"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
(So, those of you who read last week's season premiere when it went up will quickly realize this week's episode was not the one previously announced. Unfortunately, it suffered from production delays from both me and my writing partner, so we had to delay it. We hope to get it out next week, which is why you'll see the same preview at the end as it you did last week. Check my Twitter for updates.)
So we move on to what is officially the first character-narrated episode of the season, and, for the second season in a row, Milly is up first! Milly's always been the 'wild card' of the troop and this season's episode of hers is no different! This was also scheduled to be this season's moral-laden/PSA episode, but it didn't really develop that way. Nothing hard-hitting, especially after last season's with Katie, but I guess Milly might still learn something by the end of this?
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
Prerequisites (i.e. read these first before reading this):
- Entry #401 ("Jamboree Jambalaya")
- Entry #405 ("Fireside Diaries," Episode 303)
Entry #432 - Written by Milly
Being a Fireside Girl is great! I've made a lot of friends, learned about growing up... apprehensively, but I'm getting there... and shared my experiences with those I love, as well as from people like you, whom I've never met in person, that come and read about the adventures of our troop.
But there's one person in particular I'd like to give a shout-out to right now. My pen pal, Patrick.
My first interaction with him was while we were in Washington for the Jamboree. Although that meeting only lasted a few minutes, we instantly became fast friends. Since then, we've been communicating often. At first, it was through this blog, but then we switched over to writing each other letters. Lots and lots of letters.
We talk about things going on in our lives. And boy, do we have a lot.
But even those heartfelt, handwritten letters are no substitute for in-person, face-to-face chats...
Milly was in her room, opening the latest letter from Patrick. She started reading it silently. Until...
"No way!" she gasped. "Patrick's coming to Danville for a visit?"
The curly-haired girl started screaming in joy, waving her arms crazily and running around her room as if she were a madman.
At first, it sounded like the best thing ever! I was finally going to get the chance to spend time with Patrick! I could get to know him better and really find out what he's all about!
As the excitement of her pen pal visiting faded away, Milly collapsed onto her bed, panting heavily. As she caught her breath, her eyes widened as another realization hit her.
"No way, Patrick's coming to Danville for a visit," she said, repeating herself, but in a more worried tone. "Oh no."
But what if spending time with him ends up being a bad thing? What if we learn that we don't have as much in common as we thought? What if he's been lying to me in his letters this whole time and he's been hiding his true self by pen and paper? What if I end up being so dull and uninteresting that I bore him, thus turning him off?
There's only one way to prevent that from happening!
Milly ripped the letter in half and threw it into the wicker basket next to her bed. She then dusted her hands clean and walked out of the room.
-
Entry #432 [FSD403] - More Than Just a Pen Pal (06.17.13)
-
Two days later, inside Troop 46231's lodge downtown...
"Uh," Katie pointed out, "you do realize that tearing up the letter does NOT prevent him from coming, right?"
"I know that!"
Milly had in hand the two halves of that aforementioned letter, and was in the process of trying to tape them back together, as if it had not been torn in the first place, either.
"I know that TOO!"
As she worked on that, a couple of the other girls were in the background, cleaning up the lodge.
"Let's just be clear, Milly... he isn't flying here JUST to see you. His sister is a former Fireside Girl who works as a freelance inspector. You know, here to make sure we're doing everything by the book."
"But it's because his sister is, or was, a Fireside Girl that Patrick and I even met to begin with."
Milly recalled the time they met...
Two months ago, inside Union Station in Washington...
While waiting for Isabella to arrive on her train, Milly and Gretchen were at the bookstore, trying to burn some time... and money.
"WHOA!" gasped Milly, upon seeing Gretchen walk up with a stack of paperback books in hand. "You sure you have enough to read for the flight back home?"
Gretchen peeked her head out from behind the books and replied. "Yep."
Milly shook her head. "I still can't believe you can read at an eleventh-grade level."
Gretchen smirked and then headed for the register to pay for her books.
"If you want a book, it's on me, but hurry up! The Chief's train'll be here any minute!"
Milly shook her head as she closed a book she was holding and put it back on the shelf where she had gotten it. She went to join Gretchen in line, even though she was not planning to buy anything, but her mind quickly changed when she spotted a certain book atop one of the stacks on a nearby clearance table.
"Can it really be? Is that 'Annette Drake and the Teapot of Flame?' The fourth book in the seven-book series, and the only one missing from my collection, right here in this bookstore before my very eyes? I've been looking for this for ages! It features Annette's first face-to-face encounter with She-Who-Was-Named-Badly since the first book, 'Annette Drake and the Alchemist's Talisman.'"
