The Flynn-Fletcher family - minus Candace - and Isabella walked up to the entrance of the dance hall from the parking lot.
"Just texted Adyson," Phineas said aloud as he put his cell phone back in his pocket. "They're ready for us!"
Phineas and Ferb led the way, with Isabella bringing up the rear and pausing for a second, already dreading the inevitable once she stepped inside.
"I… I'll try…" she repeated once more.
And then she went in…
"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
Time to go dancing in the second half of the season five premiere! Will Isabella survive the closest thing to a 'date' she's head with Phineas while avoiding a confrontation with her former troopmates?
One thing's for sure… it's going down!
(Note: This is the second of two new entries posted tonight! Make sure you've read the previous one before going to this one - see prerequisite below!)
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney and not me.
Prerequisite (read the following first before reading this):
- Entry #535 ("Fireside Diaries," Episode 501)
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Entry #536 [FSD502] - The Night That Changed Everything (02.10.14)
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Entry #536 - Written by Adyson Sweetwater
Where were we? Oh, yeah, I remember now…
"DANVILLE! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?"
"YES!"
With that, Phineas and Ferb led the dance hall in a party song. While that was going on, Isabella snuck in during it, trying to avoid being spotted by any of the girls. And it appeared to work…
Until the crowd started dissipating at the song's conclusion. They all went back to dancing, conversing, getting refreshments, or enjoying the many games set up around the hall. As things returned to normal, Elizabeth, Adyson, Milly, and Katie all finally catch a glimpse of Isabella, over on the far side of the room. As they all look at her, she spots them doing the same. They uncomfortably stare for a few seconds before several other people block their view inadvertently. The next time the Fireside Girls got a clear shot, Isabella was gone, having disappeared into the crowd.
Elizabeth turned to the others, and saw them still gawking.
"Well? What are ye Yanks waiting for? I know ye all want to gab with her!"
Milly and Katie instantly turned away, unwilling to admit it. Adyson, though, did not shy away. She shook her head.
"The time isn't right. B-B-Besides, you said we have a dance to keep under control, so…"
With that, Adyson grabbed the two younger girls and pushed them away from Elizabeth, leaving their leader flabbergasted.
"Hmph!" the British girl huffed.
Once they were a good distance away, Adyson stopped pushing Milly and Katie. By this point, though, they were on the dance floor, in the midst of a large group of people letting themselves loose. Noting this, they quickly moved to get off, only for Katie to bump into the back of a boy around her age.
Irving.
"Whoops!" Katie hastily apologized. "Sorry."
"No big."
The two stared into each other's eyes. After a brief pause, Irving found his arms and legs moving to beat of the music that was playing. And soon after, Katie was too. And just like that, they were dancing together.
Adyson and Milly just looked at on, astonished.
Katie and Irving?
Well… stranger couples have happened.
Holly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Milly and getting her to dance with her. They shimmied their way over to a group of kids unattached to anyone, forming a little party within the bigger one. Adyson let them be, deciding she could go work for a little while.
But then she saw Ginger, standing quietly, albeit sadly, behind the refreshments table.
Speaking of strange couples…
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Adyson thought to herself, rolling her eyes.
Adyson made her way to the other side of the dance hall. She found Buford and Baljeet sitting together, in the corner, with the bigger guy keeping a watchful eye on the smaller one.
"Buford?" Adyson approached him, speaking to him in the sweetest voice she could muster. "Can you help me with something?"
He was not all that interested, but got up off of his seat anyway.
"This better be good, missy!"
As Adyson led him away, she very quickly glanced back over to Ginger, head-bobbing in Baljeet's direction whilst giving her a wink. Moments later, Ginger was no longer at the table and instead had taken Buford's seat, next to Baljeet.
"She's so owing me for that," Adyson mumbled as she led Buford out of the hall.
Well, love is in the air after all, and someone should be happy on Valentine's Day. And on that note, I swear, if anyone makes any sort of deal about me being with Buford…
Speaking of working, Elizabeth was doing rounds, particularly in the area where the games were set up. She noticed that one of the booths not only had no one around it, but it was also completely empty. She marched over to investigate, but as she did, the attraction came back to life. Well, the electrical sign did anyway, signifying it had been powered back up. Elizabeth continued to make her way over, and just as she reached the booth, she saw Lauren walk out from behind it. And with her was Ferb, armed with a toolbox.
