
Time to expose those jelly lasses for the frauds they really are! Once and for all!
"It's always Troop 46231," Elizabeth stated out loud. "They've always stood in our way, preventing us from becoming an A-rank, no, an S-rank Fireside Girls troop! They must've convinced the founding mother to sabotage our efforts to get Sweet Love Patches. AND become the best troop in the Tri-State Area, of course. We must expose Isabella Garcia-Shapiro and her charges as the Benedict Arnolds they are!"
Suddenly, Lauren's phone beeped, indicating a new e-mail had just arrived in the troop's inbox. Knowing Elizabeth was in the midst of a long-winded speech, she went ahead and checked it.
"After we have taken them fraudulent fillies down a peg, Troop 28933 will truly ascend to greatness! So what do ye say, girls? Ready to show 'em who's boss?"
"YEAH!" shouted the others in unison.
Betty and Veronica lifted the blanket off of a wheelbarrow filled with water balloons, all ready to be thrown on a moment's notice.
"Good show. Let's do this!"
They started heading to the front door. Along the way, Lauren finished reading the e-mail, and she tried to get Elizabeth's attention afterwards.
"Whatever it is, Lauren, it can wait until AFTER the revenge pelting?"
"But it's from the governing body!" Lauren replied. "It states the reason why our cupcake delivery was cancelled."
Upon hearing this, Elizabeth raised her arm up, signaling for the others to halt. She then turned to Lauren and motioned for her to hand her the cell phone, which Lauren did promptly.
Reading that e-mail brought about another thing I wasn't expecting.
"Wow! Really?"
Elizabeth read the message a second time to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her.
"Really! That's why?"
The others looked over at Elizabeth.
"Are you just gonna leave us in suspense?" asked Abigail. "Or are you gonna tell us?"
Elizabeth gave the phone back to Lauren, who then showed the message on it to the rest of the troop. They were equally surprised.
"No way!" Veronica exclaimed. "For real?"
"If that's the case," Abigail thought aloud, "now what?"
Elizabeth thought for a minute. Suddenly an idea came to her.
"GOT IT! Huddle up, girls… this trip may not have been in waste at all!"
They got together, and Elizabeth whispered her plan to them all. After hearing it, Lauren had only one thing to say about it.
"And thinking like that is why we're all glad you're the chief, Chief."
See? Told you that statement was of high importance!
Moments later, the members of Troop 28933 marched into the lodge. Hearing unexpected visitors, Troop 46231 immediately sprung into defense mode. Armed with water balloons and water balloon launching devices, Ginger, Holly, Milly, and Katie quickly surrounded Elizabeth and her girls, leaving them nowhere to escape.
"What's going on here?"
Adyson walked in on the scene, with Gretchen right behind, holding a large notepad. She had no tolerance - and no time - to deal with intruders.
"Adyson Sweetwater," Elizabeth said, with a smirk on her face.
Adyson grumbled. "You."
"I HAVE A NAME! It's Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry! We, we do the whole 'say each other's full names' bit, remember?"
Adyson rolled her eyes, then motioned with her hands to signal the others to stand down. They complied, lowering their balloons. Adyson then stared at Elizabeth, crossing her arms over her chest.
"'Cause you're in uniform, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and calling this a business visit. State your purpose and make it snappy. I've got a lot of work to do and I'm NOT in the mood."
Gretchen held up the notebook, which showed what Adyson was working on at the moment: theme ideas for an upcoming Valentine's event.
"Oh, Adyson, Adyson, Adyson…"
Elizabeth started pacing back and forth in front of Adyson, much to the latter's chagrin.
"I know ye have got too much on ye plate, juggling duties as class president and leadership of the troop. Temporarily."
"Still waiting for a point!"
"Long story short, consider yourself relieved of duty. As of this moment, I, Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry, am the NEW leader of Troop 46231!"
Adyson's eyes went wide with shock.
Told you that was a tale WORTH hearing! Why wouldn't it be, seeing as I am now the leader of the Tri-State Area's finest Fireside Girl troop? Ha ha ha ha ha!
Oh, I love my life.
End Entry
Author's Notes:
To be honest, I kinda flip-flop often on how much olde-timey English Elizabeth should have in her speech. Part of it comes from wanting her to act British; part of it comes from finding more use of modern-day British slang. I don't know what I'm going for sometimes.
Also, this entry also gave me a chance to flesh out more on both the similarities and the differences between Elizabeth and Isabella. 'Our' Isabella, that is, not the one introduced in this chapter. But that was obvious, right?
Anyway… 12 down, one to go.
Next Week: Isabella here! Whoa, whoa, whoa, Elizabeth's the new leader of Troop 46231? Why? How? What? I guess I'd better get to the bottom of… Phineas? What are you doing here? Does… does this mean… you and I… don't you dare miss the season finale of "Fireside Diaries," one week from tonight! It could be the one that changes everything!
