Character Commentary: The Visit

Phoebe: Is there a REASON we're doing "Phineas and Ferb" fics?

Arnold: I dunno. But I like the author of this one. Her stories have always turned out good.

PrologueEdit

Alex Sanders thought about how her first few weeks in Danville had gone so far. At first, she hated it because most of the people her age were mean to her, but she ended up making some friends. And she hadn't played a prank on anyone in the last week except for her annoying neighbor Albert Stommeling, whom she despised with a passion.

Arnold: Well that's understandable. Albert is annoying and nerdy.

Helga: Like a combination of Pheebs and Brainy.

She had also kept in touch with her friends in Georgia, her original hometown. "Alex, did you know there's a dance coming up soon?" her mom asked, breaking her thoughts. She slid a plate of eggs and toast in front of Alex.

"No," Alex replied. "Where did you hear about the dance?"

"From the local newspaper," her mom replied. "It's being thrown by Mayor Doofenshmirtz. It's a week from today."

"Ew," Alex snapped. She hated the mayor of Danville. He was very rude and biased towards some of the townspeople, Alex included. The first--and last--time Alex had talked to him, he had told her that she was part of "what was wrong with America" due to a prank that she had accidentally played on him.

"The dance is also formal," her mom continued. "All males must wear a nice suit, and girls must wear skirts or dresses."

"Are you kidding?" Alex asked in disbelief. She was a huge tomboy, and she didn't like clothes, makeup, or boys. She decided that she wasn't going to attend this dance. She hated the mayor, she usually hated dances, and she definitely hated dresses. She would rather go to the dance in her favorite overalls just to make Mayor Doofenshmirtz angry than be forced to wear a frilly dress.

"No, I'm not kidding," her mom replied. "You will have to wear a dress or a skirt to attend."

Alex pushed her plate away. "I'm going to Phineas and Ferb's house. Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Alex," her mom replied. "Oh, wait, Alex, I have a surprise for you. You'll see it sometime this evening."

"Okay," Alex said as she walked out of the door. She walked to Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher's house. Phineas and Ferb were two stepbrothers who spent their summer building amazing contraptions that all the neighborhood kids loved. They had an older sister named Candace who tried to get them in trouble for their schemes, but Alex thought that Candace secretly enjoyed their projects like everyone else.

"Hi, Alex!" Phineas Flynn greeted the teen cheerfully.

"Hello," Alex replied back.

Phineas and Ferb's friend Isabella Garcia-Shapiro walked into the backyard. "Hey, Phineas, whatcha doin?" she asked.

"Ferb and I were going to build this cool mind-reader machine," Phineas replied.

"Sweet," Alex said.

Irving Stommeling, Alex's neighbor, walked into the backyard holding a scrapbook. "Hey, guys," he said cheerfully.

"Hi," Alex replied. Irving was a kid who always said he was Phineas and Ferb's self-proclaimed "biggest fan". Alex thought he was a creepy stalker.

"Did you hear about the mayor's dance?" Irving asked everyone.

"Yes," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going."

"Why not?" Isabella asked. "You'd be missing out! I've known about the dance ever since the summer started! I have everything all figured out for it! My dress, my hairstyle, my date--"

"Date? What!?" Alex asked in disbelief. "We have to have dates, too!?"

"No," Isabella replied. "But some people want to bring dates." She looked at Phineas. Phineas didn't notice; he was busy building his mind-reader machine.

"Well, you just confirmed my decision about why I'm not going," Alex said.

"Sorry," Isabella said sheepishly. "But seriously, you should come. This will be the first time that you're attending a dance in Danville."

"I'll think about it," Alex said.

"Phineas and Ferb, what are you doing!?" an angry female voice yelled. Alex turned around and saw Candace standing there.

"Building a mind-reader machine," Phineas replied calmly.

"You two are so busted!" Candace snapped, running into the house. Alex rolled her eyes. She and Candace were considered frenemies. When Alex first moved to Danville, she had despised Candace with a passion, and vice versa. But after they settled their differences, they became friends, but still had some problems with each other. Alex found Candace's girlyness, boy-crazyness, and obsession with busting her brothers annoying, and Candace thought Alex's pranks were immature and her clothing style was bad, but overall, they didn't hate each other as much before.

Unsurprisingly, Phineas and Ferb's invention disappeared by the time Candace tried to show it to her mom. After that happened, Alex decided to go to her friend Vanessa's house. Vanessa was the mayor's niece, but unlike the mayor, Vanessa was actually friendly.

"Hey, Al," Vanessa greeted her friend."

"Hey," Alex replied. "Do you know about the dance your uncle is having?"

"Yes," Vanessa replied. "I read about it on the news. When my dad heard about it, he was extremely upset. He decided not to go. Are you going?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "I don't really like the mayor, and I don't like getting dressed up. What about you?"

"I'm going," Vanessa replied. "And you should go. It would be fun."

"I guess," Alex said reluctantly.

"Well, you don't have to go if you don't want to," Vanessa said.

"I might go, but I don't really have any decent dresses," Alex explained. "And if we have to bring dates to this thing, then I'm definitely out."

"I don't see what's wrong with bringing a date," Vanessa argued.

"Do you have one?" Alex asked.

"Um, there was this one guy I planned on asking...." Vanessa began.

Alex pretended to retch. "I can't really help you with that, but you should ask him if you really want to."

"Okay," Vanessa replied.

The two girls decided to watch TV, and all talk of the dance was forgotten. Alex hoped everyone in Danville wasn't going to get too worked up about this. She actually wanted to go to see if she would enjoy it. But if everyone was bringing a date, then she was out.

SurpriseEdit

When Alex came home, she noticed that her mom was standing at the front door with a huge smile on her face. "What's with the huge smile?" Alex asked. "Alex, one of your very close friends from Georgia is here," her mom replied.

"Who!?" Alex asked excitedly. She started to smile. She was ecstatic that one of her old friends was in town. Alex could catch up with her, and introduce her to her new friends and spend a week or so having fun. She ran into the house and looked for her friend. She ran into the family room and saw a teenage girl who was her age and a mom-aged woman sitting down on the couch, and her smile dropped instantly.

"Alex, it's Marylin and Sandra!" her mom said, walking up towards her. "Surprise!"

"Hello, Alex," Sandra Roberts greeted the teen. "It's so nice to see you again!" She wrapped Alex up in a hug. Alex did not hug back.

"Marylin, say hi to Alex," Sandra told her daughter, who was texting.

"Whatever," Marylin snapped, not looking up from her phone.

"I invited Sandra over to our house," Alex's mom said. "She and Marylin will be staying with us for a week. Marylin will be sharing a room with you, Alex."

"That's great," Alex said flatly. "I need to go to the bathroom. Excuse me for a few minutes." She quickly dashed to the upstairs bathroom, and dialed a number.

"Hello?" Alex's friend from Georgia named Jessie asked when she picked up the phone.

"Jessie, you will never believe who came to Danville for a visit," Alex replied quickly.

"Who?" Jessie asked.

"Marylin Roberts," Alex said.

".....What is she doing there!?" Jessie exclaimed. "Why would she visit you? She hates you!"

"I know!" Alex agreed. "Apparently, her mom was missing my mom, so they stopped for a visit. They're staying for a week, and Marylin has to share a room with me! I can't survive a week with her! When my mom said a friend of mine was coming to Danville, I thought she meant you or Chloe or Ellie or someone, not Marylin!"

"Does your mom know that you and Marylin aren't friends anymore?" Jessie asked.

"Apparently not," Alex replied sadly. She heard her mom calling her name from downstairs. "I have to go. Bye." She hung up and reluctantly walked downstairs. Marylin wasn't there, but her mom and Alex's mom were there.

"I want to take Sandra across the street to meet Alicia," Alex's mom said. "We're all going to the Stommelings' house to eat dinner. Marylin is in your room changing."

Gag me, Alex thought. Why would Marylin need to change clothes for? They were just going across the street to eat dinner with Alicia Stommeling and her annoying sons.......then she realized that she would have to be in a room with Marylin, Albert, and Irving for an hour or so.

"Can I stay home?" Alex asked.

"No," her mom replied. "I'm going to check to see if your dad is home. You can go tell Marylin that we're ready to leave."

Alex angrily stomped to her room and knocked on the door to her bedroom. "Marylin, we're ready to leave," she said flatly.

"Hold your horses, spazz," Marylin replied nastily. Alex almost punched the door so hard that she would have broken it. One week of this. She wasn't sure she could handle it.

The DinnerEdit

Alex and Marylin's family walked to the Stommelings' house. Alex's mom rang the doorbell and Alicia Stommeling answered it. "Hello, Carrie," Alicia greeted her friend.

"Hello, Alicia," Alex's mom replied. "Sandra, this is Alicia, our neighbor. Alicia, this is Sandra, my best friend, and her daughter, Marylin."

"Hello," Alicia said to Sandra and Marylin. She glanced at Marylin's outfit with a disgusted look on her face. Alex didn't blame her. Marylin was wearing what had to be the shortest skirt Alex had ever seen. Alex knew that her mom would have freaked if she went out the house wearing that. But Marylin's mom had never been that strict, and probably bought the skirt for her.

Alex stomped into the house and sat down at the dining room table, counting the minutes until she could get out of here.

"Albert, Irving, come downstairs please," Alicia called. A few minutes later, her sons came downstairs.

"Hi," Irving told everyone. He sat down in the seat next to Alex. Alex groaned.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders," Albert greeted everyone. He turned to Alex. "Hi, Alexandria," he said coolly. When he saw Marylin, his eyes popped out of his head. "Hello," he said in a suggestive way.

"Oh, god," Irving muttered. Alex pretended to retch.

