Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Gilbert Blythe. Late again?”

He met Mary’s disapproving gaze with a smile, then made a show of looking at the clock on the wall as if he didn’t hear the final bell chime when he was still a block away from school. He could have been on time if he had walked a little faster and cut across the grounds but he hadn’t felt like it.

“What do you mean ‘again,’ Ms. Hanford? It’s the first day of school.”

The woman’s features softened into a loving smile and she responded, “Oh, honey, you know I tease. And how many times do I need to tell you to call me Mary?”

“Sorry. I can’t help it. It just feels weird when we’re in school.”

She raised her eyebrows at him and said, “You have no trouble calling Constance by her first name.”

“Yeah, that’s because she threatened to put glue on my mouthpiece.”

Mary laughed. “Say what you want about her methods, the band has never sounded better.”

“I’m saying nothing about her methods, just trying to stay on her good side.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

Most of the students at Avonlea High School didn’t know Mary very well since she wasn’t a teacher and few of them ever stepped foot in the office, but she was one of Gilbert’s favorite people. Not just one of his favorite people at school, but one of his favorite people in general. Strict but kind, and too generous for her own good, Mary lived with her son in a small but well-kept apartment building down the street from Gilbert and his dad.

She looked up at him from her chair with a mixture of pride and concern and continued, “I know that you’ve already been accepted to the university but try not to slack off too much this year, alright? We still need to send along all your records when you graduate and I don’t want them to have any reason whatsoever to rethink your admission.”

“Could they do that just for being late a few times?” Gilbert had no intention of letting his grades slip, but he knew that there were going to be times when being late or missing an entire day would be unavoidable.

“In my experience, they can do pretty much whatever they’d like,” she said, rolling her eyes as she handed him a clipboard so he could sign in. “So, please, watch yourself, Gilbert. As much as I love having you around, especially with how much you help babysit, it’s hardly justification to keep you home from college.”

“Pretty soon Elijah won’t even need a babysitter though,” he said. “You’ll be fine.”

“Oh boy, don’t remind me. Makes me feel old. And don’t you dare bring up how young I was when I had him either. People think that it helps. I promise it does not.”

Gilbert laughed uncomfortably. He didn’t know how old she was and had never done the math, but Mary didn’t look all that much older than he was and had mentioned not attending much high school in the traditional sense. He assumed Elijah was the reason.

“How’s your dad doing?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts and, to his relief, changing the subject entirely.

He shrugged. “Not great. That’s kind of why I’m late. I wanted to stay longer so I could help him more, but you know how he is.”

“No man alive prouder than John Blythe.”

“Don’t I know it,” he sighed as he handed the clipboard back to her after filling out his information. “Plus, he is so crazy when it comes to me missing school. Like I have ever had any trouble.”

“He just wants what’s best for you. You can’t blame him for that.”

“I know. I’m just mad that he won’t let me help him.”

“I thought you had a nurse to help out at home. What happened with that?”

“We had one over the summer but she moved or something so there has been a bit of a gap while we wait for the next one to arrive. I think she should be here by the end of the week though so that’ll be really good.”

“I’m glad to hear it. For both your sakes. And you know how much he appreciates your help; he just wants you at school. He lets you do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t interfere with your education.”

“Yeah, I know, and I get it, but it’s the first day. Nothing is going to happen!”

Mary laughed. “You don’t know that. Could be the most important day of your life.”

“Sure,” he laughed, though he couldn’t imagine that being possible while at school in Avonlea. “It’s been the same first day of school for twelve years now, but hey, who’s to say this won’t be lucky thirteen?”

“Well, you’re starting out with some optimism. See? Things are changing already.” There was something unusual in the tone of her voice that Gilbert wasn’t familiar with. If he had to label it, he would call it a threatening tease. He didn’t love it. Then she smiled and whispered, “I think today will be full of surprises.”

Gilbert heard a door open and shut behind him, then a warm, cheerful voice exclaimed, “Mr. Blythe!”

Without looking, he knew it was coming from Rachel Lynde, the principal of the school. He didn’t like her as much as he liked Mary but couldn’t deny that she was a fantastic principal; friendly enough to be approachable but scary enough that you wanted to avoid getting into trouble with her at all costs. Not that her punishments were particularly bad, it’s just that she was like a mother hen. She cared for each and every student as if they were her own; her pride was palpable with the scholars’ achievements and she shared their frustration when they were struggling. This, however, also meant that the worst thing to hear from her mouth was, ‘I’m just disappointed, that’s all.’

That was what made the students in Avonlea strive to avoid trouble. Well, most of them anyway. It was never the threat of detention; it was the despondent look on Rachel’s face when you failed to live up to her expectations. As far as high school leadership went, perhaps there was an unconventional amount of psychological warfare involved, but Avonlea had the highest graduation rate in the province so it was hard to fault her strategy too much.

Despite Gilbert’s tardiness, she smiled brightly at him and said, “It’s so good to see you! Even if you are late.” She looked at her watch and continued, “Wow, very late. Let’s try to improve that if we can, what do you say?”

“I’ll do my best, Principal Lynde.”

“Good man. How is your father?”

“Not great today, hopefully tomorrow will be better.”

“That’s the spirit. And, quite frankly, this is a good day to be late if I’m being entirely honest. It’s not like you’ll miss much.”

Gilbert looked at Mary and mouthed, “I told you.”

Mary shook her head with a silent laugh.

“We have a new student joining us,” Rachel stated excitedly as she walked over to the printer behind Mary’s desk.

“A new what?” He was certain that phrase had never been said in that school. It was incomprehensible.

Gilbert looked at Mary hoping that she would make sense of it all and offer a translation of the statement that would make sense. Instead, she smugly said, “I do believe it is I who told you.”

After picking up a sheet of paper and analyzing it, Principal Lynde continued, “She’s a smarty like you. Let me see your schedule?”

Gilbert dug the card out of his pocket and handed it to the principal, still shocked by the revelation that there was actually a new student at their school and frankly, wondering who the hell would move to Avonlea.

“Just as I figured. Same schedule,” she concluded, clicking her tongue with satisfaction.

“Every class?”

“Well, it’s a small school with limited advanced classes; what do you expect? And, since you’re here, do you mind walking with her? It’ll give her one less thing to worry about on her first day.”

“You just said she was smart. I’m sure she can find her way.”

“Gilbert Blythe, be a gentleman,” she demanded.

“Sure?”

“Thank you, Gilbert.”

He waited and looked around awkwardly while Rachel discussed something with Mary. There was no new student to be seen and he started to think that maybe it had been an incredibly strange and elaborate hoax. When there was a break in their conversation, he leaned over the reception desk and tentatively asked, “So, um, am I supposed to wait? Is she coming?”

The door to Rachel’s office suddenly opened and he turned around just in time to see a girl enter the room.

“Sorry. That took a minute to get my bag packed up again,” she explained.

“No need to apologize,” Rachel said. “I told you to take your time and I think you’ll find I appreciate it when my students listen to me. Your classmate here has offered to walk with you to your first class.”

Gilbert watched the girl as she eyed him up and down, obviously analyzing him. He instantly felt self-conscious, which wasn’t something he was used to, and very quickly determined that he hated it. When she was done, she turned back to the principal and said, “Thank you for offering, but I think that I can manage on my own.”

“I don’t doubt that, but you’re going to the same place so you may as well walk together.” The two students stared back at her, then looked at each other, yet they remained unmoving until Rachel sighed dramatically and added, “So, what are you waiting for? Do that. Now. Get to class!”

They shuffled out of the office and started walking together in silence. Gilbert felt like a rug had been pulled out from under him when it was revealed that there was a new student in their class and he had yet to recover from the blow. And if he thought he had been uncomfortable under the new girl’s appraising gaze, it was nothing compared to what he was experiencing while walking down the hall with her. With every step he took, his chest tightened and it got harder to breathe. It was another new feeling and the second one that day that he didn’t care for at all. He hoped he was having a heart attack, but, though he was temporarily stunned, he wasn’t stupid. He knew what the problem was and reluctantly admitted that the reason was much sillier yet impossible to ignore: the new girl was cute.

Her hair was the first thing he noticed. It was red. Like Jessica Rabbit’s. So really, it was orange. That always bothered him, how it was called red hair but it rarely actually looked red. It was well known that Jessica wore a red dress and her hair was nowhere near the same color. Gilbert never understood why this didn’t bother more people. He brought the issue up with his dad when he was ten but John simply said that no one was looking at her hair. Gilbert didn’t get it at the time and once he figured it out, he never brought the topic up again, but it still bothered him. Color identification was one of the first things taught to children and he refused to play into such obvious ignorance of reality. He didn’t care that her birth certificate probably said red, he was going to refer to it properly.

