Flashback Mode

Phineas' pov

I knew what was going to happen before I even heard the gate open.

"Wacha-doin?" Isabella asked sweetly. I smiled at her and brushed the grease off my shorts.

"Just a little work on Mom's car. She couldn't get it started this morning so Ferb and I decided to fix it for her. Of course it only took us an hour so we need another plan for today." I gestured to the sparkling car. We had kind of overdone it. Isabella nodded with a cute impressed look on her face. Wait, cute? Where did that come from?

"How about going to the Be Yourself Rally with me?" Baljeet had walked into the yard without either of us noticing him until now.

"The what?" I asked. Baljeet looked around like he was worried about being overheard.

"The Be Yourself Rally. I cannot take Buford because, well, some of it is anti-bullying. Please come with me, I would feel so exposed coming there alone." Baljeet looked at the ground in embarrassment. I smiled gently. Baljeet was like a little brother or a puppy to me, and I always wanted to look out for him. And that's how we ended up at the Danville Auditorium 3 hours later.

"Some of you might be able to do something about this, but are too afraid to try. Maybe you think you'll get treated like outcasts for standing up for what you believe in or showing who you really are. You can't be afraid to take a stand. The world didn't get changed by bystanders, it got changed by people of action." That's some of what they said at the rally. I felt a little weird about not telling my friends about – you know, my 'special abilities', but it didn't really get to me until after the rally.

Buford was waiting for us outside the doors. He had this look on his face like he was really disappointed and really angry at someone. I got this really bad feeling that something was about to happen that I couldn't prevent and it was going to be my fault.

"So you went to the rally eh Jeet? What you got a problem with me? You think I been bullying ya? I been letting you off easy, I – " Buford said angrily. And then I did something that was either really brave or really stupid.

"Shut up Buford! You think you're so great but you're just a sad, bitter kid hiding behind a t-shirt with a skull on it." I yelled at the bully. He pushed me down onto the pavement and I bit my lip as the skin on my palms was scraped off. I heard Isabella gasp and felt Ferb helping me to my feet. Baljeet had a worried look on his face. I felt anger bubbling up within me from a dark place in my mind. I knew I was going to use my telekinetic abilities but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"PHINEAS!" Candace came up behind my and grabbed my arm. She pushed Buford away. "Back off Buford. No one picks on my brothers except me." She took my arm in a surprisingly strong grip and pulled me toward Jeremy's car which was parked down the street. "Ferb, Isabella, Baljeet step it up we're going ." Candace looked down at me. "I know what you almost did. So watch your back because if you even show it to one person we'll have to move and I like Danville." I nodded sullenly. As we left I heard Buford laugh and call to me.

"What's the matter Dinner Bell? Need your sister to fight your battles for you?"

Last night I kept having nightmares and barely got any sleep. So I was in a really bad mood this morning. I heard Mom tell me to clean off the table after breakfast. At our house the last one up has to clear the table. But I wasn't thinking straight yet so I moaned and said that I'd cleared it yesterday.

"I don't care, you know the rules Phineas." Mom said. Yeah the rules. Rules like I can't tell anyone about who I really am or help my friends because people would treat us like freaks. Sometimes I wish I was born normal. You'd like that wouldn't you Mom? A normal child. I did it before I could think about the consequences. I looked at the used dishes and concentrated. The dishes lifted into the air and set themselves down in the dishwasher like they had minds of their own.

"Wow. That was – what was that?" Dad and Ferb stood at the doorway. I suddenly felt sick. If you show it to even one person we'll have to move. Two.

"Phineas Jesse Flynn."Mom's voice was deadly calm. "Go to your room this instant."

"Um, is this a bad time?" Isabella was standing in the doorway. Three. I turned and ran up to my room.