She reached out to pick it up off the table, but as her hand grabbed a hold of the spine, she saw that someone else had reached out for it as well, and he or she had touched the other side of the book at the exact same time. Milly turned and saw that the other person happened to be a boy about six inches shorter than her, and perhaps a year or two her junior, though she could not tell for sure without asking.
The boy switched between looking at the book and at Milly, alternating every few seconds. Milly just stood there, unsure of what to do. She wanted the book, but so did he. Would it be right to just take it and hope he did not react in some way that would cause a commotion that would make everyone in the store think lowly of her? Or should she just let him have it and leave empty-handed, hoping karma would reward her with a shorter amount of time passing before she found another copy of the book?
She never had to make that decision because the boy took the initiative by pulling the book off of the stack. Milly loosened her grip on the binding, giving it up without a fight. Once she saw the boy had the book secured in his two hands, she sighed in defeat.
Then, in an odd twist, the boy held out the book to Milly.
"Here you go."
Milly was taken aback. She had willingly let him have the book, yet here he was, offering it to her. Milly smiled as she took a step towards him and then she squatted down in front of him so she could look into his eyes.
"Aw, you're sweet. But it wouldn't be right."
She lightly pushed the top of the book back towards the boy's face. She then stood back up and headed for the exit to meet up with Gretchen.
"Enjoy the book, cutie!"
The boy responded almost instantaneously.
"Thanks, cutie!"
Milly stopped. She spun around and walked back to him.
"Did... you just call me cutie?"
"What else would I call someone like you? You are the cutest girl I've ever seen."
Milly laughed, believing it was a joke that a boy was flirting with her. She had yet to ask this boy what his name was, and yet, she felt her body take the lead as she started warming up to him before even her mind could do the same. Meanwhile, the boy decided to offer the book to her a second time.
"Tell you what, cutie. I'll pay for the book and give it to you as a gift."
"You... you'd do that?"
Milly's face was now a bright shade of red. It appeared that all of her blood was rushing to her cheeks, because she froze, apparently willing to agree to the offer but unable to move her any part of her body to indicate her decision to him.
"We crossed paths at the Jamboree a few hours later, where he actually gave me the book. And I met his sister."
"I know," Katie said. "You've told that story a couple dozen times now! And I still believe you're making that boy up."
Gretchen popped in, adding her two bits. "I was there, Katie. I can undeniably verify everything Milly said."
Milly breathed a sigh of relief.
"See?"
"Except for the boy in question," added Gretchen, in clarification.
"He IS real! Look at this!"
Milly took out a picture she had taken with Patrick. Milly even had the book in hand that he had bought for her. Katie looked at it, and then gave her best friend a sly smirk.
"Oh, now I see why him coming is so important... heh heh."
"What? What?"
Katie put an arm around her friend. "Just because some of the other girls have cute boys they're chasing after doesn't mean you have to as well!"
Milly's face went red. "WHAT? That... that's not it all!"
"They all have that same red tinge on their faces too whenever they deny it."
"KATIE!"
"It's nothing to be ashamed about," Gretchen cut in once more. "It's a part of growing up!"
"I'm not in love! I'm too young for that!"
Milly ran out the front door, embarrassed. Katie followed her, hoping to calm her friend down. They were supposed to be helping clean, after all. But the second Katie reached the bottom of the steps, two hands grabbed her and pulled her off to the side.
"Milly!" Katie exclaimed, having already figured out who had 'captured' her. "Look, I'm sorry from embarrassing you, but burying me alive won't solve your..."
"I think I like him," hastily sputtered Milly, as she spun her friend around so she could say it to her face.
"Uh..."
"Or maybe I don't! I don't know... Katie, all I know is Isabella once said that the number one thing about crushes is that you have to find out how he feels. Before you get in too deep!"
"And how do we do that?"
"Follow me!"
Milly was ready to lead the way, but first, she had to get something else off her chest.
"You thought I was going to bury you alive?"
"What? You had that look on your face! And I was scared, okay?
Katie would have another reason to be scared. Milly had sprinted up the stairs of her house, and when Katie arrived at the top, she saw that her friend had kicked her own door open. She hesitated slightly before peeking her head in.
"Milly?"
Katie walked into her best friend's room and started scanning the room for her. She then spotted a fort made out of cardboard boxes in the corner and headed over to it.
"Uh, Milly?"
Milly burst out of the fort, sending several boxes flying in numerous directions. Katie had managed to avoid getting hit by any of them, but only because she had been spooked off her feet in surprise.
"FOUND IT!" shouted Milly.
