Not My Cup of Tea Ch1

Today was different. It wasn’t just another summer’s morning, and Phineas and I knew that was a fact. Many days like this had happened in the past years in which Phineas would set his alarm thirty minutes early and break out his sketchbook in attempt to get his ideas flowing. It was thirty minutes too early for me.
His bright red hair was sticking up in all directions but his mouth only pointed in one. A smile that could clear the clouds on a rainy day. My pillow didn’t help to block the sound of his pencil scraping across the paper. Most of the time it was a pleasant sound for me but not necessarily at six thirty in the morning.
“I know you’re awake, Ferb. You might as well get up. Besides, it’s a big day today! We have no time to lose!”
Although the itchiness of my eyes begged me to stay down, I slowly decided to humor him, for he had a very good point. My bed creaked as I turned over on my back. It certainly was a big day and I should be useful and help him get things started.
“Do you think Isabella would like icicle lights or orb lights?” Phineas asked me thoughtfully, putting his pencil eraser to his chin. “Or should we hand out laser pointers to everyone?”
I pushed the covers off and threw my legs over the side of the bed. “Just icicle lights would be good. She likes glittery things.”
“Okay! So that means she’d like the sparkly pink table coverings.”
What else would she have wanted, Phineas? I mean really, he couldn’t have thought that one out for himself? She wears pink every single day and he doesn’t have a clue what her favorite color could be? Sometimes I think he has a firewall setup in his giant brain that’s solely meant to block out any Isabella related thought.
I leaned over to see what he had down, and unsurprisingly the page was already full. He had a blueprint sketch of a giant daisy that would hold the punch glasses on the top two petals and the cupcakes on the bottom three.
"She'll like that." I muttered drowsily.
"I was thinking about making it a tree, but girls like flowers. I also got an idea for a Mexican buffet to set up by the fence, and I was thinking we could even turn the pool into an ice cream bar where you can swim up and order ice cream."
As lively as ever. I simply gave him a smile.
"Do you have any ideas?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
I shook my head.
He looked back at the paper and hummed a couple tunes. Sometimes he would sing while drawing up his blueprints, and on several occasions I've caught him reciting Shakespeare. It varied depending on his mood.
"What are you going to get her for a present?" I asked, trying to wake myself up. I knew exactly what she wanted from him, but I doubt she'll get it unless she pins him down. She could if she really wanted to, but at the same time it would most likely break the girl code. Whatever that was.
"I was thinking about getting her some new shoes earlier but then I realized I don't know what size she wears. So then I considered maybe a necklace. I could put a locket on it and fill it with something. Something girls like."
"But you don't know what girls like." I stated.
"I do too!" He said. The boy kept working, diligently putting in the details in a glass table centerpiece. It looked like the same flower he had done earlier for the food, but this one had a butterfly on it and according to a side note he had wrote down, was going to be an ice sculpture too.
I glared at him, waiting for his answer.
He finished a wing and then began sketching a chair to the right of it. "They like flowers and sparkly things, and candy and bugs."
"Bugs?" I almost choked on a laugh trying to keep it in.
"Yeah! You know, like butterflies."
Yes, all those things were correct, but not very advanced. I don't know what I expected.
"Isabella loves butterflies. Remember?"
Of course I remembered. That was the day she went on her first "date" with Phineas. She still has daydreams about it and sometimes asks me if it was real or her imagination, because she hadn't been on what she considered a date with him since then. It was quite sad. I've tried several times to get them alone since then but either Buford or Baljeet or someone of the sort would come in and Phin would ask whoever it was to join them.
Isabella had it in her head that she was going to get her first kiss from him today, and I and everyone else are rooting for her, but honestly I think her hopes are a little too high. God, I hope nothing bad will happen. If anything does, the poor girl is going to be crying on her sixteenth birthday.
I fluffed out my hair as I finally got the energy to stand up, and I stepped over him. He ducked down without a word and kept drawing.
My legs were almost like two long noodles, and were handy when running and stepping over things but got in the way of other tasks. The top of my head almost touched the door. Two to three more inches and I would have to duck down. Along with that, no one, not even I, had any idea why my hair was bright green. I was born with it, and my father most likely knows why but he won’t tell me. I stared languidly at my reflection in the mirror. I was tall and lanky. Not exactly what I wanted to turn out as, but it’s better than being short and stocky. I would probably look like a jelly baby with a square nose.
“Ferb?” Phineas called. “Paper or plastic plates?”
He was going all out. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask her?”
There was a small pause, and I heard Perry turn in his bed, along with the crackling of paper. I watched myself blink in the mirror.
“Are you grumpy?”
