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| - "PHINEAS!" The sound jerks me out of sleep and into the morning. I open my eyes and see my mom, stepdad, stepbrother, and best-friend-slash-neighbor grinning from ear to ear. "Happy fourteenth birthday!" says my mom. Ferb winks. "You're so old..." "Thanks, guys," I say, getting up slightly embarassed that Isabella's in the room while I look like I just rolled out of bed. Oh wait... I actually did. Ah well. The rest of them leave the room and go into the kitchen while I get dressed. Walking downstairs, I see a cake with my face on it and the words "Happy Birthday Phineus" on it, along with fourteen candles. "Phineus?" I ask, confused. "The man at the bakery was a million years old and partially deaf," says Isabella. "I guess Phineus was a common name back in the Mezozoic era." I laugh. "Nice one." My mom hands me a slice of the cake, which, I see, is the swirly marble type. "I knew you liked both," says Isabella, twisting around her pinky finger in her hand. If she gets any more nervous, she'll break her finger. "So I got both." We all attack our cake, and I'm about to clear my plate when Ferb leans over and whispers, "You've got frosting on your nose." "I do?" I reply, turning red. Rubbing my nose, a little bit of pale blue frosting rubs off onto my fingers. Isabella looks at me and giggles. Isabella saw it! Ugh. I'm a dork sometimes. "Well," my mother says excitedly, clapping her hands together. "What are you up to, Phineas?" "Huh?" Is that all I can say? "We'll take you somewhere if you want to go." "Oh, um, I think I'll just hang around the house with Ferb and Isabella, Mom. But thanks!" "Okay," Mom says, looking slightly crestfallen. I sit on the couch, and Ferb and Isabella sit on either side of me. "So, fourteen," Isabella says, smiling. "Lucky you, it comes on a Saturday! I had mine on a Tuesday this year, remember?" "Oh, yeah," I say, unable to say too much. And I never used to shut up when I was ten. To cover up that sticky spot, I pick up the remote and turn on the TV. "What do you want to watch?" "I don't know, Birthday Boy," Isabella teases. "Whatever you like." She grins and pokes me in the arm. I feel goosebumps go up my arm and shiver slightly. I stand up. "I think I'll get a drink," I say. "You want anything, Ferb, Isabella?" "No, thanks," says Isabella, and Ferb shakes his head. All right. I walk into my kitchen and pull open a cupboard. On the topmost shelf I see an old Space Adventure cup from when I was eight. Smiling, I pour myself a glass of water while listening to what's going on in the living room. "Excuse me," Isabella's voice says. I hear the couch squeak and assume she's stood up. "I'll be right back — bathroom." Her footsteps get louder and she appears in the doorway. Apparently forgetting that I went to get a drink, she gasps slightly. "Phineas," she says. "Can I talk to you in private?" "Sure," I say, uneasy. We walk up the stairs and into my bedroom, the stairs squeaking as we go up. Instead of sitting on my bed or Ferb's, she stands in the middle of the room, looking at me. "Happy fourteenth," she says quietly. "...Yeah," I reply. "I didn't know what to get you," she says. "It's not all action figures anymore, is it?" "You didn't have to get me anything —" "So I figured," says Isabella, "I'd give you this." She stands still for a fraction of a second, and in that time my heart beats about fifty times. Leaning in, she kisses me. I thought it would have been awkward, but it's not. Isabella is just... the one. Oh, gosh. Did I really just think that? Yes, yes I did. She wraps her arms around me and holds me like we're slow dancing. It seems like forever that we stand there, in the middle of my room, arms around each other — The door bangs open and Ferb is standing there, a dumbfounded look on his face. "Sorry," he says, his face turning red. "I didn't know I was interrupting something..." Isabella has turned the color of a blooming snowball tree, and flees the room, a tear sparkling on her face. Ferb walks backward after her and I close the door and lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Why did