Isabella could not believe this. As Heinz Doofenshmirtz continued to pair people up, Isabella panicked inwardly. She was tearing at the seams, and Phineas' mere presence would fully seduce her, she thought. She was so close to being free from him, just a couple more steps back, until he would no longer feel he had the license to talk to her. Then a question hit her square in the head. "Why am I running from Phineas?" she asked herself. She knew she sort of had an answer. He was like a drug. She knew, because her mother told her about how her aunt had taken drugs. When this had happened, it struck her how similar her problem was to her deceased aunt's.
"Okay, now that everyone is paired up, let's get started. People who don't finish this in class will have to contact their classmate and do it for homework," Heinz stated. "I have a questionnaire for all of you to fill out," Heinz explained. Ten minutes passed, until everyone had finished filling out the questionnaire. "Come get your instructions for our Bunsen burner activity. I have just enough to give out one per pair of you and have a spare. You know my e-mail is on the board: hdoofenshmirtz . I can send you a virtual copy if you lose yours. All right, does every pair have a set of instructions? Good. You may now start. The equipment is set up on the tables thanks to Mr. Schlapp. If you can't finish this in class, I hope you have a Bunsen burner at home," Heinz stated. The class got to work immediately. Then Ferb spoke up. "Um, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, where is the fuel?" Ferb inquired. "Mr. Schlapp!" Heinz called. Then Norm appeared with a magnetic pin on which was written "Mr. Schlapp". "Please, put the fuel in each of these. I thought you had already done this," Heinz instructed. Norm Schlapp proceeded to put the fuel into each of the Bunsen burners. "Not too much! Goodness, Norm, I thought you were going to pour that stuff everywhere!" Heinz shouted. "Here, just let me do it! Wouldn't want to burn down the place, now would we?" So Heinz proceeded to do this himself. By the time he finished, it was the end of the period. "Yeah, sorry guys; we'll do this tomorrow. Remember your partners, and I'll give you extra credit if you fill out the worksheet with your partner before tomorrow morning. Just use your own Bunsen burners. Take a vial of each of the two unknown substances, and see if you can identify them. For your exit ticket, I am going to ask you all a question. Off the top of your heads, what do you think these substances are?" Heinz asked. Silence ensued. "Speak up!" Heinz beckoned impatiently.
"Water?" Buford guessed.
"Does water produce an odor when you heat it?" Heinz asked back. "You can leave now. Stop! Just the kid in the black skull shirt can leave. The rest of you have not answered my question yet. That is how an exit ticket works."
"Is one hydrogen peroxide and the other isopropyl alcohol?" Ferb asked.
"The other kid was closer," Heinz responded. Then Ferb left to go to break as Buford did. As Heinz continued to chat with classmates, Isabella drifted off. Her emotional exhaustion was showing through in her temperament, even if as a poor reflection in a mirror.
Soon, it was just her and Phineas. Phineas offered for her to go ahead of her nonverbally and politely, but she was in another world. She totally heard none of the conversation between Phineas and Heinz. "The solutions, I could only guess to be pure elements heavily diluted in water," Phineas guessed.
"Wow, you actually guessed it! But what elements? That is the question," Heinz responded.
"I have no idea; well, probably not technetium..." Phineas answered. They both burst into laughter.
"So this one's your girlfriend?" Heinz asked.
"I wish," Phineas answered.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Heinz exclaimed. "This is awkward."
"It isn't really a secret," Phineas responded. Heinz felt a lot of sadness eminate from the boy in front of him.
"You are supposed to be in your next class in two minutes; I advise you make a good impression on your next teacher," Heinz advised dully.
Phineas had just sucked all of the air out of the room. "Isabella!" Phineas called.
"Woah!" Isabella exclaimed.
"What are these two solutions?" Heinz asked.
"Sugar water and antifreeze?" Isabella guessed.
"No, but your next class starts in T-1 minute, so I suggest you get a move on," Heinz stated.
"Oh!" Isabella exclaimed. She darted off with Phineas power walking close behind. They got into their line just in time. Soon they were led off to Mrs. Weaver's class. This was English Language Arts class.
"All right, class, come here to get your essay prompt!" Mrs. Weaver exclaimed boringly. "Sit somewhere, and there will be no food in this classroom! You have until the end of class to get this and one other thing done. Come see me when you have finished writing your essay." They all wrote their essays in silence. Before they knew it, they were on to the next class. This was Mr. Francis Monogram's classroom.