Her orange hair was long, falling nearly to her waist, and hung in two braids, one on each side of her head. He didn’t dare look directly at her, but out of the corner of his eye he could see them swing slightly from side to side as she confidently walked down the hall. He thought a new student would be nervous, but if she was, he couldn’t tell. He had never seen someone so intently set on an unknown destination. He admired her for it but couldn’t help feeling like she would be disappointed with what the small school had to offer her, especially if she was as smart as Rachel made her out to be.

She was tall; not as tall as he was, but taller than most of the other girls in their class were if he was remembering correctly, and her posture indicated that she didn’t mind her height. For the first day of school, she had chosen a small T-shirt that didn’t quite meet the top of her jean skirt and chucks that looked like they had some sort of decoration on them. He desperately wanted to see what it was but he was too worried about every little thing he was doing and not doing and too busy trying to remember to breathe that he didn’t dare try to add another task and attempt to figure out what adorned the black canvas at that time.

So, fine, she was cute. But there were plenty of cute girls in the world. In fact, when Gilbert thought about it, he determined they seemed to be everywhere. The trouble with this new girl was that she wasn’t just cute. She was really, really cute. He knew that most people wouldn’t call her hot, but she was stunning in her own way. He had never seen anyone like her. And apparently, she was smart as well, with the added benefit of being someone who didn’t know that he chickened out when he was dared to kiss Ruby the previous year or that his pants fell down during the Christmas program in third grade. Or that he almost passed out when they were dissecting frogs in ninth or threw up after seeing the STD slides in tenth.

He shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts before they continued running away with him. He didn’t need any additional challenges; putting one foot in front of another was proving difficult enough.

Gilbert took a deep breath and tried to simply be grateful to have a clean slate for a change but then he discovered a downside to the situation: she didn’t know him. At all.

She didn’t know that he was smart or funny or any positive thing about him. He searched and searched for another quality… surely there had to be at least three good things about him, but nothing came to mind and it was a devastating blow to his already faltering confidence.

The worst part about it all was that he desperately wanted to tell her about them. To tell her about him. And he wanted her to be impressed.

He felt his palms start to sweat at the realization. A third new and awful experience to add to the list. Mary was right. It was a surprising day. It was about as terrifying as surprising could be, but it was definitely surprising.

Gilbert had very little experience with meeting new people his age, especially beautiful girls, so he wasn’t familiar with that feeling, that hesitation and nervousness just to begin a simple conversation. There had never been anyone new in their school. People moved to the city from Avonlea; they didn’t move to Avonlea.

And it was there, in that terrifying moment, that Gilbert realized he didn’t actually know how to talk to girls while simultaneously realizing that they had been walking together in silence for far too long. It was a really dreadful combination.

Say something. Anything at all, loser, he said to himself. No two people have ever gone this long without talking. She’s going to think you’re an idiot. She’s just a person. Ask her something. Anything. Just prove that you know how to speak.

He finally cleared his throat and managed to say, “Um… so… have you been in town long? Do you know anyone here?”

“I moved up here in July. I live next to Diana. Diana Barry? We’ve gotten pretty close and she introduced me to some of the other girls about a week ago. I think it was Ruby, Tillie, Jess and Janie. Do you know them?”

He was really annoyed that she didn’t seem to be experiencing even a fraction of the anxiety he was. Her answer was definitive, informative and unwavering, although the information was slightly incorrect. Then he tried to convince himself that if she wasn’t nervous, there was certainly no reason for him to be. He tried to emulate her tone and asked, “Do you mean Jane and Josie?”

“Maybe? Sorry, I can’t remember. There’s been a lot to adjust to.”

“I can imagine. And yeah, I know them.” He laughed at the idea of not knowing someone in the small town, and added, “I know everyone.”

“That’s a little cocky, don’t you think?”

“No. It’s the truth. It’s a small school in a small town. Everyone knows everyone. Even if you don’t want to. There are only about fifty people in our class.”

“Wow. That is really small,” she said, suddenly quieter.

Gilbert saw that the topic made her uncomfortable. He thought it would put him more at ease to see her starting to look as uneasy as he felt, but he quickly discovered that he hated seeing her shrink in on herself more than he hated his own discomfort so he changed the subject. “If you live next to Diana then you live near me too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m in the stone house on the corner next door to her.”

“Oh! Cool! I’m… um… I’m living with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The white house with green gables? Do you know them?”

He laughed and said, “Yeah. I know-”

“You know everyone,” she interrupted, then sighed. “Right. Got it. This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Are you from the city?”

“You could say that.”

“But would you?” he asked, as a reflex. He didn’t know why he challenged her answer, but her reply seemed odd to him. She glanced sideways at him and offered what Gilbert could only identify as a smirk but she didn’t say anything. Maybe it was only in his imagination, but it felt like his response had impressed her. His confidence grew just a little and he asked, “Why are you staying with the Cuthberts?”

“That’s not any of your business.”

He had no idea how to respond to her new dismissive tone and the confidence he had gained disappeared. He had no idea how to continue the conversation, but then she continued, friendlier, on a different topic, “I was outside a lot this summer. Why didn’t I see you around?”

“And that’s not any of yours,” he said, not wanting to explain his absence. “Sorry. It’s a long story.”

“Good talk then.” They continued on in silence until they reached the stairs. When they started climbing Anne asked, “Why does it matter why I live with the Cuthberts?”

“I guess it doesn’t. You’re right, it’s none of my business, I just can’t help being curious. I know them pretty well and they’ve never mentioned having any extended family or anything so I’m a little surprised to see a seventeen-year-old girl randomly appear in their lives.”

“Yeah, you and me both,” she muttered and then corrected him, “and FYI, I’m sixteen. I skipped kindergarten.”

“Oh, so when Principal Lynde said you were smart it’s not, like, normal smart it’s more like-”

“It’s like I learned to read and write a little early, grew up in a house with two teachers and I’m dedicated,” she explained. “That’s all. Nothing to make a fuss about. Hardly worth mentioning.”

“If you say so,” he said, though he got the impression that she was grossly underplaying her intelligence and that it was very worth mentioning.

“I do, so please don’t.”

“But you brought it up.”

“Yeah. I have a tendency to correct things that are wrong. Better get used to it.”

He shook his head, surprised by the comment, yet annoyingly intrigued. “Starting at a new school, a year younger than everyone else, for your last year of high school? That’s got to be rough.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” she said quietly, then he sensed her concern grow when she asked, “Why do you say that though? Is there anything in particular I should be worried about?”

He shrugged and tried to explain himself. “I don’t know. It’s just a big change, that’s all. I don’t love it here, but I definitely wouldn’t want to start over somewhere else. Also, you’re the first new student we’ve ever had in our grade. Possibly the first new student in recent history. I hope you’re prepared for some attention because you’re going to get a lot of it. Especially looking like that.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, then climbed the rest of the stairs quickly and moved in front of him at the top, blocking him from ascending further. She turned to face him and he had to stop suddenly so he wouldn’t run into her.

Sure, he was taller, but even if he weren’t stuck three steps below her he would have felt much, much smaller than her at that moment. She had a commanding presence and he had to admit that he was a little in awe of her. When he added that to everything else he was experiencing, he finally just accepted that he was a mess and couldn’t say anything right to this girl. He looked up at her and tried to offer an apology. “S-sorry. That came out wrong. Can we start over?”

“You have one chance,” she warned him. “Choose your words wisely.”

He stepped to the side, finished climbing the stairs and turned to face her. “Um, I guess an introduction? I’m Gilbert,” he said, wiping his hand dry on his pant leg then offering it to her.

Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropped slightly and she said, “You’re Gilbert? The Gilbert?”

“Um… yes?” he answered, confused by both her knowledge of him and the accusatory tone.

“Gilbert Blythe?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure that I am,” he said, staring down at his hand hoping she would notice it hanging there, empty and waiting for hers.

“No, no, no, no,” she said quietly, as though she was in pain and talking to herself.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes,” he countered. “There is only one Gilbert here. Promise. Nice to meet you,” he said, shaking the air and then letting his hand fall to his side.

“No. Oh, God, you’re going to think I’m insane, but I, um… I can’t… I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t tell you that, but I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

“We have every single class together. I think you’re going to have to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she said and he couldn’t help but smile. “I mean, it’s not that I want to either, it’s just… I can’t.”

“You were doing just fine before you learned my name. What’s the problem?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Okay,” he said, annoyed. He started walking again and she followed his lead. “That was true the first time you said it so I didn’t mind dropping it, but this is my business because it directly involves me so your argument is crap.”