Ferb have to appear? I like my stepbrother, he's my best friend, but honestly... The door opens and Ferb appears again. "Isabella went home," he says quietly. Yeah? That doesn't shock me. I sigh and continue staring up at the ceiling. "Look," he says, sitting on his bed. "I honestly didn't mean to barge in, the door was stuck... I figured when Isabella never came back from the bathroom and you never came back with your drink, I would check upstairs, because I heard the stairs creak..." "It's all right," I say. My anger at him is gone now, and I feel tired. I close my eyes and say, "Just don't tell Mom we shared more than polite conversation in here..." I hear Ferb snort. "I might have to tell her if I need something to blackmail you with." Ferb is one of those people who you can't always tell if he's joking or not. I bolt upright in bed. "No, seriously — please Ferb, no..." I see him smiling. "Oh, Phineas, you've got it bad for her..." "Oh, I see how it is. How about you then?" I say. "Got any secret crushes I ought to know about?" He turns red. "Um... yeah..." Whoa. "Who?" "Two people..." Typical Ferb. "Elaborate, please." "Well, one is Emily Kinney, who lives down the street," he says. "And the other is Vanessa — Doofenshmirtz, I think her name is." "Doesn't ring a bell." "Well, she's twenty now, I don't think she'd see anything in me..." "Twenty?" I repeat, shocked. "Twenty, Ferb?" "Well — yeah... I had a crush on her since we were ten..." It suddenly occurs to me how girly we sound. "You know how girls always talk about boys?" I ask. Ferb nods. "Well, is it weird that it happens vice versa?" "Absolutely not," says Ferb, grabbing a sensei hat and gray wig and putting on an old-person voice. I can't help but laugh. "Confucius say 'That life, Phineus Flin.'" He starts laughing and the sensei hat falls off his head. I lay back and laugh until my throat is raw and I have to stop for fear of suffocating. I feel a buzz in my pocket and pull out my phone. "I've got a text." "From Isabella?" says Ferb, wiggling his eyebrows. We start laughing again. I look down and read the message. Fr: Izzy<3 Phineas? Is everything all right? Do you hate me now? That was so awkward, I should have never pulled you aside. I understand if you hate me. ~isabella I turn to show Ferb the message, then remember the time we went to the movies and she got a hold of my phone, changing her contact name to 'Izzy<3'. I read the message aloud instead, and Ferb says, "But you don't hate her, right?" "No, of course not," I say absent-mindedly, bending over my keyboard and tapping in a message. To: Izzy<3 Iz, everything's fine. I don't hate you — why would I hate you?! Actually, I'm glad you pulled me aside ;) I hit the send button before I can change anything, and drop my phone onto my bed. Ferb does a ninja leap and lunges for the phone. Red alert goes off in my head. "What are you doing with my phone?" "Oh, nothing," he says, but I see him clicking the down button rapidly. I walk around behind him and find him looking through my contacts. He's reached Isabella's name, and snorts. "Izzy heart?" "Yes," I say, snatching my phone back in the most dignified way possible. Ferb rolls on his bed with laughter and a knock sounds at the door. Ferb sits up and perches himself on the end of the bed. "Come in," I call. The door opens and two girls are standing there. At first I don't recognize them. And then I realize... it's Iz and Emily, dressed up slightly. Not over-the-top. It's nice, actually. Emily runs over to Ferb's bed, her eyes sparkling. "Ferby!" she cries, and Ferb falls off the bed onto the floor. Isabella giggles and locks eyes with me. A blush creeps up my neck and I smile. Ferb gets up, dusts himself off, and holds out his arms. Emily hugs him, then me. "It's so nice to see you!" "So what are you doing all glammed up?" says Ferb, his voice shaking the tiniest bit. I realize he's nervous and prepare for a marathon of Ferb-talking. He uptalks when he's nervous. "I mean, it's nice, you look really good, I mean, um, pretty, uh, like, gorgeous, oh — um, I —" Emily presses her finger on his lips, smiling. "Hush, child." "I —" "She