Monty's Master - Part 1

The bright sunbeams streaming through the windshield forced Candace to shift and find a better angle for her cell phone.

"Quit fussing!" She could hear her brother click his tongue. "You'll make yourself sick and there's no way I'm cleaning that up."

"That didn't happen since like ages ago," Candace groaned, before rearranging her features into a flashing smile, reaching out and almost hitting Perry in the nose with her phone.

He lost control of the steering wheel and avoided hitting a dumpster on the side of the road at the last possible moment. He shot Candace a dark look.

"Oh, it's no use! The sun's too strong, you can't see a thing!"

"I'll never understand why you have to change your picture every five minutes!"

"I need to update my profile now that I'm second year. Sophomore's so much cooler than Freshman! I'm practically a grownup!"

Perry rolled his eyes.

Phineas poked his head between the backs of their sits. "Oh! And Ferb and I can't wait for our last year of elementary school to start, right Ferb?"

Ferb nodded without taking his eyes off the side window.

"It's a shame that we didn't get to do everything we wanted to do together, but we'll certainly have something to tell the teachers when they ask us what we did over the summer!"

Candace snorted. "Yeah, like anyone's going to believe you."

"Why wouldn't they?" Phineas asked in surprise.

"Oh, please. Every time I've tried to get any sort of evidence, it's like the entire Universe has agreed to screw me over!"

"Oh, you mean we should have taken some pictures too? That's a great idea! Perry, then you could have seen it too! You've been missing out a lot… Oh, Ferb, why didn't we think of that sooner?"

Ferb shrugged, looking up at the driver sit.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Perry said in a gentle voice. "I can see it on your faces that you had tons of fun, and that's all the proof I need."

It was Candace's turn to roll her eyes.

"I wish you were there, though," Phineas murmured, dropping his hands into his lap. "Now that school's starting, we'll see even less of each other."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Candace said. "I for one can't wait to go back to school where things are how they're supposed to be and I'm finally in control!" She checked the time on her phone and added impatiently, "Can you drive a little faster? I'll be late!"

"I thought you said you wanted to be fashionably late to make a strong first impression," Perry said, this time keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yeah, I meant in class. I still have to meet up with Stacey and Jenny. If we all go in at the same time, there's no way Mister Rogers can punish all of us!"

"Hmm, interesting strategy. Just try not to get detention from day one," Perry said, steering around a corner.

"Oh, there they are!" Phineas cheered, pointing a finger over Candace's head.

Her friends were waiting next to the front steps, Stacey tapping her phone with her back against the plinth of a statue of a man with bushy eyebrows and a long, sharp mustache, and Jenny picking the first autumn leaves from the still dewy grass and placing them between the pages of a notebook.

Candace opened the door just before the wheels stopped and almost forgot to take off her seat belt before leaping onto the sidewalk.

"Oh, don't forget your lunch," Perry reminded her, holding up a paper bag covered in rainbow, butterfly and star-shaped stickers.

Candace froze. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was looking, then leaned over the chair and said through her teeth, "Perry, why does my lunch look like a leprechaun barfed on it?"

"You said you were too old for me to draw on your lunch bag anymore," Perry said with a little shrug, "so that didn't leave many options."

"You've got to be kidding me," Candace hissed, giving an awkward smile to a curly-haired boy passing by on his skateboard. "You know what, just keep it!"

"Are you sure? I made grilled cheese sandwich."

Candace pursed her lips, still glaring at him.

"Ugh, fine!" she snapped, yanking the bag from his hand and quickly stuffing it into her satchel.

"Okay then, have a nice day!"

Candace didn't reply, but slammed the car door and marched to her friends.

"Oh, hi Candace," Jenny greeted.

Stacey was chuckling into her fist.

"You saw nothing!" Candace said, jabbing a finger at her chest.

"I think it's sweet," Jenny said, waving back at Phineas who stuck his head out the window.

"Yeah, Candace, don't be like this," Stacey said, waving too at the car that was slowly pulling out of the parking lot.

Candace put up her nose and walked up the stairs without looking back.

The boys' school was just across the street. It was a completely ordinary building with a small courtyard and little promise of adventure, but that never seemed to break Phineas' spirit.

"Ferb, I think I already know what we're doing today! How about recreating Miss Miller's lecture on the Civil War and turning the classroom into a battlefront?"

Ferb rubbed his chin, and after a moment of consideration, gave his thumbs up.

"We could use the desks as defensive walls, and maybe turn Buford's spitballs into actual cannonballs!"

Perry chuckled. "Just try not to get too carried away."

"Don't worry," said Phineas. "We always put safety first, don't we Ferb?"

Ferb nodded solemnly.

"Oh, I know! We can turn our old football gear into fully-proofed body armor!"

Perry turned his head. "Remember, Mom's picking you up today!"

"Then we'll tell you all about it when we get home!" Phineas said grabbing his bag before jumping off his seat.

"Have fun!"

"You bet!" Phineas said, waving and beaming at him.

Ferb nodded his goodbye before he and Phineas twirled around, still chatting and planning ahead.

Perry watched them until the double doors closed behind them, and as he rolled up his window, something about his smile seemed to waver.