“Just, please, let it go,” she begged. “You said it’s going to be hard for me to fit in here, yeah? Just don’t talk to me and that’ll be a big help. I’m sure a guy like you already has plenty of friends anyway. You don’t need the new weirdo hanging around you. Right? It’ll be better for both of us if we just stay away from each other.”

“I’m sorry, are you supposed to be the weirdo in this situation?”

“That’s what you just said! ‘Looking like that’? I get it, okay? And I’ve heard it all. I know my hair rivals the brightness of a construction cone and that the main purpose of these freckles is just so it’s easier for people to make fun of me. And if you think I look weird then I think you should listen to me because I don’t get more normal with the more you get to know me.”

“That’s not what I meant by it. At all.” He was astounded by what she was claiming about herself and how passionately she believed it, though he appreciated that she also considered her hair orange.

“So, what then? Lay it on me: in your opinion, why won’t it be easy for me, looking like this?” She emphasized the last words like they were poison.

He stared back at her, unable to form a sentence. Cute wasn’t enough of a descriptor anymore. Beautiful and stunning didn’t do her justice either. Hot still didn’t fit. She was mesmerizing, like dancing flames in a bonfire. He was unable to tear his eyes off her yet he felt that looking directly at her was dangerous. The fire burning behind her eyes indicated that what he was feeling wasn’t unjustified but none of that was something he could say to someone he just met.

It had become painfully apparent that he wasn’t great with introductions, but even he could see that not elaborating too much would be his best option by this point. In the end, he simply said, “You’re just… I don’t know… you’re different.”

“I know! Didn’t I just say that?! Principal Lynde just said you were smart. Can you seriously offer no additional insight?”

This time he kept silent, sure that whatever he managed to say wouldn’t be received well.

“Just, please, don’t talk to me,” she begged.

Gilbert suddenly stopped walking and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Anne!” she called back as she continued down the hall.

“Well, um, Anne? It’s this one,” he said, pointing to the door he was standing next to.

“For the love,” she groaned as she doubled back.

He laughed as he opened the classroom door for her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, seemingly appalled.

His confusion hit an all-time high. “Being polite?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, thank you,” she said, her tone noticeably softened.

“Just go in,” he urged.

“You go in,” she hissed. “I’m new. I don’t want to walk in late to a roomful of people I don’t know!”

“Then why didn’t you get here earlier?”

She glared at him and hissed, “I was early! Your principal wouldn’t stop talking!”

He laughed and sympathized with her request. Then he realized he had been holding the door open for too long, so he listened to her and walked into the room. As soon as he entered, most of the guys called out, “Gilbert!” He smiled back at them and then the room stilled as everyone’s eyes fell on Anne.

“Gilbert. Good morning,” Ms. Stacy said.

“Hi. Sorry I’m late. My dad-”

“No need to explain,” she interrupted him. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be late without a good reason.” Then she looked around Gilbert and asked, “And, you must be Anne, I presume?”

“Yes. Hi. Sorry. I’m never late but I was talking with Principal Lynde; she said you wouldn’t mind.”

“I don’t. Not today anyway. Your seats are on the left side there, the table behind Jane and Diana,” she said looking down at the seating chart on her clipboard to confirm and tapping her pen on every name. “Jane Andrews, Diana Barry, Gilbert Blythe, Anne Cuthbert. Would you like to introduce yourself, Anne?”

“Not really,” she answered honestly while Gilbert went to sit down. Ms. Stacy smiled at her and a few of the students laughed.

“How about you just tell us your name and where you’re from so we can start to get to know you a little bit,” she encouraged quietly. “This is a pretty tight-knit community and, speaking as an outsider myself, it’s best if you just dive right in.”

Anne slowly turned to face the class with her thumbs hooked in the straps of her backpack by her hips and said, “Hi. I’m Anne. Anne Sh-Cuthbert. I’m from… Charlottetown.”

“And what brings you to Avonlea?” Ms. Stacy asked with a warm, friendly smile.

“My school ran out of classes for me to take and I’m distantly related to Matthew and Marilla so it was the logical choice,” she said flatly.

Ms. Stacy looked confused. “I’m surprised to hear that we have more advanced classes than in the city. I would expect the opposite.”

“Oh, um, it was a small school right outside the city. Sorry for the confusion. It’s just easier to say Charlottetown.”

Ms. Stacy nodded in understanding and said, “Thank you, Anne. You can take your seat and relax; I promise I won’t bother you again today.”

Anne smiled brightly at Diana when their eyes met and then she completely avoided eye contact with Gilbert when she sat down beside him. Since it was a science classroom, they didn’t have desks, but tables for each pair of students. Anne settled into her seat and got a pen and a notebook out of her backpack.

Gilbert leaned ever so slightly toward her and whispered, “I don’t think not talking to me is going to be an option, Carrots.”

She glowered at him. He had never seen a face that matched that term before but he instantly knew that’s what it was.

“Call me that again and you won’t live long enough to make the mistake a third time.”

He heard the threat, and he didn’t doubt her sincerity at all, but she was so cute when she said it and he didn’t find it nearly as intimidating as he knew he should. Or maybe he did, and that’s what made him all the more intrigued. It was hard to tell. He had no idea what he was feeling anymore.

Gilbert saw that she was planning to use a red notebook so he grabbed a matching one out of his bag. He opened it as Ms. Stacy started talking, wrote down a quick apology along with a couple of questions, then slid it over to Anne, swapping his notebook with the identical one in front of her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Anne mumbled as Gilbert flashed her an amused smile.

She rolled her eyes. Out of all the people she could have arrived at class with, it just had to be Gilbert Blythe; the one person she was explicitly told to stay away from. Anne expected that the school year was going to be hard; there was no way that starting her life over at sixteen could be easy, but she knew it had to be done. What she didn’t expect was arriving at her first class of the year with the one person who could make everything even more difficult. She didn’t mean to instantly and effortlessly antagonize so many people but after seeing the looks on some of the girls’ faces upon her arrival, it appeared that’s exactly what happened.

Still an overachiever, she told herself with bemused pride. Two minutes in a classroom and half the girls are glaring at me. That has to be a record.

She looked around, half taking in her new classmates and half wondering who, if anyone, saw Gilbert switch their notebooks. There were a few who met her eyes, some offered a small, friendly smile and others looked at her for far too long. Upon further consideration, if she had to walk with someone that morning, based on appearances alone, she concluded that maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that Gilbert had been who she was paired with. Obviously, Diana would have been ideal, but she could have been stuck with the lanky boy who was openly staring at her body, not her face, or any of the girls who were currently glaring at her. Gilbert had smiled at her and had been really kind. Sure, he managed to piss her off in record time, but she knew that wasn’t entirely his fault.

Josie’s scowl was especially severe and confirmed Anne’s assumption that she wasn’t a big fan of hers, but that was a problem for another day.

The problem that day was Gilbert and the notebook he slid in front of her. She couldn’t help but wonder, Why me?

She came to Avonlea hoping for anonymity, to be buried in a sea of students and not draw any attention to herself. All she wanted to do was lay low, maybe make some friends, survive the year and then get on with her life. After meeting the girls that summer, they offered their friendship to her, but Josie added the contingency that Anne wasn’t supposed to talk to Gilbert because Ruby was apparently in love with him.

Was it one of the strangest requests she had ever encountered? Absolutely. Was it stupid? Yes, that too. But it wasn’t like she was someone who had ever had a lot of guys around her anyway and she certainly didn’t see the need to jeopardize a potential friendship by saying ‘no’ to the simple request. After all, when she agreed, it was just one unknown boy so what could it possibly matter?

Well, now she knew that the aforementioned boy was someone who was going to be in every single one of her classes and, considering the size of the school and the penchant teachers had for alphabetical seating charts, it seemed likely that she would be sitting behind him or next to him, all day, every day. At least for the first few months.

Anne sighed. It was going to be tricky. Though it pained her to admit it, Gilbert was right: she would need to occasionally talk to him. But that didn’t mean she was a threat to Ruby’s crush or competition for his attention. She would just explain it to her and surely, she’d understand. Anne wouldn’t even need to lie; she could admit that Gilbert wasn’t terrible to look at but beyond that, she didn’t know him well enough to understand the draw and she certainly had no intention of trying to. She had so many other things to worry about; getting a boyfriend was the last thing on her mind.

Forget that, she said to herself. It’s not the last thing. It’s not even on the list. And he certainly has no reason to be interested in me. Yes, that should reassure Ruby and then we can all get on with our lives.