"I thought your neighbor's sons were going to be cute," Marylin said loudly. Irving and Albert didn't hear her, but Alex did. Alex rolled her eyes at Marylin's comment.

"So, are you new here?" Albert asked as he sat down in the seat next to Marylin.

"No," Marylin replied rudely. "I'm visiting."

"So are you and Alex best friends or something?" Albert asked. Alex gasped when he asked that question. She almost kicked him under the table.

"No, why would we ever be friends?" Marylin replied.

"Oh, I can see why," Albert said. He turned to Alex with a superior grin on his face. Alex wanted to smack him.

Alicia put down a plate of spaghetti in front of Alex's face. "Dinner is served," she said.

"Let's hope you don't regurgitate it in my face like you did with the meatloaf," Albert sneered at Alex.

"Let's hope you spill your drink on your lap," Alex retorted.

"Oooh, good one!" Irving exclaimed, high-fiving Alex.

"Very mature," Marylin sniffed. "So, anyway, is there anyone that I can hang out with around here?"

"Well, there's me, of course," Albert replied. "And also, there's Candace and Stacy, two girls who live around here. You'll meet them tomorrow, I guess. However, if you're like Alex, you'll probably want to hang out with Irving and his dweeb friends."

"Phineas and Ferb are not dweebs," Irving retorted. "Baljeet, Buford, and Isabella.....eh."

"Who names their kid Phineas?" Marylin sneered.

"Are you making fun of Phineas!?" Irving asked. His face was bright red. Alex could tell he was beginning to get upset.

"Change the subject," Alex snapped, for Irving's sake.

"So, Marylin, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" Albert asked suddenly.

"Why do you care?" Marylin snapped.

"What's your favorite movie?" Albert asked.

"What's with all the random questions?" Irving asked.

"Blame Alex," Albert told his brother.

"(bleep) you," Alex snapped.

"Marylin, if you were an Avenger, who would you be?" Albert asked.

"I don't know, the ones who gets rid of losers?" Marylin replied sarcastically. Alex thought Albert would get mad about that remark, but it seemed like it just went over his head.

"And which losers would you get rid of?" Albert asked.

"She wants to get rid of you, dip(bleep)," Alex whispered to Irving.

"Can't say," Marylin replied to Albert.

"This is by far the most annoying conversation I've ever heard," Alex announced.

"Coolstorysis," Albert replied.

"Mom, can I go home now?" Alex asked her mom, who was sitting next to her on her left.

"No," her mom replied.

"But I don't feel well," Alex lied.

"Mrs. Sanders, she's just faking to get attention," Albert said.

Alex snapped. She reached across the table and smacked Albert in the face. Everyone gasped except for Marylin, who looked unimpressed.

"Alexandria!" her mom screamed.

"He started it," Alex whined.

"....I think it's time for us to go home now," her dad said. "Goodbye, Alicia. Goodbye, boys."

"Bye," Alicia replied.

As soon as Alex, Marylin, and their families walked outside, Alex's mom whirled on Alex. "Alex, what was that all about?" she snapped. "This is the second time that you've harmed Albert at a dinner."

"He was the one being a jerk!" Alex exclaimed. "He kept making remarks just to make me mad!"

"I don't blame him," Marylin said, smirking. "Of course you had to resort to picking fights with people just for being annoying. What a shame." She walked away.

"I hate you," Alex muttered.

Albert's CrushEdit

After the Sanders and their friends left, the Stommelings decided to clean the dishes. "I hate Alex Sanders," Albert complained. "Obviously, she hasn't been housetrained.

"Well, you provoked her actions," Irving pointed out.

"Shut up," Albert snapped.

"Boys, please," their mom snapped. "Anyway, what did you think of the Sanders' friends?"

"The mom was nice, but the daughter wasn't," Irving replied. "Marylin kept insulting us and she made fun of Phineas and Ferb. NO ONE should make fun of them!"

"Whatever," Albert snapped. "She's hot, that's what matters."

"Just because someone's hot, doesn't mean they're a good person," Irving shot back.

"I agree," his mom replied. "Also, Marylin's mom apparently doesn't know how to be a good parent because she let her daughter wear what had to be the shortest skirt I had ever seen. What parent lets their kid walk around like that?"

"I saw nothing wrong with it," Albert said. "Anyway, if she's around for the dance, then I might ask her to be my date."

"But you barely know her," his mom protested.

"Good luck, you'll need it," Irving added sarcastically. He hoped his brother would get over his crush soon. Albert always fell for girls who were pretty, but were either taken or had bad attitudes. Whenever he got rejected, he became depressed for a while. Irving did not want to put up with that again. He hoped Albert wouldn't suffer from rejection again.

Marylin Meets EveryoneEdit

Alex was about to walk out the door the next day when her mother stopped her. "Are you going to Phineas and Ferb's house?" she asked. "If you are, you should take Marylin with you."

"No, thanks," Alex said. She tried walking around her mom, but she blocked her path.

"Alex, you are going to wait for Marylin to finish her breakfast so you can go to the Flynn-Fletcher's house together," her mom ordered. "I don't want any more complaints about it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mom," Alex snapped. She stomped into the kitchen. Marylin and her mom were there, eating breakfast. "Marylin, we're going to Phineas and Ferb's house when you finish your breakfast," she announced.

"I'm not going," Marylin snapped. "I refuse to spend a single moment with you and your loser friends."

Alex rolled her eyes. "They're not losers. They're actually really interesting people." They're better than the annoying (bleep)s you hang out with back home, she added silently.

"Marylin, you should go," Mrs. Roberts told her daughter. "Alex's friends seem to be fun."

"Anyone who hangs out with Alex needs help," Marylin muttered. Her mom didn't hear her, but Alex did, and almost exploded. After Marylin finished her breakfast, she reluctantly followed Alex out the door and walked to the Flynn-Fletcher's house. When they got there, Alex walked into the house and immediately walked into the backyard.

"Do they allow you to just walk in their house like that?" Marylin snapped.

"Yes," Alex replied coolly.

"Hi, Alex!" Phineas greeted the teen cheerfully. He glanced at Marylin. "Who's your friend?"

"She's not my friend," Marylin said angrily.

"She's my mom's friend's daughter," Alex told Phineas through clenched teeth. For the thousandth time, she wished Marylin wasn't here. "She's visiting for the week."

"Oh," Phineas said. He smiled at Marylin. "Hi! I'm Phineas Flynn!" He pointed to Ferb. "That's my brother Ferb!" He pointed to Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet. "And those are our friends, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet!"

"Thrilling," Marylin said flatly. "I'm Marylin Roberts."

"I like your outfit," Isabella told Marylin. Alex glanced at Marylin. Marylin was wearing a stylish top with skinny jeans. It was a step-up from the absurdly short skirt she had worn yesterday.

"Thanks," Marylin replied coolly. "I like yours, too. It's a good thing that no one had seen it in a magazine."

Alex gasped. How low could Marylin stoop? To be honest, Alex found Isabella's tendency to wear mostly pink clothing annoying, but wouldn't make fun of her for it. She was ten, for Pete's sake.

Unfortunately, Isabella didn't seem to understand the insult. "Thanks!" she said cheerfully. Alex facepalmed.

"So, what are you guys doing today?" Alex asked Phineas and Ferb.

"We were thinking of--" Phineas began.

"Oh, no you don't," Candace interrupted him, walking into the backyard with Stacy. "Unfortunately, I'm not going to bust you guys today because Stacy and I are having a mall day, but you better think twice before you make something completely bustworthy!"

"Mall day?" Marylin asked. "There's an actual mall around here?"

Candace glanced at Marylin. "Are you new?"

"No," Marylin replied. "My mom is best friends with Alex's mom, and she dragged me here. We're visiting here for a week."

"So, are you and Alex, like best friends?" Candace asked.

"Ew, no," Marylin replied, wrinkling her nose. Alex resisted the urge to punch her in the face.

"Do you want to go to the mall with us?" Candace asked Marylin.

"Yes!" Marylin exclaimed. "Anything to get away from these lose--I mean, sure."

"Do you want to come, Alex?" Stacy asked Alex.

Alex was about to say no, but Marylin beat her to it. "Why would you even ask her?" she sneered. "Are you guys not aware that she's a walking fashion disaster? Unless you're thinking of giving her a wardrobe change, don't even bother."

"I rather stay with Phineas and Ferb," Alex told Stacy coolly.

"Suit yourself," Candace said, walking away with Stacy and Marylin. Alex was glad to see them leave.

"I don't like that girl," Baljeet said after the teens had walked away. "I don't know how you're friends with her, Alex."

"Yeah, she seems to be making fun of you a lot," Isabella added.

"Can we talk about what Phineas and Ferb are doing now?" Alex snapped. She really wanted a subject change.

"Sure!" Phineas replied.

Alex sighed. This was going to be a LONG week.

The MallEdit

After shopping for a few hours, Candace, Marylin, and Stacy decided to go to the food court. They sat down at a table near the Slushy Burger stand. "So, you're Alex Sanders' friend?" Candace asked Marylin.

"Ew, no," Marylin snapped. "I would NEVER been friends with her. Well, I was friends with her in elementary school."

"What happened?" Stacy asked.

"Well, basically, I grew up and she didn't," Marylin replied. "On the first day of sixth grade, she wore her hair in pigtails. She has been wearing the same hairstyle for the past eleven or so years. It's so annoying. Also, have you seen her wardrobe?"

"Yeah, I thought her overalls made her look like a walking toddler at first," Candace admitted. "When she first moved here, I didn't really like her. She acted immature for her age."

"Did she play stupid pranks on you guys?" Marylin asked. Stacy and Candace nodded.

