Chapter Text
Anne stared longingly out the window. She didn’t have a seat close to the window, but she wanted one at that moment. In front of her, Mr. Phillips kept teaching the lesson, but no one was actually listening. It was Friday, the 19th of December and the last day of school for a little over 2 weeks. Who could bother learning on a occasion like that? Not to mention, outside there was so much snow, it was a real life winter wonderland.
Anne tore off a corner of the page she was supposed to be taking notes on. On it, she wrote a message.
Today at lunch: Snowball fight outside? It’s the perfect day.
She passed the note to Diana, who was sitting to her left. Diana read it and nodded enthusiastically. She wrote something down and passed it back to Anne.
Great idea. I’ll tell everyone.
Anne observed as Diana sent a message on her phone and everyone’s phone buzz. They knew better than to turn on their ringer in class. Mr. Phillips would let you get away with literal murder in his class as long as you did it silently. Right now Billy was playing on his phone and not making any attempts to hide it under his desk. Anne looked back and noticed Gilbert was at least trying to take notes but just like Anne there was nothing on his page. He looked down and checked his phone, Anne kind of loved the curls on the top of his head. She smiled at the thought of running her fingers through those curls. Gilbert read the text then looked over at Diana, catching a glimpse of Anne’s dreamy smile. Embarrassed, Anne quickly turned back to Mr. Phillips. She tried to keep her eyes ahead and not look back to see how Gilbert was reacting to seeing her, if he even saw her. Did he see her? He probably didn’t, right? He must have not seen otherwise he would have yelled for joy at the sight of his affections returned. She put on her most serious face and slowly turned around. She looked and found the biggest grin across his face. It was the kind of smile you made after you just won a really long argument. She quickly looked back ahead, focusing on the writing on the black board. He obviously saw and was obviously happy about it. She was never going to live this down. She looked over at Josie, no doubt she was grinding delightfully at the prospect of telling the school all about Anne’s crush. Instead, Anne found Josie doodling in her notebook. She looked around the rest of the classroom, no one else was her paying attention either. Her reputation was preserved, at least for now.
Diana tapped her shoulder to get her attention. Diana showed Anne her phone. It was a text from Gilbert in response to Diana’s invitation.
I look forward to beating you and Anne!
Anne rolled her eyes. She asked for Diana’s phone and she gave it to her. She waved it at Gilbert, still smiling a ridiculous grin, telling him she has it now instead of Diana. She sent him a text.
So we will be on opposing teams?
Anne waited for a response and it came soon enough. Gilbert was a lot quicker texted then Anne.
I was thinking it would be everyman for themselves but you and Diana would team up anyway because not even god could ever get you two to fight.
Anne laughed under her breath.
You seem to have me down cold. Can you tell me what I’m thinking?
Anne regretted the text as soon as she sent it. Diana was going to read this, she couldn’t be this flirty.
You’re thinking about how Diana’s going to read these texts.
Damn, how did you know?
The second you sent it you looked over at her with a really worried look on your face. It was easy.
Anne looked down and smiled. He really did know her. She wasn’t even going to try denying it anymore. Still, she had to end this as quickly as possible before some more accidental flirting.
Deductions may be easy but beating me and Diana won’t be. See you out there!
She sent it and handed the phone back to Diana. She looked ahead at Mr. Phillips and tried to concentrate.
-
That lunch, everyone ate their lunch at record speed. They ran outside in their hats, gloves, its and coats, anything to keep them warm and cover their skin to stop them from being easy targets. It was freezing outside but the were all bundled up so they didn’t mind.
“We aren’t actually aloud to do snowball fights on the school ground so we are going to the forest a block down,” Gilbert explained, leading everyone over.
They walked over as pack. Gilbert was the leader, with Ruby, Josie and Tillie walking in a pair behind him. Charlie and Moody walked behind them and Anne walked with Diana behind them, arm in arm, bringing up the rear. Diana went to walk with Ruby and the other girls but Anne held her back, wanting to get as far away from Gilbert as possible.
“What’s with you?” Diana asked. “You are being abnormally quiet.”
Anne didn’t trust herself to speak, lest she reveal she had a crush on Gilbert. “I have not been,” Anne insisted.
“You’ve hardly said five words since we left school, why?” Diana pushed.
Anne considered her options. “Can I tell you something? A secret?”
“Of course,” Diana said.
“No, seriously. Not a normal secret. A secret secret. A take to your grave secret. A not even under torture will I reveal this secret. That kind of secret. Can you handle it?” Anne asked.
“I promise I can,” Diana swore, her right hand raised like she was taking the pledge of allegiance. “Can and will.”
Anne looked at her friend, still considering making something up as a fake secret to get Diana off her back. No, she could trust Diana. She pulled her friend close and whispered in a low voice: “I think I might have a crush on Gilbert.”
Diana’s eyes went wide in surprise. She looked like she wanted to yell and jump with joy, but held herself back and bit her lip. Still, she had this moment where it was almost like she was vibrating with excitement.