Anne looked down at the notebook on the table in front of her. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. Everyone else was sitting there with an open notebook in front of them at least pretending to take notes, so she figured she should as well. She opened it, looked down and read:

Sept 7, 1999

   I won’t call you Carrots. Sorry about that, Ann(e?). And don’t worry, I’ll take notes for you while you read this. Should be a slow day anyway. I just want to say that I meant what I said. You’re different. But in a good way, not a weird way.
   Truth is that I know everything about everyone here and I’m bored so the opportunity to meet someone new is exciting. I don’t know why you’re not supposed to talk to me but based on the fact that you just threatened to murder me I get the feeling that maybe you don’t always do what you’re supposed to do. In fact, I’m kind of counting on it.
   I’m not the perfect angel that Diana is, but I’m not the worst either. At the very least, maybe I could offer you some help and try to prove it. Do you have any questions about the school? The town? The people? I spent most of the summer somewhere where I was a bit of an outsider and I didn’t love it. I know it’s not exactly the same as what you’re going through, but I’d like to help if I can.

Anne didn’t want to respond. It felt like surrendering on the first day of a battle and that didn’t sit well with her at all. Unfortunately, she did have a question that she had forgotten to ask Diana in the chaos of moving and trying to make friends. So, since he was offering, she scribbled them down, pushed the notebook back toward him and grabbed her own.

Gilbert opened the notebook and was stunned to find that she didn’t just tell him off.

   It’s Anne. Not Ann. Thanks for asking.
   Yeah. I have three questions.
   Do you guys have a newspaper or debate team or something?
   Why did you date your note to me? I know what day it is.
   And, most importantly, how do I get you to stop talking to me?

He laughed to himself and answered her as thoroughly as he could.

   We have a school newspaper. No debate team, sorry, though I don’t think you’d have much competition here based on what I’ve experienced so far. The first meeting for the paper is a quick one on Thursday after school. The advisor is Mr. Phillips. He’s our English teacher and we meet in his classroom. I’m the editor. There is no application or anything, but since you’re new it would probably be helpful to Phillips if you gave him some writing samples so you can get the assignments you want sooner. Since you’re asking about it, I expect that you have them already but if not, let me know and I can give you some ideas if you need them.
   I dated it out of habit. Believe it or not, I do know how to take notes and that means that when I open a notebook, I date it.
   I’ve already stopped talking to you. This isn’t talking, it’s writing. Totally different. And unless you agreed to no communication with me whatsoever, it doesn’t sound like you’re breaking any rules. What do you think? (Still confused about this entire situation, but I’m trying to work with it.)
   See how helpful I am?

After switching notebooks yet again and reading his response, Anne thought about it for a bit. Technically, he was right, which was annoying to admit, but communication in its entirety wasn’t forbidden. The direction had been to not talk to him. She had a feeling it was going to be a slippery slope if she conceded to his point, but it wasn’t the first time she’d willfully ignored the implied rules and reduced them to their technicalities to work in her favor and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last.

As Anne considered her response, she kept hearing Josie’s demand and remembering her own pitiful acceptance. Truth be told, she was a little upset with herself for blindly agreeing so quickly and it made her feel like such a desperate fool. At the time, she wasn’t provided with all the information required to make a good decision. Though, to be fair, she didn’t know what questions to ask either. Regardless, she was now aware that in addition to being her constant classmate and neighbor (both in address and in seat assignment), Gilbert was the editor of the paper. She could limit verbal communication as much as possible, but if she was going to write for the newspaper she would need to speak to the editor. It would be unavoidable and it made no sense whatsoever to put Ruby’s silly little crush above Anne’s passion for journalism and overall academic achievement.

She chewed on her pen for a while as she considered her next move, looked at him out of the corner of her eye, then wrote out her response.

   I reluctantly admit that you might have found a loophole. And I don’t have a problem with that except I like to be the one to figure things out and you beat me to it so that kind of really sucks.
   Anyway- since you’re the editor of the paper and we’ll probably be sitting next to each other a lot, yeah, we might need to speak to each other. I just really don’t want to piss anyone off on my first day here, you know? At least give me a week to settle in. Then it’ll be totally fine for me to antagonize everyone. Right?
   I appreciate your offer to help though- really. Don’t get me wrong, Diana has been great but apparently there’s quite a bit I forgot to ask her and I’m a little impatient. Plus, I didn’t have my schedule until this morning. Can you tell me about our teachers?

She reread her note and wondered if she was making an enormous mistake. She could put an end to it. She could thank him for the offer and simply decline his assistance. Civil, but clear. Nip it in the bud before it becomes an issue. It would be a very easy thing to do and he seemed nice enough, she was sure that he’d understand, or, even if he didn’t understand, she figured he would be respectful and accept it. Then it would be done. She would be in full compliance with the ‘don’t talk to Gilbert’ rule and not relying on a technicality. She would be following the request of her friend.

She considered the term. Friend.

It was a funny designation in her experience and seemed to be applied entirely too liberally. She really felt like Diana was a friend. One of the best friends that Anne had ever had, in fact. Right from the beginning she felt a tight bond form between them and Anne knew she could trust her. Diana stood up for her and said her hair was beautiful when Josie made fun of it. She genuinely complimented Anne’s style even though it was painfully obvious that she couldn’t afford the high-end brands that Diana’s family bought for her. She praised her intelligence and envied Anne’s love of literature while Anne felt she had to hide her true self from the other girls who were being called her friends in order to fit in.

But what exactly had the other girls done that was friendly? Nothing came to mind. Josie’s behavior could only be considered hostile at best yet she was supposed to call her a friend as long as she followed the rule? It didn’t seem right. And it certainly didn’t seem friendly.

And Gilbert… well, Anne’s gut instinct was that Gilbert was much more like Diana, and much more like a friend, than any of the other girls were. Josie, who demanded Anne’s silence and scoffed at her suspect explanation regarding her arrival in Avonlea; Ruby, who looked a little confused at the demand Josie made of Anne but didn’t bother to stop it; Jane, who seemed entirely bored by her presence and Tillie, who, well honestly, Tillie had just seemed confined by the others. Tillie had been glared at for smiling and welcoming Anne to town and expressing interest in getting to know her. Maybe someday Anne would be able to call her a true friend but that day seemed very far away.

Anne wasn’t sure that she wanted those girls to be her friends if that was how they treated her or each other. Gilbert was different. He was kind and not demanding. He apologized when he learned he had offended her. He was asking if he could help make the transition easier. His presence in her life wasn’t transactional. He wasn’t worried about labeling himself as her friend; he was simply acting like one. She wasn’t too stubborn to admit she could use the additional support.

She imagined the girls would be furious if they eventually figured out that she was communicating with him, but she started to realize that she had a hard time caring about the opinion of those who were so disrespectful. Plus, if they didn’t understand that people were free to talk to whomever they wanted, that was a lesson they needed to learn sooner rather than later and Anne was apparently willing to help them to that revelation.

The sudden confidence of that bold decision surprised her after how much she initially fought the idea. She thought she had already decided to go through that year without making waves. She thought she wanted to just get lost in the crowd. But her thoughts had been based on faulty information. First, there was apparently no crowd in Avonlea for her to get lost in. Second, she couldn’t help but make waves. It was part of who she was. The chaos of the previous five months had left her a bit lost, but the decision to do the rational thing had arrived so suddenly and reminded her of who she truly was.

She had always been unapologetically herself and that included being assertive and not letting her classmates tell her what to do or who to be. Always being the youngest in her class, she was used to fighting to be taken seriously and she was perfectly happy to do so. It was never enough for her to simply keep up; she had to be the best just to be considered adequate and earn her spot among her peers. Every day she had fought to justify her advanced placement.

After the events of that summer though, Anne was so sick of fighting and she didn’t even know if she had any fight left in her. She didn’t want the attention or the pressure and she didn’t think she had it in her to care about things like she used to. But then, as soon as Gilbert mentioned there was a school newspaper, she felt a spark ignite within her and that old, familiar burn to push herself was back. She felt that same passion burning when they were arguing in the hallway. It was only simmering, but she knew it wouldn’t stop there.

It really was too bad that they didn’t have a debate team; she was going to miss it.

Suddenly she had a revelation. It may have been the hardest summer of her life and so much had changed but, despite it all, the trauma didn’t change who she was. She couldn’t help but care about school. She couldn’t help but push herself and she wasn’t one to sit idly by and be told what to do. She couldn’t help but be herself to the fullest extent and she didn’t want to suppress her authenticity when she had already lost so much. She was on her own and she was going to do what she wanted. She was still hurting and figured that hurt would never go away, but doing well in school had always made her happy and it would be dumb to deprive herself of that joy when she really needed to find little things to keep her going.

