"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
A new feature you're going to see this season are 'tandem' diary entries. These are entries that are written by two Fireside Girls, each of which shares in the production of the entry, especially since both are involved heavily in the events of said entry.
There's no better way to give this new feature a test spin than to give it to the troop's two most popular girls! Take it away, Isabella and Adyson!
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
Prerequisites (i.e. read these before reading this):
- Entry #093-1 ("Phineas is Mine!," Chapter 1)
- Entry #365 ("I'm Your Next Class President!")
- Entry #380 ("Fireside Diaries," Episodes 107 & 108)
It was a beautiful and sunny June afternoon. A day so bright, there was no better way to spend it than playing tennis. And that was exactly what Isabella and Adyson were doing, as they were currently engaged in a friendly doubles match.
Entry #386 - Co-Written by Isabella and Adyson
(Isabella) It was just an ordinary summer day...
(Adyson) ...but we were about to make it EXTRA-ordinary!
Adyson sprinted to her left and used her powerful backhand to keep the ball from bouncing out of play. It sailed over the net, and headed in the direction of Baljeet, who stood flat-footed with both hands on the handle of his racket. Suddenly, his doubles partner, Buford, shoulder-rammed into him, knocking him out of the way. The bully took it upon himself to return the volley, swinging his racket like it was a baseball bat. The ball hit the racket's strings exactly at dead center, and as a result, it went rocketing back over the net.
Adyson watched as it zoomed by, well out of her reach to get to. It would be up to Isabella to save them. The black-haired girl stood near the back right corner of the court, watching the ball come at her while simultaneously thinking about how to return it. She then raced into position, and used a precision backhand shot of her own to send the ball back. It was a line drive hit that cleared the top of the net by what had to be less than an inch. With Baljeet down and Buford out of position, the ball easily landed in-bounds with no shot for them to recover. That lead Isabella to jump for joy and declare...
"We win!"
"Nice shot, Izzy!" Adyson exclaimed.
"No fair!" Buford growled. "Rematch!"
Adyson groaned as the four of them walked towards the bench. "Oh, come on! You've had three already!"
"What's one more?"
Isabella sighed. "Besides, we've gotta meet up with the girls in 30. You should thank us for not holding you to that 'losers buy winners snacks' bet."
"On that note," cut in Baljeet, "have you and Adyson considered entering the All-Tri-State Area girls' doubles tennis tournament?"
He pointed to a poster taped to the fence. The girls walked over to take a look at it.
"'First-place wins $500!'" Baljeet read aloud.
"I dunno," hesitated Isabella.
But Adyson already was convinced, and knew of a way to convince Isabella to as well - by using the Fireside Girls Handbook.
"Winning helps us qualify for a Terrific Tennis Talent Patch!"
"In that case, let's do it!"
(A) And with that, we had a new goal to strive for this week!
(I) To win a tennis tournament!
-
Entry #386 [FSD202] - Rivalry Racket (01.16.12)
-
(A) And so, after a few days of training...
Isabella and Adyson walked out of the tunnel at the Jefferson County Country Club's main court, which was situated inside a small, outdoor arena that could house up to 1800 spectators. And it sounded as if every one of them was cheering for the pair as they emerged.
"Trouble at ten o'clock!" snapped Isabella.
Adyson turned in that direction and saw what Isabella was referring to. It was trouble indeed, in the form of two girls their age - a tall blonde and a short brunette - and they both had ego-inflating smirks on their faces.
"Isabella Garcia-Shapiro!" the blonde growled.
"And Adyson Sweetwater," stated the brunette. She then added, sarcastically, "our two favorite girls!"
"You ruined the Jamboree for us last year, and then the Cupcake Drive a couple weeks ago! Now you won't even let us win a simple tennis tournament?"
"It's a free country!" replied Isabella, with her hands on her hips. "Besides, Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry... nobody says you two have wo-"
"Are we REALLY going to do 'first name, last name?'" interrupted Adyson. "Because I don't know hers."
She pointed at the brunette.
"My last name?"
"And your first name!"
"Well, it's Abigail S-"
"OUTTA MY WAY!" shouted Candace, pushing her way through the foursome. "THE WINNER, COMIN' THROUGH!"
Candace split the group, walking between them and dragging her racket on the ground behind her. Her partner, Stacy, walked up to the group and gave them an apologetic look before continuing on.
Once the two teenagers were out of hearing range, Elizabeth spoke up again.
"I don't care how many friends you two have... that trophy, and those Terrific Tennis Talent Patches will be ours!"
Elizabeth and Abigail walked off to get ready for the tournament. Isabella took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and not let her rivals get her and Adyson riled up.
