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“Today is the day!” Isabella said, looking confident and nervous at the same time. “Today I’m going to tell Phineas how I feel.”
“Okay.” Baljeet answered, raising his eyebrows.
He and Buford observed how she walked over to Phineas and his brother.
“Watcha doin’?”
“Hi, Isabella! We’re building a Writer’s-Block-Eliminator. It’s a machine that eliminates the writer’s blo-”
“That’s great Phineas. Listen, I was thinking… maybe we could go get some ice cream later today?”
“Oh, yes! That’s a great idea. Ferb?” Phineas turned to his brother. Ferb nodded. “Awesome! We can get some ice cream right after we finish today’s project!”
“But that’s not what…” Isabella started, distressed. “Well… actually... I’m sorry, I just remembered I can’t go! I… I have… A very important meeting today.”
“Oh, bummer.” Phineas shrugged. “Maybe next time.”
Baljeet shook his head with disbelief, finally entering the backyard along with Buford.
On the next day, Isabella clenched her fists.
“Today is the day for sure! I will tell Phineas about my feelings!”
“I will believe it when I see it.” Baljeet answered, not trying to hide his bored expression.
“Come on, dude.” Buford shoved Baljeet with his elbow, right after Isabella walked over to Phineas. “She’s tryin’!”
“She is trying everyday. It is not going to happen.” he folded his arms. “Not in a million years.”
“How do you know?”
“Just look at them.” Baljeet and Buford glanced at Isabella standing several feet away from them, talking with Phineas. “She is not even listening to him half of the time! She fantasizes about him a lot, sure. But at this point she is in love with the idea of Phineas, not Phineas himself. Oh, look at them now. See, she failed to make a confession again. And now she is angry at him, even though he did not do anything wrong.”
“Well to me it looks like she’s angry because he didn’t reciprocate her feelings.”
“But he does not KNOW what she feels! She is dancing around it, without directly saying what she means! She never actually told him the truth, it is NOT his fault he is not interested! I do not find this charade cute, I am sorry.” he finished, clearly irritated.
“So what are you proposin’?”
On the next day Isabella took a deep breath.
“Another day, another chance!”
“Good luck.” Baljeet smiled.
“Thanks!”
All three of them entered the backyard.
“Hi, Phineas. Watcha doin’?”
“We’re building a robot that can cook any meal in the world!”
“Cool!”
“Yeah but I’m gonna need a very specific wrench-”
“Phineas, listen… I was thinking about seeing that new movie that just came out.”
“Oh, I see. Well… Have fun at the movies! We can spend more time tomorrow.”
“No, I meant… Ugh!”
Isabella turned on her heel, mumbling to herself and walking away. This is when Baljeet started walking towards Phineas.
“Let me show you how it is done.” he said quietly, passing by her.
He leaned against the tree, looking at Phineas making adjustments to the blueprint.
“So, you want your robot to develop their own taste as well?” he asked, reading from behind his shoulder. “That is very impressive.”
“Thanks, Baljeet!”
“And… you mentioned you need some kind of specific wrench? What is it for?”
“I’m glad you asked!” Phineas looked at him and grinned. “If I want this thing to work, I would need to use it here, here and here.” he showed him on the blueprint. “But I don’t own a wrench like this, and I’m not sure where I could find it.”
“Have you checked online?”
“I did but they would ship it within a few days and I kinda need it today.”
“Right. You know… They opened a new hardware store, downtown. So how about this: Ferb will stay here and work on what he can, while me and you will go and see if they sell the wrench you need.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Phineas’ eyes sparkled. “It will definitely save us some time! Ferb?” Ferb nodded. “Great! Let’s go!”
Isabella’s jaw dropped when Baljeet took Phineas’ hand. Phineas didn’t oppose. As they were passing by her, Baljeet shot her a quick, smug smirk.
“How did you even know they opened a new hardware store?” Phineas asked, as they were exiting the backyard.
“I needed a new calculator so I went on a walk, looking for the model I wanted. Then I saw this new store and it reminded me of you, so I remembered that I should mention it as soon as I get the chance.”
“Aww. And what did you need the new calculator for?”
“I’m glad you asked. You see…”
Soon they were too far away and Isabella couldn’t hear them anymore.
“What just happened?” she finally broke the silence.
“I didn’t know Baljeet is a thief.” Ferb commented.
“He is?” Buford asked.
“Well, he DID just steal Isabella’s man.”