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“Alright, class. I’ll be passing this hat around. Make sure you pick out one name and one name only. Don’t tell anyone else who you have, and you just need to buy a single present for that person and wrap it up. You have a week to bring it back to class and make sure the present has the receiver’s name on it.” Miss Stacey handed a hat to the front row and small pieces of paper with names began to be drawn.
“A secret Santa. Doesn’t it sound absolutely magical, Diana! Oh, I do hope that I get you!” Anne was practically bouncing in her seat.
The secret Santa was a welcome distraction from all of the Queens’s lessons that most of the class were taking. Something more festive for them all to focus on and Anne was definitely happy to welcome that distraction.
When the hat came to the two girls, Anne immediately handed it to Diana. “You can go first!”
Diana grinned at her friend before sticking her hand in the hat, “I hope I get you too, Anne! I wouldn’t even know what to get the likes of Josie Pye.” She whispered the last part and the two of them giggled.
After Diana had plucked out a piece of paper, Anne dove her hand in to pick out her own. She didn’t wait before opening up the folded piece and seeing the name sprawled across it.
Gilbert Blythe.
Her mouth dropped open as she saw the name. Out of everyone she could give a gift to… Gilbert Blythe. What was Anne meant to do with that? Of course, he was the better option compared to the likes of Josie Pye and Billy Andrews but still. She would much rather find a gift for Diana or Ruby, even Moody.
“Anne?” Diana tapped her shoulder, “Who did you get?”
Anne tried to stop her cheeks from burning. She didn’t know why she was embarrassed, it’s not as though she could control who’s name she was going to pick out. “Oh-uh, well we’re not allowed to say so- “
Thankfully Miss Stacey saved her as the hat ended up being passed back to the front of class. Anne scrunched up the piece of paper in her hand but that didn’t stop her from thinking about the new problem that has presented itself in her life. What in the world was she meant gift Gilbert Blythe?
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The next two days Anne had spent with that same question in the back of her mind. She considered herself quite the expert when it came to giving gifts. She’d never struggled in finding something for Marilia, Matthew, Diana or any of her other friends. Even Jerry had been easy to gift for this Christmas, she’d been embroidering some handkerchiefs for him so he could use them whilst he was at work.
Sighing, she grabbed the basket of plum puffs that Marilla had baked and started to make her way towards Gilbert’s house. Anne had instructions to drop these off without a detour, it was far too cold for her to go wandering and Marilla would not be sending out a search party for her if she wasn’t home by dinner.
Maybe she could try and coax an idea out of Gilbert. She would need to try and be subtle which even Anne had to admit wasn’t always her strong suit. But maybe she could get some kind of idea out of him. She would not allow him to be the better gift giver out of the two of them. She’d loved the dictionary he’d given her last year. Every time she saw it in her room it made her smile as she thought about that moment. But Anne also knew that Gilbert had put a lot of thought into the gift. It had shown that he knew her well, knew the type of things she would like. And that was all well and good and she was grateful for the gift but this was a chance for her to prove that she was the better gift giver. That she knew him just as well as he knew her.
They’d grown closer over the past few months and Anne would’ve like to think that she’d gotten to know a lot more about him. But this was her chance to really show that she did know him. To show that they really did have a friendship. She couldn’t pinpoint why she cared so much. They weren’t friends like her and Diana were. Not bosom friends that would tell each other everything. But Gilbert understood her in a way that no one else seemed to. He would tease her, wind her up and challenge her and as much as Anne pretended that she hated it, she loved every moment.
Before she knew it, Anne was at the Blythe/Lacroix house and knocking on the door. It swung open to show Bash and Anne couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. She had been hoping Gilbert would be there so she could talk to him. Anne didn’t particularly want to ask Bash where he was, but she also knew that she needed to try and figure out her gift soon because there were only five days left.
“Queen Anne, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
Anne grinned at him before holding up the basket of plum puffs, “Marilla sent me with a delivery. Some of her plum puffs for you all.”
“Ah, she spoils us but who am I to complain? Please come in, you’re going to freeze out there.”
“Oh I really shouldn’t,” Anne began to argue. “Marilla said I need to be home before dinner.”
Bash tutted and shook his head, ushering her in. “I promise I won’t keep you too long but really, I’m sure Dele would love to see her Auntie Anne.”
There was no way that Anne could say no to baby Delphine, so Anne ended up stepping foot into the considerably warmer home. Mary and Delphine were sat at the table, the little one being bounced up and down on her mum’s lap.
