Chapter Text
One Week Before the Night Under the Stars Homecoming Dance
Maple Drive is dead quiet. Even the infrequent whizzing of passing cars has died out, with the streets of Danville only populated by the orange glow of the streetlights that illuminate them. Isabella had been sitting out on the curb with Phineas for a good hour or so following the Homecomingcoaster 3000’s explosion into a trillion pieces, which, coincidentally, was the catalyst Isabella and Phineas needed for their relationship to finally fall into place. Now, having already said goodbye to her best friend — now suitor — Isabella swings open the wooden gate to her backyard, her heart practically skipping, to find Gretchen, Milly, Adyson, Ginger, Katie, and Holly anxiously waiting at the backyard patio table.
Stopping dead in her tracks, Isabella locks eyes with Gretchen, who stares right back at her from the patio table. Isabella starts beaming, letting out a squeal as she runs toward the girls, who also squeal in excitement for her as they stand. “I can’t believe it!” Gretchen squeals as Isabella reaches her, getting enveloped in a tight hug.
“I know, right?! I feel like I’m dreaming!” Isabella yelps. As Isabella releases Gretchen from the hug, she finally takes a moment to catch her breath again, looking across the table to the rest of the girls.
“You do know that we need, like, every detail, right?” asks Milly, rhetorically. Of course they need every detail. Although some of the girls had quietly started to believe that Phineas and Isabella might not ever happen, they knew how important this was to Isabella— how long she’d been waiting for one truly romantic moment with the genius inventor from across the street.
Isabella excitedly responds, “Of course!” as she begins to sit down at the table with the rest of the girls, taking a deep breath in preparation.
The next fifteen minutes are a blur of whispered squeals, overlapping questions, and excited squeezes of the hands. The girls listened intently to every word — from the moment Isabella sat down to when they said their goodbyes to one another.
Eventually, the whirlwind of giggles turned into yawns and goodbyes. One by one, the Fireside Girls gathered their things and made their exits, offering one last hug or joyful smile before slipping out.
Isabella watches the girls disappear down the street, her heart still buzzing. She turns to the backyard once more, where less than two hours ago a Fireside Girls mobile reconnaissance station stood — the only remains of which are some leftover snacks and Isabella’s binoculars — smiling to herself in disbelief once more.
Taking a deep breath, Isabella gathers the leftover snacks and her binoculars before heading inside. She packs the food into Tupperware while Pinky, her dog, watches her with curious eyes. As she stores the food in the fridge, closing the door, she hears footsteps making their way down the stairs.
“Isa? Is that you?” Vivian Garcia-Shapiro, Isabella’s mom, calls out, the caution in her voice palpable.
Isabella walks into view of the staircase to give her mother peace of mind, “Yep! Just me,” she says, unable to stop herself from scrunching her face into a smile from the excitement that’s had her entire body abuzz for the last hour and a half.
As Vivian makes her way into the kitchen, she reaches out to Isabella for a hug. “You were out really late today,” Vivian starts. “What were you up to, sweetie? Are you okay?”
Isabella backs away from her mom while remaining in Vivian’s embrace before making eye contact with her, “Mom…” Isabella says, softly. “You’re not gonna believe it.”
Tears begin welling in Isabella’s eyes, sparking concern for Vivian before she realizes that her daughter has the biggest smile that she’s ever seen her have. “Phineas finally asked me out!” Isabella squeals, as softly as she can, cautious not to wake up her father who is asleep upstairs.
Vivian’s mouth drops. “No way,” she whispers excitedly. “How did he do it?” Vivian slowly ushers Isabella to the table, practically bursting with questions, but trying to give her daughter the space she knows she needs to tell the story.
“So, you know Phineas. Always inventing, always making these big, amazing inventions to let everyone have fun?” Isabella pauses, raising her eyebrows toward her mother, who slowly nods in acknowledgement. “Well. He built something specifically just for me — not for me and everyone else. Just. me! Well, for us! Like him and I!” As her voice slightly raises from the exhilaration, Isabella catches herself and returns to a whisper.
“He wanted to ask me to the Homecoming dance next week as, like, a date-date, not like how we would go as friends when we were younger. So, he built this rollercoaster in his backyard that played through all of our most romantic moments together— it was beautiful and really sweet.” Isabella says. Vivian’s eyebrows scrunch, her head tilting in confusion. She desperately wanted to let Isabella tell the story uninterrupted, but curiosity got the best of her.
“He built a rollercoaster in his backyard? Like a model rollercoaster?” Vivian asks, Isabella quickly shaking her head in disagreement.
