A/N: I know you Phinbella fans out there are vultures for the cheese. After rereading this gem I wrote back in January, I felt like it was so digustingly fluffy and cute that it had to be posted. Hope you enjoy!

"Just one date. One! That's all I ask."

Isabella waved the plea away in a harried manner, not looking away from the clipboard bearing the graduation ceremony schedule. "I'd love to, you know I would, but there just aren't enough minutes in the day. I'm sorry. Maybe some other time."

Phineas sighed in an exaggerated manner, then raised his arms in a helpless gesture. "I don't know why you do this to me, Izzy. You're killing me here."

"Phineas, we're graduating in two days," Isabella growled at him. "I hardly have time to sleep, let alone go out on a date! And I've told you a million times—don't call me Izzy!" She brushed him away and entered the student council room, slamming the door in his face. Once she was safe inside, she gave a sigh of relief. He had been pestering her for what seemed like forever for a date, and she was still firm in her rejection.

"Izzy?" he called from the hallway. "Call me later?"

Isabella chose to ignore him and instead returned to studying the schedule. If everything went according to plan, then the ceremony could be completed within three hours. The idea was to minimize speech lengths in order to shorten the process as a whole. Beyond two hours, the crowd would get restless, and it was imperative that the grads finish up before they had a rebellion on their hands.

Though her eyes were on the paper, her mind unwillingly drifted back to Phineas. Even though she had moved on from the worst of her crush half a dozen years ago, it was sometimes hard to get him out of her mind. Luckily, she was usually preoccupied enough not to worry about it. Classes had long ago become more important than pining over boys, and student council work and volunteering for the graduation activities had kept her too busy to even think about chasing after guys—even Phineas.

Phineas, on the other hand, had grown out of the typical boyhood indifference to girls in middle school, and his target ever since had been her. Isabella had found the turning of tables amusing, yet tiresome. His never-ending efforts to acquire a date with her were becoming a daily irritation, especially in these later weeks of their high school career. Distractions from the tidal wave of work to be done were nothing but a nuisance.

So absorbed was she in the schedule and her own thoughts that she didn't notice the other figure seated across the room. She looked up, startled, when she heard a small cough.

"Oh! Ferb, I didn't even see you there."

He gave a small wave and returned to shuffling through a large file folder of various papers. As secretary of the student council, his role was to record the minutes of their monthly meetings and keep track of basically everything they did, and he performed the task with an almost inhuman proficiency.

"I don't suppose you've seen the gown order forms, have you?" Isabella asked him. "I set them down in here the other day, but I can't seem to—oh." She smiled as he handed the small sheaf of papers to her, having produced them from seemingly nowhere. "Thank you, Ferb. Always one step ahead of me." She seated herself at the opposite end of their meeting table and began leafing through the documents.

Her mind drifted once more. She wondered if she would oblige Phineas with a date once school was over. After graduation, there would be no "busy" excuse. Her summer job wouldn't begin until a week after school ended, and there would be nothing else for her to do. She supposed that it couldn't hurt to go out for once, even if it was with Phineas. The boy was too charming for her to ignore.

Isabella didn't realize she was smiling to herself, nor did she notice that Ferb was peering at her, a curious expression on his face.

~.**.**.~

"Valedictorian, top of the class, bunch of other awards—go figure." Phineas grinned at her and clapped her on the back. "Nice going, Izzy."

"Phineas, please," Isabella reproached, though she was laughing as she said it. There was nothing that could ruin her mood that day. They were still in their robes, milling about outside of Danville High. Isabella was toting a folder full of various certificates and scholarship letters and felt that she might just be on cloud nine.

"So, what are your plans on this lovely evening?" Phineas nudged her side with his elbow, raising his eyebrows as he did so. "Don't suppose you have some spare time for your lifelong friend?"

"Actually, I was planning on going out to dinner with my parents," she replied, not looking at him. It wasn't exactly true. Her parents wanted to go to dinner the next day, as graduation had ended fairly late. However, her nervousness at finally going out on a date was enough to make her lie just a little bit.

Phineas seemed to wilt, but he regained his composure after a moment. "You can't avoid me forever, Izzy!" He winked roguishly, and he strutted off toward parents.

Isabella sighed. She still wasn't sure how she felt about him. Sure, she had liked him a lot when she was younger, but the intensity of her infatuation seemed so childish now. How many of her childhood days had she spent in his backyard, if only to ask what he was doing? By the same token, they had been friends for such a long time—did that mean that a date couldn't cause too much harm? Or would it ruin things between them? She couldn't be certain if her feelings were just friendly, or something more. And she was afraid to find out.