There was no reason to flaunt that she was talking to Gilbert though. She wanted to ask him a couple questions and do well in school; she didn’t need to be stupid about it. And she certainly didn’t want to give Ruby any indication she was after Gilbert, not that she was or ever would be, so Anne looked down at her note and added:

   Be discreet though. No more passing notes during class. It’s rude. If the girls hate me, I can probably handle it, but I don’t need the teachers against me too.

Gilbert smiled when he read her note. It had been a long summer, and not in a good way. What little time he wasn’t with his dad at the hospital, they were holed up at home with his nurse, just trying to keep him healthy and comfortable. It was physically and emotionally exhausting. He was happy that Anne had decided to talk to him and for something to go his way. Maybe it was a sign that things would start getting better. He still wouldn’t call it the most important day of his life like Mary said it could be, but it was good. Finally, he was having a good day. It felt like it had been so long since he could honestly say that, so he repeated it to himself in his mind, cherishing the moment. Today is a good day.

During their next class, he answered Anne’s question about their teachers as thoroughly as he possibly could. She was allowing him to speak, and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

   I’m so happy you agree. And I’ll do my best to be discreet. Someday I hope you can tell me why.
   All of our teachers have been here for a while so we’ve had them all before. Finally… my time to shine.
   You already met Ms. Stacy. Obviously. Not sure why I said that. Anyway, she’s our newest teacher and has only been here a year. She teaches all the sciences and is really great. Our old teacher was more of a lecturer, but Ms. Stacy is really hands-on and gets us involved in the lesson. Next to gym it’s probably our most physically active class which is pretty weird now that I’m writing it out, but it’s true. She is married to a scientist as well. He commutes down to the university for work and sometimes brings in some more interesting experiments for us to do that we otherwise wouldn’t have the resources for.
   The pleasant, rotund man standing before you now is Mr. Lynde. He’s married to Principal Lynde and is absolutely nothing like her. He’s a decent teacher, but I think he’s a better person than a teacher if that makes sense. Like, I’d rather be his friend than his student, I guess. (Please don’t judge me for saying I want to be friends with a 60-year-old man. I swear it’ll make sense when you get to know him.) His classes aren’t bad though. I think they’re good because he tells amazing stories and is genuinely interested in us as people, but sometimes I feel like I’m on my own trying to figure the material out. Should be fun with calculus, don’t you think? If my GPA gets ruined this year, calc will be the cause.
   English is taught by Mr. Phillips. He is awesome. A little sarcastic but he talks to us like we’re adults. Not that others talk down to us, but he just has a different style of teaching. It’s more like college classes I’ve seen in movies. Very conversational and more about discussion and interpretation than right or wrong.
   Mr. Dunlop teaches our combined home ec/shop class. I’ve been told this isn’t a normal combination but it’s always been this way here. He isn’t my favorite but he knows what he’s doing. It’s fine and it’s only for the fall semester. In the spring we’ll switch to gym.
   We have Mrs. Oqwatnuk for gym. She is tiny, but don’t let that fool you, she’s crazy strong and a little mean if you piss her off. No, that’s not right. She’s not mean. She just expects people to be respectful and if they aren’t, she doesn’t let it slide. At all. Seriously, don’t mess with her. Her daughter, Ka-kwet is a couple years younger than us and goes to this school as well. You’ll probably hear a lot about her because she’s a track star. Her husband runs the small museum here in town. It’s pretty interesting and I highly recommend it if you want to learn more about the community. Two blocks north of the school on the east side of the street.
   For French we have Mrs. Spencer. There’s nothing wrong with her, but she’s not my favorite. Maybe it’s the subject though too, there are other languages I’d rather learn, but this is the one we have. She’s fine though and we’re all conversationally fluent so she must be good enough at her job.
   It says Jones on our schedule for band. She goes by Constance. Just Constance. Do NOT call her Mrs. Jones. Apparently there is a song called ‘Me and Mrs. Jones’ and she had an ex sing that to her too much and she hates the title now. She loves her job and we all love her. I have no idea if she’s great with all the instruments or not, but we’ve gotten better since her arrival a few years ago so I think that’s a good sign. What do you play? (Trumpet for me.)
   Mr. Avery teaches history. He is an amazing storyteller but sometimes I wonder if we’re getting through all the material we’re supposed to. It feels like we kind of skim over the major events and then all of a sudden, he’ll go, ‘On Tuesday, February 6^th of that year, all the butter went bad.’ Then we’ll spend a week learning about the butter fungus of 1843. (That was just a crazy example that I made up, but you get the idea.) Then he’ll finish by saying, ‘Oh yeah, and then the war ended, so and so won and that’s why we are speaking English and not French.’ Hopefully your history education has been a little better.

Anne got the notebook back at the beginning of English and was impressed by how thoughtful and lengthy his answers were. As she sat through English she found that she agreed with Gilbert’s assertion of Mr. Phillips. She didn’t want to get too excited, but she was looking forward to working with him on the newspaper. When class concluded, she quietly asked him, “Is it okay if I keep this notebook tonight? I want to look over it a bit more and ask Matthew and Marilla if they know any of my teachers and see what they think.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he said with a smile. “Let me know if you need anything else. Really.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks.”

They didn’t speak to each other for the rest of the day, but Anne could feel him watching her. Not in a creepy way, thankfully. He really did just seem curious about her and interested in learning more about her, just as he said. She appreciated his honesty and could understand his perspective; if the rest of the class really had known each other their entire lives, she could see why people would be curious about the new girl. It was a little unfortunate considering she didn’t want any attention, but she understood that it really couldn’t be helped given the circumstances. She tried to get used to the idea of everyone watching her as if she were an exotic animal at the zoo, but it was going to take some getting used to. For some reason, she was already used to Gilbert, or at least unbothered by his gaze.

Anne stuck with either Tillie or Diana as she moved from class to class that day and she ate lunch with them as well, though she mostly kept to herself as they chatted with Ruby, Jane and Josie at length about which boys had gotten cuter or uglier, with Gilbert receiving ridiculously copious amounts of praise in a conversation that Anne was entirely uncomfortable partaking in, especially considering that all the boys they were discussing were sitting at the next table over. Plus, Anne had been desperately hoping to totally avoid the topic of Gilbert. Instead, as was consistent with her luck, he turned out to be the featured subject and despite her efforts to stay out of the way, Josie wasn’t satisfied by Anne’s silence.

“There’s something off about you,” Josie accused, her icy blue eyes staring daggers at Anne.

I’m literally just sitting here. What the hell is her problem? Unable to come to a conclusion, Anne defaulted to her biggest criticism of herself. “It’s the hair. We’ve been over this. I know it’s strange, but it really is my natural color. There isn’t anything I can do about it.”

“Obviously it’s your natural color,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Who would actually choose that?”

It hurt more when someone else said it, but Anne ignored the sting and quietly agreed, “My point exactly.”

“No. It’s something else. Like, why are you here? What are you doing with the weirdo Cuthberts? Where are your parents?”

“Josie! You can’t just ask where someone’s parents are,” Ruby hissed. “And I’m sure the Cuthberts are very nice.”

“They’re so weird,” Josie stated.

“Leave her alone,” Diana said. “There’s nothing wrong with her or her hair or the Cuthberts. Matthew and Marilla are awesome and just because you don’t know her doesn’t make something about her ‘off.’ Anne is great. If you have a problem with her, maybe it’s you.”

The table fell into silence and Anne wanted to disappear so she decided to do just that. She grabbed her tray and her bag, stood up and left the table. She was done eating anyway. Or at least her mood had soured so much that she was no longer capable of eating. It was hard to tell. As she walked away, she heard Josie say, “What a freak.”

“A freak?” Diana exploded. “She was sitting there eating and minding her own business and you attacked her out of nowhere for no reason at all. And then you call her a freak? For leaving when you treat her like shit? That doesn’t make her a freak, it makes her smart. And do you want to know what else it does? It makes me realize that I don’t need to sit here and listen to you either.”

Silence spread throughout the small cafeteria. Anne had spent most of the summer with Diana and she had never heard her raise her voice to anyone. When she considered the effect Diana had on the room, she wondered if their classmates had never heard her yell either. Anne heard Diana pick up her backpack and grab her tray and when she appeared at her side, Anne felt a little better. As they put away their trays, the dull roar of the cafeteria resumed then they left and Diana pulled her outside and into the fresh air.

“I don’t think we’re supposed to leave the school, are we?” Anne asked, worried about causing more trouble.

