Finding Dad (Chapter 4)



~Phineas~

You know, being here with Isabella is the best. And while it is crowded in the airport and I don't want to lose her, I'm holding her hand because I want to. Honestly, I enjoy it. We hit the front of the line, and I decide to let her order for us. "Go on," I say, "get me something you think I'll like." The barista smiles at me, then turns her attention to Izzy. "Let's see," she says. "Could I please have a Grande Caramel Frappachino, and make sure to put the whipped cream on it!" she says. The barista laughs, "Of course. Can I get your name for that?" "Izzy," she says, "and for my best friend Phineas, could you make a Mocha Frappachino? Grande, and whipped cream, please." "How do you know these things?" I ask Isabella. "Phin, I've known you since we were two. I think I know what you like." "$8.74, please." I hand her the money. Seriously, it only took about two minutes and our frappachinos were ready. Just then, I hear the intercom say, "Flight 324 to New Orleans, now boarding." "Come on let's go!" Izzy says energetically. She grabs my hand and we run towards our terminal, laughing like idiots. We manage to beat most of the crowd, and the ticket scanner asks, "Aren't you a little young to be boarding a plane by yourselves?" "Well, I'm not by myself, I have my best friend in the whole wide world with me," I respond, putting my arm around Isabella. She blushes and giggles. "And Phineas here has been keeping me company," she says. "Plus," I continue, "we managed to buy tickets, right?" "Phineas?" the ticket lady questions. "Isn't that the name of that missing kid? So, Phineas, what's your girlfriend's name?" "Her name is Emily," I answer, and Isabella just follows along. "Oh sorry, I thought for a second you were those missing kids. Since this is a domestic flight, I suppose we can allow you to go." She scans our tickets and lets us pass. We enter the gate, and when the ticket lady is out of earshot, Izzy says, "Emily? Really?" "Shut up, it was the first name that came to mind. I talked to Ferb this morning and he mentioned something about Emily, so that was what I thought of. Plus, if I said Isabella, they would've turned us in, because Mom is offering a reward." We board the plane. I instinctively grabbed Izzy's hand, as I would do in any place she could get harassed by one of those child molesters. I don't know why I get so worried about her getting hurt, but I almost feel like it's my job to protect her. My ticket says, "Row 24, A," and since there are only two seats to a row, I guess it doesn't matter who gets what seat. "You want the window seat, Isabella?" I ask. "Sure, I've never been in a plane, and it would be cool to watch." I actually have a pack of gum in my pocket that I bought at the hotel before we left, I know both of us are gonna need it once the plane takes off. She slides into the row first, and I take the aisle seat. "Phineas, I have to admit, I'm a little scared. Like I said, I've never flown before." "Relax, Izzy, I'm right here. It's gonna be okay. But here," I say, handing her a stick of gum, "you're gonna need this." "Wintergreen, my favorite!" she comments. I know Izzy, that's why I got it. "But what did you mean when you said I'd need it?" "Because," I reply, "when the plane takes off, your ears pop like crazy, which really hurts. And from my many trips to England, I've experienced that. Not. Fun. So, something about gum makes your ears not pop. That's what I meant." "Okay!" she says. "Thanks for looking out for me." "Of course," I say, mentally adding I'll always look out for you. The plane is filling with people, and the light for the seatbelt turns on. Izzy figures out what it means, and fastens her seatbelt. I can see her tense up. "Isabella, relax. I'm here, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." I look around the plane and I can't believe who I see. I see Thaddeus, that kid who tried to outdo us earlier this summer. He sees Isabella, and gets up and comes over to talk to me. I put my arm across the space between my seat and the one in front of me; it was a protective instinct. I can't help it, I'm paranoid like that. He says, "Phineas, why are you protecting her from me?" He looks at Isabella and says, "I don't bite." I feel a surge of anger, and I don't trust myself when I get like this. But I say, "It's not nice to flirt with other people's girlfriends, no matter how pretty they are." Thaddeus seems taken aback, but regains his confidence and looks straight at Isabella. "Really babe? Him? Out of anyone a girl as hot as you could get, you pick him?" "Yes, yes I did. Now leave before I kick you where the sun don't shine," she responds, shocking both me and Thaddeus. He leaves wordlessly. Once he can't see us, Isabella hugs me. "Thank you so much, Phin! That guy gives me the creeps." "Just doing my job," I say. "By the way, did you really mean that about me being beautiful?" she asks. I feel myself blush. "Of course I did," I answer. "Even when I'm angry, I'm a terrible liar." She blushes. "I really appreciate that. No one's ever called me beautiful before." I hear this and think, as pretty as she is, you think she would have heard that a million times by now. "But I'm not your girlfriend, and you said I was, therefore you did lie," she points out. "True, but we've been portraying that one all day. It just kinda rolled off the tongue." Well Phineas, I think, I know you hate to admit this, even to yourself, but Ferb was right. You do like Isabella as more than a friend. But I can't tell her that. Not yet, anyways.