"Some of her pranks included embarrassing me in front of my boyfriend, trashing her neighbor's bedroom, and trying to turn my friends against me," Candace explained. "It turned out she did it because she felt like me and my friends were mean to her. We kinda were, actually."

"I don't blame you," Marylin said. "If I lived here, and I met her for the first time, I wouldn't bother trying to become friends with her. Also, does she always hang out with ten year olds all day?"

"Yes," Candace replied. "Two of the kids she hangs out with are my brothers."

"Is one of them the one who can't shut up?" Marylin asked snidely.

"Yes," Candace replied. "And even though I find him annoying sometimes, I still love him. My other brother is the guy with green hair who doesn't talk much. I love him, too. Do you have siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," Marylin replied. "Anyway, did Alex try to beat up any teenage guys around here?"

"One," Stacy replied. "Her neighbor, Albert Stommeling. They can't stand each other."

"I could tell," Marylin said. "I was forced to eat dinner at his house yesterday. Throughout the entire dinner, he kept hitting on me. Also, he and Alex kept arguing most of the time. We finally left when Alex slapped him."

"Yeah, Albert's kind of annoying," Stacy said. "But he's not that bad of a guy once you get to know him."

"Sure he isn't," Marylin said sarcastically. She suddenly pointed to the Slushy Burger stand. "Who's that cute guy working?"

Candace followed her gaze, and to her horror, saw Jeremy. "Um, that's my boyfriend," she told Marylin, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"Oh," Marylin said.

Jeremy noticed Candace glancing in his direction and decided to stop by their table. "Hey, Candace," he greeted his girlfriend cheerfully. "Hi, Stacy." He looked at Marylin. "Are you new?"

"No," Marylin replied. "I'm only here for a week. My mom is friends with this weirdo's mom, and she dragged me here."

"Ah," Jeremy replied.

"So, Jeremy, what are we doing for the dance?" Candace asked.

"Dance? What dance?" Marylin asked.

"There's a dance that's supposed to happen this week," Stacy replied. "It's formal."

"Oh, cool," Marylin said. "I should probably go dress shopping."

"I'll come with you," Stacy said. They left the table. Jeremy sat down in Stacy's chair.

"So, who was the 'weirdo' that your friend was talking about?" he asked.

"Alex Sanders," Candace replied. "Apparently, they used to be friends, but now, they hate each other. Which is kind of sad. Alex turned out to be not that bad after all." She didn't really know what had exactly gone down between Alex and Marylin, but she hoped they got over their grudges soon.

Marylin Meets VanessaEdit

A few hours later, Candace, Stacy, and Marylin returned from the mall. "So, how was the trip?" Phineas asked his sister.

"It was fine," Candace replied.

"Did you guys buy dresses for the dance?" Isabella asked the teenagers.

"Ew," Alex said. She didn't want to talk about the dance at all.

"Of course we did!" Stacy squealed. She turned to Candace. "Speaking of the dance, we NEED to talk about our preparations!"

"Preparations?" Alex asked. Everyone ignored her.

"We need to talk about hair, wardrobe, and most of all, guys!" Candace squealed.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Good for you, I don't care, because I don't want to go to this stupid dance."

"Why not?" Phineas asked.

"Everyone's making such a big deal about it, and it's getting annoying," Alex replied.

"Of course, if it doesn't involve pranks or immature stuff, you're not interested," Marylin sniped. She turned to Candace and Stacy. "She played a prank on me and my friends when we were in sixth grade. This was our first middle school dance, and she ruined it. Luckily, the principal kicked her out. Hopefully, whoever's in charge of the upcoming dance will kick her out."

Alex felt her face heat up. "I wasn't going to play a prank at the dance, but because you said that, the chances of me not pulling a prank has gone down."

"Why would you play a prank?" Candace asked. "That's seriously not cool."

"If you're considering trying to pour green slime all over us, then do us a favor by not showing up," Marylin added nastily.

"Green slime?" Candace asked.

"I think I'm going to go home now," Alex snapped. "Come on, Marylin." She began walking away. Marylin reluctantly walked behind her. Alex was so mad, she was sweating. It seemed like Marylin was trying to humiliate her in front of her friends. She had tried really hard to act civil towards her enemy, but it was really hard. She wanted to pull a prank, but she didn't want her parents to punish her.

"Hi, Alex!" a voice yelled. Alex looked up and saw Vanessa standing there.

"Oh, hi," Alex greeted her friend. "What's up?"

"Not much. I was just taking a walk," Vanessa replied. "You?"

"I was going home," Alex said.

"Um, who's this?" Marylin asked snottily.

"This is Vanessa, my friend," Alex replied rudely. "Vanessa, this is Marylin, my nemesis."

"Nemesis? Why?" Vanessa asked.

"Because she's a loser," Marylin replied. "Why would you want to be friends with her?" Vanessa didn't respond to that. She glanced at Alex uncertainly. Alex facepalmed.

Marylin glanced at Vanessa's outfit. "Nice outfit," she sneered. "Where did you get that thing? Out of a dumpster?"

"No, no I did not," Vanessa replied angrily. She turned to Alex. "Who does she think she is?" she whispered.

"Go with the flow," Alex replied through clenched teeth. Out loud, she said, "Well, it was nice seeing you, Vanessa. I'm going to head home."

"Wait, my mom wants to know if you wanted to eat dinner at my house," Vanessa said.

"Sure," Alex replied.

"Do I have to go, too?" Marylin asked in an annoyed way.

"No," Vanessa replied rudely.

"Good," Marylin snapped. "I'm going home." She quickly walked away.

"Who the (bleep) was that?" Vanessa asked Alex when Marylin was out of earshot. "She's so rude!"

"She's my mom's friend's daughter," Alex replied. "I don't like her, and she doesn't like me. She has been rude to nearly all of my friends. Luckily, she's only here for a week."

"Thank God," Vanessa said.

"So, let's go to your house," Alex said, changing the subject. The girls walked to Vanessa's mom's house. Alex was glad Marylin didn't have to come with them. She was sick of seeing her nemesis' face everywhere. She could not wait for this week to end.

Dance PreparationsEdit

If Alex heard anymore talk about the dance, she was going to lose it. The next day, all of her friends kept worrying and making dance preparations. "Hi, Alex and Marylin," Stacy greeted the girls the next day when they came to the Hiranos' house. Alex planned on leaving Marylin with Stacy and Candace, but Stacy had invited her in.

"So, Alex, have you bought a dress for the dance yet?" Stacy asked.

"No," Alex replied.

"Of course not. Does she look like she would wear a dress?" Marylin added, shooting a superior grin at Alex. Alex curled her fists.

"Well, the dance is in a few days, so you have time," Stacy told Alex.

"Or not," Marylin sneered. "Besides, you can always show up in a My Little Pony t-shirt and embarrass yourself." Alex almost punched her in the face when Candace ran through the door.

"We NEED to talk about the dance!" Candace exclaimed.

"....No, we don't," Alex muttered.

"I know, right?" Stacy agreed, ignoring Alex. "We need to talk about our wardrobe, hair, and...."

"GUYS!" the two girls squealed, jumping up and down.

"Guys?" Marylin asked, clearly interested.

"I'm outta here," Alex announced, leaving the house. She walked to the Flynn-Fletcher's house. She was surprised to see the kids leaving when she got there. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"The mayor wants us to help prepare for the dance," Phineas replied. "Would you like to help?"

Alex's heart sank. Phineas and Ferb were being pulled into this dance drama, too? "Sure, no problem," she replied flatly.

Phineas didn't seem to notice the tone in her voice. "Awesome!" he exclaimed.

"So, any of you have dates to the dance?" Isabella asked suddenly.

"I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than have to hold a grubby boy's hand for two hours," Alex replied.

"....O....kay...." Isabella said, clearly weirded out by her comment. She turned to the other kids. "What about you guys?"

"Eh," Irving replied.

"Girls are annoying," Buford added. "No offense, Alex and Isabella."

"Boys are annoying," Alex countered. "Well, not you guys, except for Buford and Irving."

"....I hate you," Irving snapped.

"Why do we need dates, anyway?" Phineas spoke up. "We can all go as friends. There's nothing wrong with that."

Thank you, Phineas, Alex thought happily. She was glad that he wasn't freaking out about the dance. The others looked relieved when he said that, too. The only person who looked a bit upset about the statement was Isabella. What was that all about?

"Alex, what happened to your friend Marylin?" Isabella asked suddenly.

"She's hanging out with Candace and Stacy," Alex replied. "And she's not my friend."

"Why not?" Phineas asked. "She's friendly."

"No, she's not," Alex argued. "She's a terrible person."

"What exactly did she do to you?" Irving asked.

"Terrible, terrible things," Alex replied quickly. "Can we please talk about something that doesn't involve Marylin or the stupid dance?"

"We're at the mayor's office, anyway," Phineas said. "Ferb and I are going to decorate the building. The rest of you can help manage the food and the music."

"Okay," Alex said. They all got to work. Alex, Irving, and Isabella looked through the mayor's stack of CDs. Alex didn't really like Roger Doofenshmirtz's taste of music. He seemed to listen to artists that she had never heard before, or artists that she didn't like. They looked throught CDs for about thirty minutes when she heard Candace screaming.

"Phineas, Ferb, what are you doing!?" Candace exclaimed. She was standing there with Stacy, but Marylin was nowhere to be found.

"The mayor asked us to prepare for the dance," Phineas replied. "Do you want to help out?"

"No," Candace replied. "The only thing I want to do is bust you!" She called her mom while Stacy walked away and decided to help Alex, Isabella, and Irving.