Anne blushed in embarrassment. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you,” Anne said, pulling away from Diana.
“No, no, no, you should have,” Diana said hastily. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop. I was just so excited for you. How long have you known?”
“Since class today,” Anne answered. “I looked back at him and imagined running my hands through his hair.”
Diana started vibrating with excitement again at this. “Oh, I’m so happy for you two! You are going to start dating, and get married, and have a million kids.”
“Stop it,” Anne told her, “I’m not going to actually act on it.”
“Why ever not?” Diana said. “You two are meant to be!”
“No,” Anne insisted. “Remember, Ruby still has a huge crush on him. The only reason why I was even accepted into the group in the first place was because I swore up and down that I’d never go out with him. If I ask him out I will be banished again for sure. No, I cannot under any circumstance tell Gilbert, Ruby or anyone else I have a crush. It would be the end of me, I know it. So you can’t tell anyone either. Promise me.” Anne said, extending her pinky.
“I promise,” Diana told her, pinky promising.
“Hey girls, catchup” came a voice ahead of them. Apparently Anne and Diana had basically stopped walking since they were so caught up in discussing Anne’s new secret. They looked ahead, everyone else had already arrived at the park, and Gilbert himself was yelling back at them to hurry up. They ran over to where everyone was congregating on the edge of the forest.
“Now are we doing it every man for himself or teams?” Charlie asked.
“I vote every man for himself,” Gilbert said, eyeing Anne.
“I want teams,” Anne said. She didn’t want Gilbert pursuing her without some team mates.
“Me too,” Diana agreed, always happy to provide Anne backup.
“All those in favour of teams?” Gilbert asked, the natural leader. Anne, Diana, Ruby, Charlie, and Moody put up their hands. Only Gilbert, Ruby and Josie wanted to stay every man for himself. Gilbert accepted this small loss with dignity. “Who should be team captains?”
“You?” Charlie suggested.
Gilbert looked around at the nodding faces, and took his place ahead of everyone else. “Who else?”
Josie had a mischievous look in her eye. “Anne,” she suggested.
“No, I couldn’t possibly,” Anne said.
“All in favour?” Josie asked, ignoring Anne’s objection. Everyone raised their hand except Anne, Diana and Gilbert. “Gilbert?” Josie asked.
“It’s not fair for me to help pick my opposing team’s captain,” he said neutrally.
“Either way, the motion passes,” Josie said, pushing Anne forward.
Anne reluctantly took her place beside Gilbert leaving a huge space between them. She did not trust herself to be close to Gilbert. They chose teams and went to the opposite ends of the forest. Anne had Diana, Charlie and Ruby. There wasn’t really a goal, but there were enemies. If you touching a certain pre-determined tree stump in the centre of the forest, you were “safe” and no one could hit you, but you could only stay there for 15 seconds and had to loudly count while you were there to make sure you weren’t staying too long. Anne’s team was right now making a whole bunch of snowballs to load up in their arms when they went out. The game would start in two minutes, based on the timer on Diana’s phone that was synced up with Gilbert’s phone.
“That’s enough,” Anne said. “I want to sneak up on them and ambush them as soon as the timer goes off.
Everyone loaded up their snowballs and went into the forest. They thought they would find Gilbert and his group huddled together making a plan at the opposite end of the forest. Instead, they meet them halfway through the forest, also sneaking around. The two opposing groups looked at each other quizzically.
“What are you doing here?” Moody asked.
“We could ask you the same thing,” Diana answered.
“Great minds think alike,” Gilbert noted.
“What?” Anne was confused.
“You were planing to sneak up on us and surprise up, right?” Gilbert asked.
“…Yeah,” Anne said hesitantly.
“Great minds think alike,” Gilbert repeated.
Anne couldn’t help give a little giggle at this turn of events. “Well, what should we do now?” Anne asked.
“We could both go back or we could wait here and talk till the alarm goes off,” Gilbert said.
As much as Anne wanted nothing more than to talk with him, but knew how uncharacteristic it would be.
“Like I would ever want to talk to you,” Anne said. “Let’s go team.” She tried to ignore the hurt look on Gilbert’s face as she turned around and took her first few steps back.
Just then, the alarm in Diana’s phone went off at the same time as Gilbert’s. It was time to play.
That exact second, Anne felt something hit the back of her neck, right on the exposed skin. It caught her off guard because she was looking at Diana’s pocket and she fell face forward into the snow. She pushed her up and twisted over till she was sitting upright. Ice cold water went down her spine as she looked over to find who threw it. Gilbert was in a pitcher’s stance. His face betrayed guilt, but Anne’s was full of rage.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I only went to hit your coat. I didn’t-”
He couldn’t say anything because he was hit in the face with Anne’s snowball. It got hit right in kisser and fell backwards. Anne thought it would make her feel better, or at least guilty, but the only thing Anne felt was more rage. She leapt to her feet and readied her fists as she walked over, preparing to fight Gilbert. Diana held her back, and so did Charlie. Ruby and Josie ran over to help Gilbert get up.
