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“Isabella!” Phineas beamed as she opened the door.
“Hey, Phineas!” she grinned back, hoping he didn’t see the bags under her eyes. She’d been so excited about his birthday party, she hadn’t slept at all last night, and she hadn’t been able to fall asleep during the nap she’d tried to take either.
“This is gonna be the best slumber party ever!” cried Phineas as he took the present from her to put in the kitchen.
“Hey Isabella,” Buford piped up. “Ya doin’ alright? You’re lookin’ a little… sleep-deprived.”
“Pffffffffffft,” Isabella giggled deliriously. “I’m fine. Top me off, Bufie.”
“I do not think you should have any more soda,” Baljeet fretted. “Studies show that compensating for lack of sleep with increased caffeine intake can lead to…”
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Isabella lifted her finger, pressing it against the general vicinity of Baljeet’s mouth as she fought to keep her eyelids open. “Shhhh-shhh-sh-sh-shhh. Don’t listen to him.”
“Did you sleep at all before you came here?” Buford asked dubiously as he filled her cup halfway.
“Psh. Course I did.” She downed the cola in one gulp and slammed her cup on the table.
Isabella nearly clocked Phineas in the nose with her head as he shook her. “I’m awake!”
“Hey, are you okay?” Phineas asked, eyes full of concern. “You’ve got huge circles under your eyes.”
“You’ve got huge circles under your eyes,” Isabella giggled. An involuntary yawn escaped her.
“Maybe we should call it a night,” he fretted.
“Phineas, I’m literally fine… eas.” Isabella snorted, crusty tears leaking from her bloodshot eyes as she snickered. “Get it?”
“Mom sent me downstairs to check on you guys,” Candace announced, making her way into the room. “Everything good down here?”
“Isabella’s dozing off,” Phineas replied anxiously. “I don’t think she’s gonna make it to 11 o’clock. We might have to call off the party.”
“Look! I’m awake!” Isabella protested. “Look how awake I h… h… ham. See?”
“You said ham,” Candace pointed out.
“Yeah!” Isabella retorted defensively, looking away. “‘Cause I’m as awake as a piece of ham! I wasn’t yawning!”
“Here’s what we’ll do,” said Candace, putting her hands around Isabella’s shoulders. “Why don’t you go upstairs and rest for like fifteen minutes, and then when you’re feeling less tired, you can come back and join the party again?”
Isabella rolled her half-lidded eyes. “I’m not tired, but whatever.”
“I’ll take her up,” Phineas said, draping her arm around his shoulder. “You guys keep having fun.”
Ferb gave a military salute.
“Right,” Candace declared, now that she’d solved that particular dilemma. “I’m gonna go back to my book now.”
As Phineas led Isabella up the stairs, she said, “I’m gonna come back down real soon, ‘kay? I don’t want you to miss me.”
“Shhh,” Phineas whispered. “Let’s just get you to your sleeping bag.”
They arrived at Phineas’ room, where the kids’ sleeping bags were laid out, with Isabella’s bag between Phineas’ and Ferb’s beds. “Alright, now just lie down for a bit,” Phineas said gently.
Isabella wrapped her arms around him. “Mmmm…”
Phineas smiled, returning the hug until she started snoring on his shoulder. Gently, he lifted her arms off of him one at a time and lowered her to the ground as her eyes fluttered. Mumbling drowsily, she made her way into her sleeping bag and settled in. “Hey Phineas, I wanna tell you something.”
“What is it, Isabella?” he asked as he knelt beside her head.
“Issa secret,” she murmured. “You can’t tell Phineas, mmkay?”
“Uhhh…” Phineas furrowed his brow in confusion.
“I got a big ol’ crush on you.” She smiled blissfully as if she were already asleep. “You’re my lil’ crumb cake. My lil’ cutie pizza head.”
Phineas’ face turned bright red.
“‘Kay, tha’s the secret,” she said, her voice barely audible as she slipped into slumber. “Don’t tell… anyone…”
Isabella’s snores soon filled the room. Phineas stared into space for several minutes before Ferb came upstairs to retrieve him.