“Anne! It’s so good to see you!”
As they exchanged pleasantries, Anne placed a kiss on Delphine’s cheek and sat down opposite Mary. She did a quick glance around and couldn’t see or hear Gilbert. Anne tried to push down the feeling of disappointment, trying to convince herself that she the only reason for her feelings was because she still didn’t have a clue about his gift.
“Is everything okay, Anne?” Mary asked, slightly concerned that the redhaired girl wasn’t being as chatty as usual.
“Hm?” Anne’s head snapped back to looking at the couple in front of her. “Oh, I, uh, was actually hoping that the two of you might be able to help me with something.”
“Of course, we’ll do whatever we can. What do you need help with?”
Anne tried to let Mary’s soothing tone calm her nerves. This was just for school anyway. That was the only reason she was getting Gilbert a present.
“So, school’s doing this thing called a Secret Santa…”
“Ah yes! Blythe mentioned something about that,” Bash interrupted but quickly shut up as Mary glared at him.
“Right, and we had to pick random names out of a hat. And, well, I picked out Gilbert’s name,” Anne tried to ignore the smirk on Bash’s face. “I wasn’t really sure what to give him and I didn’t know if you both had any ideas?”
Mary thought for a moment, “Honestly, I think you’re best to ask Bash about this, he’s known Gilbert a lot longer than I have and probably knows him better than I do. I’m just going to pop this little one down for a nap and let the two of you talk.” She pushed her chair back, holding dozing Dele in her arms and left the room.
“So, you’re looking for a present to impress Blythe, Queen Anne?” He arched an eyebrow, smirk still etched upon his face.
Anne spluttered as she tried to get her words out, “I’m not trying to impress him!” She quickly said when she had managed to string a sentence together. “It’s just I wanted to make sure I was going to give him something that he would actually like, and he wouldn’t even know it was from me anyway.”
Now, that just wouldn’t do. Bash knew that his moke of a friend was in love with Anne ever since he had mentioned the fiery redhead on the ship. After meeting Anne, Bash was pretty sure that she felt the same way but both were too blind and stubborn to admit their feelings or see beyond their noses. No, he needed to come up with an idea that would lead Gilbert to thinking that Anne was the only person who could have given him something like that and he had the perfect idea.
“Didn’t you say that Matthew was starting to clean up some old, empty frames that he’d found in Green Gables?”
Anne nodded, slightly confused about where this conversation was going. “Yes, he’s loving it so far. I guess it’s something that isn’t farm work for him to focus on.”
“Perfect, just give me a second.” Bash started to rummage through some drawers before finally finding what he was looking for between pages of a book. “Aha!”
He sat back down, grinning at Anne. “There were some portraits taken of Gilbert’s father and mother. He showed me them when we first got here.” Bash carefully placed the black and white portraits on the table, facing them towards Anne. “I’ve told him to keep them out, they’re as much a part of this family as anyone living under this roof but he said that he doesn’t want them to get damaged since they aren’t framed. Maybe you can see if Matthew has two frames that might fit them.”
“Oh,” Anne’s eyes glistened with tears and she gently picked up both portraits. She could see features of both his mother and father in Gilbert. “I… if he opens them in school, I don’t want him to be upset.”
“Maybe write note for him, tell him not to open it until he’s out of school or something like that. I’m sure you can come up with something.”
Anne bit her lip thinking before slowly nodding and grinning at Bash. “This is perfect, thank you so much, Bash!” She moved her seat and around the table, giving him a hug.
“Glad to be of service! Here, put them in the book so you can take them home. I’m sure, Blythe isn’t going to miss them for a couple of days.”
It wasn’t long after that Anne ended up leaving, still not seeing Gilbert. Now that she knew what to give him, she didn’t really need to see him, but she still felt disappointed. There was no way she could stick around and wait for him. One, she knew that Bash and Mary would probably find it od if she did and two, Marilla would most definitely kill her for being late.
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The next few days had left Anne eagerly anticipating the day where they would finally be bringing in their Secret Santa gifts to school. Matthew had been extremely helpful and found two matching frames that perfectly fitted the Blythe portraits. He’d cleaned and tidied the frames up and even let Anne help, which wasn’t something she was usually allowed to do. After helping her carefully put the portraits into the frame, Anne had wrapped them up together, tying the package with some string. She made sure that Gilbert’s name was easy to read before attaching a small note to the package, telling him to open it when he was on his own.