"Welcome to history class! I am Mr. Monogram," Francis greeted. "We will be starting with ancient texts, like Hammurabi's code, Gilgamesh, and, of course, the Bible. Open your history books up to page twelve," Monogram instructed. And as Monogram blabbed on about the importance of these ancient texts, each student opened the textbooks set out for them. That class was like thick syrup, but it was better than the one just before it. After that class passed, it was time for lunch. They all went out to the cafeteria to eat. Those who brought home lunches sat down at a table and the others waited in line; Phineas and Isabella both fit into the former group. Phineas earned an angry glare from Isabella when he sat next to her.
"Why?" she inquired.
"Because we need to talk," Phineas answered.
"What do you want?!" Isabella asked in an annoyed tone.
"I think I just told you," Phineas responded.
"I don't want to talk to you! Go away!" she shouted. Then she moved away. She was breaking inside.
Phineas' jaw dropped. He hadn't considered that she'd just leave.
Meanwhile, Ferb was chatting with Danny, Vanessa, and others. Ferb noticed a heavily sulking Monty in the corner of the giant room for a mere jiffy before looking back at Danny, who was talking about state-of-the-art war tanks, and how it felt in the cockpit.
"And I looked, and you could like see this display with, like, a ton of buttons, and I got to drive it," Danny explained.
"Awesome," Cecil replied. "I remember once, my dad took me out hunting, and a shot a deer clean in the eye. Then, there was the time I got to shoot a 45 caliber pistol at small targets."
As they chatted on, Ferb had a predicament. He decided to go with a quick solve. "What are you doing?" Ferb asked Vanessa curiously.
"Trying to get my stupid bracelet on," she responded.
"Do you need any help?" he wondered.
"Sort of, yeah," she answered.
Ferb's careful eyes immediately recognized how to put the thingy into one of the chain thingies, but the problem was that there were multiple chain thingies. Looking at the beautiful form of her wrist, he deducted exactly which one to do.
"Wow, how did you do that so fast?" Vanessa asked.
"I have quick fingers, that's all," Ferb responded humbly.
"I bet you'd be a great magician," Vanessa commented.
"Magic is an interesting thing. You just can't let the audience find out how you did it. It's a lot more than quick fingers, it's understanding of perception, knowing how to visually hide things, knowing how to keep them hidden extremely well so no one suspects a thing, and having the want to actually do it; I think I could pull it off," Ferb stated.
"Ah," Vanessa responded.
"Am I boring you?" Ferb asked, secretly thinking he had just been super stupid.
"No, of course not! Go on," Vanessa answered. Ferb could feel the sweat trickle down his back. He absolutely could not blow this.
"I'd never take it up as a career, though, because I have other aspirations, like entrepreneurship and inventing," he explained.
"My father's an inventor," Vanessa blurted. She regretted the words the moment they came out. She couldn't have anyone from school know her father; it would ruin her popularity.
"Cool, what does he invent?" Ferb responded.
"Well, uh, really stupid stuff," Vanessa muttered.
"Like my brother?" Ferb blurted.
"What does he invent?" Vanessa responded.
"He uses advanced technology and degrades it to a point where all practical use is gone. But that's only half of it," he explained.
Vanessa could tell he did not want to talk about the other half.
As they chatted on, Ferb barely hang on to self-control and his cool, calm, and collected temperament. All he could think about was her in every pregnant pause. It was different parts of her at different times, but most often it was her eyes. He could slowly feel a blush coming on. His embarrassment was like an avalanche in its chain reaction. The more he thought about himself blushing, the more he blushed. The more he blushed, the more he thought about himself blushing.
"What did I say?" Vanessa asked confused.
"What do you mean?" Ferb responded.
"Never mind," Vanessa responded. Then lunch ended abruptly. The rest of school wasn't even noteworthy. Phineas and Isabella were far from each other in the bus. When Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet, Buford, and Isabella got out of the bus, they each went to their own homes. Phineas went in and got the Bunsen burner and fuel from the house and took the two vials, not to mention a cart to carry it all on.
"Mom, I am going to Isabella's for a science project," Phineas stated.
"Okay," Linda responded distantly; she was very focused on her knitting. Then he went outside, across the street, and knocked on Isabella's door. Ferb did the same, but went to Baljeet's. They had each made their own preparations.
"Hello," Phineas greeted.
"Phineas, why are- Oh, that's right," Isabella responded. "That stupid science teacher!"
