Guys, I'm so sick. I need some mucus-be-gone. But I'm still writing. Would my lovely readers care to get this story to 100 reviews? I would totally freak out! 'Cept I can't scream, my throat is sore.
Aahh! Isabella collapsed face-first onto her bed. She felt her ponytail flip to the side. She angrily sat up and ripped the hair tie out, letting her hair go free. What was the point in dressing up? She aggressively wiped the lip-gloss she was wearing on her sweater, leaving an oily stain across the sleeve. Isabella didn't care. It didn't matter. There was no point in trying to look nice, because Ferb obviously didn't care. She felt a tear running down her cheek. She buried her face in the pillow once more.
Of course this plan wasn't going to work. Ferb had already made it pretty clear that he had chosen Phineas. It was possible that she would have chosen Phineas too, if she were in his position. Isabella didn't want to hurt Phineas; it would be like kicking an innocent puppy.
But she was getting hurt as well. And in her desperation, she had turned to some sort of diabolical scheme to make Ferb hurt too. Maybe if Ferb knew what it felt like to be forced into a marriage with no love, he would understand how she was feeling. But Ferb and Gretchen seemed to have hit it off. And why not? They were a pretty good match. Maybe she was too good at matchmaking.
And she was only chasing Ferb away. She had been angry. She had been bitchy. Ferb was obviously upset with her. Her tears wouldn't stop falling. She was such a crybaby, but she couldn't help it. The thought of Ferb being with Gretchen, marrying Gretchen, falling in love with Gretchen, only made her feel worse.
At least if that happened, Gretchen would be happy. Isabella was using her, and now she was using Gretchen against herself. Ferb and Gretchen had never called her after they left. This was the stupidest plan Isabella had ever thought of! If things kept going like this, everyone except her would be happy.
She sniffed loudly. She needed some cheering up right now. Gretchen, her second-in-command, had always been in charge of that. Ferb, her secret Prince Charming, had always been in charge of that. But she didn't have them right now. Who else was there?
Isabella reached for her phone, and listened until he picked up. She cleared her throat so he wouldn't know she had been crying. "Phineas?"
"Hey Isabella. What's up?"
She smiled to herself. She may no longer love Phineas, but at least he would always be her friend. "Nothing."
"Well, guess what's going on here! Guess! Guess!" He excitedly said. He didn't give her any time to answer. "Ferb has a girlfriend!"
Isabella almost burst out into tears again, but she held them in.
"Hello? Isabella? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah. He does? How… cool." She choked out.
"Isabella, are you alright?" Phineas said, sounding concerned.
"I'm… fine." She couldn't talk; those darn tears were falling again. Maybe Phineas should just talk for a while. "Tell me more. Is it…" She took a big breath, "Someone we know?
"Yeah, it's Gretchen. See, I caught them walking up to the house talking. Obviously they were coming from some kind of date. So once she left, I confronted Ferb. He said it was nothing, but that totally means they like each other!" Phineas rambled like a teenage girl.
Isabella wondered how accurate that was. Phineas was the least romantic guy she knew. Was he jumping to conclusions based on his limited knowledge, or was he being oblivious, and understating a possible love story?
"But, Ferb and Gretchen can both be kind of shy and quiet sometimes. Even more than I thought, because I figured Gretchen might have told you. You are pretty good friends." Phineas said.
Gretchen. Gretchen was my selected pawn to sacrifice, Isabella thought. I'm far from her good friend.
"So anyway, because they can get shy, I was thinking we should go on a double date tomorrow. That way they have us to bounce off of."
Isabella felt like screaming I DON'T WANNA! But she couldn't. It could still be possible that Ferb had no real feelings for Gretchen, and that he wanted to tell Phineas everything. It could still be possible.
X
This was so stupid. Phineas had picked a fancy seafood restaurant, with a beach view. The key word there was fancy. Isabella was in some lavender evening dress she had dug out of her closet. It was way too tight all the way down her body, and once it got to her feet, it turned into this big puff of lace. She felt ridiculous, and she couldn't walk. Of all the places to come to! She had purposely worn no jewelry, and had her hair down, completely unstyled. Her makeup was pretty sloppy, and she felt like a fool. She would have rather come in sweats.
She was sitting at the table grumpily when the other three came in. Phineas and Ferb were both wearing suits, and they looked quite handsome. Gretchen had gently curled the ends of her hair, and her makeup was perfect. Her dress was green silk, with a long slit up the leg. Not only did it make her look sexy, it made it easy for her to walk.
