The next Saturday found Isabella and Gretchen preparing for their dates together in Isabella's bedroom. Isabella was considerably more excited than her friend, as her evening held considerably more potential. Gretchen actually found herself a bit lonely, wishing that Tan could be there with her, but shrugged the feeling off. She knew that she and Ferb would have a great time. She devoted all of her attention into making Isabella beautiful. The opening of the New and Improved amusement park had been the talk of the town for weeks, and there would likely be press and cameras everywhere.
"How did you manage to score the evening off, anyway?" Gretchen asked as she curled the ends of Isabella's hair.
"I'll still have to go in, later, and edit the journalists' final copy," Isabella replied with a grin, "but that doesn't mean I can't have fun beforehand. Oh, Gretchen, I'm so excited," Isabella finished off with another girlish squeal and giggle.
Isabella's enthusiasm and happiness were contagious, and Gretchen caught herself smiling and squealing along, despite her loneliness. Only three more months, she reminded herself as they started trying on various outfits, looking for the perfect one.
When the doorbell rang, Isabella took a deep breath and let it out. She was determined to have fun, even if this date was a complete fluke and Phineas had gone temporarily insane.
"Isa, Gretchen, your ride is here mi hijas!" Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro called from the sitting room.
"¡Gracias, Mama!" Isabella called down the stairs as she and her friend grabbed their shoes and purses and made their way to the door, just as the bell rang.
The date was going awesome, as far as Phineas was concerned. Not long after the ribbon cutting ceremony, Ferb and Gretchen had gone off by themselves to get hot dogs and do whatever it was they were planning. Phineas found he was having a hard time keeping his eyes and hands off of Isabella. She was beautiful, although she was just wearing a pair of low slung jeans and an off the shoulder dark pink sweater. Phineas found he really wanted to stick his hand in her back pocket, so he could get a feel of her butt, even if it was through denim. He held the urge down, though, as they proceeded to ride every ride the New and Improved amusement park had to offer.
Of course, the day had had it's rough patches. One of the junior engineers had approached him not long after the opening ceremony, worriedly looking over the schematics for the tilt-a-whirl. A few minutes, and a fixed error later, and everything was hunky-dory again. They were congratulated briefly by the mayor, and they were stopped every few minutes for hand shakes and pats on the back, but Phineas was glad to see Isabella seemed to be taking the attention in stride.
In fact, she had lit up like a little girl when they had approached the violently pink and purple Tunnel of Love. Holding in a groan, knowing just how cheesy the ride was, Phineas had asked if she wanted to take a spin. He knew he'd done something right, although he wasn't altogether sure just what, when her face lit up like the sun and she'd grabbed his hand to pull him towards the entrance to the ride.
As soon as they were seated in the plastic swan, she'd cuddled up next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly. He hesitated only a second before putting his arm around her shoulders, and sat back to enjoy the ride.
"So, how do you think it's going so far," Gretchen asked, before licking her ice cream cone. They had been following the other couple at a fairly discreet distance, until they had disappeared into the lurid pink of the Tunnel Of Love. Phineas had originally wanted to turn it into a water-coaster, but Ferb had taken some time to talk him into leaving the ride as traditional as he could stand.
"Good, from the looks of it," Ferb replied shortly as he gestured to the couple coming out of the ride, their arms now wrapped around each other, his brother's hand now comfortably resting in Isabella's back pocket.
"What's with you, anyway," Gretchen asked after swallowing the last of her cone. "You've got the personality of a wet mop today."
"Nothing. I'm sorry, Gretchen, I'm being a horrible date." Ferb apologized, "I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Well, hopefully the fireworks will cheer you up. Oooh, look, cotton candy!" Gretchen grabbed Ferb's hand and yanked him towards the brightly colored umbrella.
A few minutes later, after buying their cotton candy and finding her parents, Ferb bid farewell to Gretchen to go oversee the fireworks show. He'd promised as much to his brother so he could have an uninterrupted evening. He tried not to let the thought bother him as he pointed staff in the right directions, and colored lights began filling the sky. What was with him, anyway. He set them up, he should be happy for them! He leaned back on the bench and watched the display, unhappy with himself, but not sure why.
As they lay back on the blanket Phineas had produced and watched the fireworks, Isabella felt Phineas' hand find hers and grip it tightly. She thought she would be more excited at the thought of holding the love of her life's hand, but the goosebumps she'd expected hadn't appeared. Perhaps she was getting accustomed to his displays of affection.
Earlier, they'd thrown their arms around each others shoulders in a fairly friendly gesture, until she realized Phineas' hand was in her back pocket, and he was gently cupping her bottom. While this should have intrigued and excited her, she hated to find she found it a bit annoying. Even though they'd known each other for years, this was their first date! Wasn't that an awfully fast move for a man who was supposed to be oblivious towards the opposite sex?
Isabella shook the thought off and decided to just enjoy herself. After all, watching a beautiful fireworks display with the love of her life was something she'd dreamed about for years, and here she was, and she was determined to make the most of it.
As soon as the last brightly colored star had faded away, Phineas sighed happily as a large cheer went up from the crowd and chants of "speech" could be heard throughout the crowd. Knowing how much Ferb hated public speaking, he shook his head and sat up, pulling his beautiful friend, and now possibly more, with him.
"I'm sorry, Isabella, I know this is our day, but Ferb absolutely hates to make speeches. I'll have to go rescue him," Phineas leaned closer to speak lowly in her ear, "I won't be long, and then we can go somewhere more private."
Isabella smiled brightly in response and waved him off, then sat on a bench next to none other than Ferb himself as Phineas went up to the makeshift stage to give his speech.
"So, have you enjoyed yourself?" Ferb asked quietly, taking Isabella's hand in his own work-worn warm one. She was surprised when she felt herself shiver slightly, despite the warm evening.
"I totally have, thank you!" Isabella gushed in reply, taking her hand back before she could have any more strange symptoms she needed to further question.
"What are you thanking me for?" Ferb couldn't help but reply, "Phineas is the one who asked you here today."
"Yes, which makes me wonder how he clued in all of a sudden," Isabella replied, eyes glinting mischievously as she tapped her chin with a finger. "Also, you helped build this park, and I'm pretty sure the Tunnel of Love traditionalism was hardly Phineas' idea."
Ferb only shrugged, then smirked in reply. Phineas chose that moment to return, offering his hand to Isabella. She took it, then shot Ferb a smile of gratitude over her shoulder as they made their way to the cab Phineas had called to meet them at the front gate.
Ferb sighed as he spun his keys around one finger. Gretchen would ride home with her parents. He debated calling one of the other girls from their friend group for a potential roll in the hay, but that idea seemed a little too crass. For some reason, he didn't want Isabella to think of him as a playboy. Mentally shaking the thought of Isabella out of his brain for the time being, since she was probably making out with her brother in the back of a taxi, he started his car and headed home to call it a night.