“It’s fine. We’re allowed to come out here if we finish early. If you bring a lunch from home, you can even eat out here if you’d like.”

“Maybe that’s what I should do,” Anne said quietly. “Josie really doesn’t like me. And, honestly, I don’t care. I don’t like her either, but I wish she wouldn’t dislike me so loudly.”

“I know. She’s awful.”

“So why are you friends with her?”

“I’ve actually been asking myself that a lot lately. She didn’t used to be so bad. There aren’t that many kids here so we just fell into a group. When there aren’t a lot of choices for who to hang out with you just kind of learn to deal. And now, I don’t know, we’re just, like, a package deal I guess, but it’s getting harder to deal with.”

Anne groaned, “Different town. Same high school drama.”

“Were you part of a similar group back home?”

Home. She didn’t like thinking about what that meant to her, mostly because she didn’t feel like she had one. She didn’t want to talk about it, but she would, because Diana had just risked a lot to support her. The least she could do was answer a seemingly simple question.

“Not really,” Anne responded, then took a deep breath. “This is really embarrassing, but I’ve never been really good at making friends. I get along with people just fine, but… I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m younger, I just never seem to fit in,” she admitted with a shrug.

“I have a hard time believing that.”

Anne furrowed her brow and asked, “Are you serious? I just got called a freak for silently eating a cheeseburger.”

“You got called a freak because Josie is jealous of you and can’t handle the competition,” Diana said, brushing off Anne’s concern.

“What competition?!” Anne yelled. “I’m not competition! I just want to go to school and write for the newspaper! What are we competing for?!”

“Attention.”

Anne scoffed. “No, we are not. I don’t want attention. She can have it. Take it all. No competition there. She wins. Everybody is happy.”

“That’s not how it works. I don’t think you noticed, but every guy has been checking you out all day long. Well, for the most part.”

“No, they haven’t. I mean, yes, people have been watching me but that’s just because I’m new. They’re looking at me. Not ‘checking me out.’”

“It’s not just because you’re new.”

“Fine. It’s because I’m new and weird. Lucky me!”

Diana laughed. “No! It’s because you’re new and cute.”

Anne laughed. “Very funny.”

“It’s really not. Especially since it’s causing Josie to hate you so much.”

“Josie is way prettier than me. Not to mention you. All of you, actually. Your little group of friends are all annoyingly gorgeous. Is there something in the water here?”

Diana wasn’t deterred by the compliment and pressed on. “She isn’t prettier than you. Especially when you factor in the fact that she is a monster. And then, in you walk, cute and confident and not giving a damn about what she thinks or says. She’s used to people listening to her and following her.”

“Not a chance,” Anne laughed at the absurdity.

“Exactly. You… you’re different.”

Anne winced slightly at being called ‘different’ yet again. She tried not to dwell on it and begged, “Can I please just go to school and have everyone ignore me?”

Diana laughed, “Not looking like that, you can’t.”

“What is up with how I look? It’s a T-shirt and a skirt! I hate this!”

“Who else was talking about it?”

Anne felt herself blush. “Never mind. The point is that I’m just a girl with terrible hair and I really don’t want to cause any problems.”

“Shut up about your hair and Josie is the one who is causing all the problems. Like you said: you were just sitting there silently eating a cheeseburger.”

Anne laughed quietly and then they sat there for a moment until she said, “Thank you for coming with me. I know that it will probably cause you some trouble but it’s nice to have a friend.”

“No problem. And I agree. It’s nice to finally have a friend,” Diana said, glaring through the window towards the cafeteria. “Someone who accepts people for who they are. Someone I can trust.”

Anne noticed a sadness in her comment, as if Diana had never really had a real friend either, despite being surrounded by friends her entire life. She couldn’t believe it. Diana was exceptionally kind, gracious, wealthy, constantly dressed in the best clothes, had beautifully glossy brown hair and perfect makeup every day but in that moment, it looked to Anne like she would have given it all up for better friends. “You don’t think you can trust them?”

“I never really noticed it before you got here, but no. There are certain things I don’t tell them that I have no trouble telling you. And they’re not even big things, just my opinions about things, like the guys who I think are cute. But with you I know you’ll listen and be respectful even if you don’t agree with me. I don’t need to fight just to voice an idea.”

“That sounds awful.”

Diana groaned. “It is. In sixth grade I had the audacity to ask for strawberry ice cream when everyone else was getting chocolate. The teasing… ugh… it still bugs me.”

“How did they tease you for that?”

“Well, it’s pink, so it was too girly of a color when everyone was going through a sporty phase. And then you add in that there were actual strawberries in it so then I was the ‘healthy freak’ who needed fruit in her dessert and then it was too mature and they thought I was trying to be better than them. And, not only that, but I that I chose it in an effort to get Gilbert to like me.”

“Ugghhhhh, what is with that guy?”

“Everyone has a Gilbert phase,” Diana said. Anne noticed that it wasn’t just an idea, Diana said it as a fact.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. There just aren’t that many guys here so we tend to make a cycle through the ones who are available. My Gilbert phase hit early because he’s my neighbor.”

“Yeah, you could have maybe mentioned that!” Anne laughed. “I looked like such an idiot this morning when I figured out who he was.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh, it was, but I’ll get over it. Unlike her highness in there who can’t seem to cope with my existence.”

Diana shrugged. “I’m fine with it. The fewer friends you have, the more time you get to spend with me!”

Anne laughed and agreed, “You make a very good point.”

The bell rang, startling them both and ending their conversation as it signaled the end of their lunch hour. Anne and Diana walked back into the school with linked arms just as Gilbert was walking by with Moody. Anne swore that’s what she heard the boy’s name was, but she was still finding it hard to believe.

Gilbert mouthed, “Are you okay?”

She gave a curt nod then turned to Diana and asked, “Where are we off to next?”

Diana laughed, ignored her question and said, “I see I’m not your only friend.”

“What?”

“Look, I may not be the smartest but I notice things. And I am currently noticing my neighbor noticing my neighbor,” she said quietly.

“Might want to check your radar on that. There’s nothing to notice.”

“Ha! You don’t even think you’re cute. Because of that, I don’t trust anything you have to say on the topic.”

“You’re annoying.”

“You just don’t like being wrong.”

“I really don’t,” Anne admitted.

“So?”

“So, what?”

Diana nudged her as they followed Gilbert and Moody at a distance down the hallway and whispered, “So, what do you think about Gilbert?”

“Well, I think that I have every single class with him,” Anne answered. “I know I promised I wouldn’t talk to him but that’s not really going to be an option. Can’t wait to see that explode in my face. Ruby’s going to love that.”

“Ruby Schmooby. She’s been after him since the second grade. It’s not going to happen.”

Anne shrugged, “I don’t care about that; I’m not into him or anything, I just want to be able to participate in class without causing drama. He’s my physics partner; we’re going to need to chat. And he’s the newspaper editor, too. And he sits behind me in one class. And in front of me in another. And he-”

“Has really great hair?” Diana asked, looking up at Anne with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“Diana!”

“Oh please, tell me you didn’t notice. I dare you.”

Anne thought about it as she stared at the back of his head as they continued down the hallway. Did she happen to notice that morning that his hair looked incredibly soft despite the gel that was in it and that the short curls fell so beautifully against the back of his tanned neck? Of course she did. It was impossible not to when she sat behind him. Did she desperately want to reach out and touch it? Maybe. But that’s not the question Diana was asking her and no one would ever have to know.

“I don’t see how that’s relevant to my education,” Anne said as she willed the blush she felt rising in her cheeks to disappear.

Diana laughed, “Don’t worry. Everyone thinks so. And I won’t tell a soul.”

“What does it matter who knows if it’s what everyone already thinks?”

“Because every girl in this school wants to play with his hair and today in English he was playing with yours.”

“He was not.”

“He was. Your braid was over your shoulder during English class and he was batting the end of it with his pen. Didn’t you feel it?”

“No, I didn’t,” she lied. She had felt it, she just didn’t want to draw any attention to it and honestly hoped that refusing to acknowledge it would mean it wasn’t true. “But that’s… weird. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

Diana shrugged. “I don’t know. He just looked bored and your hair offered him something to do. What’s funny is that I don’t remember ever seeing him do something playful like that. Maybe before, but not in the last few years at least. It was nice to see.”

