My mother always told me she had "good intentions" behind her decision, but somewhere deep inside my thoughts I knew her real motive was to drive me to the "straight path." I had never even considered homosexuality as I knew I didn't swing that way. It wasn't my fault I was into acting and singing. It didn't inherently make me gay. Regardless, that was her unspoken take on the situation.

I thought it was a mistake. I KNEW it was a mistake because there was no way in the world I would sign up for "Extreme Fencing." It was there, parked in the spot of Extra Curricular Activity listed among Bio Chemistry and AP English on my Junior Class schedule. I adjusted my glasses slightly, hoping a glare was the cause of the confusion. No such luck. The panic began to set in, my palms sweating as I ran one hand through my sandy blond hair. Storming into Student Services I tried to maintain my composure as I reached a shaky hand out to Mrs. Garcia to hand her my schedule and point out the gleaming error.

"Mrs. Garcia." My voice shook as well. "I know…For A Fact…that last year during scheduling I signed up for Drama 3 as my extracurricular activity. I know I would not have chosen Extreme Fencing even if it was the last option on the list!" She regarded me with her pointed stare and glasses positioned on the edge of her hook nose.

"Let me check the system" she said in a rather irritated tone as she turned towards the archaic computer, still equipped with the monstrous back end fit for dial-up internet. "Oh yes, you did originally sign up for Drama 3."

"So…can you change my schedule?"

"I'm afraid it's too late" she said with zero sympathy and what I swear was a smirk. I thundered from the office, still raging but oh so defeated.

All my life, I thought Romeo and Juliet was a farce. Love at first sight is nonsense right? I think so however I am not one to argue with the concept of "love at first fight."

I'd seen the one they call "England" many times around school. Nice, petite frame, short blond hair, and eyebrows that could only work on her porcelain doll face. She never talked to…anyone, really. I never imagined I would be falling for her of all people…(but it was only a few feet so it didn't hurt that badly.)

She easily outwitted me with her sword and poked me right in the chest. I stumbled backwards and fell right on my ass in front of the whole class. I wasn't sure if the rosy color spreading across my cheeks was a result of the embarrassment or that fact that I had been bested by her, the same her I did not know but with whom I was instantly taken.

Pulling off her mask, she regarded me with piercing emerald green eyes and a furrowed bushy brown line. It was then I realized I continued to stare up from the ground, my head swirling with commotion and confusion. Someone was telling me to get up, screaming it in my left ear. To this day I am still unsure if it was the teacher or simply my own thoughts attempting to extract me from the situation.

England reached out a hand and hoisted me up with…quite a lot of strength for a lady. I was too close to her. So close, in fact, that I was painfully aware of every way her body moved, familiar with the warmth she gave off, and heavily reveling in her scent of roses and Earl Grey. I was beginning to understand why she would be called "England."

It was obvious that she was well-breed and of the highest social ranking. At the same time, however, she seemed to brush it off and maintain her status as a wallflower, perfectly comfortable in an oversized school uniform that had actually been made for a boy.

I realized the look in her eye was attempting to elicit a sound from my suddenly dry throat. What do I say?

"Umm…hi! My name is Alfred F. Jones but you can just call me Alfred but whatever you want to call me is cool with me because I'm just awesome like that…" Stupid! What had sounded perfectly dignified and proper in my head came off not only snarky but also incredibly awkward. A girl like England would never even look at someone as lowly as me…

She gave me a sideways glance, her green eyes burning now with something like rage but sated with a hit of sympathy and pity for stupid me standing far too closely in front of her.

"Arthur" She replied in a far less feminine tone than I had expected…maybe it was a cold?

Or maybe, just maybe, the England everyone leaves alone in the corner, the England who just kicked my butt in fencing, and the England who managed to steal my heart in a matter of seconds…is actually a man?

Just then, the bell screamed out. The bell suddenly became very interesting to me as I sought an out while my mind attempted to compute what had just happened. When I returned my gaze to where Arthur had once stood, there was nothing but my own shadow. I watched as his slight frame disappeared from the gymnasium into the rush of many.

Maybe I wasn't in love. Maybe it was what I had wanted all along, but one way or another, I was going to find out.