Emma sat in the white Jeep, looking through the window and trying to see through the tears blurring her vision. Her cheeks were stained red and her mascara was running. How could he lie to me like that... she thought, remembering the look on his face when the girl showed up. What did she have that I don't?
Tears started free falling down her face, and she couldn't help but sniffle and shake.
"What's wrong, girly? I'm sorry you had to see that..." Lillie said, looking at her with a fake pity frown.
"I- I- I just don't know why- he'd do that to- me!" she sobbed, her face in the palms of her hands.
"He's a jerk! All guys are jerks. But don't worry about it, if there's anything I've learned, its that everything happens for a reason. You'll find someone that cares!" she said.
"Y-you're right..." Emma said, sighing. She thought Ferb was different. She thought he was not like the rest of them. She was wrong, yet again.
"Hey, wanna come to the park with me and a few friends? We're gonna play some games! It'll keep your mind off things!" Lillie suggested.
Emma thought, wondering if she should just go home and talk to Isabella, but she decided to. "Why not... might as well."
The girls pulled up in the dark parking lot and when Emma got out, three people were standing there in the dark, waiting for her. One of them grabbed her arm forcefully and started to drag her across the parking lot and into the park.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" she yelled, ripping her arm away.
"Shut up, Blondie! Nobody cares about you or your pathetic love life!" the girl snarled. "You think you're SO much better than the rest of us with your blonde hair and blue eyes and all that crap! Well, you're not! Nobody cares that you're new. You're in high school, and high school is MY territory. I'm not gonna let some cute little happy-go-lucky goody two shoes go and ruin it for me! I've liked Ferb for YEARS, and you're just stupid if you think I'm letting go that easy." the girl said, stepping into the light to reveal none other than Gracie.
"Gracie!" Emma gasped. "You are nothing but a jealous, two faced, good for nothing, rude bitch. I don't usually cuss but you've brought me to that point. If you think it's okay to ruin someone's relationship by practically kidnapping them, you've got another thing coming. Plus, if you knew Ferb had a girlfriend, why were you worried about ME?" Emma hissed, passing from passive to aggressive in seconds.
Her face went back to blank as she softly finished. "Also, you act like you should be worried about me. You're a beautiful girl and I'm sure all the guys would line up for miles to date you if only you weren't so uptight and borderline creepy. Gracie, I'm saying this in the nicest possible way. Grow up. You're not in middle school anymore. I'm not worried about you, and you shouldn't be worried about me." she said with a small smile.
Gracie pondered her words for a second, and her face seemed to soften for a few seconds before going back to cold. "You're doing this just to get to me, aren't you? You little snake. I hope you rot in a dungeon. Stop being so innocent, the world isn't sunshine and rainbows. Go back to the hippie-dippie place you came from and leave Danville alone." she sneered.
Emma inhaled deeply at the soul-shattering insult. She had had enough of Gracie. "Insult me one more time. I dare you." she spat.
"I can insult you many more times. Like how about... you're just a gold digger. You wanted Ferb for his inventions, not for him."
"Shut up. That is not true. I didn't know anything about their inventions until tonight. You just want everyone else to be miserable because you can't have what you want. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, Ferb doesn't want to be with you? You can't force someone into loving you."
"Says the one that was the side chick."
"That's not the point of tonight." Emma said, fighting back tears at those two words. She never thought she'd be considered one of those.
Meanwhile, Ferb and Vanessa were driving through town trying to find his beautiful girl.
"I don't know what to do! Where could she have gone?" he exclaimed.
"We need to find where those girls went, and then she's probably with them." Vanessa said. "Any clues?"
Ferb raised an eyebrow, and then put in coordinates into his phone. He put the phone on the car dashboard so she knew where to go.
"Step on it, Vanessa!"
"The pedal has been put to the metal, Ferb!" Vanessa laughed as the car sped up.
Ferb remembered back when he was 10 how he was practically in love with her. He had brushed off the feelings and realized that they would most likely never be a thing, so he had finally gotten over her. They were just good friends and that's all he wanted.
"Hey, can I tell you something really dumb?" he asked, with a weird smile on his face.