They arrived at their next class before Anne could ask Diana what she had meant by ‘before,’ but Anne thought about it during her remaining classes that day. Her mind conjured up a hundred different ideas that could have caused a change in personality but after concluding that it was unlikely his personal history was as tragic as hers, she decided that maybe he just thought he was too cool to be playful. Her hypothesis didn’t last long though because he handed her a folded note at the end of the day that said, ‘Congratulations on surviving your first day! Only 194 to go. Not that I’m counting…’

Anne was no social savant, but to her that note indicated that being cool wasn’t a primary concern of his. It did, however, reinforce Diana’s assertion that he was a good guy and leave her with a flutter in her stomach that she didn’t care for at all. Fortunately, Anne had always been good at pretending and easily excused the sensation as a manifestation of exhaustion and stress from the first day of school.

Diana was by her side only a few moments later and provided a much-appreciated distraction from her feelings. They left the school together and as soon as they were off the property, Diana said, “Take a deep breath, girl. You did it.”

Anne laughed. “I did. And I only almost cried once. Not too bad.”

“Not bad at all. You were great and I’m sure it was really overwhelming.”

“Yeah, it was a lot.” Anne thought about what the alternative would have been if she decided not to move and added, “But it could have been so much worse.”

“I’m impressed by the optimism. I didn’t see that coming.”

“That’s because I haven’t told you what I left behind yet.”

“But you will?”

Anne shrugged. “Eventually. If I can manage it.”

Diana put her arm around her and hugged her as they walked then whispered, “I’ll be ready whenever you are.”

Anne loved Diana for not pressuring her to share the circumstances of her arrival in Avonlea. She could feel the unconditional support coming from her, but none of the obligation to pay for it. It felt amazing.

“So what do you think about Avonlea High? Is it everything you ever dreamed of? And more?”

Anne sighed and admitted, “I think it’s going to be a really interesting year.”

“Good. It’s about time something interesting happened here. I’ve been waiting my whole damn life for this.”

Anne looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear them, and saw that Gilbert was walking about half a block behind them with a tall classmate she had seen a few times that day but didn’t have any classes with. She elbowed Diana gently and asked, “Who is that behind us, walking with Gilbert?”

Diana looked back, smiled and said, “That’s Jerry. He’s in our grade, but I don’t think either of us have any classes with him. Except band, I guess.”

After she finished talking, the smile remained on Diana’s face so Anne said, “So that’s why you’re so comfortable talking about how cute Gilbert is. Because you’re not interested in him! You want Jerry.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Tell your face.”

“I can’t like him, Anne. My parents would never approve.”

“Why? Is he a bad kid?”

“No. He just isn’t what is expected from me,” Diana said, sadly, then more pointedly added, “And this is definitely something I wouldn’t trust the girls with, by the way.”

“Got it. My lips are sealed. But didn’t you just say that you wanted something interesting to happen this year?”

“Yeah, but I think I’m better at observing interesting than participating in it.”

“Well, I think we should change that. It’s so much more fun to participate. Promise. Plus, it’s either that or become a better liar because you only said like twenty words about him and there was absolutely no hiding that you’ve had a crush on him for what I suspect is a very long time.”

“When your crush on Gilbert kicks in I can’t wait to tease you.”

Anne burst out laughing. “You say that like it’s inevitable.”

“I wasn’t joking; everyone has a Gilbert phase,” Diana explained. “And I know this isn’t what I said before, but it’s not just because of limited options. He’s a good guy. And he’s hot. Complete package.”

“Complete package? You said two things about him. How is that complete?”

“‘Good guy’ encompasses all the important stuff.”

“So, when was your Gilbert phase? You said it was early.”

“Fifth and sixth grade, but I swear my ice cream selection had nothing to do with him. Josie’s was junior high. Jane, sophomore year because he accidentally gave her brother a bloody nose and that made absolutely him irresistible to her, and Tillie… let’s see. I don’t know that she’s ever, like, wanted him, but she definitely thinks he’s hot and isn’t afraid to say so and Ruby, well, you know what Ruby thinks. She’s been into him pretty much since forever.”

“So, everyone else was allowed to have crushes on him, but I show up and the second thing Josie tells me is that I can’t even talk to him? What the hell?”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to again point out that you’re cute and a legitimate threat for Gilbert’s attention. Also, it’s our last year of high school, I think Ruby’s getting desperate and Josie is happy to support that if it means going against you.”

“This is so dumb.”

“Yes, it is. Good luck.”

Anne linked her arm with Diana’s and said, “Hey now, if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me.”

Diana laughed and asked, “You really are going to make me have an interesting year, aren’t you.”

“I mean, that’s not what I came here for, but if it happens, it happens.”

“Good,” she said then gave Anne the biggest smile she had yet seen from her. “I can’t wait.”

Anne said goodbye to Diana in front of her house and then returned home to Matthew and Marilla and a barrage of questioning regarding her first day at school. She knew it was typical for a teenager to be annoyed by it all, but she cherished it and answered each question with the same enthusiasm they were exhibiting. The Cuthberts had taken on a lot when they welcomed her into their home that summer and it hadn’t all been smooth sailing but they were all learning and growing in their new roles. Anne hated to admit it, but Josie was right, in a way. The situation was weird. But the wonderful thing was that it seemed to be working really well for them all and Anne was so grateful to be there. Given the circumstances, she knew she was extremely lucky and she really couldn’t imagine finding a better family. Perhaps one in a town without a Gilbert and a Ruby and a Josie would have been easier, but that seemed to be getting a bit picky about things.

Matthew and Marilla didn’t know how to be parents, but they were learning because that’s what she needed. They didn’t know what they were getting into when they took in a random orphan, but they did it anyway, simply because they could and they felt it was the right thing to do. Anne was constantly in awe of their generosity and selflessness; she had never witnessed anything like it. When she arrived at their house, they told her that they didn’t know how to give her what she needed after suffering such immense loss; through teary eyes she told them that was fine because she didn’t even know what she needed. Despite the challenges, somehow they were all figuring out their roles and, except for her doting parents, she had never felt so loved and cared for. She didn’t care how weird or unusual the situation appeared; she had grown to love them over the short time they had spent together. The Cuthberts were perfect for her and she was starting to feel like she was perfect for them as well. She was never going to accept the adage that everything happens for a reason and that her parents had to die for her to find her way to the Cuthberts in Avonlea, but she was ready to accept that they were all blessed, despite the tragically unfortunate situation that brought them together.

Anne didn’t have any homework, so she and the Cuthberts talked all evening. Marilla was thrilled to hear that Anne was interested in journalism and couldn’t wait to see what she wrote for the newspaper at her previous school and hear about what she wanted to write for The Avonlea Gazette. Matthew was excited to hear that she was friends with Gilbert. In fact, it was the most excited that Anne had yet seen him. She made sure to clarify that Gilbert had helped her but that she wouldn’t call them friends yet since they had just met. She knew she was worrying too much about it, but she really didn’t want to start any rumors when all he really did was answer a couple of questions and not glare at her. Though, the idea of Matthew speaking loudly enough to start a rumor was absolutely hilarious to her.

She wrote to Gilbert in the notebook that night as she lay in bed. If someone had told her twenty-four hours ago that she would be in her pajamas and lying in bed in only one day, writing in a shared notebook to the Gilbert Blythe… well, she didn’t know what she would have done. The absurdity of the situation was so severe that even while she was doing it, she couldn’t believe it was happening. She didn’t analyze it too much though, and she started to notice that she was getting better at adapting to things. Life had thrown her a lot of curveballs since spring break earlier that year; her writing notes to Gilbert was only the latest in a long line of events that she didn’t see coming. And that was okay.

The next morning Anne arrived at class at the same time as everyone else and determined that it was a much better way to start the day. No one seemed to notice her walk in and she quietly got settled into her chair then nonchalantly placed the red notebook on the middle of the table she shared with Gilbert. He sat down, got the other notebook out and swapped it with hers as if they had made the exchange hundreds of times and had long ago mastered the art of stealth.

Gilbert furrowed his brow, smelled the notebook and quietly asked, “Why does this smell so good?”

He looked at Anne, her cheeks turned red and she quickly and quietly apologized, “I’m so sorry. I was writing in bed last night and I was more tired than I thought I was and then I got a headache and I kind of passed out on it and I had just taken a shower so my hair was wet and it’s probably my conditioner or it could be my lotion. I’m not sure. I’m really, really, sorry but at least I already warned you that I was weird.”

Gilbert woke up that morning convinced that he would be able to concentrate in his classes that day since it was unlikely another stunning new girl would show up to join their school. Unfortunately, Anne had just put the image of her writing to him while lying in bed in his mind so he accepted that his concentration that day would be, at best, a terrible joke and, at worst, nonexistent.

Ten seconds that lasted, he thought. I might be the most pathetic person in this entire school.