"Okay!" she said cheerfully once she had gotten her focus. "Elizabeth and Abigail will be our biggest competition, as well as Candace and Stacy. Then again, this IS our first tennis tournament, and we don't know what the rest of the field can do, so it's imperative that we not look past anyone..."
Isabella stopped when she realized that Adyson was not next to her, listening to her. Instead, the brunette was over by a section of the stands, where a few dozen kids were wearing shirts, baseball caps, and pins that all had Adyson's face on it. The half-dozen guys sitting in the front row were tying a banner to the front of the railing. It read 'Sixth-Grade Class President Adyson Sweetwater Fan Club.'
"...or get a big head," Isabella said, rolling her eyes.
"Isabella!"
Isabella turned her attention to the right, and saw Phineas calling out to her amongst a smaller group next to Adyson's fan club.
"Good luck! I'll be rooting for you!"
Isabella sighed as little hearts appeared in her eyes.
"Oh, Phineas..."
20 minutes later, Isabella and Adyson were among numerous teams heading for the outer courts of the facility. These courts, eight in total, were each separated by a fence that surrounded it. They each had two sets of bleachers, all on one side of the court, each of which fit only about 50 people maximum.
Isabella was going over the rule pamphlet with Adyson, as a small portion of their fan clubs followed behind.
"So, according to the rules, this is a single-elimination tournament. All matches are best-of-five games, meaning the first team to win three games, wins the match, and moves on. It takes five match victories to win the tournament."
"Sounds easy enough."
They arrived at Court 6, where their first-round match would take place. Immediately upon stepping on the court, though, they noticed that an opposing pair was not waiting for them. Nor did they see one coming in. There were two pairs standing outside the gates, but they had been drawn to play against each other in the next match. As Isabella and Adyson got to the players' bench, which was on the side of the court opposite of the bleachers, Isabella turned in their flash card with the number they had drawn back at the stadium.
"Entry 14, Isabella and Adyson..." the chair umpire stated as he verified the card. "Okay, where's Entry 13? Entry 13?"
Everyone looked around, waiting to see where the other team was. Finally, they heard two girls screaming...
"WAIT! WE'RE COMING!"
To Isabella and Adyson's shock, they saw Milly and Katie running in, with their rackets in hand. Even though Isabella clearly saw the '13' card in Milly's hand, it still did not register in her mind that their first opponents were members of her own troop. Members that she was not even aware could also play tennis. But who could blame her for being skeptical?
After all, Milly and Katie were wearing kitchen aprons, with the logo for 'Chef Guilbaud's Cooking School' on them, over their tennis outfits.
"I'm pretty sure sponsors aren't allowed in amateur tournaments," playfully chided Adyson.
"We had no choice!" Katie tried to explain as Milly went to hand their entry card over to the umpire. "The tournament's on the same day as our remedial cooking class final exam!"
"Why didn't you just withdraw?" questioned Isabella.
"Because we want those Tennis Patches as much as you two do! And we think we can do that AND pass that final so that ban that keeps us out of the kitchen can be lifted!"
"I miss making homemade cupcakes!" Milly exclaimed as she walked over as she had her hands behind her back, untying her apron. "I MISS IT, GIRLS!"
"Well," Isabella warned, "don't expect us to go easy on you."
"Don't worry! You may have not seen us play, but we can take anything you can throw at us!"
Considerably less than 20 minutes later...
"Boy," Milly blushed in embarrassment, "did we lay an egg or what?"
"I say we got caught... with egg on her face," sighed a disappointed Katie.
They walked to the net and reached over to shake hands with Isabella and Adyson, who had defeated them without breaking a sweat... or giving up a single point.
"I guess we caught you two on a bad day," commented Adyson.
"Look on the bright side," Isabella told them. "At least you failed this, and NOT your cooking final."
Milly and Katie gasped.
"THE FINAL! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!"
They got their aprons and ran off of the court, heading in the direction of downtown Danville. Isabella and Adyson watched them until Milly and Katie disappeared from sight.
Or at least until the sound of slow, mock-filled applause filled their ears, from the other side of the fence behind them. They turned about and saw that it was coming from Elizabeth and Abigail.
"That only took you lasses eight minutes to dispatch your friends," Elizabeth said, looking down at her stopwatch. She then turned to her partner, Abigail. "Abby, how long did our match take?"
Abigail smirked. "Only half that."
"This isn't a race!" exclaimed Adyson.
"We happen to think so. People pay attention when you do things fast!"
Elizabeth chuckled. "Heh. As you Yanks would say, 'Whatever!' But no matter... we'll prove it to you on the court. Just don't lose before the final, okay?"
Elizabeth and Abigail then headed off, already mentally preparing for their second-round match.