Milly made her way over to her desk with an item, which she plopped down emphatically. Katie appeared next to Milly as she opened a three-inch binder. Inside of it were a couple dozen letters from her pen pal. And they were all laminated.
"Really?" Katie gave Milly an odd look. "He's sent you THAT many letters in the two months or so you've known him?"
"Uh huh," nodded Milly, with a smile.
"Pfft. Hello! It's the 21st Century, where everyone has this thing called e-mail. You know, the thing that goes 'whoosh' in your computer?"
"Yeah, but old-fashioned letters are much more meaningful. And worth sitting in front of the mailbox every day waiting for!"
Katie wanted to make a comment on how weird that was, but...
"Yes, Katie, I know I'm weird! You've told me that a hundred times already!"
"As long as you're... okay with it?"
While they had been talking, Milly had been flipping through the laminated pages. Suddenly, she stopped.
"This is the letter about the bubble gum blowing contest he took part in! And I love how he took in stride the fact that he was the first person out!"
She then turned to the next page.
"And this one was when he talked about one of his classmates! She's this girl that sits alone during lunch and always stays away from others during recess."
Then she moved on to a third letter.
"And here's one about how he participated in a 5k walk with his sister to support cancer research!"
Suddenly, a thought popped into Milly's head.
"I GOT IT!"
She slammed the binder shut, almost doing so on Katie, who had reached her hand in to turn the next page.
"Sorry, Katie," she quickly apologized, "but I've figured it out! I know what kind of girl Patrick likes!"
"And that is..."
"Patrick's into girls that can chew gum and act distant towards others!"
Katie took a second to think about Milly's conclusion. She then gave a complete, honest response.
"That sounds about right to me!"
"Good! So, how do we go about making me into that type?"
"Leave that to me!" declared Katie, as she held up a magazine. "Oh, and to Pre-Tween Magazine!"
I put all my trust in Katie, hoping she'd be able to make me over into the girl Patrick likes so I could see if he really liked me. I mean really liked liked me.
The next morning...
"Are you sure about this?" queried Milly.
"Trust me!" replied Katie. "If you're supposed to be a gum-chewer and act all distant, then why not go the whole nine yards and look a little rough on the edges?"
The two made their way up the stairs to the lodge. But just as Katie was about to reach for the knob, the door opened on its own. Isabella appeared. At first, she looked irritated, but upon seeing the girls, she was relieved.
"Girls! I was just about to call you! I have an emergency! Adyson's busy with a school service project, and the others are off getting patches! I need one of you to do something for me."
"We can't," Katie spoke up. "Milly's supposed to be meeting someone..."
Isabella pulled a boy outside. Milly's jaw nearly dropped when she saw that the short, brown-haired boy was her pen pal, Patrick.
"So the inspector brought her brother along, for some reason, and I need one of you to keep him company for half an hour."
"ME! ME!" Milly jumped up and down, enthusiastically.
Katie grabbed her and whispered something into her.
"That's not distant! That's anything BUT distant!"
Realizing her mistake, Milly quickly calmed herself down. She then, for some reason inexplicable to both Isabella and Patrick, she ducked behind Katie and then raised her hand sheepishly, as if she was afraid.
"Milly'll do it," Katie said. "She doesn't want to get in the way of the inspection."
Isabella was confused, but she did not have time to find out specifics.
"Fine. Just... fix your hair! You're in uniform! You know better!"
She was pointing out the frizzies in Milly's unsightly clump of hair. Milly quickly pulled out a pocket comb and started rearranging it into her normal, curly puffed style.
"What?" Milly asked, as Katie gave her a dirty look. "Rules are rules."
"Good," Isabella said, handing the boy over to Milly, and then grabbing Katie. "Katie, I need you inside."
Isabella pulled the blonde inside, closing the door behind her. That left Milly and Patrick alone, on the steps of the lodge.
And they could do nothing but stare at each other, like a pair of deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
Okay, so things didn't start off as expected. But, hey, I was just getting things warmed up...
20 minutes later, the two had actually moved to physically sitting on the steps. But they still were not talking, as Patrick sat on one end and Milly on the other. They also were looking away from each other, much to Milly's chagrin.
"Why isn't this working?" she thought.
Milly seemed stumped. So, she pulled out a stick of gum and put it in her mouth.
"He likes bubbles, so..."
She attempted to blow a bubble. But for some reason, no matter how hard she blew, the gum would not inflate. Believing the problem was volume, Milly unwrapped a second stick of gum and put in her mouth as well.
"Come on, come on!"
She tried again. Still nothing. She put in a third piece, and upon doing so, her chewing became so boisterous and ragged that it got Patrick's attention.
"Milly?"