"Where's Marylin?" Alex asked Stacy.

"She ditched us," Stacy replied. She looked annoyed. "We went to the mall, and we ran into Mindy and Lisa, and they stole her from us."

"Ew," Alex snapped. She didn't like Mindy and Lisa. Mindy was Candace's nemesis who had a crush on Jeremy. Lisa was her sidekick, but she was a little nicer. Alex had met them a week ago, and decided that she never wanted to see them again. Obviously, they didn't like her wardrobe, hairstyle, or "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic".

"So, Marylin is basically best friends with them, now," Stacy continued.

"Well, at least you still have me," Alex said.

"You sound like one of those TV shows Albert and I make fun of," Irving said.

"Albert watches bad teenage sitcoms?" Stacy asked.

"Yes, yes he does," Irving replied. "Also, Alex, Albert wanted to ask you something important. It involves the dance." As soon as she heard that, Alex paled.

"Important? You mean, like, a date?" Stacy asked. "Sweet, Alex, you have a date!"

"Ew!" Alex exclaimed. She turned to Irving. "If he's asking me to be his date, tell him to go choke himself with his nunchucks."

"Ouch," Irving said.

"That's a little harsh," Stacy told Alex. "Even if he is asking you to be his date, you should give him a chance. He's not that bad of a guy."

"Why does everyone have a date but me?" Isabella whined suddenly.

"Because you're annoying," Irving replied rudely. Stacy slapped him. "What?"

"Not everyone has a date," Alex reassured Isabella. "I certainly won't, and neither is Phineas, or Ferb, or anyone who hasn't gone completely insane with this date nonsense."

"I guess so," Isabella said, not completely convinced.

Alex sighed. She wished the dance would come soon, so everyone would stop worrying about it.

Drama, Drama, and More DramaEdit

For the billionth time, Alex couldn't wait for this week to be over. She couldn't wait for the dance to be over, and she wanted Marylin out of her house. She wanted to talk to her friends about why she hated Marylin, but they were all obsessed with preparing for the dance and most of them thought she was a cool person. In fact, Mindy had invited her to her house for dinner yesterday. Alex's mom wanted Alex to go, but Alex refused. Today, Alex walked to the Flynn-Fletcher's house. As she did, she passed by Jeremy Johnson's house. To her surprise, she saw Marylin was there. From the looks of it, it seemed like she was flirting. Alex gasped. Candace would not be happy about this.

Now everyone would see how evil Marylin really is, Alex thought. She almost considered snapping a picture to bust Marylin, but she decided not to. The "busting" thing never worked for Candace, so it probably wouldn't work for anyone else. She continued walking.

"Hi, Alex," Phineas greeted Alex when she arrived.

"Hello," Alex replied. She began walking towards the back door. "Is Candace here? I need to tell her something important."

"Yes, she's in her room," Phineas replied. Alex walked inside and was about to go upstairs when someone grabbed her hand. It was Isabella.

"Alex, I need to ask you something," Isabella said. She sounded nervous. "It's really important."

"Um....sure," Alex replied. "What's up?"

"Well, you know the dance and how everyone's worrying about dates?" Isabella began.

"Not this again," Alex snapped. "Just relax. Dates don't matter."

"Well, I kinda wanted to ask this one guy to be my date..." Isabella continued.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"Phineas," Isabella replied. "I've been throwing hints at him all week, and he doesn't seem to get it. What should I do?"

"Um....." Alex stammered. She didn't like having conversations about boys and crushes. In Georgia, her friends usually went to each other for love advice, but never to her, since she despised most of the boys in her grade and kept trash-talking them. Here in Danville, usually Stacy or Candace gave love advice, but Alex thought their tactics were a bit over the top. She didn't know what to say to Isabella about her problem. "Why don't you ask Candace or Stacy or your sister for advice?" she said finally.

"No," Isabella said firmly. "Candace and Stacy's advice will never work, and plus, Dolcita doesn't like the Flynn-Fletchers, thus she hates Phineas and will be no help."

Alex paled. She was stuck. "Um....maybe you could flat out tell him you want to be his date," she said.

"That never works with him," Isabella whined. "Last time there was a dance, I asked him to be my date, and he thought it was a friend thing, and brought Ferb with him."

"Then ask him not to bring Ferb," Alex said.

"...Okay," Isabella said, not entirely convinced. She walked outside. Alex hoped her advice worked, otherwise, she would never hear the end of it. She remembered why she came inside in the first place, and walked upstairs to Candace's room.

"Hi, Alex," Candace greeted her friend when Alex arrived.

"Hi," Alex replied. "I have to tell you something. It involves Jeremy."

"Yes?" Candace asked.

"Well.....I saw Marylin at his house," Alex began. "And it seemed like she was flirting, and..."

"Wait, what!?" Candace exclaimed. "How could she do this to me!? I thought I already told her that he was taken!"

"What did you expect? Marylin's a (bleep)," Alex said.

"Let's go bust her!" Candace declared, stomping out of the room. Alex followed her. They walked through the backyard. "Wait, I need to bust Phineas and Ferb!"

"That can wait," Alex reassured her, dragging Candace away. They walked through town looking for Marylin. They found her at a Slushy Burger. She was there with Mindy and Lisa. Because Jeremy was working there today, it seemed like Mindy and Marylin were there to stalk him. Alex almost gagged. Even Candace wasn't this desperate.

"What are you doing here?" Mindy asked Candace in an annoyed way when she saw her.

"What are YOU doing here?" Candace countered.

"Why are you here?" Alex added.

"Ew, you brought the walking toddler?" Marylin sneered. "What happened to Stacy? Did she decide that she didn't want to be seen with you idiots?" Everyone except Alex and Candace laughed.

Alex snapped. She had had enough with Marylin's insults towards her and her friends. "Marylin, why don't you just pack your bags and leave Danville forever?" she snapped. "It would be a better place without you. I thought the most annoying things in Danville were Albert Stommeling, Roger Doofenshmirtz, and Mindy and her (bleep) sidekick, but I was wrong. All you've done all week is make me and my friends miserable. If I have to go one second seeing you here, I will lose it. Also, please stop chasing after a guy you don't have a chance with. It's not cute, and it's not funny."

Everyone was shocked at what Alex had said. Candace's mouth was dropped open. So were half the mouths of the customers and the employees.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll stay for the rest of the week," Marylin shot back finally. "Also, I'm getting sick and tired of you myself. For most of the week, I have been forced to hang out with your dorky friends and their little brats that they call siblings."

"Then don't hang out with us," Alex countered.

"Guys, can you keep things down?" Jeremy told the girls. "You're creating a disturbance."

Alex and Marylin ignored him. "All you do is hang out with ten year olds," Marylin told Alex. "Get a hairstylist, get a new wardrobe, and hang out with people your own age."

"And that's why everyone here hates you," Alex snapped. "You're so judgemental! Phineas, Vanessa, and everyone else here has tried to be nice to you, and you repay them by insulting them! Maybe you should get a life and stop criticizing everyone because of their looks!"

"Well, everyone hated you when you came here," Marylin countered. "At least I didn't sneak into someone's house and impersonate them because I'm a friendless loser."

"...What?" Alex asked. She had never told Marylin that story.

"....I kinda told her that story," Candace muttered sheepishly.

Alex began to lose it. She jumped on Marylin and started a fight. Everyone around them began screaming or cheering them on. Alex and Marylin spent the next five minutes hitting, punching, and pulling each other's hair.

"...What is going on here?" a male voice shouted.

"Teaching this (bleep) a lesson!" Alex replied, thinking that the guy was Jeremy.

"Excuse me!?" the voice continued. Alex noticed that everyone around her had gone silent. Alex slowly looked up and saw Roger Doofenshmirtz.

"Busted," Alex muttered silently.

A few minutes later, Melanie, the mayor's assistant, drove Roger and Alex to Alex's house. Alex's parents were surprised to see the mayor at their house.

"What's going on?" Alex's mom asked, looking alarmed.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, I have to speak to you," Roger told them seriously. He shot an angry glance at Alex.

"Alex, can you go inside, please?" her mom asked. Alex did what she was told. She walked into the kitchen and saw Marylin's mom.

"Alex, what happened?" Mrs. Roberts asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Alex replied grumpily.

"Did it involve Marylin?" Mrs. Roberts continued.

"Kind of, yeah," Alex replied. "It was all her fault. I was just trying to help a friend, and she ruined everything."

A few minutes later, Alex's parents came back into the house. "Alex, we need to have a serious talk," her mom said angrily. Alex gulped.

"I think I'll go pick up Marylin," Mrs. Roberts said, leaving the house.

"Alex, Mayor Doofenshmirtz had informed us of a fight that you started," her dad began. "Because of this, you have put every citizen in Danville in danger."

"Danger? Really?" Alex scoffed. "I didn't do anything that bad. I fought with Marylin because she was annoying me."

"Alex, I thought I told you to be nice to Marylin while she was here," her mom scolded. "I know you don't like her, but turning to pranking and violence has got to stop."

"But it was her fault!" Alex protested. "All week, she has been rude to me and my friends. We tried to get along with her, but she refused to hang out with us. Candace even tried to include her in stuff, and Marylin repaid her by hanging out with her nemesis and hitting on her boyfriend. I was just trying to defend my friends."

"Well, that's not what it looked like to Mayor Doofenshmirtz," her mom continued.

"Let me guess, I'm going to be grounded and I can't go to the dance," Alex snapped. "Which is fine, because I never wanted to go, anyway."

"You're wrong," her dad spoke up. "The mayor has thought up of two punishments for your actions. You can take your pick. Work at the Slushy Burger for the rest of the summer or attend the dance."