"You want to come to my house and-" Phineas started.
"Let's just get this over with," Isabella responded as she rushed past him and went to the street. He ran after her and grabbed her arm forcefully as a car sped by at over ninety miles per hour, in their neighborhood. Isabella's started almost hyperventilating.
"Please, don't ever do that again," Phineas responded. She didn't like how well he implied things, like he would be in her life later, and barely save her from the jaws of death, again, like he'd be there every day. She was trying to keep herself free from him. And he had more control over her than he dreamed.
"Let's go," Isabella prompted. Phineas followed her across the street warily. Soon, they had set up the Bunsen burner in the basement, with ample space, and had put the first vial in. "Should I take the cork out?" Isabella asked.
"I think so," Phineas responded. So she did so. Isabella put her nose up to the top of the vial only to notice that Phineas' nose was right where she was putting hers, but too late. Their noses touched. Isabella could feel the neodymium again, but this time it was like holmium was there too. The magnetic field was too much. Pile awkwardness on top of that, and that is a lot to handle. Isabella's blush was like a wildfire. Eventually she realized that their noses were still touching. The smell of chlorine flooded through her nostrils. She was fully overwhelmed.
"It's chlorine," Phineas stated. A reflex came to her and went to be executed. She had no more fire to stop it. Then she grabbed him and kissed him full on the lips. He started kissing back after about half a second. He was confused and delighted for the duration. Eventually they had to break apart, and when they did, they needed some extra oxygen.
"Isabella!" a lovestruck Phineas exclaimed. His heart was pounding in his chest, singing that song which every son of man knows. "Could we, could we, could we do that again?" a tender Phineas inquired. Isabella at this point was at completely at the mercy of Phineas' wishes. This kiss was like a melting chocolate, in consistency and taste. Phineas hadn't ever noticed Isabella's lip gloss before. The taste of a familiar fruit flooded his taste buds. "Isabella, why did you kiss me?" Phineas wondered. Emotional Isabella was in full control now.
"Because I love you, Phineas, even if you hurt me on accident," Isabella replied. The other part of Isabella stirred again. With much regret, she realized she couldn't run now.
"I am truly sorry. Can I make it up to you?" Phineas asked.
"What?" Isabella inquired. "What did you say?" A panicked blush spread across her face.
"Can I make it up to you?" Phineas repeated.
"Oh," Isabella exhaled in relief. "I thought you said something else."
"What else would I have said?" Phineas inquired.
"Never mind," Isabella deadpanned.
"What was this element, again?" Phineas wondered. "Why is my memory so bad all of a sudden?"
· · ·
Ferb arrived at Baljeet's house. Mrs. Tjinder opened the door. "Ferb? What brings you here?" Mrs. Tjinder asked.
"Baljeet and I got an assignment from the science teacher," Ferb explained.
"Come in," Mrs. Tjinder responded. "He's up in his room."
Ferb ascended the stairs with the vials and the burner, and then finally, the fuel, and the cart and the other stuff. Then he found Baljeet's bedroom door open. "Baljeet, it's Ferb," Ferb greeted.
"Mm," Baljeet grunted in response. He was laying on his side on his bed. "Ferb, I 'aven't felt so good as 'f late," Baljeet muttered.
Ferb was shocked. How had his friend deteriorated so quickly? Maybe it hadn't been quick, Ferb hadn't thought about Baljeet for a long time, because he was a nerd, but he was still better than Ferb's brother.
"All 'dos smarts, owt da' window," Baljeet explained.
Ferb gasped. "I modified the nerd helmet a while back. I think you could wear it without trying to rid us of the atmosphere," Ferb responded. "Also, you only need to wear it once."
"I'd like it dat," Baljeet responded.
"Let me go back to my house to get it; I'll be right back," Ferb explained. So he did. Then Baljeet put on the helmet and Ferb pressed the button; it was completely different than the original. Baljeet got a little shock. "Alright?" Ferb inquired.
"Ya, but, wait, I said da' letter 'u'!" Baljeet responded. "Can I say da' letter ake? Aw, darn."
"It isn't instantaneous," Ferb stated.
"Wait, instantaneous, instant, but what does instant- Oh, yeah," Baljeet recollected.
"Now let's get to the assignment," Ferb prompted.
This took me sooo long to write! I am so glad it is done! So Phineas and Isabella are together! For now... This story is going to take so long to write! Ugh... Anyway, please review what you think I have foreshadowed, or just a brainchild of whatever. :-þ