Yes or No

Admired from afar, she's my star &mdash; "Whatcha writin', Ferb?" my stepbrother Phineas asks me. I jump and begin to shred the paper I was writing on. "Um &mdash; nothing," I say hastily. If Phineas had caught me writing that... "It sure doesn't look like nothing," says Phineas. "Was it plans for a new invention? I won't think they're stupid, you're my best friend and stepbrother." I shake my head. I need someone to talk to... but who? I get up and run inside my house, thinking all the way, Thank goodness Phineas didn't see what I was writing... It wasn't plans for a new invention I was writing, it was a love poem for the girl of my dreams. Nobody in my immediate group of friends knows who she is except for me. I met her first on the day Isabella had her tonsils taken out... flashback!

*dreamy music plays*

"Hey, how's it going?"

No, wait, that couldn't be it... she said something more romantic to me, didn't she? That's the problem with dreams. I can never tell what really happened and what was just a dream. Well, I'm pretty sure that's what she said to me. If she had said something different, I would have remembered. Phineas told me once I had a killer memory, and I'm sure he's right. I reach my destination &mdash; the computer &mdash; and go online. There's only one person in the world I can talk to about Vanessa, and hopefully, they're online... Yes! She is! I open up a chat window and begin typing a message to Brooke, who I haven't seen in a long, long, time.

ferbooch [10:21]: brooke? silverstar01 [10:21]: ferb! i havent heard from u in such a long time! silverstar01 [10:22]: so whats prompted u to talk to me? we haven't seen each other since we were six ferbooch [10:23]: i don't know how to say it... silverstar01 [10:23]: come on, ferb, u can trust me... it's not like i'll gab to n e one about it, i dont know who ur friends are silverstar01 [10:24]: ... silverstar01 [10:25]: *sigh* do i have 2 guess r something? ferbooch [10:25]: that would be nice. silverstar01 [10:26]: hmm, alright. silverstar01 [10:27]: ur pet died? ur losing a best friend? ur having girl troubles? ur being bullied? silverstar01 [10:27]: ...thats about all i got ferbooch [10:28]: the third one. silverstar01 [10:28]: oh, ferby-werby's having girl troubles? just kidding, whats the matter? ferbooch [10:29]: she barely notices me and i really like her. phineas, my stepbrother, almost found me writing her a love poem today. silverstar01 [10:30]: oh, ferb, uve got it bad. like really uber bad. i think the best thing 2 do is to tell her ferbooch [10:30]: did i mention she's six years older than me? silverstar01 [10:31]: oh silverstar01 [10:32]: well doesnt phineas build stuff? u and him? ferbooch [10:32]: you know? silverstar01 [10:33]: yes, word of ur creations has reached me. well n e way, u could build like an age ray or something to make her younger so its not so creepy silverstar01 [10:33]: see wat i mean? ferbooch [10:33]: yes, i do see! thanks so much, brooke, i knew i could trust you. silverstar01 [10:34]: i want deets, ferb fletcher. tell me wat happens ferbooch [10:34]: can do, brooke. bye for now.

I log off and sit there for a moment. Talking to Brooke was a really good idea of mine. The thing is, in order to build the age ray with Phineas, I'd have to tell Phineas, and wouldn't that be awkward? Yes, it would. I slap myself across the face and think, ''You're Ferb Fletcher, the British boy with a lot of fangirls! You can do anything!'' Hooray for self-motivation. I walk outside and back to Phineas. "Um, Phineas?" I say. Easier said than done. "Do you think we could build something today?" "Sure, Ferb!" he chirps. "Did you have anything in mind?" "Maybe... maybe an age ray?" The words are out, I can't take them back. "Sounds cool!" Phineas says, then eyes me. "This wouldn't have to do with a certain sixteen-year-old brunette, would it?" "What?! No!" I say, but it's too late. Phineas grins. "All right, we'll build this

(to be continued, because che's gotta leave!)