“No, Mom. Like a real rollercoaster. Why would it be a model rollercoaster?” Isabella asks, a giggle escaping her lips.
“Why would it be a real, full-sized rollercoaster?” Vivian retorts, only now starting to suspect that Isabella’s wild stories of her summer days may not have been fiction after all.
“The rollercoaster isn’t even that important, it blew up. I never got to ride it.” Isabella says, flatly, as disappointment is detectable in her voice for the first time. Isabella perks herself back up, trying to continue the story, before getting cut off by her mom.
“It blew up?” Vivian asked, her voice raising in concern. Isabella, a little annoyed from the hyperfocus on the rollercoaster aspect of a relatively rollercoaster-less story, lets out an exasperated sigh and furrows her brows lightly.
“Ohp. Sorry. Right. Continue!” Vivian says, straightening her posture in the chair and resting her arms on the dinner table, giving Isabella her full attention.
“Thank you,” Isabella says, before continuing. “So, the rollercoaster blew up. Then he went to sit on the curb to be by himself for a bit. Which he only does if he’s really upset — usually he’d talk to Ferb or maybe Candace, depending on the situation. So, I’m outside their house because I was on my way to go see what he was building and ask him to Homecoming myself. BUT, I was hiding because Phineas made Buford keep me out of the backyard until it was done being built!”
“Because he didn’t want to spoil the surprise,” Vivian interjects. Isabella nods, “Yeah, but I didn’t know that at the time, so it made me kind of sad. But, anyways,” she says. “I see him there. Sitting alone, looking sad and broken. So I go to him and sit with him on the curb.”
A smirk begins to form on Isabella’s face, “So, we get to talking — I ask about the rollercoaster, he tells me what it was for, and I ask him: ‘Why didn’t you just ask me?’ and… Mom.” Isabella stops, her voice raising. “He was literally struggling to find the words— like, I could see his brain short-circuiting. It was adorable!” Isabella continues, placing a hand over her chest.
“He finally tells me that he was too nervous to ask me because he’s had a crush on me for three years and he wanted to go to the dance with me as his date-date!!” Isabella swoons, her eyes meeting the ceiling as a relaxed smile befalls her face.
Vivian smiles, the joy emanating from Isabella infecting her as well. She truly has never seen her daughter this happy. Isabella’s eyes finally return from staring at the ceiling, meeting Vivian’s gaze once more.
“So anyways, I finally tell him that I’ve liked him since we were kids and that I never needed him to build me a big invention or anything. Just for him to tell me… and we kind of just sit together and take in the moment. So I’m like, ‘Don’t you have something to ask me?’ And he goes, ‘Whatcha dooin’ next Wednesday?’ — so cute! I play it cool and check my wrist—” Isabella raises her wrist up from under the table, displaying a distinct lack of a watch. “And I’m like, ‘My schedule’s clear’, and then he asked me to the dance!” Isabella squeals.
Taking a moment to take a deep breath, Isabella settles. “Mom. It was so sweet and perfect. It was exactly what I wanted the moment to be. Just us. We even took a picture after,” Isabella says, pulling out her phone and turning it toward Vivian, displaying a photo of Isabella’s and Phineas’ smiles beaming, with Phineas’ head resting on her shoulder.
“Honey, I’m so happy for you.” Vivian says, softly. “I know how long you’ve waited for him to finally give you a sign— I can’t wait to tell Linda!” Isabella’s posture shoots up straight, her hand reaching across the table to hold Vivian’s.
“Actually… Phineas wanted to be the one to tell his mom. But she’ll definitely call you once she knows!” Isabella explains. A look of disappointment forms on Vivian’s face— she and Linda Flynn-Fletcher, Phineas’ mom, love to gossip and have been rooting for their kids to eventually get together for years now. Vivian, however, is nothing if not understanding. She looks at Isabella, smiling softly.
“Oh, that’s okay sweetie. I can wait. We’ve waited this long, huh?” Vivian laughs as Isabella begins to giggle as well. “Okay,” Vivian says, patting Isabella’s hand. “Now go to bed. You have school tomorrow.”
Isabella and Vivian stand up from their chairs, pushing them back under the dinner table. “Okay, mom. Good night! I love you!” Isabella says, walking over to Vivian and giving her a quick, soft hug.
“I love you too, baby,” Vivian responds as Isabella releases her hug and makes her way up the stairs.
It’s about time. Vivian thinks to herself, taking a moment to look around her home as she turns off the light in the dining room before heading toward the staircase herself. She pauses at the foot of the stairs. No. For real. How did he build a rollercoaster in his backyard?