"Oh, you bet we won't!" Isabella said.
(A) And so, Isabella and I were off! We barreled through the second round, then the third, then the fourth, then the fifth, then...
(I) Uh, Adyson? There are only five rounds.
(A) Oh, come on! I was on a roll!
(I) Speaking of rolls, Elizabeth and Abigail sure were on one! They practically breezed through the tournament, making it to the title match without dropping a single game.
(A) They must've had an easy draw. Us, on the other hand...
"Holly!" Gretchen shouted out to her fellow Fireside Girl, waving at her.
Holly saw Gretchen waving at her, and found her way to where she was in the stands, with the rest of Isabella and Adyson's supporters. On the court, the semifinal match was in its fifth and deciding game, with the score 30-all. Adyson was serving, aiming her shot cross-court to Candace, who was in the back.
Adyson hit the ball as hard as she could, but probably a bit much, as Candace saw the shot was going long and she wisely let it pass. Adyson did not let the fault trip her up, and she got a new ball and prepared to serve again. This time, Adyson only hit it at about three-fourths power. The ball made a bee-line for the sideline nearest the umpire. Candace took a step to her right, then stopped, and watched the ball land just on the outside of the line. But...
"IN!" the umpire declared.
Not liking the call, Candace angrily took a step towards the umpire and pointed down at the ground to where she saw the ball land. But...
"IN!"
In rage, Candace immediately threw her racket aside and stomped towards the umpire to argue her point. Stacy ran over from her spot on the court to stop her, while Isabella and Adyson just watched.
"You CANNOT be serious!" Candace yelled at him. "That was out! OUT!"
"It was clearly in."
"Are you BLIND? It was out by a mile! Open your eyes, grandpa, that was out! O-W-T, OUT, OUT, OUT!"
"Candace!" Stacy exclaimed as she grabbed her partner and tried to pull her away.
Candace pulled away from Stacy, but nevertheless she calmly walked off the court to get her racket. She then started heading to the sport where the ball landed out and pointed it out to the crowd, trying to get them to believe she was right. Still...
"40-30," the umpire ruled. "Also, code of conduct violation for unsportsmanlike conduct, Miss Flynn."
Candace walked back past the umpire's chair, turning to look up at him once again.
"You're blind as a bat! BLIND AS A BAT! I'll bust you for this! I'LL BUST YOU!"
Stacy reached for Candace again, and this time managed to pull her away. As Stacy tried to calm her partner down, again Isabella and Adyson were stunned at the call, as well as Candace's reaction, and they did not know what to do. Except be quiet.
Unfortunately for Candace and Stacy, Isabella and Adyson would win the match on the next point, enabling an all-Fireside affair to take place in the championship round. And after a brief rest period...
"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" yelled the umpire.
The crowd watched the match go back and forth, both sides trading points. Isabella, Adyson, Elizabeth, and Abigail were giving their all, putting everything they had into every serve, volley, and save. Supporters for both sides were cheering as loud as they could during breaks, and watching with unwavering focus whenever the ball was in play.
As the match wore on, though, Elizabeth and Abigail appeared to be tiring faster than Isabella and Adyson. They had expended most of the energy earning one-nil and two-one game leads, and they had troubling looks on their faces, not comfortable with been pushed to their limits after cruising through their first four matches.
Now the match was tied at two games apiece, and even though the girls of Troop 26933 were trying to hang in there, the pair from Troop 46231 knew they had the advantage. Adyson looked back at Isabella and smiled.
"I think we've got them on the ropes, Izzy!"
Elizabeth served the ball, hitting it with her racket as hard as she could. But her hit was a tad late, which meant instead of going where it was intended to, it barreled straight for Adyson's head. And she failed to notice...
"Adyson, LOOK OUT!"
...until it was too late.
BONK!
The tennis ball clocked Adyson upside the head. The crowd gasped as the ball fell to the ground and Adyson stood there for a second, completely motionless.
And then she fell to the ground.
"ADYSON!"
A loud gasp could be heard from the crowd as Isabella ran over to her partner. Elizabeth was shocked in disbelief.
"Nice shot," Abigail smirked, patting Elizabeth on the back.
Elizabeth was not happy that she was being congratulated, though.
"What's wrong with ye?" Elizabeth growled. "That was NOT something to be proud of! She could really be hurt, you know!"
Isabella was helping Adyson sit up on the court.
"You okay? Do you see salamanders?"
Adyson shook her head back and forth, then looked up at Isabella.
"Salamanders? Girl, are you crazy?"
Isabella breathed a sigh of relief. "She's alright!"
The crowd cheered as Isabella pulled Adyson to her feet. Adyson dusted herself off, then picked her racket up.
"You are alright, right?" Isabella whispered.