said hush, chald!" says Isabella in a Southern accent. Then she can't help herself. She begins a gigglefest and sinks onto my bed, weak-kneed with laughter. Everyone in the room is laughing, and even though there's nothing to laugh about, it's that punch-drunk three-in-the-morning kind of laughter. "Oh, jeez," cries Isabella, wiping her streaming eyes on her jacket. I brush the last of them away with my thumb and smile at her. Calming down, we stand up, gasping for air. "So, really, what are you doing all dressed up?" I ask, eyeing Isabella's black cardigan. "We were wondering if you wanted to go to a movie with us?" Emily replies. I nod. "Yeah, sounds good!" I neaten my hair, Ferb rumples his, and we walk out the door. In the kitchen, my mom is making cupcakes. Cupcakes? No time to question it now. "Mom, can we go to the movies?" "Sure," she says, mixing the food coloring into the batter. We walk out my front door and down the street to the new movie theater that's opened up recently. I open my wallet. "What do you girls want to see?" "I say we see Space Monkeys 2: The Bananahilation," says Ferb quietly, and it's all we can do to not start punch-drunk laughing again. Not in public. Isabella looks around at the movie posters when she rolls her eyes. "What?" I ask. "Isabelle," Emily whispers. The jerkish brunette is strutting around with a sandy-haired boy. "Who is that?" I ask. He looks vaguely familiar. "Sean Love, from school," pipes up Isabella. "He's a junior. We're in his sister's class, Kenzie Love, remember, Phineas?" "Oh, yeah," I say. "Poor Sean." "You're saying his name wrong," says Emily. "It's shAAWHn, not shAAAHN." "No, it's shAAHN." "Hmm." Isabelle's head looks up at the sight of my hair and sees me holding hands with Isabella. Her eyebrows contract in a scowl and she slings her arm around poor Sean's neck, nearly strangling him. She smirks over at us, and Isabella shrugs and kisses me again. Isabelle's jaw hits the floor and we all laugh. "So really, what movie are we going to see?" asks Ferb, clearly disappointed that he can't work the old Ferb charm on Emily, who's preoccupied with the Isabelle situation. And I suppose, if you're a girl, and your number one enemy is a freshman who's dating a junior, it's big news. "Why don't we see that new soccer movie?" Isabella suggests. "The one with Cassandra Cowwock in it?" I say. "The Sight Side?" "Yeah," she replies. I pull out my wallet and walk up to the ticket counter. "Two for The Sight Side, please —" "No, Phineas!" Isabella says, pulling at my arm. "It's your birthday, here, let me pay, I —" "Two, please," I say. The woman behind the counter says, "Fifteen dowlahs. Each." I pull out thirty dollars and hand it to the lady, who gives us our tickets. Ferb and Emily step up to order theirs, and Isabella pulls me aside. "Phineas, it's your birthday! You don't need to pay for that!" "My treat, 'kay?" I say, making my voice high-pitched. Isabella smiles as we walk into the movie. A few minutes in, I feel Isabella's hand in my jacket pocket. She pulls out my phone and opens up the contacts to see if she's still listed as "Izzy<3". And she is. Why would I change it? She smiles at the sight of her name, then slips the phone back into my pocket and watches the movie. It turns out that the movie is about an orphan who lives on the streets, trying to get an application to a college to play soccer. The end is very touching, and tears were glittering in Emily and Isabella's eyes the whole movie. I couldn't help myself either, because I got a little teary at the end (and felt really stupid, too) and had to keep blinking. Fun fun. On the way home, it's dark out and the streetlights are on. Ferb walks Emily to her house, but Isabella and I stand in the pool of light cast by a nearby streetlight in front of her house. She smiles. "Happy fourtee —" I grab her shoulders. "I believe you've said that enough today," I say, beaming. I kiss her, longer than I should, because Ferb's waiting, and draw into the darkness. "Night, Izzy." "Night, Phin-Phin." Ferb looks at me as we cross the street. "Phin-Phin?"
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