Cornelius was getting ready for his first official date with Waverly. Technically, the next time they saw each other after he asked her out could be considered a date. They met at a planned time and place to spend time with each other. Somehow, though, sitting in the library and talking about math didn't sound very romantic. He preferred to consider tonight their first date. He was pretty nervous, but it wasn't just because it a first date.

He didn't quite understand his feelings for her. She annoyed him so much when they first met. She still did, a tiny bit; but he really liked her. He was happy when she was around and he thought about her all time. He wondered if he didn't ever actually dislike her, but wanted to dislike her because he found prominent aspects of her personality unattractive in most people. He didn't see it like that, anymore, though. She used to talk way too much; but now she was charmingly loquacious and he enjoyed just listening to her, sometimes. She was usually only like that when she was nervous, excited, or didn't know someone very well, anyway. Conversations were much more even, now. She wasn't a know-it-all anymore, either. The boy found himself impressed by her wide breadth of knowledge. He was very good at math and science, was learning a lot about business, and was rather imaginative. Outside of those fields, though, Cornelius didn't know much more than the average kid his age. Waverly was nearly as good as Cornelius was at math, but other than that, she didn't have such a strict specialization. She seemed to know a little bit about everything and she could tell it to you in four languages.

He also understood where she was coming from, more. Her mother forced her into pretty much any extra curricular activity she could find, provided it fit in the girl's schedule and didn't interfere with her private tutoring. Waverly wasn't trying to prove she was smarter than anyone. She just knew a lot of things and lacked the social skills to tell when the correct information was necessary. Cornelius got that way sometimes. When he heard someone say something he knew to be false or misinformed, his first instinct was to correct that person, even if it was a complete stranger, just for his or her own benefit. He just seemed to be a slightly better judge of when to inform people, and he had a narrower field of knowledge, so fewer of such opportunities came up.

Franny was over at his house helping Cornelius get ready. They were going to a concert by the indie band, Ninja Reflex. Waverly had won the tickets a few weeks earlier, and by luck Cornelius had not only heard of the band, but really liked them. His friend Alexis was really into the whole "Indie scene" and Gaston used to be. Cornelius was not, but he happened to like some indie bands he had heard of through his friends and the internet. Franny wanted this to go well because Cornelius seemed to really like the girl. This meant he had to have the proper attire, which was all Franny could really help with. This was why Franny was here. She had borrowed some of Gaston's shirts, though Cornelius was pretty sure it was without her brother's permission.

"Explain to me, again, why you're here?"

"You are so cute when you're confused." Waverly said the same thing, frequently, but it was different when she said it. Waverly seemed to emphasize the 'cute' part, while Franny emphasized the mocking tone. It was still weird. He just stared. She rolled her eyes. "Because you are going to a small intimate indie concert. If it was at a huge stadium, or something, it wouldn't matter. But if you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb, you'll take my advice."

"Why would I wear a shirt with another band's name to a concert?"

Franny groaned. "You don't get this indie cred thing, do you? The point is to prove you're cool by knowing a lot of obscure bands; the more obscure the band is, the better. This band," she held up a blue shirt that said 'Marianus' and had some tour dates on it "doesn't even exist. Gaston wears it as a social experiment. You'd be amazed at how many people tell him how great or awful their music is, but everyone assumes he's really cool."

"Is he sure there isn't a band by that name?"

"He's researched it pretty well. Plus, when you look it up, you get information on the historical figure. Most people are too lazy to wade through all of that, so no one has figured it out yet." Cornelius had to laugh at that. "Anyway, the best thing is to wear a shirt with the name of a band that has a ridiculously obscure connection to the band performing. The lead singer of this one," she thrust a grayish blue shirt into his hands, "wrote some songs with the lead guitarist of Ninja Reflex on their second album in 2004." Cornelius really liked that album. "It's the best choice, but if it doesn't look good on you we'll go down the line."

"Okay." He stood there for a moment, then turned away from her and took off the shirt he was wearing. She laughed.

"Neil," he had also mentioned the nickname Waverly had given him and now others had started using it, "I've known you for three years. We went to the beach at least a dozen times last summer. I've seen you shirtless. You don't need to turn around." He finished changing, and faced her.

"This is different."

She rolled her eyes again. He seemed so hopeless sometimes. "Fine, next time, I'll turn around or leave the room or something. Scratch that. This one looks pretty good on you. It's a good color for your eyes."