“I deserve that,” Gilbert said. “I totally deserve that.”
“That and a lot more,” Anne said, fighting again Diana and Charlie. “Let me go and I’ll give it to you.”
“No, Anne,” Diana said. “Cool off.”
“I’m sure beating Gil up will cool me off a lot,” Anne replied, pushing against Diana and Charlie so much Moody had to come and help. Moody and Charlie each grabbed an arm and pulled Anne away from where Gilbert was being fawned over by the other girls. Moody and Charlie dragged Anne away to the edge of the forrest with Diana. They let Anne go when she stopped kicking. They watched as she paced up and down, shouting curses at Gilbert’s name.
“The bastard!” she yelled. “I sure hope he’s good at running because if I find him I’m going to rip him a new one so hard his grandkids would feel it. Can you imagine it, the filthy back stabber. He should be hung and quartered in the town square, that’s what he deserves and no less. Or boiled alive in his own tears. That too. I swear, the only place he’s safe from my wrath is heaven and heaven alone because with the thoughts in my head, I’m certainly not being allowed in there.”
“You two should probably go back,” Diana said to Charlie and Moody. “This could take a while.”
“Ok,” Moody said.
“See you back there,” Charlie said and they both left. When they were out of earshot, they started talking about Anne. “Bit of a psycho,” Charlie started.
“Wouldn’t go out with that if you paid me,” Moody added.
“Gil would,” Charlie commented. “Gil would in a heartbeat.”
“Maybe not after what just happened,” Moody thought. “But who knows with that guy?”
“The two of them,” Charlie complained. “It’s like they’re red hot in love one minute, enemies the next.”
“To be fair, Gilbert is pretty consistently in love, it’s Anne that changes with the wind,” Moody countered.
Charlie laughed at that, but couldn’t say anything else because they had arrived with the others. Ruby and Josie were fawning over Gilbert, who was sitting propped up against a tree. When he saw Moody and Charlie he stood up.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“By the edge of the forest,” Moody answered.
“Is she still mad?” Gilbert asked, concerned.
Moody and Charlie exchanged a look. “Yeah,” Charlie answered. “She’s still mad.”
Gilbert’s face fell. “I should go see her. Apologize.” Charlie and Moody watched Gilbert disappeared into the forest, shaking their head in amazement at their handsome friend’s thick skull.
Gilbert went through the forest, following his friends tracks through the snow. He was concerned about Anne. He didn’t want her hating him, but it was more than just a selfish need for validation. He never wanted her to be in distress, no matter who caused it. He approached the edge of the forest and heard Anne yelling.
“The idiot! The self-indulgent, meddling, horrible idiot! I can’t believe him. Hell, I can’t believe me. I especially can’t believe I had a crush on him!”
Crush? Gilbert was at the edge of the forest clearing, in plain view. He quickly dove behind a tree, he wanted to hear more. He knew something about the way she looked at him this morning was weird and different. He thought she had found out he had a crush on her, he could never in his wildest dreams thought she might actually like him.
“It was for like 2 hours,” Diana assured.
“Yeah, 2 hours of my life I wish I could get back!” Anne answered. “The worst two hours of my life. I actually imagined me running my hands through his stupid curls, kissing him. I can’t believe I was such a… such a… such a girl!”
“You are a girl,” Diana said.
“I am a girl, not a girl,” Anne pronounced the two girls differently, and Gilbert waited for Anne to explain herself. “A girl is a young woman. A girl is someone who paints her nails and listens to top 40s and fantasizes about boys. I do not fantasize about boys. Never have and never will, thank you very much.”
“But you did,” Diana said, “and it wasn’t that bad, right.”
“Wasn’t that bad? WASN’T THAT BAD!” Anne was yelling at Diana but Diana seemed mostly unfazed. She actually seemed sort of used to Anne yelling. “Look what I got because I was fantasizing about Gilbert instead of watching my back,” Anne turned around and showed Diana something that Gilbert couldn’t see because he was on the wrong side. “No, I will never again think about boys or Gilbert or his hair ever again. I will never have another crush, I can promise you that. Not till I’m 16, maybe even 18.”
Gilbert thought about that vow. He could wait till 16. Or 18. Or however long he had to because Anne was a girl worth waiting for. He would redeem himself in her eyes, however long it took. Right now, though, he had to stop accidentally spying on Anne. Quietly as he could, Gilbert kept back along the path a few feet.
“Hey, Anne,” he yelled and jogged along the path and into the clearing, making it look like he was running the entire way there.
Anne and Diana looked over at him. Anne turned around in a huff, crossing her arms and refusing to look at him. Diana smiled and nodded encouragingly at Gilbert, until Anne noticed and elbowed her. Gilbert stood a few feet away from Anne, giving her plenty of space as he apologized.