"What!?" Alex shrieked. Both of those options were terrible. Working at the Slushy Burger wouldn't be as bad, but she didn't want to spend the entire summer doing it. And there was no way that she was attending the dance. There would be too much awkward romantic drama that she didn't want to get involved in.

"I'll go to the stupid dance," Alex snapped. "I'll be in my room if you need me." She stomped upstairs. She almost felt like crying. Marylin ruined everything. On top of being embarrassed in front of the Danville citizens, she was forced to attend a stupid party. A party she wasn't prepared for, that is. She didn't even have a dress that she was going to wear. Her mom had wanted her to go shopping with her, but Alex didn't want to.

When it was dinnertime, Alex stayed in her room. She refused to eat dinner with Marylin at the table, acting smug and pleased that Alex had gotten in trouble.

Her mom walked into her room. "Alex, please come downstairs for dinner."

"No," Alex snapped. "I refuse to eat dinner with Marylin in the room."

"Alex," her mom said in an annoyed way. Alex sighed and stomped downstairs. She sat down at the dinner table and began eating her food angrily. For five minutes straight, Marylin shot Alex superior looks. Alex resisted the urge to throw a dinner roll at her head.

"So, Alex, how much trouble did you get in with the mayor?" Marylin asked innocently. She took a sip of water.

"Marylin, that question was not appropriate," Mrs. Roberts scolded.

But Alex had had enough. She picked up her plate and began walking outside. She sat on the patio and began eating. She looked across the street and saw Irving and Albert playing basketball---or Albert throwing the ball at Irving's head repeatedly.

"Hey, Alex, do you want to play with us?" Irving asked.

"No," Alex replied. She looked down at her plate.

Irving and Albert walked over to her. "What's wrong?" Irving asked.

"Ask Marylin. It's her fault," Alex snapped.

"Is it because of that fight? Candace told me about that," Albert said. "How dare you fight with the love of my life!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm so sick of that girl," she continued. "I can't wait until she leaves. Ever since sixth grade, she has been trying to make me miserable."

"What happened in sixth grade?" Irving asked.

"We stopped being friends," Alex replied.

"You were friends with her?" Irving asked in disbelief. "Why? How?"

"Well, we were friends in elementary school," Alex explained. "We were as close as how Candace and Stacy are close. We did everything together. We met when we were three because of our moms, who were best friends, and still are today. I had other friends, but I spent most of my free time with Marylin."

"Then what happened?" Irving asked.

"When sixth grade started, Marylin began to change," Alex said. "In elementary school, she wasn't obsessed with fashion or makeup, but in middle school, she began taking an interest. She also became friends with the popular girls in my grade, who I despise. The leader was my worst enemy, and apparently, also Marylin's new best friend. For the first week of sixth grade, I tried to hang out with them, but they kept insulting me and Marylin did nothing about it. One day, Marylin said that she would eat lunch with me and not with the popular girls, but she lied. Later, I went to the bathroom and overheard her making fun of me with her new friends. I became upset, and fought with her, like I did earlier today. That fight basically marked the end of our friendship. The moral of the story is have fun in elementary school while you can, because you're gonna hate middle school."

"Aww, I was looking so forward about going to junior high," Irving whined.

"Well, I did eventually make new friends," Alex reassured him. "But overall, middle school kinda sucks."

"I don't blame her for ending your friendship," Albert said. "You are immature for your age." Alex was about to kick him where it hurts, but Irving stopped her.

"Albert, didn't you need to ask Alex something?" Irving asked his brother.

"Oh, yeah, you can go away now," Albert said. "I need to tell Alex something." Irving rolled his eyes and walked away. Alex began to panic. He wasn't going to ask her to the dance, was he?

"Um, Alex, can you do me a favor?" Albert asked nervously.

"Before you ask, no," Alex interrupted. "I don't want to go to the dance with you. I hate boys!"

"Ew, no way," Albert said, wrinkling his nose. "I wasn't going to ask you. I was going to ask you to ask Marylin if she wanted to go to the dance with me."

"No, thanks," Alex snapped. "I never want to speak to Marylin ever again. Ask Candace or Stacy or Irving to do it for you."

"I tried, and they all refused," Albert said. "Plus, they don't really know her that well."

Alex sighed. "Why can't you do it yourself?" she snapped.

"I'm too shy," Albert replied sheepishly.

Alex burst out laughing. "Hahaha, shy!? You're the poster child for being a complete and utter (bleep)! Hahaha!"

"Will you still do it? Please, please?" Albert begged. He got down on his knees.

Aww, he actually looks kind of cute when he's begging, Alex thought, smiling. Wait, cute? Where did that come from? He's not cute, he's ugly! She immediately stopped smiling.

"Well, will you?" Albert asked.

"Fine," Alex snapped. She walked back into her house. Her parents and Mrs. Roberts were washing the dishes. "Where's Marylin?" she asked.

"Upstairs," Mrs. Roberts replied.

Alex walked upstairs and into her room. Marylin was there, using her laptop and checking her Facebook notifications. "I have to ask you a question," Alex told Marylin rudely.

"What?" Marylin snapped.

Alex took a deep breath. "Do you know that teenage guy that lives across the street?" she asked.

"That loser that kept hitting on me?" Marylin sneered.

"Yeah, him," Alex replied, rolling her eyes. "He wants to know if you want to be his date to the dance."

"...Is this a prank?" Marylin asked suspiciously.

"No, it's not, I swear, he actually wants to go with you," Alex insisted. "So, do you want to?"

"If he was cute, I would, but he's a creepy nerd, so (bleep) to the no," Marylin declared.

"Okay," Alex said. She left the room. That was quick, she thought. But somehow, she began to get mad. Marylin was so judgemental. At least Candace, one of the most judgemental people Alex had ever met, was nice to Albert, even though they had nothing in common except acting kind of snotty to their little brothers. Marylin refused to give him a chance just because he was a nerd.

"Alex, you have a phone call," her mom said, handing the home phone to Alex. Alex answered it. "Hello?"

"Did you ask her yet!?" Albert demanded. He sounded urgent.

"Calm down," Alex snapped. "I did."

"What did she say!?" Albert asked nervously.

"Um....." Alex stammered. Based on the way he was acting, she didn't think it was a good idea to tell him that Marylin flat out rejected him.

"Well?" Albert snapped.

"She said she didn't know you that well, but she'll think about it," Alex lied.

"...Okay," Albert said. "Thanks, Alex." He hung up.

Alex felt kind of bad for lying, but she didn't want to hear Albert whining about it if she had told him the truth. She hoped this lie wouldn't catch up to her.

Dress ShoppingEdit

Alex was still upset about being forced to attend the dance, and finding a dress to wear in less than three days. She was about to ask her mom if she would take her to the mall, but she got a call from Vanessa. "Hey, Alex," Vanessa greeted her friend. "I heard about the fight that you and Marylin had. Candace told me. Also, my uncle completely overreacted, so I'm sorry that you got in trouble."

"It's not your fault," Alex said miserably. "It's Marylin's. She kept trying to annoy me, and I snapped. I can't wait until she leaves. Hey, your dad builds inators. Maybe I can ask him to build one to eliminate her from the universe!"

"....My dad's evil, but not that evil," Vanessa said. "So, you're gonna have to put up with her for a few more days."

"Awww," Alex whined.

"Anyway, do you want to go to the mall with me?" Vanessa asked. "I need to buy a few accessories for the dance."

"Sure," Alex replied. "I need to buy a dress."

"....You still haven't bought your dress yet?" Vanessa asked.

"No, because I wasn't planning to go," Alex replied. "Also, I hate wearing dresses and I have no idea what I'm going to wear."

"I'll be right over," Vanessa said. She hung up. A few minutes later, she arrived at the house and went upstairs to Alex's room.

"Let's go!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Yay," Alex said flatly. They were about to leave when Marylin barged into the room.

"Where are you dorks going?" Marylin sneered.

"The mall," Alex replied rudely.

"The mall? You're finally getting a wardrobe change?" Marylin asked. Alex's hands curled into fists.

"Ignore her, Alex," Vanessa reassured her friend. "We can buy a personality change for her at the mall."

"Whatever," Marylin snapped.

"Only three more days," Alex muttered.

"So, are you excited for the dance?" Vanessa asked Alex.

"No, I'm not," Alex snapped. "Marylin and her friends are going to try to annoy me, Candace and Stacy's boyfriend talks are getting on my nerves, Albert keeps asking me whether or not Marylin's interested in him or not, and Isabella keeps asking me for advice on how to ask Phineas to the dance. Why can't everyone go as friends and not bring this stupid date drama?"

"I guess they're stressed out," Vanessa said. "They probably want to have a special time with their significant others."

"Yeah," Alex said softly. As they walked into the mall, they ran into Candace, Stacy, and Albert.

"What is HE doing here!?" Alex exclaimed when she saw Albert. She didn't expect to get so flustered to see Albert here. Usually, she just ignored him or made a rude comment.

"...Nice to see you, too," Albert replied sarcastically.

"Stacy and I were going to the mall, but he tagged along with us," Candace explained.

"And you haven't gotten rid of him yet?" Alex muttered.

"Huh?" Stacy asked.

"I mean......yay," Alex corrected herself weakly.

"So, what brings you here?" Candace asked.

"I was going to buy a few accessories to go with my dress," Vanessa explained. "And Alex is going to buy a dress."

Albert burst out laughing. "Ha! Alex is buying a dress!? Yeah, that'll totally end well! As soon as she buys it, she'll probably ask Phineas and Ferb to turn it into a butt wipe for Perry!" Alex's cheeks were burning; that's how mad she was at that comment.

"...That was seriously uncalled for," Candace told Albert.