I grinned at his question. “No, I stayed up too late reading.”
“Oh.” He said. “Again?”
“Well it’s not like you haven’t done the same thing with your sketchbook.” I combed out my hair and fixed my toothbrush with some toothpaste.
“True.”
After I made sure he had ceased talking, I stuck the brush in my mouth.
The morning consisted of short conversations about all kinds of random things Phineas was considering for the party and me giving him answers. I got dressed at seven o’clock, and later Phineas met me outside. The air was warm and welcoming, and it smelled sweet and new. The shade of the oak was a pleasing touch.
As if on cue, Baljeet and Buford arrived in the yard with a swing of a gate.
"Hello Phineas! Hello Ferb." Baljeet greeted with a small wave of his hand. "Planning Isabella's birthday party, I would guess?"
"Already done! Now we just have to get approval and assign set up positions." Phineas exclaimed vividly as the duo approached.
"Got something special planned for girly tonight, pointy?" Buford said, wiggling his eyebrows. I frowned at him, but Phineas didn't seem to catch on.
"Of course! I hope she'll like it. Ferb helped me pick out the colors."
Buford snickered.
Baljeet came and sat down with us and Phineas handed him his sketchbook so he could look. Buford followed.
“Oh wow! You certainly have gone all out this year! I have to say I am impressed. Isabella will love this!”
“Love what?” A different voice came from the outskirts of the yard as she came in, looking glamorous in her usual pink dress. “What’cha talkin’ about?”
She strolled casually across the yard like it was any other day, a huge smile on her face and a skip in her step. Phineas snatched up his sketchbook from Baljeet and smiled innocently at her. “Oh nothing.” He said. “Happy birthday, Izzy!”
She was as beautiful as ever…. in a sisterly kind of way. I guess I’m already used to thinking of her as my sister in-law. Might as well get used to it early. There’s nothing bad about that, considering Phineas was bound to fall for her sooner or later. It’s one of those facts that everyone knows but never really talks about, so you wonder why everyone knows about it if no one has ever talked about it.
“How have you been so far today?” Baljeet politely asked her, and she sat down in the grass and leaned back on her hands since the tree was taken.
Her face brightened a bit and she had a huge happy grin. I really hope she’s not planning on doing what I think she’s planning on doing tonight. If she cries over him on her sixteenth birthday, I may just end up having to knock some sense into him. But who knows if that will even work.
“I definitely woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. My mom made me sopapillas for breakfast and Pinky was there the whole time! Usually he’s gone around breakfast like Perry is every day. After that I came over here. I couldn’t wait to see you guys.”
By that she means Phineas.
“I thought maybe I could see what you’re planning.”
"Nope! You know it's a surprise." Phineas said happily, placing the sketchbook behind his back and laying against it, wedging it between him and the tree.
Isabella only sighed. "Fine..."
"I'm sure you'll love it, though. It's gonna be extra special, because your sixteenth birthday is a very special birthday. You'll be treated like a queen!"
"Aww, that's so sweet of you, Phinny!" She said happily. "When do you guys plan on starting set up?"
"As soon as Ferb takes you shopping."
The sudden change of events made her blink in surprise and look at me.
"What?"
Even I was surprised. When did I ever agree with this? Phineas never told me he was gonna send her away with me. Usually she just stays in her house while we do everything but I guess he really wants to be cautious this time around. But why me? He could have made the girls take her.
"But I'm sure Ferb wants to stay and help." She looked at me worriedly.
"Ferb's fine! Right Ferb?"
I shrugged and nodded. It was really okay with me, I was just wondering why he couldn't have had the Fireside girls do it. Maybe he was in need of more hands. Better to have six pairs of helping hands than one.
"Did you know about this, Ferb?" She questioned.
I shook my head.
"What the hey? Did you just assume that everyone would be okay with this?" Buford crossed his arms.
Phineas frowned. "Is it not?"
Isabella and I looked at each other. She seemed content with it, just surprised. I was fine with it. No big deal. I would just take her around the mall and let her shop for herself. She'll make all the decisions. After all, Isabella will most likely be the future pants in her and Phineas' relationship.
"See, they're both cool with it. It'll be fine. After all, we can't risk her seeing any of it before its ready!" He concluded.
So it was decided. I would be escorting Isabella to the mall today. I suppose change is a good thing. After all, she and I get along very well together. It's not very often we get to spend time with each other but when we do it's all over satisfactory.
Phineas didn't waste any time with rushing us out, and after I jumped in the driver’s seat of my mustang and she got in the passenger seat, we were off.