"Thanks again!" Lauren said to Ferb. "Sorry for having to pull you away from the fun."
Ferb responded by giving her a 'no problem' look.
"What is going on here?" Elizabeth asked, with a sour look on her face and her hands on her hips.
"The machine went down," explained Lauren. "I had Ferb hear fix it."
"Oh." She relaxed, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. "Well… um… carry on then."
She spun around and walked away.
"That girl is way too stressed," Lauren said aloud.
"Yes," agreed Ferb. "Yes, she is."
In spite of how stressful the dance was going for us Fireside Girls, and by 'us' I mean Elizabeth, for everyone else it was becoming a night to remember.
Especially for Isabella…
The dance had moved on to the latter stages, in which most of the songs the DJ was playing were of the slow variety. Isabella was taking full advantage of it, spending it on the floor with Phineas. They smiled at each other, enjoying the other's company. Eventually, Isabella was so comfortable that she moved closer to Phineas, to the point where they was barely any room between their bodies.
"This is the moment I've always dreamed of! Dancing cheek-to-cheek with Phineas, without a care in the world! I wish this night would never end!"
What?
Don't look at me like that! That's obviously what she's thinking. You don't need to read her diary for that.
"Oh, Phineas!" Isabella exclaimed. "This is the best night EVER!"
Phineas did not respond. He just simply nodded in acknowledgement. They continued to slowly dance in a circle until the end of the song. The DJ then put on the next one, which was of a slightly faster tempo. It was enough to knock the pair out of the moment, and Isabella decided this was a good time for a break.
"Why don't we take five?" she suggested.
"Okay," Phineas agreed. "Want something to drink?"
"Punch would be great."
Phineas nodded and walked off. Isabella made her way back to their table, which was currently empty. She took a seat and started glancing around the room. She saw that everyone was having a good time, and she was glad, given how much she had helped Phineas and Ferb plan all the amusements and refreshments.
But then she was reminded that they were not the ones keeping it under control. The Fireside Girls were. And, in her opinion, they were doing a great job. She saw both her girls and the girls of former Troop 28933 not only maintaining order, but also working well with each other and having fun, to boot. From keeping the refreshments table well-stocked to running the games scattered around the hall and everything in between, it was all running smoothly. Usually, it was the troop leader's job to ensure that was the case at all times. Seeing Elizabeth run around, attempting to do that job, sparked a feeling of emptiness inside of Isabella. And seeing the girls, at least from her perspective, stand by Elizabeth and follow her orders to the letter, gave Isabella an added feeling of loneliness.
"Why do I feel this way?" Isabella asked herself aloud. "I'm with the boy of my dreams, and the night's been perfect! And yet… I'm so unhappy. Why?"
"Maybe because you've realized you didn't have to leave the Fireside Girls in order to spend time with me?"
Isabella's eyes went wide in shocking hearing Phineas' voice, as well as seeing him place a cup of punch on the table in front of her. She spun around in her seat and did indeed see him there, grinning, with his own cup in hand.
When caught in such a predicament, it is always recommended you tell the truth!
"Nothing!" she exclaimed, trying to get him to ignore what she had just said. "You didn't hear that!"
Phineas chuckled as he sat down next to her. Isabella blushed in embarrassment as Phineas put his cup down, took her hands in his, and got her to look into his eyes.
"You know you don't have to hide anything from me anymore, right? Not your feelings or why you quit the Fireside Girls."
Isabella gasped. "Why I quit? How did you…"
"Oh, it was obvious."
"Was it?"
"No. Adyson told Ferb, who told me."
"Ah! But, wait, if you knew, why did you lead me on? Pretend like you didn't know?"
"Because, Isabella! Because I wanted to see if you were actually happy with leaving the girls. And now I'm certain that you're not, I want you to go back to them."
"Go back? But Phineas! What… what about us?"
Phineas chuckled. "You can be so silly sometimes, Isabella!"
"Silly?" Isabella was a tad offended by that accusation.