"Sorry, but Alex and dresses do not mix," Albert explained.

".....I think you need to go away now," Stacy said.

"Fine," Albert snapped. "I'll be at the food court." He walked away.

"Thank God he's gone," Candace said finally. She turned to Alex. "Now let's find a dress!"

"I don't know," Alex said reluctantly. "Maybe Albert is right. Maybe me and dresses don't mix. In that case, this is a complete waste of time, and I should go home."

"Albert was being a jerk," Vanessa reassured her. "You'll find a dress."

"Also, I thought you didn't care what Albert thought of you," Candace added. "Why are you getting all upset over that one comment?"

"I don't know," Alex replied. "But between all the (bleep) that Marylin, Albert, and Mayor Doofenshmirtz are giving me, I've had enough."

"Well, Marylin's a (bleep), my uncle's kind of a jerk, and Albert was just trying to get under your skin," Vanessa said. "In a few days, everything will go back to normal once Marylin leaves."

"I hope so," Alex said.

"Now's let's buy a dress!" Candace exclaimed.

For the first hour, Alex didn't find anything that she liked. Candace took her to a store where almost every piece of clothing was a shade of pink, and she almost gagged. Vanessa took her to a store where every piece of clothing was black, which was better, but it wasn't her style. They also got sidetracked because Candace saw Jeremy at the Slushy Burger and spent ten minutes flirting with him.

"Maybe we should give up," Alex snapped. "I haven't bought anything."

"You bought that blue nail polish that I said that I liked," Stacy said.

"I probably won't use it, anyway," Alex said glumly.

"Wait, blue!" Vanessa exclaimed suddenly. "Your eyes are blue, and you have blue nail polish, so your dress can be blue!"

"....Uh, blue isn't really my color," Alex began, but her friends began dragging her into a store with a name that she could not pronounce.

Candace picked up a dress with a tutu-looking thing on the bottom. "You should try this on. I wore it once when I attempted to become a model, but Phineas and Ferb ruined my dreams by making their own fashion line."

"Phineas and Ferb made something? Where?" Alex asked.

"...Their fashion line was discontinued," Candace replied.

"Awww," Alex whined. "Also, that dress looks like something a Vegas showgirl would wear. I refuse to put that on." She looked through some racks to find something decent. She finally found a short sleeve dark blue dress. It seemed like something she would wear. It wasn't too fancy, but not too simple. "Hey, guys, I think I found something!" she exclaimed.

"You should try it on," Stacy suggested.

Alex rushed into a dressing room and quickly put the dress on. She walked out of the dressing room to show her friends.

"You look really good," Stacy said.

"Agreed," Vanessa added.

"You might get a date for sure," Candace said.

"Haha, no," Alex said. She looked in the mirror. The dress actually looked pretty nice. It seemed to bring out the color of her eyes and make her look older. Satisfied, she quickly changed back into her street clothes and paid for the dress. The girls decided to look around the mall a little. As they did, they ran into Albert. Alex became annoyed when she saw him. She was still angry that he had made fun of her for buying a dress.

"I'm bored, can we go home now?" Albert whined.

"You can," Alex snapped. "No one invited you here."

"Shut up," Albert snapped. "Anyway, I'm going to go pick up Irving from Phineas and Ferb's house."

"Phineas and Ferb?" Candace asked. "Oh, that reminds me. I need to bust them for.....something."

Stacy rolled her eyes. "'Something'. Yeah, that'll go over well. 'Mom, Phineas and Ferb built something'." If anyone else had said that, Candace would have gotten mad or made a rude comment. But since it was Stacy, she just rolled her eyes.

"You guys can go bust your brothers or something," Vanessa said. "I have to go home and bust my dad. Bye."

"Your dad? For what?" Albert asked. But Vanessa had already walked away.

"Well, let's go bust my brothers!" Candace exclaimed.

"Yay," Stacy said sarcastically.

As the four of them walked to the Flynn-Fletcher's house, Albert pulled Alex aside. "What do you want?" Alex asked angrily.

"You don't have to be so harsh, geez," Albert snapped. "Did you find a dress?"

"Yeah," Alex replied flatly. "And before you say anything, I'm not going to have Phineas and Ferb turn it into a butt wipe for Perry."

"Are you still mad about that? I was joking," Albert said.

"Sure," Alex said sarcastically.

"You've said and done much worse things," Albert grumbled.

"Like what?" Alex asked.

"Like completely trash my room, make fun of me for wearing a Batman costume, and regurgitate food in my face in front of people," Albert replied.

"Well, you deserved it," Alex shot back.

"Are you guys gonna argue all day?" Stacy asked.

"Unless Albert apologizes," Alex replied.

"Are you still mad about the 'butt wipe' comment?" Stacy asked. "Also, Albert always makes insensitive comments like that to you. Why are you getting mad about this one?"

"What she said," Albert added.

Alex didn't know how to respond to that question; she actually didn't know the answer herself. She didn't know why she was getting upset about the comment. It was probably stress. She realized that she and Albert had argued the entire time as they walked to Phineas and Ferb's house, and decided to change the subject. "Look, we're at Phineas and Ferb's house!" she exclaimed.

"Coolstorysis," Albert sneered.

"Oh, hi, Alex!" Phineas replied, waving.

Isabella ran over to the teenagers. "Alex, I followed your advice, and it worked!" she exclaimed.

"What advice?" Stacy asked.

"I asked Phineas to the dance, and he said yes!" Isabella replied happily. "My life is now complete!"

Wow, and I thought it wasn't going to work, Alex thought. Maybe she wasn't bad at giving love advice after all.

"You gave love advice?" Albert asked Alex quietly.

"Yeah," Alex replied.

"You need to give me advice for getting Marylin to go to the dance with me!" Albert exclaimed. "I'm desperate!"

"I thought I already told you that she said she would think about it," Alex snapped.

"But I need a certain answer now!" Albert yelled.

"Why are you getting all worked up about this?" Stacy asked. "Maybe you should stop forcing Alex to play the Cupid in your relationship and ask her to the dance yourself."

Alex could not be any happier when Stacy said that. Unfortunately, it didn't sink in Albert's brain. "I can't ask her myself!" he whined. "What if she says no? What if she laughs in my face?"

"You sound like Candace," Isabella said suddenly. She walked away.

"Speaking of Candace, where did she go?" Alex asked.

As if on cue, Candace burst into the backyard, dragging her mom behind her. "Look at what Phineas and Ferb did!" she exclaimed. Alex looked around and didn't see anything unusual or amazing. She was annoyed that she had spent the entire time arguing with Albert to notice what Phineas and Ferb had done.

"I don't get it, what am I supposed to see?" Linda asked.

Candace looked around and saw nothing. "But.....but....."

"I'm going in the kitchen," Linda said. She turned to the rest of the kids. "Who wants snacks?"

"Me!" Phineas exclaimed. Everyone went into the kitchen and ate peanut butter crackers. After the snack, Alex, Albert, and Irving walked to their houses.

"So, who's excited for the dance!?" Albert asked. He sounded way too enthusiastic for some reasons.

"Can we stop talking about it?" Alex snapped. "If you're that desperate for a date, ask her yourself."

"That's what I said," Irving said.

"I already gave you the reasons why I can't," Albert whined.

"Besides, I don't want to help you," Alex continued. "Next time, think twice before you make offensive comments."

"What comment?" Irving asked.

"Nothing," Albert replied quickly.

"He said that I would turn a dress into a platypus' butt wipe," Alex replied.

"...You're such a jerk," Irving told his brother. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend yet." He and Alex high-fived. Albert turned red and stormed away.

"Wait, so did Marylin want to go to the dance with him?" Irving asked when Albert was out of earshot.

"Of course not!" Alex replied. "She flat out rejected him. But not because he was a jerk. She said that she's too cool for him."

"Why didn't you tell him that?" Irving asked.

"I don't want him to whine about it," Alex replied. Lies, a little voice inside her head told her. You just don't want him to be crushed because you actually do care about him.

"Oh," Irving said. "Well, that's good, I guess."

"But don't tell him that," Alex warned.

"Kay," Irving replied. He walked into his house. Alex slowly walked into hers. She didn't know why she was acting so weird about the "butt wipe" comment. Normally, she would have shrugged it off, but she was still upset about it. Did Albert think she wasn't girly or feminine enough? She'd show him!

Last Minute Dance Preparations Edit

Finally, the dance arrived. Alex was relieved. This event meant that Marylin would be going home soon, and all the boy drama would end. Or so she thought.

As soon as she woke up, her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered groggily.

"Did she say yes yet!?" Albert exclaimed on the other line.

"Shut up, she's in the same room!" Alex snapped. She checked to see if Marylin had heard that, but Marylin groaned and turned away from them. Alex snuck into the bathroom with her phone.

"So, did she!?" Albert exclaimed.

"Um.....yes," Alex lied. She was done playing Cupid for her annoying neighbor.

"Wow, thanks!" Albert replied happily. "Maybe you're not as bad as I thought!" He hung up.

Alex facepalmed. She hoped things actually worked between Marylin and Albert so she wouldn't have to feel guilty about lying. But knowing her luck, it probably wouldn't happen.

Later that night, Albert got ready for the dance. He was so glad that Marylin agreed to be his date. He was combing his hair when Irving walked into his room.

"Hi, Irving," Albert greeted his brother. "What's up?"

"Mom wants you to hurry up," Irving said. He noticed something on Albert's bed, and frowned. "Who are the flowers for?" he asked.

"Marylin," Albert replied. "I plan to tell her that I like her tonight."

"Ew," Irving snapped.