"Umm... I guess?" she said, confused.
"Gee... when I was like 10, I had the biggest crush on you. And now I finally find someone else, and Gracie ruins it."
"You had a crush on me?" she laughed. "Aww, that's why you looked at me like that! Don't worry about her, Ferbo! We're gonna find her and fix it!" she said, patting him on the shoulder.
Ferb smiled at her and they kept driving. Soon, they pulled up to the park and as soon as they got to the corner, Ferb jumped out of the car.
"What are you doing? You're gonna get yourself killed!" Vanessa called as he sped off into the dark of night.
"Don't worry about me! Call me if you see her!" he yelled back, and continued to run. He saw a speck of light coming from deep in the park and ran towards it.
"EMMA!" he called, and one of the faces turned to face him.
"Is that...?" Emma started, looking at the boy that was running towards them. She couldn't see what he looked like, but she could hear his accent and smiled at the thought of him trying to save her.
Then, all the feelings came rushing back.
Ferb ran up to her and grabbed her into a hug. Emma stood there, stiff.
He pulled away, confused. "W-what?"
"You have a girlfriend?" she yelled. "What do I look like to you? I am in no way, shape or form one of those girls. If you think that, then you can just go find someone else, because I'm not getting in the way of a relationship. I'm not a homewrecker!" she cried out, and tears ran down her face as she pulled her hands away from his grip.
He gave Gracie a look of dismay, but she wasn't going to let this end so soon.
"Oh, but she is! I looked into her on Instagram, and your precious little princess actually has a boyfriend back in sweet home Alabama!" Gracie said.
Emma's head popped up. "What in the world are you talking about?" she hissed.
"Well, see! I found her boyfriend's page! Name's... Ethan? Sound familar?" she smiled evilly.
Emma gasped. "I... never want to hear that name again." she growled.
"Well, looking at his page, it looks like he's in a relationship. With Emma." Gracie said, scrolling through posts of the two of them kissing and on dates.
Ferb looked surprised at Emma with a sad look. "I never had a girlfriend... Vanessa's the girl I had a crush on as a kid..." he said, and let go of her hand. "Why blame me for lying if you're doing the same thing?"
"Ferb!" Emma yelled, watching him walk away. "FERB DON'T DO THIS TO ME! I CAN EXPLAIN!" she cried out, trying to run after him, but slipping and falling on the ground. He looked back at her sadly, before turning around and getting in Vanessa's car.
The evidence was right there. She had a boyfriend that she didn't tell him about. Was he overreacting? No. He was done with girls. They were just a bunch of drama.
Emma got up and Gracie was in front of her. "Don't mess with me, little girl. You have no idea of what I'm capable of."
"Get away from me, you vile creature." Emma punched Gracie in the eye. "You don't know what I'm capable of either." she hissed and ran off.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, chasing the convertible. When it stopped in front of his house, she ran to his window.
"Ferb!" she gasped. "Let... me explain... please..."
He sighed and looked at her. "Fine."
She caught her breath and started talking. "Um... Vanessa, I'm guessing? Could I maybe have some privacy?" she asked.
Vanessa smiled and walked inside to talk to Candace.
"Ferb... Ethan isn't my boyfriend. It's true that we dated, but that ended in flames when he... changed. I'm not going into the details, but you have to know that he was the reason I moved to Danville. He and my ex best friend ruined my life in Alabama. It got so bad that we were forced to move. I guess we never formally broke up, but I assumed he knew it was over when I left the state because of him..." she explained, tears rolling down her cheeks as she recalled the memories. "I didn't want to tell you because it's in the past and I don't want you to define me as the girl with a horrid past. I wanted a fresh start."
Ferb's expressions softened when he heard her words. He started to tear up as well, but instead of bawling, he got out of the car and warmly embraced her. He held her softly but firmly, holding her head in one hand and the small of her back with the other.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know. I should have done better to listen to you. I guess I just jumped to conclusions when I saw the pictures. I did the same thing to you that you did to me. Will you find it in your beautiful, kind heart to forgive me?" he whispered.
She dug her face into his chest, inhaling the scent of him. He smelled like pine with a faint smell of apples. She smiled and pulled away to look him in the eyes, their bodies still touching.