The automatic seat belts latched themselves around us and a pair of robotic hands came out of the glove box and fixed us both a drink. She got a caramel Frappuccino and I got my usual glass of warm sweet tea with lemon. I had mine and Phineas’ favorites already set to be made when we jumped in the car. He always had cherry limeade with three cherries on top.
She sipped her coffee and then sighed deeply as she put it in her cup holder. Her eyes stared straight forward at the road and mine explored her face. It was one of disappointment, of sadness... of desire. She wanted something else. Something more. Passion and romance perhaps, or maybe just a moment that would set her feelings aglow... Or maybe... Something as simple as being noticed.
“Ferb… I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to do this. The last thing you want to do is go shopping.” She softly spoke.
I rubbed the side of my head, trying to think of something good to say. No, I didn’t really want to go shopping, but for Isabella’s sake, I don’t want her to be going on her own. If I left, she’d be mad. I wouldn’t ever do such a thing anyway.
“It’s really fine. No need to worry.”
She lifted her drink up to her mouth and took a large sip and then put it back down. “I was gonna tell him right then.” She said.
“What?”
“I was gonna just come out and say it right then and there, just to get it over with.” She looked at me. “I was so ready. I could feel it, you know? But then he goes ‘okay you go shopping now’ like are you serious? He can’t just get rid of me like this. That was a poor move on his part.”
“Isabella, you know he just wants you out of the way so he can set everything up… right?”
She was about to shout something, I was sure of it, by the fire that had suddenly been sparked in her eyes.
But she didn’t. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something but then stopped, raised a finger, and put it back down. She groaned loudly, and it almost sounded like a growl. “I know.”
I raised an eyebrow at her as we came to a stop light at a four-way intersection. She crossed her arms. “I just… I mean I was just…”
“You were ready.” I finished for her.
“I was ready!” She shouted back.
A smile crept up my face. It was amusing, seeing her fret so much about it, but I still felt bad for her.
“I could have just jumped on him or something, easy! And if all else failed I would have pulled out a bull horn and yelled it into that thing. This is killing me, Ferb. It is ripping me apart inside. I cannot keep it in any longer. I’m about to burst.”
“Don’t burst on me please.” I remarked.
She lowered her eyelids and glared at me, which made me chuckle.
"Very funny."
I smiled and went back to driving. The Googolplex mall was only a twenty minute ride from our house, and we were almost halfway there. In the meantime, she cranked up the music and started to sing along to the songs she knew, which included most of them. It's funny how the human brain can memorize a song after hearing it once, but can't recall what was learned in history class after an hour of other learning.
I'm not one for singing, so I enjoyed simply listening to her. Eventually, we made it into the parking lot. It wasn't crowded, being the Tuesday that it was, and the weather was hot, but not oven-hot.
"This is gonna be a good thing, Ferb." She said happily, unbuckling her seatbelt. "I think we both need some time away from Phineas and we need to spend some more time together. This'll be fun."
I nodded in agreement. "Where to first?"
Isabella frowned at me and touched her finger to her chin as we parked. "I thought we could just walk around until we see something."
I shrugged. Whatever she wanted to do. It was her birthday.
So we walked up to the mall, and went inside. People walked here and there, and high above our heads hung the humongous system of cords and crates holding who knows what, moving in every which way across the expanse of mall. Phineas and I had helped repair it only once, and it hadn't broken down again yet, and it had been seven years.
"Oh, I haven't been here in so long." Isabella mused. Her hair twirled about behind her as she spun around. "I forgot how much it smelled like hot dogs."
"Makes sense." I said. "There's at least ten hot dog restaurants on the first floor."
"That's strange."
"Well it is Danville."
She nodded as I stuck my hands in my pockets. We came to a stop in the center of the mall, where a giant magnificent water fountain shot its many strands of pure water out into high arcs. People sat around it and some little kids tried to throw their pennies onto the highest tier.
Isabella looked around it and out past it, until it seemed she had found what she was searching for. She gasped and placed her hands together. "Oh my gosh, it's my favorite dress shop!" She smiled widely. "Can we go there first?"
I looked up and around the fountain, and on the other side of it, there was a fancy looking boutique with professionally tailored dresses, and it looked like something she would definitely like. So she pulled me onward, past the little kids with pennies, and into the large dress shop. It was very sparkly. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling to provide light and the shelves were lined with pink fuzz. I don't know why this was helpful, in fact it probably made the shoes pink and fuzzy if they sat there long enough, considering it was sticking to my fingers every time I touched it.
Isabella went through rack after rack, and I examined some of the peculiar jewelry... Some of it was pretty cool actually. There was a pair of earrings that doubled as miniature hand-held pencil sharpeners. Isabella said she hadn't seen anything like them, but turns out they were fifty dollars. I could easily make some at home for free if she wanted them.