~Isabella~

I can't believe what just happened. Phineas called me his girlfriend without flinching. AND HE CALLED ME BEAUTIFUL! I am so happy right now, I can hardly stand it. "Welcome to Air Tran Flight 324, nonstop service to New Orleans," a smooth voice says. I jump slightly before I realize that it's the plane talking. "We will be taking off in a few minutes, so please turn off all electronic devices." I pull out my cell phone and quickly text Mom. "We're on a plane to New Orleans, will txt again wen we land. Luv u." I send it and turn my phone off. I glance over at Phineas, who is doing the same, but texting Ferb. When he gets back to his phone's menu, I notice there are 20 missed calls, all from his mom. He sees me looking and says, "What? I told you, we're not telling Mom where we are." The stewardess comes by, makes sure we have turned off all electronics, and moves on. There are some people in the front going over emergency procedures. The plane is slowly moving towards an available runway. A few minutes pass, and the plane starts moving slowly, but rapidly increasing speed. I can tell, because the ground looks like a blur. Okay, I'm officially scared. Apparently, Phineas can see this and he grabs my hand. "I promise, Izzy, it'll be fine. If it makes you feel any better, taking off kinda scares me too." Having him there calms me down some, but I'm still afraid. I'm looking out the window, and the ground becomes further and further away. We're off the ground. I'm actually enjoying the view, in spite of my fear, until we fly into the clouds and I can't see anything. It's sunny outside, I don't get it. "The view will be amazing in a few minutes. Just wait," Phineas says, giving a knowing smile that says, I've done this too many times before. As much as I hate to, I let go of Phineas' hand because I'm not afraid anymore. "Sorry for freaking out on you," I say, but he won't have it. "No, don't be sorry. I remember my first time on a plane. I almost cried, I was so afraid. Don't worry about it; that why I'm here, so you don't have to do this alone." Suddenly, there is a bright light from the window. "Just look," says Phineas. I oblige, and I can't believe what I see. I'll try to describe it though. There are clouds that look like a floor, like I could just jump out of the plane and run around on them. The sun is there, giving a beautiful, unblocked light. I turn to Phineas and say, "This is gonna sound ridiculous, but did we die on the plane? 'Cause it looks like Heaven out there." He laughs. "No, no we didn't. But I laughed because that was the exact thing I asked my mom on my first flight. I guess great minds think alike," he says. I'm really enjoying all of his compliments throughout this whole trip. The thing is, as much as I'd love him as a boyfriend, I'm perfectly happy to be just like this, just best friends. This works for me. "You know, Phineas," I start. "What Isabella?" "You are the greatest best friend a girl could want. Seriously, I can't imagine how I'd be without you right now. I couldn't have gotten on the plane. But with you, I feel like I can do things, even if I'm afraid. Thank you, Phineas. I love you, not like that, but you know what I mean. I love you like I would love a brother if I had one. Scratch that, you are my brother." "Wow Izzy," he says, "I had no clue I meant that much to you. I could just as easily say the same thing about you. I mean, look at you. You're beautiful. You're smart, funny, and extremely resourceful. What guy wouldn't like that? I'm not a religious person, but I thank God that you're in my life. What would I do without you? I can't say. I can say that I probably wouldn't have this permanent smile on my face. And I'm just gonna fire that back at you, you are my sister." OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! Okay Izzy, calm yourself down. "Thanks Phineas," I say as I hug him for the second time today. "That really meant a lot to me." "We have reached our cruising altitude of 30,000 feet, you are free to move about the cabin and use all electronics except cell phones," the plane says to us. The seat belt light turns off, so I unbuckle my seat belt and say to Phineas, "I really have to use the bathroom." He moves aside to let me go. I walk towards the bathroom and the occupied light is on. Just as I get there, lo and behold, Thaddeus steps out. He sees me without Phineas and gets that creepy stalker face. He pins me against the wall and says, "Come on, you know you want to kiss me." "Eww no!" I say somewhat loudly, "I would rather kiss bathroom floor." Someone around us says, "Ohhh, you got burned!" "You're just denying your feelings. Come on, give me some sugar." Phineas must have heard me protesting, because he comes up and throws Thaddeus against the other wall. "Stay away from her. Unless you want me to throw you out of this plane," Phineas says in a voice deeper than I've ever heard him. "Because you would do that," Thaddeus replies, being all cocky. "I would in a heartbeat. No one messes with her. I'd rather you mess with me, though in this case, that would be a little creepy." "Whatever, redhead, but I will get Isabella," he says and walks off. Phineas turns to me, "I'm sorry you had to see that," and heads back towards his seat. I go into the bathroom and lock the door, satisfied that Phineas stood up for me.