"Thanks for the support," Albert said sarcastically, putting down his comb. "Why is everyone against me having a crush on her?"

"She's mean, and I'm not even sure that she even knows your name," Irving replied. "Plus, you've barely spoken to her except during that one time she came over to dinner, and you didn't even ask her to the dance yourself."

"You're just jealous that you don't have a date," Albert scoffed.

"No I'm not," Irving shot back. "I'm just being reasonable. Also, I have more important things to do than chase after girls." He held up a camera and his scrapbook. "The mayor asked me to take pictures for the dance. I'm going to keep the ones with Phineas and Ferb in them."

Albert rolled his eyes. "Coolstorybro. Also, don't embarrass me in front of Marylin. If you mess this up, I will hurt you."

"I'm so scared," Irving said sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Irving," Albert warned. "You mess this up, and you'll never hear the end of it."

"Okay, okay," Irving snapped. He muttered something under his breath that Albert couldn't hear.

"You wanna run that by me again?" Albert demanded.

"Nothing," Irving replied quickly.

"Good," Albert said. He picked up the bouquet of flowers and followed Irving out of his room. They went outside and saw their parents talking with Alex's parents and Marylin's mom.

"Hello, boys," Mrs. Sanders greeted the brothers. "You look great!"

"Thanks," Irving replied. "So do you."

Albert looked around and frowned. "Where are Marylin and Alex?"

"Oh, they went to some pre-party thing at Linda Flynn's house," Mrs. Sanders replied.

"Awww," Albert whined. He turned to his mom. "Can we go?"

"Alex mentioned that it was a girls-only party," Mrs. Sanders added.

"Phineas and Ferb are going to be there, and they're boys," Irving pointed out. "Can we go, Mom?"

"I don't know if Candace would be happy that you crashed her party," his mom began.

"She won't care," Albert said.

"...I guess we can go," his dad declared.

"Yay!" Irving and Albert exclaimed. They dashed into their car. Albert was glad. Now he could see Marylin.

Alex was very nervous. She was at Candace's "pre-dance party", but she wasn't having any fun. For one thing, almost everyone who was there was freaking out about the dance. Alex wanted to tell someone about how she felt bad about lying to Albert, but she didn't know if anyone was going to care. Candace, Stacy, Vanessa and their friends Jenny and Aliesha were busy talking about love interests and what they were wearing to the dance. The only ones that weren't talking were Dolcita and Marylin. Dolcita was Isabella's older sister who despised the Flynn-Fletchers, yet came to their house. Candace had explained that her mom made her invite Dolcita, plus the other Garcia-Shapiros had come over to talk to the other members in the Flynn-Fletcher family. Marylin barely talked to anyone. Because Mindy wasn't there, she was lonely. The only time she did make a comment was when she was insulting someone.

"Alex, are you almost ready?" Stacy asked.

"Kind of," Alex replied, frowning. She looked around Candace's room and noticed a makeup bag on the bed. "Hey, Candace, can I borrow some of this stuff?"

"Sure, why?" Candace asked.

"....No reason," Alex replied nervously.

"You're actually wearing makeup?" Marylin sneered. "That's a first. Hope you don't end up looking like a clown." No one laughed.

"Ignore her, Alex," Vanessa reassured her friend. "I'm sure she's just jealous."

"Why would I be jealous of her?" Marylin shot back.

Candace rolled her eyes and turned back to Alex. "So, what's the makeup for? Are you trying to impress some guy?"

"You have a crush?" Stacy asked. "On who?"

Alex turned bright red. "I don't have a crush! I just want to try on makeup."

"Oh," Candace replied. "Well, you can use anything."

"Cool," Alex said. She picked up a tube of lip gloss. She tried to smear some on her lips, but she ended up looking like a clown. She tried to put mascara and eyeliner on her eyes, but failed to do so correctly.

"Ha!" Marylin sneered. "Told you she'd look like a clown!" Alex lunged for her nemesis but Jenny and Stacy restrained her.

"What's the use?" Alex snapped. "I can't use makeup correctly."

Candace began wiping makeup from Alex's face. "Well, first of all, you were putting way too much on. Putting on excessive amounts of makeup sends the wrong idea to guys." She began reapplying eyeliner to Alex's eyes.

"Will this get in my eye?" Alex asked cautiously.

"No," Candace replied.

"Me and some of the girls are going to go downstairs," Stacy announced.

"Kay," Candace replied as Stacy, Jenny, Aliesha, Dolcita, and Marylin left the room.

"Thank God Marylin is gone," Alex snapped. "I hope she doesn't ruin this dance for me."

"She's probably still angry that Jeremy rejected her," Candace said. "She really needs to get over it. Besides, there are other guys at the dance, so she might find someone."

"...I kinda already set her up on a date," Alex said sheepishly.

"With who?" Candace asked.

Alex took a deep breath. "Albert," she replied softly.

Candace burst out laughing. "Ha! Nice prank! Someone put her in her place!"

"....It's not a prank," Alex said. "Albert wanted me to ask her out for him, and she rejected him, so I lied and told him that she wanted to be his date."

"You lied?" Candace asked.

"Yes, and I feel really bad about it," Alex replied. "I didn't want him to whine or get his feelings hurt or something."

"Hey, you actually care about his feelings for once," Candace said. "You like him!"

"Ew!" Alex exclaimed.

"Anyway, I finished doing your makeup," Candace continued. She held up a mirror in front of Alex's face. Alex gasped. She looked very different from her usual self. The eyeshadow made her eyes pop. The mascara and eyeliner wasn't so bad looking after all.

There was a knock at Candace's bedroom door. Candace opened the door and saw Phineas and Ferb standing there. They were both wearing suits.

"Hey, you guys clean up well," Alex told the boys.

"Thanks!" Phineas replied. "You look good, too!" He turned to Candace. "Irving and Albert came to our house to join your pre-dance party. Is it all right if we let them in?"

Alex began to feel weak. "Oh, god," she muttered. She suddenly felt self-conscious for some reason.

"What?" Candace asked, looking annoyed. "Who invited them?"

"They....kinda showed up themselves," Phineas replied. Alex heard Irving shrieking Phineas' name downstairs. "We're going to go let them in." He and Ferb walked away.

"Oh no they don't!" Candace yelled. She left the room and went downstairs. Alex reluctantly followed her. They walked into the kitchen. It was packed. The teenage girls, Irving, Albert, Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Candace's parents, Irving's parents, and Isabella's mom were there.

"I thought this was supposed to be a small party," Alex told Candace.

"It was until Phineas and Ferb invited the Garcia-Shapiros over," Candace replied. She glared at Albert. "What are you doing here?"

"He wanted us to crash because he wanted to see his date," Irving replied flatly.

"Ew," Candace snapped.

Albert glanced at Alex. "Hey, you actually got dressed up for once. You look....nice."

Alex was shocked. Albert actually complimented her? "Thanks," she replied, blushing. Stacy was right. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. She almost felt like hugging him.

"Why did you put so much makeup on?" Albert continued. "You look like a Vegas showgirl."

And just like that, all respect (what little she had) for Albert was lost again. She resisted the urge to smack him.

"It's time to go to the dance!" Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher announced. Everyone except Alex and Marylin shrieked in excitement. Marylin rolled her eyes and continued to text whoever she was texting. Alex began to pray and hope that the mayor's dance wouldn't completely suck.

BustedEdit

Alex decided to hang out with Phineas and Ferb's friends. Most of the teenagers had split up when they got to the mayor's office. Candace, Stacy, and Vanessa looked for their dates, while Jenny and Aliesha decided to hang out with some of their school friends. Albert disappeared somewhere, while Marylin looked for Mindy and Lisa. "So, what are we supposed to do now?" Alex asked Phineas.

"You can dance, eat food, or hang out with friends," Phineas replied.

"Do we have to dance with a boy?" Alex asked.

"Not if you don't want to," Isabella replied. She grabbed Phineas' hand. "Let's go dance!" She dragged the poor kid away.

"Should we follow them?" Alex asked Ferb. Ferb shook his head no.

"So, who wants to get down?" Baljeet asked suddenly.

"....Never say that again," Irving told him. He walked away, and everyone followed him to the dance floor. As they walked, she saw Phineas and Isabella together. They seemed to be having a good time. Alex was glad that her advice worked. Surprisingly, she saw Vanessa's dad talking to his ex-wife. Even though it was none of her business, Alex was glad that Vanessa's parents stayed on good terms.

"So, Irving, did Albert hit it off with Marylin yet?" Baljeet asked.

"Stop saying all these street terms," Irving snapped. "They sound weird coming from you. And also, I don't know. I don't think they did. They have nothing in common."

"Way to have confidence in your brother," Buford said sarcastically.

"I have to agree with Irving," Alex spoke up. "I doubt that things worked out between them. And plus, the relationship will be over in, like, five seconds because Marylin leaves later tomorrow."

"She's leaving?" Ferb asked. "Good."

Alex's mouth dropped open. Ferb never talked much, and when he did, he never badmouthed anyone. "You're glad?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I am," Ferb replied. "She was completely rude and inconsiderate towards everyone here."

"But....but....all this time, I thought all of you except for Irving liked her," Alex stammered. "You never said anything rude to her face."

"Sometimes it's best to keep bad thoughts to yourself," Ferb said.

"Huh," Alex muttered. She turned to her friends. "How about we pull a prank on her? She treated us like (bleep) all week, so we need to get our revenge!"

"Yeah!" Irving, Buford, and Baljeet exclaimed.

"What about you, Ferb?" Alex asked, turning to Ferb. He wasn't there. "Where'd he go?"

"Maybe he didn't want to participate in the prank," Baljeet suggested.

"Awww," Alex whined. "Oh well. Let's think of a plan."