“Listen, Anne, I’m really sorry,” Gilbert started. “It was immature of me, and I wished I could take it back. I wish I could redo the entire thing and not throw the snowball. You don’t get how much I regret it. As much as you hate me right now, I promise you I hate myself more because I’m the one causing you this much pain.”
“You underestimate how deep my hatred can run,” Anne said, turing around partly and eyeing Gilbert under the corner of her eye.
“I know you,” Gilbert assured her. “I know how you feel. Not exactly, but I can imagine and empathize. I’m so sorry for causing you to feel this way. What can I do to make it up?”
Anne’s expression softened as she saw Gilbert’s genuine remorse. She softly smiled.
“You don’t need to do anything,” she assured him. “Let’s get back to the game.”
“I’d love to,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert and Anne walked back to the group side by side. Gilbert noticed out of the corner of his eye Diana, practically jumping with joy at the sight of them together. Not yet Diana, Gilbert thought.
As they walked, Gilbert tried to get a look at the back of Anne’s neck to see what she showed Diana. It was impossible to bring it up naturally, though, and he couldn’t exactly explain why he knew it was there. He kept nervously glancing at her but couldn’t find a way to get a good look. When they got back to the main group, everyone cheered.
“So here’s the plan,” Gilbert said. “We forget about the three minute head-start. It was a bad idea to start off with. We just get into a circle and everyone counts down from 10 together. As a penalty, I am not allowed to throw a snow ball for the first thirty seconds, making me a prime target.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Anne said.
“Yes, I do,” Gilbert insisted. “Everyone circle up and remember that we are trying to play a clean, fun game. No bullying or tears, just fun and games. Alright?”
Everyone nodded along and got into a circle. Anne and Gilbert were next to each other and started the countdown together.
“10, 9,” they said together and everyone joined in.
“8, 7,” everyone chorused as Anne knelt down to make a snowball to start the game with.
“6, 5,” they cheered as Gilbert noticed an angry, red welt on the back of Anne’s neck. His baseball pitcher always said he had a fast pitch.
“4,” they continued, but Gilbert interrupted them.
“Wait, wait, hold up,” he yelled, throwing his hands up to stop them. Everyone stopped and looked at him strangely. “There’s on more thing,” he said, taking off his scarf. He walked over to Anne and wrapped it around her neck delicately. “I want to make sure you don’t have any more chinks in your armour,” he said, covering up the patch of skin he had previously used as target practice.
“Won’t this leave a chink in yours?” Anne asked.
“I’ll make do,” Gilbert said, turning up the collar on his coat.
“You look like Benedict Cumberbatch,” Anne noted, blushing ever so slightly.
It was probably just the cold, Gilbert told himself, not wanting to get his hopes up. “As Sherlock or Doctor Strange?”
“Since I’ve never seen Doctor Strange, Sherlock,” Anne replied.
“You’ve never seen Doctor Strange?” Gilbert was shocked. “Oh, I have so much to teach you about the MCU.”
“Can you do this some other time?” Moody asked. “We want to throw snow at people!”
“Right,” Gilbert said. “Count of 3. 3,” he started as everyone readied their snowballs. “2,” he continued, as everyone eyed everyone in the circle, seeing who they will throw it to. Gilbert noticed Anne eyeing Gilbert but then deciding Moody was a better target. Gilbert also noticed Diana eyeing him. As was Ruby. I guess having no snowball to throw back at them made him an easy target. “1!” he yelled, as seven snowballs took flight. One hit him in the leg, another scraped his shoulder, but the most surprising one hit him in the side. He turned to find a grinning Anne without a snowball. Smiling, Gilbert went to make one himself to get her back.
“Hey, 30 seconds!” Anne objected.
“You said I didn’t need to!” Gilbert objected.
“So what?” Anne said, throwing another snowball at Gilbert. Gilbert tried to swerve or block with his body the best he could but it still hit his thigh. Smiling, he ran away but Anne gave chase.
They ran through the forest, Anne aiming as Gilbert tried to doge the best he could. Anne had pretty good aim, but Gilbert was fast and Anne ended up hitting a few trees. Eventually, Gilbert got tired and hid behind a tree. Anne came over and stood on the opposite side of the tree. They ducked on either side, trying to avoid each other. They both collapsed, leaning on the tree for support.
“Where do you think everyone else went?” Anne asked.
“Couldn’t keep up?” Gilbert suggested.
“Probably,” Anne agreed, closing her eyes breathing deeply so she could catch her breath.
“You know, I think my 30 seconds are up,” Gilbert said.
“Yeah? So?” Anne said, still with her eyes close, leaning against the tree.
“So?” Gilbert’s voice was a lot closer now, and Anne looked up to see Gilbert standing over her with a snowball. “So, look out!”