"It'll take more than that to knock me out!" exclaimed Adyson.
"15-love," stated the umpire.
Adyson walked towards the back line, to prepare to receive Elizabeth's next serve. The Brit girl hit the ball into play, Adyson took a hard swing at it...
...and she missed.
"30-love."
Elizabeth was proud to get another ace - this one more legitimate than the last - while Adyson scratched her head, mystified as to how she missed that ball. Elizabeth served once more, this time hitting to Isabella. Isabella fielded it on the short hop, sending it back over the net. Abigail tried to counter with a live drive, but she popped the ball up instead. And it was heading straight for...
"ADYSON!"
Adyson raised her racket over her head, ready to slam it back over for a surefire point. She swung...
...and missed again. The ball hit the ground in-bounds behind her, and then out.
"40-love. Triple championship point!"
Elizabeth and Abigail could feel it. They were one point away from winning the tournament! Elizabeth wanted to celebrate right there and then, but then she saw Isabella walk over to Adyson to check on her condition once more... she instead began to have second thoughts.
"Abigail."
"What?"
Elizabeth pointed at their opponents. Adyson was shaking her head as Isabella tried to encourage her to keep fighting. Elizabeth could tell just by looking at Adyson's eyes that that blow to the head had hurt her more than she was letting on. She felt something inside her begin to ache. She knew what it was, and she knew what she had to do.
"You're not thinkin' 'bout doing what I think you be thinkin' 'bout doing, are you?" asked Abigail.
"We'd be doing ourselves a great dishonor to not!" replied Elizabeth.
Abigail sighed. "You're right, that you are."
"I keep telling you, I'm fine!" Adyson told Isabella, even as she pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead.
"You obviously aren't!" Isabella objected. "You'd NEVER miss an easy shot like that!"
Isabella then saw Elizabeth and Abigail, out of the corner of her eye, walking to the umpire's chair. Isabella could not hear what Elizabeth was saying to him, but she did see that the umpire looked shocked as to what he was hearing. The girls then headed back to their bench, and the umpire made an announcement.
"Miss Elizabeth and Miss Abigail are withdrawing from the match!"
The stadium was confused over their sudden exit. The two of them gathered their things and headed for the tunnel. They could hear murmurs and jeers begin to come from the crowd as they disappeared out of sight. But they ignored them, marching out proudly with their heads held up high.
"Elizabeth!"
They stopped, and turned around to see Isabella had caught up to them.
"Why are you quitting?" Isabella asked, point-blank. "Fireside Girls don't quit!"
"But Fireside Girls ALSO promote being fair," responded Elizabeth. "And it would not be so to take advantage of any opponent not at her full strength by fault not of her own! I know now that sometimes it's not the right thing to do to follow every rule."
"Wha?" Abigail looked curiously at her superior. "But, but..."
"We will be taking our leave," Elizabeth continued, ignoring her partner's small protest. "Consider this a gift, dear. Because the next time we meet, me and my troop shall be victorious!"
With that, the two girls exited, leaving Isabella alone in the tunnel.
"I shoulda known," she admitted with a smirk. "All Fireside Girls have hearts of gold. Even her."
Suddenly, she felt a tap on her arm. She turned around and saw Gretchen standing there.
"C'mon, Chief! You're gonna miss the trophy presentation!"
A few minutes later, Isabella and Adyson had in their possession a first-place trophy, a $500 check made out in their names, and a pair of brand-spanking new Terrific Tennis Talent Patches. And they were showing off their new gains to their family, friends, and fan clubs.
(I) And that's how we won a tennis tournament!
(A) Yep! Even though I did most of the work.
(I) If you consider getting hit in the head by an 80-mile per hour tennis ball 'work.' Anyway, we learned that when we work together, Adyson and I can do anything!
(A) We also learned that Elizabeth and Abigail aren't all that bad, either. Who would've thought?
(I) But most important of all, we learned that, for her own safety, we're making Adyson wear a helmet.
(A) Yeah. We... wait, what?
(I) I thought you said you can make any accessory look good on you!
(A) Not a helmet!
(I) Put it on!
(A) No!
(I) Adyson!
(A) Isabella!
(I) Stop running!
(A) You stop first!
(I) How are we still typing this?
(A) I don't know!
End Entry
Author's Notes:
I'll admit, this did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but it had to be done. I needed to have Elizabeth and Abigail make an appearance early in the season to set up for a couple episodes later on. I also needed to show off an escapade in which Isabella and Adyson worked well together - since they'll be having a few conflicts with each other later on as well.
This episode also partially takes place concurrently with next week's, which you got a taste of with Milly and Katie's reveal. Come back in seven to see what that's all about!