"Okay. Thanks." Part of him felt like he really shouldn't, but he had to ask her, "Why did you help me out?"

She looked at him like he'd just said something very stupid. "First, because I'm your friend. Second, I did not endure hours of you talking about this girl for you to screw it up on the first date. Third, I want to meet her. You've said a lot of great things about her, and if half of them are true, I think we'll really get along. If this doesn't work out, I never get to find out how much of that is actually true and how much is just your imagination."

It still seemed very strange to him that she would help him when dating another girl, knowing what he knew. Then again, if he could help her in the same way, he would. He shook his head and tried not to think about it.


"That is weird."

"I know."

"I was referring to the fact that you had to turn around when you changed even though she'd seen you shirtless before. Seriously, what's with that?"

"It was a different situation. I was changing."

Not that he wanted to think about it, but he had to add, "You know, she's gonna see you naked when you get married."

"Still different."


Franny stayed a little longer because her ride couldn't get there until about ten minutes after Waverly's dad was supposed to pick Cornelius up. Until then, she tried to keep the boy calm. "Come on. You said she's really awkward, too. I'm sure that as long as you don't do something really wrong on purpose, she'll still like you."

"I know," he replied nervously, letting her know that he wasn't really listening. "What if she's dressed really nicely and I look like a jerk in jeans and t-shirt?"

"She won't be, trust me."

"What if," he was about to finish his fifteenth 'what if' question when Franny got fed up.

"Look! Nothing's going to go wrong. If it does, blame me and try to make it up to her next time. But I assure you, as long as you stay calm and be yourself, you'll have fun and so will she."

The doorbell rang. Cornelius answered it to see Waverly dressed in jeans and a shirt for a different band. She hugged him, then said, "Oh my God!" to greet the boy.

"What?" Cornelius asked fearing something was wrong.

"You look like a normal teenager!" He hoped that was a compliment.

"I could say the same for you."

"Yeah, but I'm with my dad this weekend. I always dress like this when live with my dad. This is a big change for you."

"I had a friend's help."

"Oh. Makes sense. You know that's a really good one. The lead singer from that band wrote some songs with the lead guitarist on Ninja Reflex's second album."

"I know. Franny told me." He sort of indicated behind him as though Franny was in the house, which she was. He couldn't see her but Franny rolled her eyes. It probably wasn't a good idea to start a date talking about another girl.

To the surprise of both Cornelius and Franny, Waverly lit up. "Franny? Is she there? You've told me so much about her and we're running early. If she's there I'd like to meet her."

Franny shook her head and crossed her hands indicating that he should say 'no'. But Franny was behind Cornelius, so he didn't see. "Actually, she is." He opened the door all the way to reveal his friend.

When Franny saw Waverly, she stared for a second, then something clicked somewhere, "Your hair is so cute like that!" Franny told his date. Um, it was down? "Is that your natural color? 'Cause it looks so good on you."

"Yeah, it's natural. By the way, can I steal those shoes sometime? They are adorable." Lovely. They were talking about shoes and hair. They chatted for a few minutes about clothes, shoes, bands and who knows what else while Cornelius spaced out. For a moment, he imagined that Franny would end up going his date for him. He mentally slapped himself when he found the image pleasant.

After a minute, though, Waverly looked at her watch. "Sorry Fran, we have to go now."

"Of course. See ya later, Waves." Waves?

"See ya." She grabbed Cornelius by the hand again, and they walked to her father's car.

Her dad was standing outside the car leaning against it, with his arms crossed, but he was smiling. It was too dark to see what he actually looked like. He turned out to be nice and laid back. After a minute or so of conversation, he decided Cornelius was trustworthy enough to date his daughter (and he had looked the boy up online, and was pleased to find that this was the Cornelius Robinson he'd heard about on the news- that got him a lot of points).

Once they got to the concert, Cornelius was glad he'd had Franny's help with. The concert was great. He and Waverly now had a song, as it was playing during their first kiss. She was a good kisser. Also, he decided making out was both gross and fun. He had a very good time.


"Um, there was no mistake in there."

"What do you mean? Your last story was about the relationship as whole not just the mistakes you made. I think I deserve the same opportunity. Also, there was a mistake hidden in there, somewhere."

"Huh? What'd you do wrong?"

"You'll find out later." Wilbur did not like that answer. This had better be worth it.