"Oh wow, look at this!" She said as she held up a blue dress to herself, looking down in awe. "Look at the ruffles, how fancy they are."
She already had six dresses slung over her shoulder. Each one was a work of art in itself.
"You should probably try them all on before your arm breaks off." My eyebrows furrowed.
She rolled her eyes. "I think I can handle at least two more. I'm sorry if you're bored." She smiled guiltily. "This is just my favorite thing to do. I love trying on all these fancy dresses and feeling rich for at least a few minutes"
She swung the dress back and forth, watching the layers of satin move like ripples of water. Her eyes suddenly darted back up to me. "Help me pick out two more." She demanded.
I put my hands out in front of me. "Oh no, I don't have a clue where to even start."
She strolled around one of the dress racks, pushing some of the green dresses aside. "Sure you do! You have a step sister, I'm sure you've learned a thing or two about fashion. You've even made your own clothing line!" She laughed. "Candace must have taught you something in the fourteen some-odd years you've lived with her."
I pressed my lips together and looked at the rack before me, which held a ridiculous amount of red dresses, each with a different decoration. "Isabella, I..." I began to protest, but she stopped me by giving me a look that... Honestly frightened me a bit. But then she giggled.
"Uh-uh-uh! No buts." She shook her head. "Just pick a dress. It can be the ugliest dress here, just pick one!"
With that bit of information, I chose to make this simple, so I spun around and touched the hanger of the dress closest to me, which was a purple sundress with lacing down the skirt. I turned back to her quickly and gave it to her, and she hastily chose a yellow one to the right. "Perfect! Okay I'll try these on. You can wait. Or if you're too manly then you can go get a burger or something."
With that, she ran off to the back of the store and left me there in confusion. I didn't want to get anything to eat without her. I'm sure she had to eat too. So I made my way to the back, and found the entrance to the dressing rooms, and leaned against the wall by the doorway. My hands found their way to my pockets, and my mind drifted off to other thoughts for a while. I watched a couple of kids just outside of the store, both about six, climbing onto the water fountain with handfuls of pennies to throw. They chunked the little bronze coins over their heads with agile movements of arms and wrists, but their aim was next to horrible.
It only took her a few minutes to change into her first dress, and she came out and twirled. It was a very intricate design, and it didn't take long for the workers at the store to come and ask her to stop spinning with it on. The process went on though, and she took about an hour to try them all on. I didn't mind. She was enjoying herself and it was a good thing for her to take her mind off of Phineas.
"You know, the cooler colors look the best on me, I think. They must bring out my eyes or something." She examined, fixing herself in a mirror outside the dressing rooms.
"You look like a queen in all of them." I stated. It was only true. She was a beautiful girl, and anyone lucky enough to be fancied by her should be proud. Oh Isabella, a marvel she was. Spending most every day of her life with us guys, gaining our trust and proving us wrong so many times that I couldn’t count. She wasn’t just a curious girl across the way. She wasn’t. She was so much more than that.
“Oh, stop it.” She told me, and then sighed while looking at herself in the mirror. “If only Phineas would think that.”
I furrowed my brow and stepped forward, putting my hands on her shoulders, and she looked at our reflection. “Bella, stop doing that. Stop putting yourself down because of him. I’m sure he sees how beautiful you are, anyway. He may be a blockhead but he knows you’re beautiful. If he didn’t then he would have been lying when he called you cute.”
Her expression warped as she turned around to properly look at me.
“Ferb?”
I suddenly realized what I said. I didn’t really… I mean I didn’t mean to be so blunt. It was just a fact, but now it was being analyzed and sorted through in that smart brain of hers, picking out the little details. I could see the gears turning through her translucent eyes. The embarrassment and guilt came in like a storm anyway though, and I quickly took my hands off of her shoulders, and stepped backwards. I probably shouldn’t have said that. It made her even more confused than she already is. I’ve never actually said anything that meaningful to her before, I suppose. I guess I’ve just never had the chance to. Sure, I’ve spent many hours trying to get her back on her feet, but they were usually hours of silence, with a few “it’s okay” reminders thrown in. I still meant it, though.
She began to back up into the dressing rooms again. “Uh… I’m just gonna get dressed. I’m getting hungry. But… Ferb…” She stopped, her gaze caught on the white tile flooring, and her left hand caressed some of the fabric at her waist.
Oh God…  
“I...um… thank you… that was really sweet of you to say.”
Great. That was just great. I try to calm her down and all I do is make her even more uncomfortable. Way to go, Ferbooch.
I managed to muster a quick, “No problem,” but it was really quiet.
I’m such a cabbage sometimes.