Anne ducked and ran away as the snowball hit the place where her head was. They continued to run through the forest, chasing each other instead of just Anne chasing Gilbert. Anne would be running one minute and running after Gilbert the next. It was a give and take, a shared relationship, and it was beautiful. Anne doubted either of them were running at full speed, wanting to stay in this game forever and not burn out too quickly.
Eventually, they made their way out of the forest and back to the field where Anne yelled at Diana. Gilbert was getting worn out, Anne was fast and had excellent endurance. He wondered how she would do at track and field that summer.
Anne noticed Gilbert wasn’t throwing as far as before. Was he getting tired? Already? She observed him carefully, like a lion about to take down her prey. She saw her chance when he lost his hat in the snow and had to bend die and pick it up. He was distracted and she took full advantage. She ran forward with a sudden burst of speed and tackled him. She took him down like he was made of straw.
He lay on his back in the snow as Anne sat on top of him. She held down his arm so he couldn’t get out. He smiled up at her, kinda enjoying this angle.
“Gotcha,” she whispered playfully, leaning down till they were nose to nose. She liked her place, mounted on him like a horse and he enjoyed it too, he couldn’t stop his smile. That kinda goofy but mostly cute smile that went with his curls.
“It appears you have,” Gilbert admitted happily. “Now, what must I give you to get out?” Maybe a kiss, Gilbert thought to himself.
I would really enjoy a kiss, Anne thought. “You have to admit that I’m better than you in every conceivable way,” Anne said instead.
“I have no problem admitting what is already true,” Gilbert said, causing Anne to throw her head back laughing and let go off Gilbert’s arms. “Are you sure you don’t want something a bit harder to give up?” He was hinting towards the kiss.
Anne crossed her arms. “Well, there is one thing I want from you,” she said flirtatiously, leaning down again with one hand on his chest.
“Yeah?” Gilbert asked flirtatiously, encouraging her.
“It’s a pretty big thing,” Anne admitted.
“What is it?” Gilbert wanted her to say a kiss so much.
Anne opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, someone yelled “Anne! What are you doing!”
Anne sat bolt upright. “Marilla!” she exclaimed, dismounting from Gilbert and standing up straight. Gilbert followed her lead, and saw Marilla and Rachel Lynde observing the two of them.
“What are you doing with that boy?” Marilla asked again.
“I believe that’s the young Gilbert Blyth,” Rachel added.
“I know that,” Marilla told her friend, “I want to know what my foster daughter was doing straddling him like they are on Game of Thrones.”
“We were just playing,” Anne said, walking over to them so Marilla didn’t have to shout so loud. Gilbert followed her lead.
“What game? Seven minutes in heaven?” Marilla asked.
Gilbert wanted to point out that seven minutes in heaven was usually in a closet, but thought it better to hold his tongue.
“It was a snowball fight, I just won,” Anne told her.
“That is not dignified,” Marilla said. “It is not how ladies are meant to behave.”
“It really was nothing,” Anne insisted. “We were just playing around.”
“You were straddling him!” Marilla retorted.
“I actually enjoyed it,” Gilbert said. It didn’t help the situation and Anne stepped on his toes.
Marilla rolled her eyes at how blasphemous her daughter was being right now. “We will talk about this later at home,” Marilla said through pursed lips. Rachel eyed the two of them, smiling. Not quiet a Diana smile, but a more dignified version. She wondered how many people she would tell, she was the Avonlea queen of gossip. Hopefully she would keep the secret for as long as she could for Marilla’s sake, but that might only be 2 days or so. Marilla and Rachel walked away, going wherever they were going before they were interrupted by Anne and Gilbert. Gilbert observed Anne as she observed Marilla walk away. When Marilla was out of eyesight, Anne let out a huge sigh. She had been holding her breath. Now she looked down sadly and walked back to the forest, lost in thought.
“Y’know it could have been worst,” Gilbert said.
“How?” Anne asked. “I’m genuinely asking, that is not a rhetorical question. Who could it have possibly been any worst?”
Gilbert hadn’t actually come up with a reason when he said that. He thought for a moment. “They could have arrived after you asked me to kissed you,” Gilbert suggested.
Anne laughed at that. “I was not going to ask you to kiss me,” Anne insisted.
“Then what, pray tell, was I going to do to get out?” Gilbert asked.
Anne was totally going to ask him to kiss her, so she quickly scrambled for something else to make him do. “I was going to make you promise to shovel my driveway.”
“Damn, is that an innuendo?” Gilbert joked.
“No!” Anne insisted, blushing. “I will have to shovel the driveway tonight and it’s easier to do it with a partner.”
“Well in that case, I’d be happy to help,” Gilbert offered.
“No, I let you go, any favour you might have done for me is null and void,” Anne told him.
“I’d be happy to help,” Gilbert insisted.
“No, don’t,” Anne insisted. “You’ve already done a lot for me.”
“Like what?” Gilbert asked.
“Like coming over every Wednesday. I really appreciated it.”