Milly? He called me Cutie back when we first met! Maybe... maybe I wasn't chewing enough gum for his satisfaction! There's only one thing to do!
"Milly, are you ok?"
Seeing Patrick slide over towards her, Milly quickly took out the remaining sticks of gum she had, wrappers and all, and stuffed them into her mouth. She then chewed as hard and fast as she could, and immediately she felt her jaws ache in pain as they were stretched to their limit.
"Sfay afay ffom fe," mumbled Milly.
"Huh?"
"I'f suffosed fo fay fway ffom fou." Milly backed down the stairs and onto the grass, trying to keep a few feet away from Patrick. "Fou ofly fike firls fou arf disfanf!"
I didn't know what to do! Being distant and chewing gum wasn't working! But before I could figure out a plan B...
Without warning, Milly felt her breath getting short. All of the gum - and the wrappers - in her mouth had congealed into a ball that was so large that it was almost completely blocking off her air passage. Milly dropped to her knees and pointed at her throat. That clued Patrick in.
"Hold on, Milly!"
He pulled Milly back up to a standing position, then proceeded to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her. After a round of quick thrusts to her abdomen, Milly coughed up the large wad of gum, to her relief. As she caught her breath, Patrick moves his arms from around her body and came around to look at her in the face.
"Milly! Are you alright?"
Milly nodded, consciously deciding not to speak for a few seconds while her breathing returned to normal. Patrick guided her back to the steps, and the two took a seat on the bottommost one.
"What was that all about?"
Considering he just saved me from choking, I owed him an explanation.
"You thought I'd think you weren't as interesting as you were when we first met. So you tried to impress me by chewing a ton of gum all at once."
Or maybe he figured it all out on his own.
"How'd you know?"
"My big sis. This boy she dated once did silly things to make her laugh."
"Oh. A-and the Heimlich?"
"My big sis. You pick up a few things when your sis has been a Fireside Girl your entire life."
"I see. Wait, one more question!"
"Yes?"
"How... how come you keep calling me Milly? And not Cutie?"
"Because I was taught that the respectful way to address a girl is to call them by their actual name?"
Milly giggled. "Lemme guess... big sis too?"
"No, my parents. Come on, sis is great... but not that great."
Patrick then got up, tapped Milly on the shoulder, and then ran a few feet away before looking back at her and yelling...
"TAG! YOU'RE IT!"
Milly got up and chased after him, playfully giggling as she did.
"I just got my Tag Master Patch, so you'd better watch out!"
She continued to chase Patrick all around the lodge's front yard, swiping an arm at him to try and apply a tag at every opportunity she could get.
Well, I still don't know if Patrick likes me. Like, like likes me. But at least I know he's still interested in me. And, Patrick, since I know this'll be up by the time you get home tonight, let me just say that I'm glad to have a fun pen pal like you. And sorry I did something silly just to get your attention.
And ignore the stuff about me thinking I might like like you. Unlike some of the others, I don't think I'm ready to handle having crushes.
I'm just having too much fun keeping friends.
Patrick happily waved goodbye as he left with his sister following the conclusion of the lodge inspection. Milly gleefully waved back. She abruptly stopped, though, when she heard Katie snickering behind her.
"Milly and Patrick, sittin' in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"
"Katie, knock it off!"
"But Milly, you love him!"
"I do not! We're just friends!"
"Ooh," piped in Isabella, "just friends, huh?"
"Not you too, Chief! Why does everything revolve around relationships in this series?"
End Entry
Author's Notes:
Little fun fact - the flashback scene in this episode was actually part of a much longer scene that originally was supposed to be in the most recent feature, "Jamboree Jambalaya." It ended up being cut for time or irrelevance... at the time, anyway. I had planned Patrick to appear in the series proper, so I had to think of a work-around until I could find a way to make his physical debut work. Thus, the adaptation of him as Milly's pen pal, as referred to by her on a couple of occasions last season.
Also, with more proof that I don't keep as good a record of all the Fireside Diary entry numbers as I should, you'll notice that number for "Jamboree Jambalaya" has been changed once more. It's listed as #411 in its original story, and as #400 in last season's Milly episode - which was already taken by Season 2's finale episode. "Jambalaya" is now #401, in order to properly fit within the establish timeline, and that'll be changed in the aforementioned entries when I get around to editing them.
Next Week: In a special crossover fanfic event, Phineas needs help! And the one person who can save him is... Irving? No, Isabella! No, Irving! Two vying for the love and admiration of one, in a race across the Tri-State Area! See who wins in this two-part, one-night crossover with "The Adventures of Irving and Friends," starting with Part 1 here in the "Fireside Diaries!"