"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
Can you believe we're at the two-part season finale already? Man, how time flies! Also, this is the first entry that requires you to have read my previous stories. Because in this chapter, I bring back a group referred to in "Phineas is Mine!" AND spoil the ending of "I'm Your Next Class President!" As you'd expect, this is also the first entry that takes place after that latter story.
You have been warned! I suggest you go read those stories before starting to read this week's entry.
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
[Entry #380 - Written by Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, troop leader
Guess what time of the year it is?]
Milly and Katie were shining each others' shoes, Holly and Ginger were practicing flashing their cutest smiles, and Adyson and Gretchen were fluffing their berets as poofy as they could get them.
It's the first day of the annual Fireside Girls Cupcake Drive! And it's going to be our troop's best year ever!
Isabella taped a progress chart onto the wall, and at the top, under the word 'GOAL,' she had written there, in black marker, $12,000.
(It's the most wonderful time... of the year!)
"Alright, girls... let's get out there and sell some cupcakes!"
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Entry #380 [FSD107] - Cupcake Wars (08.25.11)
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I love it when the calendar turns to June. Summer vacation starts in just a few weeks, but you can already feel it in the air at the beginning of the month? Why? Because June is when Fireside Girls troops across the country have their annual Cupcake Drive.
The girls were stationed at a booth they constructed themselves just outside the front entrance to the Superduper Mega Superstore. Milly and Katie were parading back and forth from one end of the sidewalk to the other. They were holding cardboard signs: Milly's read 'Fireside Girls Cupcake Drive,' while Katie's read 'Buy some cupcakes from some cupcakes!'
It was the first day of the drive, and already the line was three or four dozen deep at 10:30 on a Saturday morning. To minimize wait times as much as possible, Holly and Ginger were passing out catalogs and giving customers ideas of the most popular products as well as some new offerings. That left Isabella, Gretchen, and Adyson to take orders at the booth itself.
"Thanks for supporting your local Fireside Girls!" Isabella said after finalizing another order.
Isabella scribbled a few more small details on the now filled-up order form, and then placed it on the side with the other two she already used up in the half-hour since they had opened up.
"NEXT!" she shouted, as she pulled out a fresh order form.
The next customer came up, and Isabella took their order.
You're probably wanting to ask... "Isabella! Don't the Fireside Girls already sell cupcakes pretty much year round?" Yes. Yes, we do. But every June, we open up the catalog, and we offer types of cupcakes that people would buy by the barrel!
Holly was seen pointing out both angel food and devil's food cupcakes in the catalog to customers in line, while Ginger was hard selling the bubblegum-flavored ones.
Not to mention this is the only time we actually sell them IN barrels. You know, if you're a voracious eater. There's also the more reasonable half-dozen and full-dozen packs, for most of us.
But the Superduper Mega Superstore was not the only place the girls would try to sell their cupcakes. One day, Gretchen, Ginger, and Holly were soliciting their baked goods in one of the city's many underground subway stations.
"They're great for breakfast or a snack on the way home!" Ginger shouted to passersby.
We're trying to do something this year Troop 46231 has NEVER done in the history of the Fireside Girls Cupcake Drive. Finish in the Top 3 in sales in the region.
Another day, Milly and Katie were paired up again, this time setting up near the Food Court at the Googolplex Mall.
Last year, we finished in the Top 15 for the first time in the troop's history! We sold over $9,000 worth of cupcakes! That's a LOT of flour and frosting!
And even after school, Adyson and Isabella were taking orders right by the latter's own locker. Adyson was managing the line of students, while Isabella had one full of teachers.
"Ah," Adyson smirked as she looked over at Isabella, "the perks of being popular AND class president!"
"They're not lining up because you endorsed the cupcakes," Isabella told her. "They're lining up because everyone LOVES our cupcakes!"
Suddenly, the principal showed up, and the hall quickly emptied, as both students and teachers ran for the exits. The adult seemed displeased as he looked left, then right, and then, upon seeing that the hallway was, indeed, completely empty except for the three of them...
He cracked a smile. And then he pulled a $5 bill out of his blazer pocket.
"The usual, girls."
But reaching our goal would require a lot of hard work, perseverance, and a little outreaching. But even that wasn't enough for us to foresee another major obstacle in our way...
11 days later, otherwise known as the first day of summer vacation...
"Okay, girls, let's make this quick!"
Isabella was standing at the podium inside the troop's secret forest clubhouse. Gretchen was arranging a sales update presentation off to Isabella's left, while Adyson, Holly, and Ginger were sitting in folding chairs, becoming quiet and attentive at the sound of their leader's voice.
"Say... where's Milly and Katie?"
Gretchen turned around to answer her superior's question.
