A/N: I was getting really annoyed with The Ultimate Clichéd Romance/What Might Have Been (which I will finish, for anyone reading it, I just don’t like it very much anymore), so I’m starting a new romance. I’m not sure exactly where I’m going to go with it, except that the chapter titles are all going to be the lines from a poem by Lewis Carroll, which doesn’t actually have a name, it’s just randomly present in Alice and Wonderland. However, it is a later variation of one of his other poems, She’s All My Fancy Painted Him. I will be taking my plots from the lines, but this story will not be the story of the poem (as if anyone could figure out what the poem was talking about, anyway).

By the way, the poem goes like this (this is being typed from memory, so it might not be perfectly accurate):

They told me you had been to her

And mentioned me to him

She gave me a good character

But said I could not swim

He sent them word I had not gone

(We know it to be true)

If she should push the matter on

What would become of you?

I gave her one, they gave him two

You gave us three or more

They all returned from him to you

Though they were mine before

If I or she should chance to be

Involved in this affair

He trusts to you to set them free

Exactly as we were

My notion was that you had been

(Before she had this fit)

An obstacle that came between

Him, and ourselves, and it.

Don’t let him know she liked them best

For this must ever be

A secret kept from all the rest

Between yourself and me.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Lewis Carroll, nor do I own or have any rights to any of his works.

Chapter One: They Told Me You Had Been to Her

“You did what? Why?”

Nat Johnson and his friend Pete were eating lunch together in a normal school cafeteria, on a normal day just like any other, except that Nat was not quite sure his ears were working.

“I didn’t do anything. David went and talked to this friend of his, and tried to set you up with a date. And seriously, you need one. What do you do with your life, without a girlfriend?”

Nat didn’t dignify that with an answer. It was just too silly. He didn’t want some random girl that one of his friends had picked out for him.

“She’s hot, Nat.”

That was the last straw. “Pete, I don’t want a hot girlfriend!” That was actually kind of inaccurate, hotness was always a plus, it just wasn’t the most important thing with Nat. He went on. “I want a girlfriend with a mind. I want someone who reads, I want someone with opinions. I want someone who’s a real person, not someone whose only recommendation is her physical appearance.”

Actually, he doubted David would pick out someone for him just because she was hot. That was not really David’s thing. David at least sort of understood where Nat was coming from when it came to girls. Pete, on the other hand, just didn’t get it, and would of course present the proposition to Nat in the worst possible way.

Still, Nat didn’t particularly want someone picked out for him by one of his friends. To him, a date was a bigger step than it was for other people. Forming any sort of relationship with anyone was something not to be taken lightly, and Nat did not.

So it was with immense trepidation that Nat agreed. And even then, it was only with the provision that he got to talk to David about it first. It was so traumatic for Nat that he almost forgot to ask her name.

“Cecily Riling.” Pete said, before he walked off to his next class.

Cecily Riling… Why was that name familiar? It did not come to him until attendance during Law that day, when her name was called. Nat frantically looked around for the girl who answered. When he saw her, he was quite surprised that he had not noticed her before.

Cecily was incredibly petite, Nat thought she would only come up to the middle of his chest. She had long, crinkly golden-brown hair, which flowed down to her waist and seemed to shimmer. Her features were delicate and quite pretty. Nat supposed she could be termed hot, but he would have said beautiful.

Looking a little longer, he realized why she had gone unnoticed up to now. She used her hair like a shield, and tended to withdraw into herself and fade into the back of the room. When the teacher asked her a question, she answered correctly and with precision, but quietly and in a manner that did not encourage attention. She seemed to have cultivated the art of visible invisibility.

Now that he had noticed her, though, he could not take his eyes off her. He stared at her all during Law, until about three quarters of the way though, when she turned around to look at him. When there eyes met, she quickly glanced away, looking for all the world like a frightened wild animal. After that, he turned away and did not look back, one thought lingering in the back of his mind. She had agreed to go on a date with him?

He found David after school that day. The other boy looked a little nervous; as if he was afraid Nat would be angry. Which, Nat supposed, a part of him was. The rest, on the other hand, was just curious beyond belief.

“So what’s the deal with this Cecily person, David?” he said, as casually as he could.

“She’s just a friend of mine. I thought you two would like each other. You don’t have to go out with her if you don’t want to, but I really think you would be missing out. She’s incredibly nice, you know, if you can get her to open up. She is a little shy, but she is also incredibly interesting. She was reluctant to agree too, you know. I had to tell her about your name.”

Nat grimaced a little. His name was not something he liked to discuss. It was not actually short for Nathaniel, as his Nat would suggest. Instead, it was short for Jonathan. He had decided very young, however, that there was no reason why people named Nathaniel should get to have all the fun, and anyway, who wants to be named Jonathan Johnson? That’s just cruel. His parents, however (as much as he loved them) had never been known for being considerate, and had probably considered it funny. That would be like them.

“That’s OK,” he said. He thought about it after a moment, though, and it did not seem to make sense. Knowing about his name had made her agree to go out with him? It had never had quite that effect before…

He felt a little dazed. This Cecily person was just too much for him. In fact, Nat thought girls were just too much in general. Maybe he should swear them off altogether. That might be the best solution. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.

Except, he told himself, he still would have to worry about explaining himself to all the people involved. That would not be pretty. Especially since he had already agreed to this stupid date. Oh well, Nat told himself, at least it would be over with soon.

Then he reprimanded himself. It would not be over. You don’t just do that to another person. If he went on this date with Cecily, they would have some sort of connection, and that would last forever. And a day. Drat.

Nat cursed his stupid opinions on relationships in general. They were kind of inconvenient. At the same time, they were one of the things that made him him. He was not going to abandon them now. He would go through with this date, and whatever silly impact it had on his life.

Or he would never be able to live with himself.

A/N: Is Nat understandable/believable at all? I am not sure I would believe a person like him exists, but I kind of like him the way he is. Well, comments would be nice, and I do not really have anything to say yet, so…