Albert was way too shy to walk up to Marylin and ask her to dance. He had spent the entire time hanging out with Candace and her friends. Unfortunately, they all kept telling him to hang out with his date.

"Do you think Marylin wants to dance with me?" Albert asked Stacy. "Wait, did I mention that before?"

"Many times," Stacy replied in an annoyed way.

"Well, does she?" Albert asked.

"Go figure that out yourself," Stacy snapped. She walked to the dance floor with Coltrane.

Jeremy and Candace walked up to him. "Seriously, Albert? You have the guts to threaten your brother with nunchucks and tell a girl to turn a dress into a platypus' butt wipe, yet you can't ask a girl to dance?" Candace snapped. "You have issues."

"You should talk," Albert muttered.

"Hiding from your date won't help you," Jeremy added. He noticed the flowers in Albert's hand. "You brought flowers? Good. Go over to Marylin, and ask her to dance with you. Kay?" He and Candace walked away. Albert sighed. He was stalling for too long. He walked around the yard and tried to look for Marylin. He found her with Mindy. He was about to walk over there, when he bumped into Alex.

Alex shrieked when she saw him. "Oh, it's you," she said coolly. "You startled me."

"Sorry," Albert said unapologetically. He looked past Alex to see if Marylin and Mindy were still there. They were. "Yes!"

"What?" Alex asked.

"I was going to ask Marylin to dance," Albert replied.

"Oh," Alex replied quietly. She looked upset for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Albert asked.

"To be honest......I don't think you should ask Marylin to dance," Alex said.

Albert began to get annoyed. "Are you still hating on her because of that failed elementary school friendship?" he snapped. "Get over it already!"

"It's not about that--" Alex protested.

"Also, I'm so sick of everyone hating her!" Albert continued. "It's bad enough when you and Irving were being haters, but now Candace and Stacy and everyone hates her! You're all just jealous that she's pretty and more awesome than you'll ever be!"

Alex's face turned bright red. "Well, you probably wouldn't have had a date if it wasn't for me!" she snapped. "This is the last time I do anything for you again!" She stomped away.

"Spazz," Albert muttered. He walked over to Mindy and Marylin. "Hey, Marylin!" he said cheerfully. "Hi, Mindy," he said coolly.

"What do you want?" Mindy asked nastily.

"I was going to ask Marylin to dance," Albert replied.

Mindy and Marylin glanced at each other and burst out laughing. "Are you serious?" Mindy asked. "Why would she want to be seen with a loser like you!?"

"Yes, yes I am serious," Albert snapped. The girls immediately stopped laughing. Marylin had a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face.

"Uh, I'll be in the bathroom, Marylin," Mindy told her friend. She quickly walked away.

"So, are we going to dance now or what?" Albert asked Marylin.

"No, no we're not," Marylin replied. "Like Mindy said, why would I been seen with you?"

Albert began to sweat. "I-I-I thought Alex had asked you out for me...."

"She did," Marylin said. "But I said no. Apparently, you didn't get the memo. Maybe she was pranking me after all."

"...She was pranking me?" Albert asked quietly.

"Probably," Marylin replied unsympathetically. "Her prank was probably part of a scheme to hook Jeremy up with that insane girl who's obsessed with getting her brothers in trouble." She glared at Albert. "I'm going to go touch up my makeup. Get out of the way." She pushed Albert down and walked away.

Albert began to get upset. Alex had been right all along. Marylin was a jerk. He felt bad that he hadn't listened to her, and how he had yelled at her about it. But he also began to get angry. Alex had fooled him into believing that he had a date, but he ended up rejected. He didn't want to be at the dance anymore. He decided to ask his family if they could go home.

"No, Albert, we're going home at eleven," his mom said. "It's nine-thirty." Albert stomped away and decided to look for Irving. He saw Irving with two of his loser friends---and Alex, the last person he wanted to see right now. He sighed and reluctantly walked over to the group.

"Should Vanessa's dad be involved in the prank?" Alex was saying as Albert walked up to her.

"What prank?" Albert snapped. "The one where you trick me into thinking that I had a date with Marylin?" Irving, Buford, and Baljeet's eyes widened, and Alex turned around slowly. Her face turned pale.

"Hi, Albert," Baljeet greeted the teen nervously. "Are you having a great time at the dance?"

"No, no I'm not," Albert snapped. "Did you know about Alex's little prank, too?"

"The one that we are going to play on Marylin?" Baljeet asked. "Yes. We were talking about it just now." Irving slapped him. "What?"

"What prank?" Alex asked innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Alex, I think he already knows," Irving said quietly.

"You were in on this, too?" Albert glowered.

"Um..." Irving began.

Albert began stomping away. He ran into Jeremy and Candace on the way. "Hey, how'd it go?" Jeremy asked. Albert ignored him and continued walking away. He walked into the mayor's office and looked for a private room to hide out in. He walked into the coat closet and shut the door. He wished he had never come to this stupid dance.

ApologizingEdit

Alex was shocked. She didn't know that Albert would find out about her plan. Instead of feeling happy that Albert wasn't hanging around Marylin anymore, she felt terrible. "Is he going to be okay?" Buford asked Irving.

"No," Irving replied. "Whenever he gets rejected by a girl, he gets really upset. Most girls aren't interested in him because, well, he's kind of a jerk. Even though I didn't approve of Marylin, I still wanted him to be happy."

"Marylin didn't like him because of how he looked," Alex said quietly. "Which is stupid. A person should like someone based on their personality, not their looks. And Albert wasn't that bad looking."

"You think Albert is handsome?" Baljeet asked. "You like him!" He and Buford began singing. "Alex and Albert, sitting in a tree--"

Alex tightly wrapped her arms around both Buford and Baljeet's necks. "Don't continue singing if you want to live," she warned. "And for your information, I do NOT like Albert."

"I think you should talk to him," Irving told Alex.

"Me? Why me?" Alex asked. Before Irving could respond, Ferb walked up to them. "Hi, Ferb, what's up?"

Ferb handed Alex a blueprint. "You wanted to prank Marylin, so here is the plan."

Alex looked at the blueprint. Ferb had made plans for the most elaborate prank she had ever seen. If she had seen this earlier, she would have been happy to go along with it. But now that she felt bad, she felt that pulling a prank wasn't important at the moment. "Ferb, this is really good. But....I don't think I'm going to use it right now."

"Why not?" Ferb asked.

"Because I need to apologize to Albert," Alex replied, walking away. "How do I look?"

"I thought you didn't care about your looks," Irving protested. Alex walked away and pretended that she didn't hear him. She looked around the mayor's office three times to find Albert, but she didn't find him. However, she saw Vanessa with a boy she didn't know. The boy had purple glasses and reddish-brown curly hair. Alex decided to hang out with them.

"Hi, Alex," Vanessa greeted her friend. She gestured to her date. "This is Carl, my date. Carl, this is Alex, one of my friends."

"Hello," Carl greeted Alex.

"Hi," Alex replied. She turned to Vanessa. "Do you know where Albert is?"

"No," Vanessa replied. "I thought he was with Marylin." She made a face.

"Things didn't work out between them," Alex said.

"That was obvious," Vanessa pointed out.

"Who's Albert and Marylin?" Carl asked.

"My two worst enemies," Alex replied. "They're my nemeses."

"Nemeses?" Carl asked.

"Yes," Alex replied. "I think I'm going to find Candace and Stacy. See you later, guys." She walked away. She figured that Candace and Stacy would help her with her problem since they knew Albert longer than Vanessa had. She found the two girls with Jeremy and Coltrane.

"Hi, Alex, what's up?" Stacy asked.

"I need to talk to you guys," Alex replied. She turned to Jeremy and Coltrane. "Can I borrow Candace and Stacy for a sec?"

"Sure," Jeremy replied. He and Coltrane walked away.

Alex turned to her friends. "Do you know where Albert is?"

"No, why do you ask?" Candace replied.

"No reason," Alex lied.

"You're blushing. You must be hiding something," Candace accused.

"Why do you need to find Albert?" Stacy asked.

Alex sighed. "I need to apologize to him," she replied. "I tricked him into thinking that he had a date with Marylin, but she rejected him, and he found out. He's really upset about it."

"Well, you do like to prank people," Candace pointed out. "I don't know why he would make a big deal out of it."

"I wasn't trying to prank him. Honest!" Alex protested. "He asked me to ask Marylin out for him, and she said no. When he kept demanding for an answer, I said yes because I didn't want him to get hurt."

"So, you actually do care about him?" Stacy asked. "I thought you hated his guts."

"Maybe he isn't so bad after all," Alex admitted. "And....I think I might kinda like him."

Candace and Stacy squealed. "Alex has a crush," Candace sang.

"Is this why you got so upset when he made those comments about you turning a dress into a platypus' butt wipe?" Stacy asked.

"Yeah," Alex replied. "I also wanted to wear makeup and act girly so he would notice me. He didn't."

"He probably did, he just was too shy to say anything about it," Stacy reassured her. "Anyway, you should go apologize to him, and maybe tell him how you feel." She and Candace walked away. Alex looked around the mayor's office one last time. She almost ran into Phineas and Isabella.

"Hi, Alex!" Phineas greeted her friend cheerfully.

"Hi," Alex replied miserably.

"What's wrong?" Isabella asked.

"Long story," Alex replied. "Do you know where Albert is?"

"We found him hiding in a coat closet a few minutes ago," Isabella replied. "He seemed to be upset because that mean girl dumped him."

"Yeah, that was my fault," Alex said, walking away. "Thanks, guys." She walked towards the door to the coat closet nervously. Apologizing to Albert would be challenging.

TBC