Isabella was upset. Gretchen looked about a thousand times better than her. That annoyed her to no end. And the worst thing was that Gretchen's appearance meant she was trying hard to look nice, unlike Isabella. She wanted to impress Ferb.
"Isabella, since when did you become the early one? You always get here before everybody." Phineas joked.
Isabella said nothing, just looking away grumpily.
"The early bird catches the worm, chief." Gretchen said.
"Yeah," Phineas responded, "And how come Gretchen still calls you chief? I can't even get Ferb to give me gum." He joked.
Ferb rolled his eyes.
"Oh, hold on," said Gretchen, as she reached into her bag for something. "Here you go." She chirpily gave Phineas a piece of gum.
"Awesome." He said.
Gretchen offered a piece to Ferb. He began to refuse, when Isabella interrupted.
"Isn't this place a little high-end for gum-chewing, Gretch? Put it away!" She demanded. Minutes ago, she had been playing games on her phone, waiting for everybody else. I am such a hypocrite, Isabella thought.
She had her arms grumpily crossed. Isabella was jealous! She was extremely jealous. How could she have been so stupid to agree to this double date? No one even went on double dates anymore! There were about a million things she should be upset about right now; her wedding plans, her secret romance, her annoyance with Phineas! But the only thing she was upset about was that Gretchen had offered her Ferb gum. Isabella looked over to Gretch; she was still chatting with Phineas.
"Gretchen, you rock. How do you stay so efficient and organized? I mean, all these wedding things have me all over the place." Phineas said.
"Well, it's tough to try to do everything, Phineas. I'm just naturally a planner. I kind of need a 'spur of the moment' person with me, like Isabella. Or somebody like you." Said Gretchen.
Isabella tugged on Ferb's sleeve. "Come with me for a sec." she whispered.
Ferb tilted his head towards the other two.
"They'll be fine; they're busy talking."
So Ferb slipped out of his seat, and began walking towards the bathroom area. Isabella took a little longer. She struggled to get up and out with her stupid dress. She made it over to the corner, grumbling.
Ferb looked at her, waiting for her to begin talking.
Isabella wasn't sure what she wanted to say. "Are you and Gretchen dating?"
Ferb shrugged.
"Do you like Gretchen?" She said fearfully. "I know I already asked you, but…" She saw Phineas' head turning towards them. No! She grabbed Ferb's arm and pulled him into the restroom.
Several men in the bathroom shouted in surprise as the two walked in.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a girl! So either get out, or shut up!" Isabella growled. The fancily dressed men rushed out of the bathroom, upset.
Ferb turned towards Isabella. "What's the matter with you?" He said it in a knowing tone, not an angry one.
"You and Gretchen!" She blurted out. "You like her, don't you? She's prettier, and smarter! You even told me you guys would be perfect together!"
Ferb sighed, "I thought that's what you wanted, Isabella. I'm not going to back down. I can sacrifice just as much as you."
"No, because I matched you up with your soul mate! That doesn't equate to a sacrifice." She knew the awful truth of what she was saying. She wanted him to be just as miserable as her.
"I could say the same thing about you and Phineas." Ferb said.
"Ferb…" Isabella whispered, in horror. He was going to go through with it.
Ferb let out a heavy sigh, "Isabella, I'm doing what you asked." And with that he left the bathroom.
Isabella gripped onto the counter to keep herself from falling. He was going to marry Gretchen. He had chosen Phineas over her.
"He… he doesn't love me." Isabella gasped. She ran though every email, every conversation she had ever had with Ferb. Since before she had come back, and since afterwards. She had told him she loved him, over and over. But never once had Ferb ever said it back to her. "Ferb doesn't love me."
BANG! Isabella probably jumped a foot into the air as one of the stall doors flew open.
"Sorry, miss." An old man came out of the stall. "I was going to leave earlier, but it was getting too interesting."
Isabella felt extremely disturbed, but the old man kept talking.
"And honey, you're too good for this boy. If he doesn't love you, then that's his loss. There are lots of other guys for you to love."
"No," Isabella shook her head, as she walked out of the bathroom. "I'll always love him."
Oh Izzy, if only you could read some of the other chapters, and see how Ferb feels. So, anybody reading this story, please review!
Peace, love, and all that jazz from Silver