"You didn't have to leave the Fireside Girls to be with me! In fact, the main reason I'm enamored with you is BECAUSE of the Fireside Girls! All the fun adventures you get to go on, and all of the crazy stories your troop had to tell."
"Crazy stories? Does that mean…"
"Yep," Phineas affirmed with a nod. "Read them all. Come on. You really think I'm THAT naive?"
Isabella smirked. "Well, you coulda fooled me."
"What I'm saying, Isabella, is that you can find time to fit the Fireside Girls AND me into your life! And school too, but that's not important right… what's important is why change your life when it was perfectly great to begin with?"
"OH! I see… I see what you're saying."
"That-a-girl! Now let's get you signed up to be a Fireside Girl again!"
Phineas got up, pulled Isabella out of her seat, and started tugging her in the direction of her former - and future - troop members.
"Uh, Phineas? It's not gonna be that easy! The way I left…"
But before Isabella could blurt out all of the details, Phineas had already gotten her over to Gretchen and Adyson, who were not that far away. They were only a few tables away, to be exact.
"If you need me, I'll be checking on Ferb."
And with that, Phineas bolted off, leaving Isabella to finally face her friends.
"Girls," she began, nervously rubbing the back of her head, "I have something to tell you."
Gretchen and Adyson looked at her, willing to hear Isabella out. She continued.
"I'm sorry for shunning you all these past few days. And for deciding to quit the Fireside Girls. No, wait… for deciding to quit in the first place. Despite everything that's happened with my injury and the uncertainty of our troop and the merge and all the conflicting drama with Elizabeth and her girls, I realize now that the last thing I should've done was run away from it all. That's not what a leader does, girls. ESPECIALLY one who's been through thick and thin for you all. A leader is supposed to stand tall in the face of adversity, and I didn't do that. So… Gretchen? Adyson? Will you two, and the rest of the girls, forgive me for bailing on you?"
Gretchen and Adyson quickly got up from their seats and went around the table, on opposing sides, so that they ended up on either side of Isabella. They quickly put an arm around her, in support.
"You could've stopped at 'I'm sorry,'" Adyson said with a smirk.
"We're not just Fireside Girls, Chief," Gretchen told Isabella. "We're also friends. For life! And all of us feel that way."
Isabella started to cry. "You guys…"
The three of them shared a group hug. After a few seconds of remorseful embrace, Isabella had a question for them.
"Say, I told you the reason why I tried to ignore you guys for a whole week. Why did you all shun me?"
"Well," answered Adyson, albeit hesitantly, "we wanted to give you space. Time to work things out, y'know."
"We also didn't want the new Chief, eh, Elizabeth, to think we were undermining her authority by trying to get you back."
Adyson freaked out. "GRETCH! She'll hear you!"
"I already have, dear Adyson."
The trio looked to their right, and there stood Elizabeth. And she looked perturbed.
Again, when caught in such a predicament, it is always recommended you tell the truth!
"Isabella! How did you sneak into the middle of our two-person hug? Heh heh… heh… heh…"
Smooth, me of the past. Smooth.
Adyson and Gretchen backed a couple steps away from Isabella, leaving her to have a one-on-one with the girl who replaced her as leader of her troop.
"Look, Elizabeth. There's something I have to…"
Without warning, Elizabeth grabbed Isabella's hands and looked at her with remorse in her eyes.
"Help me, Isabella! I'm doing a terrible job as leader!"
The others looked at each other, confused.
"What are you talking about?" questioned Adyson. "Seriously, Elizabeth, you're doing a great jo-"
"I wasn't talking to ye, Sweetwater!" the British lass snapped, forcing Adyson to bite her tongue.
"Elizabeth?" Isabella saw the weariness in the girl's eyes. "What's going on?"
"I'm in over me head! I'm used to handling a lot of responsibility, but not anything like this! Sure, everythin' looks fine, but I feel as if it's one small mishap from going completely off the rails!"
"Nonsense! You've done a great job. Right, girls?"
Isabella turned to Gretchen and Adyson for acknowledgement, and they nodded in agreement. But Elizabeth was still not satisfied.
"Gretchen and Adyson and the others have done nothing but be the best of helpers tonight, despite me accusing them constantly of sabotage. But even though I now trust them, I still feel as if this is too much for me to handle! I'm not used to managing so many people at once."