~Phineas~

I get back to my seat, feeling sort of sheepish that Isabella had to see me like that. Thinking back, I seriously would throw Thaddeus out of the plane to his death if he harassed Isabella again. How dare he! Some people really don't know when to quit, do they? While I'm thinking about Isabella, I wonder if and when I'm going to tell her how I really feel about her. I'm fairly sure she doesn't return those feelings, but I think she should know. I decide that I'll know when the time comes. And speaking of Isabella, she's back, so I get up and let her get back into the window seat. To my surprise, she kisses me on the cheek. I immediately feel my face get hot. "Thanks for sticking up for me. I couldn't have gotten out of that one on my own." "Like I said, just doing my job." "Random question. Why can't we use cell phones on the plane?" she asks me. "The cell signal interferes with their connection to the ground tower in New Orleans," is my simple answer. "Phineas, don't you think that maybe you should tell your mom that you're at least all right? I mean, don 't you think she deserves that?" "As much as I would like to, and as much as you're right, I can't." "Okay, I trust your judgment, but just out of curiosity, why not?" "Because, Mom is extremely irrational. I mean, what kind of Mom would leave two eleven year olds with their certifiably insane sister most of the time? Plus, does the commercial this morning ring any bells?" "Fair enough," Izzy says. "She's just worried about you." All of a sudden, turbulence hits. The seat belt sign comes on. It's still scary, but I'm used to it. But then I remember: Isabella! Before I can say anything, she's gripping my hand so tightly I'm afraid she'll cut off the circulation in my fingers. I wouldn't mind, though, because holding my hand makes her a little less scared. "What. The hell. Is happening?" she says through clenched teeth. I'm a little shocked she said hell, but it makes me happy that she is comfortable enough around me to cuss. "Are. We. Crashing?" she asks. "Don't worry Izzy; I'll explain when it's over. Just close your eyes and breathe, I'm here and it's gonna be fine." She closes her eyes and holds my hand with both of hers. The turbulence continues for a few minutes, and then it stops. The seat belt sign turns off again. As promised, I explain, "that was turbulence, and it just happens. Something to do with jet streams and flying against them, or something like that. But it is scary, I don't blame you. I didn't tell you before, because I didn't want to freak you out." "It's okay, thanks for being so understanding," she says. "I'm a little on edge anyways, with Thaddeus wanting to make out with me and all." "Oh, I don't think he's gonna mess with you. Trust me." And we just talk; we don't even need the TVs to occupy our time. We talk about a lot of things: Thaddeus and his stalker ways, which brought us to Irving aka King Of Stalkers, which brought us to Ferb because of that lock of his hair that Irving has. Then, the plane said, "Please fasten your seatbelts, we will begin our descent." I say, "Sweet! We're practically there!" "The drop might scare you a little," I warn her, "but it's only a little bit at a time, and before you know it we'll be on the ground." The plane begins to drop, but Isabella's not afraid. "I was expecting it," she says. After a few minutes, the plane hits the ground again. It's a little bumpy, but not as bad as my last flight to England. We slowly maneuver into the terminal. A lady with a sickly sweet voice in the front of the plane says, "We are arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the local time is 3:16 PM. Please keep your seatbelts fastened until the plane has reached a complete stop. At that point, you can collect all carryon items and wait until you are allowed off of the plane. Be careful, the items in the overhead compartment may have shifted during flight. Thank you for choosing Air Tran, and we hope you have a wonderful stay in New Orleans, or wherever your final destination may be." Once our plane stops, all of the businesspeople are in a frenzy to get their belongings; so naturally, Isabella and I are trapped in our row. And of course, Thaddeus passes us by and rolls his tongue like those Spanish people who roll their R's. I punch him in the face. He scoffs and walks off. "Phineas, you don't have to be so violent," Isabella points out. "That kid makes me angry," I respond, "and I would do the same to anyone who tried to hurt you." Finally, we are allowed off of the plane.