They reached the edge of the forest and stopped. They turned and looked over at each other, long and deeply. They felt like they could stand like that forever, just looking at each other. Gilbert wondered if he should kiss her. He wanted to, but he didn’t want to scare her away like Diana told him he would if he moved too quickly. So he just stared at her, looking down at her lips, wanting them to be around his.
While all this was happening, Diana and Ruby were sneaking up on the edge of the cliff. No one had seen Anne or Gilbert since they started the game. Charlie had insisted they were somewhere making out, Ruby insisted Anne would never do that. Ruby and Diana wanted to go off and find them, Charlie didn’t care enough and wanted to keep playing the game. So there they were, stumbling upon Gilbert and Anne. They weren’t making out, they were just staring at each other. Gilbert had his back to them, but if his face was anything like Anne’s it was full of love and caring. Ruby was going to go over, but Diana had a better idea. In theme with that afternoon, she made a snowball. She sent it over to Gilbert and it hit him in the back causing him to trip forward, right onto Anne’s lips.
Diana and Ruby stared in shock. Anne was in shock too. When she came to her senses she pushed Gilbert away. He fell down onto his but.
“I’m… I’m not. I didn’t-” he tried to say, but Anne wouldn’t hear it.
“HOW DARE YOU, GILBERT BLYTHE!” Anne positively screeched. “I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO OFFENDED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!”
Diana and Ruby ran over to Anne, trying to calm her down.
“DIANA!” Anne yelled as soon as she saw her friend. “YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE GRAVE INJUSTICE COMMITTED AGAINST ME BY THIS HORRIBLE, SLIPPERY, MANIPULATIVE SNAKE!”
“Anne, it wasn’t him,” Diana tried to calm her down.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” Anne asked, still yelling.
“I threw a snowball and it hit him in the back, pushing him onto you,” Diana explained. “It wasn’t his fault at all.”
“IT WASN’T HIS… It wasn’t his fault?” Anne was mystified. “What do you mean?”
“It was my fault,” Diana explained.
Anne’s yelling had started to draw the other players from the woods. They stared at the odd scene before them.
“Oh,” Anne said. She paused for a moment, her mind racing. She thought about the seconds right as he fell on her lips. She thought about how happy she was that he actually wanted to kiss her, actually wanted to have her. Then her mind went back to Marilla and how horrible it would be to be found like this. She would be cast out of her family and ostracized by the town. She couldn’t live with that. She pushed him away, she had to. Now, he might not have wanted her after all. She didn’t know how to deal with this. She looked over at Gilbert, sitting in the snow. He looked up at her like… She didn’t know how to describe it. Like he worshiped her. Like he was disappointed by her. Like he couldn’t believe what was happening. It was too much, she looked away.
“I’m sorry Gil,” she said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“Anne,” he started to get up but she wouldn’t have it. She ran back to school, her feet flying on the snowy ground. She ran all the way up to the class where she slammed the door behind her. There was no one else in the room, and the thought of finally being alone over took her. She broke down crying, her back against the door.
She had so many questions. Was that her first kiss? Did it count if it was for a second and by accident? Did Gilbert count it as his first kiss? He probably didn’t he probably kissed before. He looks like the kind of guy who kissed girls before. Did he even count her as a kiss? Was she just another notch on his belt? An accidental notch, but still. How was she supposed to look him in the eye now? She had stopped crying so she went back to her desk. She put her coat on the back of her chair and took off her mittens, hat, and scarf. Gilbert’s scarf. She held it up to her nose and took a deep sniff. It still smelled like him. She broke down again, using her sleeve as a kneeled because she didn’t want to ruin Gilbert’s precious scarf. She wiped the tears away, but knew her eyes were red. She went through Diana’s bag, looking for a mirror that she could use. She couldn’t find any so she went outside to use the washroom.
She stared at herself in the mirror. Since she came to Avonlea, she cared less about how she looked. It way seem counter-intuative, but it was the truth. As a busker, they only gave money to the most beautiful girls, so you were always very conscious of your appearance. Now, Anne noticed that she had fewer freckles than normal. It was the winter, so it was normal. Her freckles came out in the sun, so Anne was the most freckly in the summer. Anne liked the winter because of this, but preferred the summer weather. She stared at her reflection some more, analyzing every inch of her face. She frowned, unhappy with her appearance. It seemed the longer she stared at herself, the more unhappy she became. She looked away, wondering how she could have ever thought Gilbert, or anyone for that matter, could want to kiss her with a face like that.
Anne made her way back to the class and took her seat, still alone. She got Jane Austen’s book out of her bag and emerged herself in Elizabeth Bennet’s and Mr. Darcy’s romance instead of her own problems. Mr. Phillips came in ten minutes before class was supposed to start. He looked around the empty room.
“Where is everyone?” Mr. Phillips asked.
“Snowball fight in the forest nearby,” Anne explained. “At least my friends. Billy and the others, I don’t know.”