You and me both, sister.
What? I'm sympathizing with her!
Adyson wanted to vocalize her sentiments, but Gretchen wisely shook her head, inferring that interjecting into the conversation between Isabella and Elizabeth was not the thing to do.
"I'm asking for ye help, Isabella!" pleaded Elizabeth. "I cannot handle this! I thought I was ready to manage a troop of this magnitude. But ye… maybe ye can?"
"Well… I guess I could help."
Elizabeth's eyes lit up with hope. "Ye… ye mean it?"
"On one condition, though."
Elizabeth reached into her mini-purse and pulled out her Troop Leader Patch out. She opened up Isabella's hand and placed it in her palm. The former leader was, for a brief moment, speechless.
"Are you sure, Elizabeth? 'Cause I was just gonna ask you to take us all out for smoothies after the dance. But if this is really what you want…"
"Do not make me repeat myself! This be difficult enough as it is!"
Isabella only needed a second to make a decision.
"I'LL DO IT!"
Gretchen and Adyson squealed with delight, while Elizabeth flashed a smile in relief.
"But, Elizabeth, I have one OTHER condition…"
Hearing this, Elizabeth's emotions were about ready to flip back to negative… until Isabella handed the Troop Leader Patch back to her.
"There's a lot of paperwork and red tape that we have to get through to make the change official. So, for at least tonight, you're still in charge. But I'll be here to give you an advice you need."
"And so will we!" exclaimed Adyson and Gretchen, in unison.
Elizabeth shed a tear of relief. "Thanks."
With that, Isabella led Elizabeth off, going right to work.
And just like that, things were back to normal. Well, as normal as two troops having been merged into one can be, but I'm sure we'll dive into more another day.
The dance continued on for several more hours, and with Isabella's guidance, Elizabeth was able to get through the night without a mental breakdown. At one point, Elizabeth was seen having fun, as she tried to win a prize at the booth Lauren was running. She succeeded, with Isabella and several of the other girls cheering her on.
Later on, after the troop officially handed off responsibilities to adult volunteers - after all, it was a school night - all the girls, as well as their friends, participated in one last dance…
This last week has been an emotional rollercoaster. Not just for Isabella, but for all of us in the troop. One major week of drama had finally come to an end, and it was time to move on.
…and while they mostly danced as a group, one pair decided to end the night with one final moment together.
"Glad to have you back," Phineas told Isabella.
"But I never… OH!" Isabella smirked, getting it. "Glad to be back."
Phineas wrapped his arms around Isabella, holding her close as they danced out those last few seconds of the song.
The following Saturday, minutes after that week's Fireside Girls' meeting…
Isabella, back in uniform and sporting her sash full of patches - her Team Leader Patch included - trotted over to Elizabeth, who was in the midst of taking down one of the paintings she had put up during redecorating last week.
"Um, Elizabeth? What are you doing?"
Elizabeth turned around. "Me? Well, I figured, since ye now be back in charge, everything should go back to the way it was."
Isabella stared at the painting that Elizabeth had just taken down. After a few seconds, she picked it up and hung it back on the wall.
"Nah. The lodge was due for a makeover anyway. And, to be honest, I love what you've done with the place."
She then put an arm around her former rival.
"Besides, we're all one big happy, blended troop now! My cabin is your cabin is our cabin!"
The two laughed in joy, cementing the completion of their transition from being rival leaders to newfound friends for life. Meanwhile, Adyson looked on from the computer, as she finished typing out this week's entry.
I guess that's it. This was fun, being the main scriber for the troop's diary blog. Isabella's got the next entry, where she'll tell the tale of how she actually went back to Phineas' house after the dance…
"I CAN SEE YOUR 'TALL TALE' FACE FROM HERE, ADDY!" Isabella shouted from across the room.
Having been caught, Adyson grinned sheepishly as she deleted the last sentence and retyped it.
Isabella's got the next entry, probably describing us getting yet another Help Thy Neighbor Patch today. Elizabeth and the others are gonna learn what Troop 46231 actually does the most regularly. Heh heh.
With that, Adyson posted the entry and then logged off, joining the rest of the troop in another trip to the Flynn-Fletcher backyard.
End Entry