"Bit of a bore, isn't he," a voice said from behind her.

She spun around to come face to face with Ferb, who was smirking wryly. He looked off in the direction in which his stepbrother had gone. He too was carrying a folder of awards that he had received that evening.

"Oh, I don't know," she replied. "He is a sweetie, just a bit annoying at times." She looked ponderously at Phineas as he laughed with his parents. "What do you think? Should I go out with him? Maybe it'll get him to shut up, at least."

Ferb didn't reply; only shrugged. Go for it, I guess.

Isabella was silent for a moment, thinking. "You know, maybe I will. What's the worst that can happen, right? It's just Phineas." She smiled at Ferb. "Thanks. You're a sweetheart. And—congratulations." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and dashed off to where Phineas was standing.

Phineas seemed to be complaining to his parents about the awards he had been cheated out of. "I honestly thought that I might get the top mark in—oh, hey Izzy. What's up?" His grin was a little too knowing.

"Hey, um," Isabella began, stumbling for the words. "Ah, my parents decided to postpone the dinner until tomorrow, so... uh... I'm free tonight, if you wanted to do something." She braced herself, half-wishing that he would say no.

"Great!" he replied, beaming now. "Pick you up at eight?"

"Sounds good to me." Isabella managed a quick smile before darting off to find her parents. If she was going to go out for the first time in years, then she needed to get home right away. She wanted as much time as possible to prepare so she could look good for her date... even if it was just Phineas.

~.**.**.~

"Phineas?" Isabella whispered.

"Yeah?"

"...I had a good time tonight."

Isabella couldn't see his face properly in the half-light, but she thought that he was smiling. "So did I. I'm glad we finally got to do this."

"Yeah." She curled up closer to him on the blanket.

They were lying beneath the stars on a grassy hillside not far from their neighbourhood. The night was balmy and warm; though it was only late June, the summer weather was already in full swing. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the whole area seemed silent but for the whisper of distant crickets.

They had first gone out for a bite to eat at a fast food joint, and then went for a long walk around town. Isabella discovered that spending time alone with Phineas wasn't actually intimidating—rather, it felt natural. Their walk had finally ended on that hill. After Phineas had somehow magically produced the blanket from his rucksack, the two of them had lain down upon it and began watching the night sky. Their conversation had faded into a drowsy silence during which Phineas had slipped an arm around her shoulders. Isabella found that she didn't mind as much as she had thought she would.

A meteor whizzed briefly through the atmosphere, leaving the faintest streak of bright white smeared across the night sky for only a second. "Make a wish," Isabella murmured. She reached for his free hand and took it tentatively.

Abruptly, he sat up and looked at her. "All right. I just did. What about you?"

Isabella closed her eyes and made her wish, wondering if it was going to come true, having a feeling that it would, but being scared of it all the same. "Okay. Me too."

"So what did you wish for?"

Isabella giggled nervously. "I can't tell you, or it won't come tr—"

And then he was kissing her, kissing her as she had wished he would, and it was terrifying and wonderful and different and strange and amazing. One of his hands was buried in her long, black hair, and the other was held to the small of her back, pressing her against him. She brought her arms up and wound them around his neck, pulling him even closer. It was bliss.

After a few moments, he pulled away and looked her in the eye. "So, did it come true?"

"Yes," she responded breathlessly. "What about yours?"

"Not yet."

She frowned and withdrew her arms. "What did you wish for?"

"I can't tell you, or it won't come true."

Isabella pressed her lips briefly to his again, this time making it soft, sweet and gentle. When she drew away, she found that he was smiling.

"I wished for a second one."

She giggled and wrapped her arms around him once more. Maybe dating someone wouldn't be so bad after all. Even if it was just Phineas.

A/N: That is the most plotless piece of tripe I've ever written. To be fair, it was only my second story for the fandom, right after Brightest Green. And what purpose does Ferb serve here? Absolutely nothing; I JUST LIKE HIM, OKAY. But no, really - wanna hear a secret? Most of this was actually the original beginning to Summersong. When I got to the last scene, I realized I was stuck, and so I rewrote the entire thing. I saved this piece, though. When I found it again, I realized it could stand alone as a one-shot (with a little tweaking). It's still cheesy and fluffy as all getout, but I think it's cute despite its shortcomings. Reviews are love, Constant Reader.