“They know you’re here this time, right?” Mr. Phillips wondered, remembering the last time Anne was the only one in the class.
“Yes,” Anne said. “At least, I’m pretty sure.”
Mr. Phillips looked at her quizzically, then he opened his desk drawer and took out a book of his own. The two read in silence. Anne kept an eye on the clock. At around five minutes left before class was supposed to start, Billy and the rest of his gang came in. Anne eyed the clock nervously. She didn’t want Diana or anyone else to be late because of her. Around 2 minutes left, everyone else came in. They had smiles on their faces like they enjoyed the rest of the snowball fight, but glanced nervously at Anne, not wanting to upset her.
Gilbert came in last, he was dragging his heels the entire way. When he caught sight of Anne, he knew why. She was still hurt from their… whatever it was. Was it a kiss? He wanted it to be a kiss because he wanted to kiss Anne, but he didn’t want their first kiss to be this distressing for Anne.
Gilbert paused there, at the front of the class. He looked down at Anne sitting at her desk, looking down at her book trying not to think about the boy looking down at her. The entire class held it’s breath, watching these two. Even Mr. Phillips and Billy’s gang who didn’t even get what was going on watched intensely.
Eventually, Anne looked up. She stared at Gilbert and he stared back.
“Anne,” he started.
“Stop it,” Anne said abruptly, looking down again. “Just… go take your seat. Forget… Forget everything.”
“I don’t want to forget,” Gilbert admitted. “Not if it was your first-”
“It wasn’t” Anne lied. “And it wasn’t even a kiss. You tripped and I caught you. That’s it. Take your seat.”
“Anne,” Gilbert pleaded.
“Take. Your. Seat.” Anne spoke in measured words, afraid to show emotion.
“As you wish,” he said, taking his seat. He wondered if she got his Princess Bride reference. He also wondered who her first kiss was. Was it Cole? It was probably Cole.
Mr. Phillips went back to teaching about… something. No one was paying attention. Gilbert looked down at his phone.
Can you pass the phone to Anne?
Gilbert sent it to Diana, and waited as Diana texted him back.
No. It’s good to just give her some space.
Gilbert sighed. He wanted to run to her and apologize but if there was anything he learned from this whole ordeal, Diana was right. Anne needed her space. Moving too quickly was a death sentence.
I’ll stay away. Will you tell me the second I can talk to her again?
OK.
Thanks.
Gilbert turned back to Temple Run 2 and didn’t pay attention to Mr. Phillips. To be fair, Mr. Phillips gave up on even trying to teach the class and turned on a movie.
-
That afternoon, everyone exchanged presents in the last half hour of class. It was a yearly tradition that the teacher stopped teaching and let them exchange presents. Everyone got their presents from inside their backpacks. A few people actually had to bring second bags to hold all of them. You didn’t have to bring presents for the entire class, just your closest friends. Gilbert, Charlie, and Moody sat together and exchanged presents. He got a new Marvel t-shirt from Charlie and Moody gave him a book called “100 Ways to Get the Girl.” Gilbert looked at it quizzically.
“I thought…” Moody glanced over to where Anne was giving out her presents to all her friends. “I can get you something else.”
“No, it’s great,” Gilbert said. Moody and Charlie exchanged gifts then Gilbert distributed his. Charlie and Moody loved their gifts, and Gilbert glanced down at his bag. There were two more gifts. Anne’s and Diana’s. He didn’t know what to do with them and glanced back at Anne.
Anne looked well enough. She had a small pile of gifts around her and everyone was thanking her for their gifts. Well, everyone except Josie but not for the normal reasons. Josie was too busy reading Anne’s gift. Josie had a bunch of gift cards, Anne was the only one who actually gave her a physical gift.
Anne laughed at Ruby’s joke. She was basically back to her old self, Gilbert thought. Could he talk to her now? He got out his phone and texted Diana.
Can I talk to her now?
Diana looked at her phone, than nodded back at Gilbert. Gilbert took the two presents out of the bag, took a deep breath, and walked over.
“Hey,” he said. All the girls glanced over to him. Anne looked at him and the smile drained from her face. She didn’t look away, though, and Gilbert took that as a good sign. “I got gifts,” he announced. “Diana, a little birdie told me you would appreciate this.” Diana smiled as she opened a pearl necklace. “It’s like the one from Riverdale,” Gilbert told her.
“It’s lovely,” Diana said.
“And Anne?” Gilbert turned to her. “This is for you.” Anne carefully opened her present to reveal a beautiful, old, leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre. “I found it at this amazing old book store in Montague. I thought you’d love it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Anne said, staring down at it. She held it like it was a delicate bird, treasuring it.
“I’m glad you like it. It’s actually the first of three presents,” Gilbert told her. He worked up the courage before asking his next question. “Anne, can we talk?”
Anne took a deep breath. She knew she had to get this over with at some point, now seemed as good a time as any. “Yeah. OK. Do you want to talk in private?”