"They volunteered for the early shift at the Megastore, Chief."
Suddenly, Milly and Katie burst into the clubhouse. Their breathing was ragged, they had dirt and a couple small bruises on their skin, and a few small tears in their uniforms and sashes.
"Unless Phineas and Ferb decided to make Girlbots and decided the first models would be of Milly and Katie," Adyson sarcastically quipped, "I think they forgot."
Before they could explain, though, both girls fainted in exhaustion. The others gasped in shock, but Isabella immediately had a plan of action.
"Holly! Ginger! Tend to the girls!"
Holly and Ginger ran off to get some water and the first-aid kit.
"Gretchen and Adyson... you're coming with me!"
"Where are we going, Chief?" asked Gretchen, although she already knew the answer.
"To get to the bottom of this!"
Isabella, on inline skates, and Gretchen and Adyson, both riding bicycles, arrived at the Superduper Mega Superstore parking lot. A few seconds later, the sidewalk came into view, and they came to a stop upon catching sight of their targets. They were all girls who wore orange berets, orange shirts, and brown skirts.
"It's another Fireside Girls troop!" pointed out Adyson.
"Not just any troop," Gretchen suddenly remembered. "That's Fireside Girls Troop 28933!"
"28933? Why does that number sound familiar?"
Isabella scowled. She definitely remembered that number.
"That's the troop that cheated in the final competition at last year's Jamboree! The one that beat us for first place, and that we had to appeal the decision of afterwards in order to get them rightfully disqualified!"
"They must have had a lot of turnover," observed Adyson. "I don't see any of the girls that were there last year..."
"Not so fast..."
Isabella had seen one she did recognize, and she started marching over to her. Gretchen and Adyson followed, and the girl in question saw the trio coming. She was tall, with light blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders, and she had a big bow on the front of her beret, just like Isabella's... only hers was blue, like her eyes.
"Excuse me, girls," she said as she got up and left the booth in her subordinates' capable hands.
She took about ten steps or so away from the booth and the line that had formed, and then turned to face Isabella and her troopmates as they came up to her.
"Isabella Garcia-Shapiro," the girl growled. "Come to ruin my life again?"
"I was about to say the same thing..." Isabella replied, before stating the blonde's full name. "Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry!"
"You tell your girls the next time they try to lay claim to our turf..."
"YOUR turf? Excuse me, but you're in Danville, which is the hometown of Troop 46231! Fireside Girls bylaws state that during the Cupcake Drive, no troop can set up a stand within 20 miles of another troop's lodge without prior, written consent from the latter troop's leader. That's me, sister, and I don't remember receiving any request from you to do so!"
"I don't need your permission. There's a special exemption that allows a troop to not require aforementioned permission from the local troop's leader as long as the local troop does not have possession of the visiting troop's chosen booth location upon their arrival AND said location is within 60 miles of visiting troop's own lodge. And I assure you, both of those facts are true!"
She snapped her fingers, and a dark-skinned girl with glasses, about Adyson's height, ran up with a rolled-up document in hand. She gave it to Elizabeth, then went back to where she had come from. Elizabeth then handed it to Isabella, who then handed it to Gretchen so she could look it over and verify its authenticity.
"The exemption became official last week, and that's a copy of the announcement. It's online as well, if you want to verify it."
"Oh, we'll verify it! Just you wait!"
Isabella and Gretchen turned to walk away. Adyson, though, seemed as if she wanted to stay and fight for their prime location. But she would not dare do it alone, or without Isabella's permission. So she settled for giving Elizabeth a dirty look before following her friends off.
"What are you doing?" Adyson asked frustratingly as she caught up to Isabella. "We've been selling from here since day one of the drive! We have firsties here, Isabella! Firsties!"
"It's just one location," Isabella calmly responded. "The tri-state area's pretty big, Adyson. We can still reach our goal without the Superstore."
That ended the conversation, as Isabella skated for the lot's exit. Gretchen followed on her bike, then Adyson, albeit reluctantly. As they disappeared from sight, Elizabeth walked back over to her troop.
And she had a satisfying smirk on her face.
Obviously, I thought just letting them have the spot would be the end of this little debacle. After all, we won our appeal, and despite the actions of Elizabeth's troop, I was willing to forgive them for their transgressions.
But I would later learn that letting her 'win' on that day would be a mistake that almost cost me... everything!
To be continued...
Author's Notes:
So we're finally introduced to the troop that we learned at the beginning of "Phineas is Mine!" cheated to win 1st place at last year's Fireside Jamboree. You'll learn more about Elizabeth and Troop 28933 next week, and see why Isabella and her girls have reason to be concerned about them.
See you next week for Part 2 of the season finale!