I was sporting a pretty adorable purple band aide across my forehead, well, more to the left, but it was that or Disney Princesses and as much as I'd love nothing more than to strut down the street with Cinderella on my face, I decided against it.
My white sneakers clacked against the pavement as I approached the school, Ferb's books and laptop secure in my back pack. I was so anxious too meet up with him, what if I'm meeting him at play practice? Does that mean I get to see him act?
There was no way I could wipe that grin off my face. Now all that was left was getting through an entire day of school without losing my mind in excitement.

I glanced down at myself, I was wearing a mint gingham ruffled top and a plain periwinkle pleated skirt. Wearing blues was a new thing for me but, Gretchen said I looked "quite fetching" so I'll take her word for it.
As I stepped through the front doors I noticed the cleanliness of the welcome rug, the mud and dirt caked to the tiles had been washed away, with the storm too, it seems as the sun was shining bright and the sky was a deep blue, not a cloud in sight.

It's going to be such a good day.

xxxx

It is such a shitty day.

I guess I put too much faith in maybe seeing Ferb at all during the afternoon. Abandoning all logical thought on the fact that I never see him, between or through classes. He's an enigma!
Not too mention the mild headaches my wound was giving me, or the fact that Milly laughed so hard upon seeing my band aide she had to leave my presence, followed by Gretchen reassuring me with a "I think you look great chief, hardly noticeable at all".
My eyes could have rolled the circumference of the Earth.

With the creeping self consciousness of having a billboard sign taped to my forehead that read:

Yeah, I'm the girl who ran into a locker and passed out.

And the ever present anxiousness mixed with disappointment plus that sudden realization that laptops are actually really heavy, I barely noticed when the clocked ticked 3:15 and the final bell rang out.

I was glaring into my binder, students of my biology class clattered out of their seats and began herding out of the door when someone gently poked my shoulder and I turned to see Katie smiling wildly at me. Katie was the only one out of all the Fireside Girls who didn't seem to change whatsoever during the transition into High School. Her big blue eyes made her look still twelve years old and she kept her blonde hair in twin tails, she was perpetually excited and good natured and never seemed to grow a bit. Even Gretchen soon out stood her, given she surpassed Katie's height by a mere half-inch; it was still strange to see.
Ginger was standing close behind her, towering over her as she always has since her growth spurt in eighth grade, where we were all convinced she must have been descendants of giants. Ginger was thin but well filled out, and pretty-her bangs rested on her cheekbones where they had been since last year when she cut all her hair off and began to grow it out again.

"Holly said you were looking for Ferb!" Katie's voice was a melodious mix of laughter and questioning, I thought back to my lunch hour when I was complaining to Holly and Gretchen about the night before.

"You know, he's probably in the gym- we have play practice there today." Ginger followed up, cocking her head in the direction of the door, I made a slow movement to close my books and pack them away.
"Oh, yeah, actually he wanted me to bring his stuff to him." I stated, standing up straight to sling my bag over my shoulder. Katie was already walking to the door,
"I didn't know you two auditioned." I smiled looking to Ginger, the three of us hadn't seen much of each other this year-but that's life, she shook her head.

"Katie auditioned, she's playing Little Red," Ginger shrugged as we stepped out of the classroom, hanging a right towards the gym, "I'm just on stage crew."

I paused, wrinkling my nose as we made an effort to keep up with Katie's fast step.
"What's the play?" I asked.

"Into the Woods!" Katie cheered.

xxxx

After a brief explanation, Ginger filled me in that Into the Woods was a two part musical. A sort of fairy tale meets fairy tale story featuring characters like; Jack, Rapunzel, Cinderella and their princes and the Big Bad Wolf and the antics they get into when they enter the woods. She says it's supposed to be a comedy but a lot of it's apparently pretty dark-and sad.
That's Broadway for ya.

I walked into the gym to see Phineas' nearly complete set; I wouldn't have expected any less from a boy like him. The stage was painted black and had a simple screen backdrop that was brought to life with enormous faux trees and bushes. The sides were decorated with the props and backgrounds for separate scenes, a modest cabin kitchen to the right and a lovely regal sitting room to the left. I could see the red-head sitting stage right with his legs over the edge, talking contently with a brunette in a bright yellow sweater on. I imagine that would be Django.

As I looked around more I could see some tables set up with sound and lighting equipment near the back of the room. Students who I assumed to be actors or crew were gathering along the walls, taking out scripts and laughing with each other; some even having props in hand or clad in various costume parts.
I couldn't see Ferb.

"Isabella!" A voice snapped me back and I turned to see Phineas rushing up to me, Django close in tow.

"Hey you," I grinned at him, "what cha doin'?" he gestured to the set.

"We were just talking paint splotches for the grandmother's cottage; I'm thinking a golden beige but-"
"I think an auburn would be much more fitting." Django cut in, shooting Phineas a sly look and he only shook his head; his smile growing.

"Well, I'm sure whatever brown you choose will look like brown." I retorted in the snarkiest manner I could muster, earning a few chuckles from the boys.

"Looking for Ferb?" Phineas finally piped up and I nearly choked on the giggle that still resided in my throat.

"Hu-" I coughed, "Huh? Oh- yes!" I was met with sideways glances and I urged to continue, "I have his... Things. Laptop and books."

I was getting a little tired of explaining this.
Django leaned into Phineas' ear and mouthed a few words and in an instant I could feel like there was some sort of secret club going on and first rule was no girls allowed.

Phineas nodded and looked up at me, "Ferb's a little busy because we're just about to start practice. Would you like to stay and watch? It'll be fun!"