“No. I’m fine right here if you are.” Gilbert took a deep breath. “I actually have been thinking about this for a while so I’m sorry if it’s more of a monologue than a conversation. We’ve been doing this thing where we are friends, but there are also these moments of more. Like, we look into each other’s eyes and, I’m not sure if you feel this, but I feel like we could be more. Like we could be kissing, or dating, or in love. We could be so much more than what we are now. But those moments are confusing. They muddy the water so now I have a hard time thinking about you because I can’t stop thinking about the more moments. I think we should decide right now to stop. From this moment on, we are just friends, nothing more. Platonic friends, that’s it. What do you think?”
Anne thought about what he said. She did feel the more moments. She felt them, but she wanted them too. She liked them. She liked indulging in her brief fantasies. She also agreed that those moments were very confusing. Most of her fantasies were dedicated to impossibilities. Hogwarts, and time travel, and Cordelia took up most of her dreams and she enjoyed it because she knew it was impossible. Gilbert? Gilbert was a fantasy, a dream, but a dream grounded in reality. It was confusing. It was messy. She agreed, just being friends was a lot simpler. As much as she wanted her fantasy, it was as unlikely as dragons. She had to accept that. “You’re right,” she said. “We should just be friends.”
Gilbert extended his hand. “Friends,” he said, and they shook on it.
Gilbert wanted to go back to his seat, but Anne stopped him. “Wait,” she said. “I should give you this.” She reached into her bag and handed Gilbert a gift. “This is for you,” she said.
Gilbert opened it and it was a jigsaw puzzle. It was of crowded street in downtown Charlottetown.
“I remember that street,” Gilbert said. “I must have walked down it at some point.”
“It’s my street,” Anne told him. Gilbert looked at her, wanting more of an explanation. “It’s the street where I lived while I was on the street.”
Gilbert looked at her, understanding. The gift wasn’t just the puzzle, it was also the little bit of information about Anne’s past. Gilbert was entranced with Anne’s mysterious history.
“I have so many questions,” Gilbert said.
“You get one,” Anne informed him. “Normal rules.”
“Ok,” Gilbert thought hard. “I should really make a list of all my question so I’m more prepared next time. Ummm… When is your birthday?” Gilbert couldn’t think of a better solo question.
“I’m not answering that,” Anne said. “Pick a different question.”
Gilbert wanted to ask why he can’t know her birthday, but decided not to press it. For now, at least. “How did you pick this gift?” he asked instead.
“I knew I wanted to get you a jigsaw puzzle, but originally I had a landscape chosen. Then I saw that in the store yesterday and was just flooded with memories. I knew I had to get that one for you. It was much more… personal.”
“Thank you,” Gilbert said.
“Don’t mention it, friend,” Anne said, reminding Gilbert of their recent pledge to be just friends.
Gilbert nodded and went back to his seat, regretting his new just friends policy, but knowing it was for the best. He knew how torturous it was for her to be in this weird in-between. He would do anything for her, including promising to never be with her. He took himself off the market to ease her mind. He would stick to it, too. He wouldn’t let his heart go into his eyes, no matter how much it was bursting from his chest. He would hide his feelings, no matter how much it hurt.
All around the class, they were done trading presents. They were just talking now, and it was boring.
“Can we actually do something?” Josie asked, complaining. There was still half an hour left of class and nothing to do.
“Why not play a game?” Anne suggested.
“7-up?” Diana suggested.
“Not enough people,” Moody said. Their class was small. Gilbert’s friends, Anne’s group, Billy and his pals as well as a few others and that was about it. 15 people total. You needed at least 20 or so for 7-up so you needed to combine with the younger classes.
“What about Mafia?” Gilbert suggested.
“Yes! Dibs on God!” Ruby said.
“You were God last time,” Josie complained. “I want to be God.”
“Fine, you can be God,” Ruby conceded. “But make the murder stories actually interesting this time.”
They all got in a circle, sitting on chairs and desks and they extended their hands. Josie was in the centre, deciding on two Mafias, an Angle, and a Detective. They played the rest of the afternoon. Josie’s stories were a bit more interesting than normal, but still pretty bland. Then it was Ruby, who’s stories started interesting enough but then she got bored and made them really short. Then everyone wanted Anne to be in the centre. She had by far the best storytelling ability. This proved to be a disadvantage because as interesting as they were, Anne was only able to get through two before the bell rang. Anne was so enchanting, they had completely ignored the clock. While she was telling her story, Gilbert tried noticing the faces of his classmates. They were also enchanted with her. After the bell rang, a bunch of people went over to congratulate her, making both Gilbert and Anne smile. After everyone packed their bags, Anne left with Diana and for once Gilbert didn’t follow her with his eyes. Mostly because he’s already seen it a hundred times before, though he told himself it was because he didn’t see Anne that way. They were friends, he insisted, that’s how he’ll treat her.