"I think we can call it even... let's not jump to conclusions anymore, shall we? Especially not when they are led by Gracie?" Emma smiled faintly.
Ferb smirked. "Well then, it's decided. Gracie doesn't play any part in our relationship."
"I'm sorry... did you say relationship?" she asked, teasing him.
"Well, I- I just- nevermind..." he sighed. She doesn't think of us as together still?
"No! I'm just teasing you! Of course! I'm sorry, did I scare you?' she said with a sad face. "Come here, you big baby!" she giggled and led him to the backyard where she sat him down under the tree. She laid down beside him and cuddled up close. He smiled at her touch and held her in his arms.
"Emma... can I confess something?" he asked quietly, as her forehead was up against his cheek.
"Mmm..." she said, smiling.
"I want to stay here forever... with you."
She lifted her head at his words. "F-forever?"
"Yes, forever."
She didn't even respond, just took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him. The moment was perfect, the moonlight was on them, their faces were warm from the tears both of them had shed just thinking about not being together, but the best part about it was that they were just together.
He slowly stood up and turned until she was against the tree. He cradled one of his hands against the tree so as not to hurt her, and pushed her against the tree, his other hand on her waist.
Suddenly, a flash came from the other side of the wall. The two lovers turned immediately to find Irving with an Instax camera.
"Irving!" Ferb groaned and walked to the wall.
"What? I had to put in the UPAFDS Volume 2!" he laughed.
Ferb facepalmed and walked back to Emma. He grabbed her hand and took her inside, and she looked back at the boy over the wall with concern.
"Who was that and why did he take a picture of us?" she asked.
"That's Irving. He's the one that put together the UPAFDS..." Ferb chuckled.
"I..." she started. "I don't have any words." she said.
"Good, you don't need them." he smirked before pressing his lips against hers again.
She giggled and kissed back, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him closer. His lips were addicting, and she could feel the butterflies forming in her stomach as the kiss got deeper and seemingly better by the second.
"I love you..." she whispered as he picked her up and led her to the couch. He was surprised at her statement, and pulled away.
"D-did I hear that right?" he asked.
Emma didn't realize she said it out loud, and her cheeks went bright red.
"Because if I did..." he said, kissing her quickly once more before grinning. "I love you too..." he whispered back and leaned her back on the couch.
She gasped, smiled, and pulled away.
Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight shimmering through the window in the living room, and her skin was soft and pale.
"F-Ferb..." she started, about to say something else, but closed her mouth. "Nevermind, just kiss me, loverboy."
His cheeks were a dark shade of red, but it was everything in his power not to kiss her again. "No... what were you gonna say?" he asked with a grin.
"Well... I was gonna ask what your thoughts were of ditching school again tomorrow."
"Oh, Emma... we have to go to school at least some days! But I promise, tomorrow right after school, I'm all yours." he smirked and kissed her on the cheek.
"I guess that's good enough for me!" she laughed and sat up next to him, then leaned him back and laid on top of him, her arms around his neck. "Do we have to leave each other tonight?"
"I don't think either of our parents would be very happy to know we stayed the night with each other..." he sighed.
"You're right... well, it's almost midnight, I should probably leave." she said, ruffling his green hair.
He smiled. "We wouldn't want you being late for curfew, now would we?" he laughed.
"No, no we wouldn't... well, as much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, the only way I can get up is if you let go..." she frowned.
"I don't wanna let go!" he pouted.
"Then don't! Let's run away together!" she joked.
"Are you serious? Because I mean... I wouldn't be opposed to it..." he smiled.
"I was joking, unfortunately, but once we both graduate, I'd be very happy to run away with you." she winked, moved his hair out of his face, and kissed him on the forehead.
"Aw, darn it... I hoped you were serious. Well, if you ever decide to... I'll be your runaway buddy." he chuckled and stood up.
"You'll be the first one I call." she smiled and hugged him once more before opening the door quietly and running across the street to her house. He stood in the doorway and watched her disappear into the house across the street.
He was falling fast, and he didn't know how to or want to stop, so he just kept falling deeper into the ring of fire called love.