I would have weighed my options but, I had a feeling the tray with watch Ferb act would drop like a brick, so I beamed appreciatively. "Sure!"
The three of us sat at the back of the room, behind a large desk that was cluttered with papers, some stray wires, muffins and a keyboard that Phineas had the students gather around.
He stood up from his chair and spoke up, "Quick warm up, guys!" he addressed the group, clasping his hands in front of him.
I watched as he sat back down and began playing a simple series of notes that the actors would sing along with, I turned my gaze back to the stage where I could see the curtains behind the backdrop shudder with a sudden movement.

Ferb emerged from the dark fabric, walking backwards so he wouldn't get caught and made an easy motion around the screen. His arms were full with maybe five or six thick white books which I imagined to be back up scripts and he had half an apple still in his mouth.
He stepped down the stage stairs nimbly and I could see he was wearing a plain white T-shirt and some dark coloured jeans.
The world was mute and my heart was in my throat and he was walking right up to me.

Ferb placed the books down next to me, leaving his arms free to remove the apple from his mouth and wave at me gingerly before he opened his mouth to join the others in vocal warm ups.
I was dismayed when his voice was drowned out by his fellow students and I leaned back in a desperate attempt to act cool and normal and not totally stare at him.

xxxx

The group of teens eventually dispersed and Django rose from his seat, starting to say something about working on blocking with the witch and the bakers, three actors hurrying on stage at the sound of their titles. Ferb loomed over the table waiting for Django to sit down again before Phineas spoke up.

"The back room's all cleaned up already?" His voice raised in surprise, placing a hand on the stack of white books, not waiting for any answer from Ferb before continuing, "Were these back there? Good thing you found them, we needed a few extras. Thanks, Bro."
Ferb simply nodded and Django turned to the two boys, "Are we working on Agony today?" he questioned in a hushed tone as the three students on stage began their scene.

"I would like to." Ferb replied quietly, leaning down so as not to disturb the practice. I swallowed thickly; I didn't even have the capability to ask what agony meant and I felt as if I'd lost my ability to breath before he stood up straight again.
Django smiled and shrugged, "That's fine. Give us a few minutes." he turned to Phineas and the two of them began muttering amongst placed a hand on the back of my chair and I nearly jumped out of my seat when he bowed down behind me to retrieve a flannel button down. I glanced back to see his backpack was sitting there open and looked up at Ferb again with a sheepish grin.

"I brought your things." I offered in a soft voice and his lips tugged up into a small smile.
"Thank you." He shifted on his feet as he tugged on the plaid shirt and rolled up the sleeves before looking back down at me. I felt as though he was about to speak up again before Django's voice interrupted him.

"Okay, Ferb-You ready?" Ferb composed himself and nodded, turning on his heel and heading up onto the stage with another boy from a lower grade.
Phineas sat up straight in his chair, placing fingers on the white of the keyboard as Django cued them in.

A slow melody was produced from Phineas' keyboard and as the first boy began to sing in a low and confident voice, he leaned close to me. "So, that's Lennerd, he plays Cinderella's prince and Ferb plays Rapunzel's prince." He quickly filled me in then moved back, focusing on his piano playing.

The first boy's verse came to a closing and Ferb parted his lips slowly as his voice raised into a beautiful sound. I came to the quick realization that Agony was the title of the song he was singing and boy, was agony the wrong word.
Completely and utterly wrong.
I could feel my heart skip when he raised his palms, when those dull hazel eyes burned intensely as his voice reached a sound that made my very core tremble.

I stared. I was mesmerized, enthralled and all I could do was stare. Just stare at this amazing boy in front of me, his endless talents and few words and the way he came to life in the smallest of manners.

I sat still and unmoved even after Ferb's song had come to an end and he was making his way back to the table. Phineas and Django applauded gleefully and he just shrugged them off.

"You-" I started when he settled into a stray chair by our desk, resuming where he'd left off with his apple. "I mean-" I stuttered, trying to play it off with a sheepish giggle and he only watched me; waiting patiently until I could form coherent sentences.

"You're amazing." I divulged and I could only smile at the way his eyebrows twitched upwards upon hearing it.
"I mean, you're really talented, Ferb." I finally said, his cheeks turning an unbelievable shade of pink and I could only chuckle.
I don't think there is anything more rewarding than making Ferb blush.

I let out a soft sigh glancing away from Ferb towards Phineas who was leaning close to Django, mumbling something into his ear. Whatever it was, it had Django reduced to giggles and I watched as Phineas only smirked slyly at him.

No girls allowed.

I was snapped out from my thoughts by a comforting touch and when I turned my head I could see Ferb moved up close next to me, running his thumb over my band aide. My wind pipe closed up and I nearly squealed, startled by the closeness.

"How's your head?" He spoke slowly, examining the bandage as I composed myself again. "It's good, healing really well."
I exclaimed before clearing my throat as he pulled back with a reassured smile.
"I- uh, had a lot of fun here." I urged for conversation and he simply nodded,
"I mean today, it was awesome." my smile grew as I watched his brow furrow in thought.

There was a long content silence, Ferb stared down at his feet and I tried not to notice Django's hand creeping towards Phineas. He finally spoke up.
"You're welcome to come more often, the company would be ideal."

My lips twitched up into a wide grin, my cheeks were starting to hurt in a dull yet rewarding way from smiling so big. I could light up downtown Danville with this smile.

"There's no where I'd rather be."

xxooxx

Hey! TS here! just want to say thanks to everyone reading this! It means so much! You guys are the greatest 3!