As she entered the school on the Secret Santa deadline, Anne started to feel a little nervous. She placed her present in the sack at the front of, Miss Stacey would place them all under the tree when everyone got in. Anne began to worry about whether Gilbert would appreciate the present or whether it would just cause him more pain. It was too late now though, more people had begun to enter the classroom and deposit their presents and there was no reversing what she had done. All Anne could do was hope that Gilbert would appreciate the present.
Just before lunch, Miss Stacey had invited the class to go to the tree and find the present with their names on it. There was a mad scramble as everyone rushed up, nearly knocking the tree over. Anne hung back a little, her nerves having not gone away from earlier in the morning.
“What’s wrong, Anne? Worried that no one bothered to get you anything?” Josie sneered as she turned back after collecting her present.
“I’m surprised to see that you were so desperate to get yours, Josie, seeing as your parents seem to get you everything you want. Some people just have a little more decorum about them.” Diana’s voice came from behind Anne as she linked arms with her bosom friend.
Everyone had decided to open their presents during lunch. Giving them more time to question who had gotten who. Anne had craned her neck trying to find where Gilbert was as she sat in a circle with the girls, but she wasn’t able to find him.
“Anne, aren’t you going to open your present?” Diana asked, tapping her on the arm.
She pulled her attention away for the time being, focusing on her friends and the wrapped present in front of her. Anne didn’t need to have three guesses to figure out who’d gifted her the three floral hair clips. She threw her arms around Diana with the biggest grin.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to do them justice, Diana. These deserve much better than my awful red hair.”
“Don’t be silly, Anne. Their beauty is only going to enhance when you wear them, I’m sure of it.”
When lunch was over, Anne kept one eye out for Gilbert entering the classroom from her seat. When he did eventually walk in, Anne couldn’t see any difference in him. He didn’t seem upset or overly happy. Just usual Gilbert and Anne wasn’t quite sure if that was a good thing or not. She’d noticed throughout their afternoon classes though that he was noticeably quieter and that did make Anne worry.
She didn’t see him when she grabbed her things before leaving either and she’d looked around for him a little while. It felt like a stone had settled in the bottom of her stomach.
He must have hated it. Or it brought up too many sad memories and he wished he hadn’t seen them. Or he thinks whoever gifted them to him is some creepy stalker who managed to break into his house and steal the portraits.
Anne had started to mutter through all the different things she thought Gilbert had running through his mind as she made her way home. She was so lost in her own thought that she hadn’t heard her name being called.
“Anne!” Gilbert jogged to catch up with her and smiled as she jumped a little. “I was calling you for a little while, is everything okay?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just got lost in my thoughts, Marilla is always yelling at me about it. Are you okay?” She asked him tentatively.
“Yeah, everything’s good, I just wanted to say thank you.”
“For?” Anne asked, furrowing her brow.
“The present for Secret Santa.”
Anne’s mouth dropped open, “H-How did you know…?”
Gilbert grinned at her, “I could tell that it was your handwriting, Anne. I don’t think there’s anyone in this class that has better penmanship. But really thank you so much for the present, it means a lot.”
Anne stopped and looked up at him. “Did you really like them? I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories, but it might be nice for you to be able to have them up somewhere in the house or in your room, maybe? And because they’re framed you don’t need to worry about them being damaged.” She began to babble, unable to stop herself.
“Anne, really,” Gilbert placed a hand on her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It really is the perfect gift and I’m so glad that you were the one to give it to me.”
The stone that Anne had felt in her stomach felt like it had turn to butterflies. The place Gilbert had placed his hand felt like it was buzzing, and she couldn’t make it stop. All she was able to do for a second was just smile up at him.
“Would you mind if I walk you home?” Gilbert asked a little bashfully. He didn’t want to ruin this moment between them, but he also didn’t want to end the time that he had with her.
Anne bit her lip for a second, contemplating his offer. If Ruby or Josie ever found out, then she would never hear the end of it. That used to be a big enough deterrent for her but lately, she found that not even that was enough to pull her away from Gilbert.
“Yeah, I’d like that.” And that was the first time that Anne was able to be fully honest about any semblance of feelings she had for Gilbert Blythe.
And as they walked to Green Gables, their hands more than accidentally brushing each other’s, Gilbert thought that maybe this red headed girl, who had given him the best Christmas present, might just give him a chance. Someday.