“You’re not weird,” he said weakly, not quite sure how to respond, but certain that ‘Thank you’ was not the right way to go, even though that’s what he wanted to say. The notebook smelled like sunshine and cookies. He didn’t know how that was even possible, but he knew that he didn’t know what to do or say next. Really, all he knew for certain was that there was an unfamiliar lurch in the pit of his stomach and he had to fight the urge to lean over and smell her with everything he had in him. He eventually managed to clear his throat and explained, “I’m just not used to my stuff smelling so good.”

Gilbert watched her smile and cheered for himself in his head, fairly certain that he had been the recipient of a miracle that managed to make him say the right thing. When the bell finally rang, he relaxed a bit knowing that he didn’t need to come up with anything else. He took a deep breath and thought, Maybe it’s okay that we won’t be talking much.

Ms. Stacy started the day by explaining general lab safety. He had heard it before so he opened up the notebook and read what Anne had written to him. While in her bed. Wearing her pajamas. It was going to take some time to figure out if he was grateful or angry at her for telling him that information but for the moment he was trying to ignore it entirely and just focus on what she had written.

   This was so incredibly helpful- thank you! You’re a giant liar though. You said you knew the Cuthberts ‘pretty well’ when what you meant to say was that Marilla was, like, your main babysitter when you were younger and that Matthew and your dad are best friends. I guess you would be surprised that they never mentioned having family when you spend so much time together. There’s an explanation for this but I don’t want to talk about it, sorry.
   I think the only question you asked was what instrument I play and just so the anticipation doesn’t kill you while we wait until band today, I play clarinet. I enjoyed talking with Constance yesterday. She seemed relieved to have another clarinet, which is surprising to me because we had approximately one million clarinets at my last school. I swear it was half the band. Her first question after learning my instrument was what chair I was in my old school. Then she hugged me. It was a little weird, but nice to be able to please someone so easily. I guess I’ll have a little sightreading to do with her before she places me, but I’m kind of afraid that I’ll get first chair again and piss off yet another group of people just like in lunch yesterday. I guess I could tank it, but that’s not really who I am.

Gilbert had seen the hug the previous day. He thought he felt a little jealousy at the moment which he found surprising, but it was over before he thought too much about it. As for pissing off another group of people, well, Josie and Tillie also played clarinet so it wouldn’t be an entirely new group of people. Somehow he doubted that Anne would find that comforting so he chose not to burden her with the information.

The remainder of Wednesday and Thursday passed without incident, except for Josie quitting band when Anne was placed as first chair of the clarinets. Josie dramatically explained to Constance why she would no longer be able to participate but no one else was giving her the attention she was seeking. Instead, Gilbert smiled to himself as he watched Anne and Tillie laughing together, no longer burdened by Josie’s presence and it was impossible to ignore that Constance’s mood was even better than usual as soon as she left the room.

On Thursday after school, they gathered for the first meeting of the school newspaper. Mr. Phillips was the one teacher that put them in reverse alphabetical order so in his class, Gilbert sat behind Anne. Out of habit, they both went and sat in their assigned seats when they entered the classroom even though it wasn’t required.

Gilbert watched Anne’s excitement grow throughout the short meeting and it increased his enthusiasm as well. Her enthusiasm was so infectious, in fact, that even his friends Moody and Charlie seemed more into it than usual. It was Gilbert’s assertion that the meeting ended far too soon, even though the fifteen-minute gathering they were supposed to have had turned into forty-five minutes with no one noticing.

“Sorry to have kept you so long,” Mr. Phillips said as he tried to wrap it up. “That was a great first meeting though. I look forward to seeing what this group pulls together this year and, Anne, welcome to The Avonlea Gazette, I’m glad to have you join the team. Gilbert? Can I talk with you about some editor items before you leave?”

Gilbert nodded, then reluctantly watched Anne leave. When the room was cleared, Mr. Phillips walked over and sat on one of the desktops near him.

“Do you remember last year we were talking about finding ways for you to push yourself a bit? To get outside your comfort zone?”

“Yeah?”

“I figured out a way to do that.”

“Great!”

“You’re going to be the new love columnist.”

Gilbert choked on air and then asked, “What?”

“Students will write in with questions about dating and such and you will respond and give them advice.”

“I’m not doing that,” Gilbert said emphatically as his face warmed.

“Yes, you are,” Mr. Phillips countered.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“It does make sense.”

“But… but shouldn’t it be Ruby?”

“That’s exactly who everyone will expect it to be. She would flaunt the position and no one would write in because every answer would be along the line of ‘All you need is love.’ We need anonymity and secrecy. People need to feel like they are sending it out to the void, not to a classmate. And we need real advice.”

“What about Moody? Or Charlie?”

“Moody can barely spell the word ‘love,’ much less advise on it. He’s only here for formatting and technology. He’s not touching the gazette. And Charlie?”

Gilbert sighed, rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, I heard it.”

“Charlie Sloane? You really think I would release that on people?”

“I said I got it,” Gilbert said angrily.

“His advice would be, ‘I’m available, ladies, any and all interested parties welcome,’ and ‘Guys, come to me if you’re wondering how well a certain girl kisses.’”

“Gross.”

“Agreed. So, it’s got to be you.”

“What about Anne?” He had weakly offered the suggestion but he gained confidence as his mouth provided sound reasons before he could think of them. “She’s good. Right? You said her writing samples were great. She submitted thirteen of them and you only asked for one so you know she’s not a slacker and she would take it very seriously. And she’s new so it would be genuinely anonymous. And she could be truly objective!”

Gilbert was thrilled. He had proven his point, gotten out of the assignment, provided a better option for the position and gotten Anne a specialized role for the paper which he knew she would appreciate. He was so sure that there was no way Mr. Phillips would reject the idea.

He was wrong.

“Those are all very good points, but I don’t know Anne yet.” Gilbert’s spirit crashed as Mr. Phillips continued, “Yes, her samples are great and I can tell she’s excited, but I don’t know her personality and I don’t know if she can keep a secret. I also don’t want to swamp her as she starts at a new school, especially since she’s a year younger than everyone else. When and if she wants more responsibility, I’ll be happy to provide her with a challenge, but I need to leave that decision up to her.”

“She’s a genius. That’s clear after only three days. I’m sure she’d be fine.” Sure, Gilbert was trying to get out of the assignment, but he wasn’t lying. He had been astounded by Anne, who was already making a mark in every one of their classes. It didn’t take long for him to have confirmation that she had been seriously downplaying her intelligence when she explained that she skipped a grade.

“Perhaps she is. But it’s not your call to make and you can fight this all you want but it’s still going to be you.”

“Diana?” Gilbert asked in a last-ditch effort to get out of it. “She’s good enough.”

“She’s too technical, too pragmatic, you know that. We need someone who is a little more imaginative. A little more… romantic. And keep in mind that I was coming up with a way to challenge you. Not Diana.”

“But I’m not-” Gilbert protested as he blushed. “I’m not… romantic.”

“Really? Because I’ve watched you stare at Anne and play with her hair for three days now and I have an entirely different opinion on the matter. Or, even if you’re not, maybe you wish that you were.” Mr. Phillips laughed as he stared at Gilbert, who knew he looked every bit as uncomfortable as he felt. Mr. Phillips continued, “You have never paid less attention in class than you have so far this year.”

“Well, it’s only been three days. Maybe the problem is that you haven’t taught us anything yet.”

Mr. Phillips barked with laughter and said, “Blame me all you want but I know that look and I can promise you that there is nothing in the curriculum this year that you’ll find nearly as interesting as the back of her head.”

“Fine. But I don’t stare.”

“Relax. I won’t tell anyone, but yes, you do.”

“I-”

“Don’t bother trying to defend yourself. While you’re staring at her, I’m trying not to laugh as I watch you bat the end of her braid with the eraser of your pencil, swishing it back and forth like a pendulum.”

“Yeah, and that’s as far as I’ve gotten with a girl and yet you still want me to do this stupid column?”

“Look, I’ve been a teenager and I get it. And don’t worry; your lack of subtlety and implied inexperience has nothing to do with this. I want you to do it because you’re a good writer, Blythe. And, more importantly, you’re a good person.”

“Thanks.”

Mr. Phillips shrugged. “Don’t let it go to your head; you don’t have much competition.”

“Thanks?”

“You’re welcome. Glad that’s settled. So, starting Monday, you will be our new love columnist.”

“My dad is going to give me so much shit for this.”

“Watch your language. And yes, he probably will. Have a good night, Cupid.”

“No. No, no, no. Not Cupid,” he said quickly, unsure why it mattered, but apparently he had strong feelings against it.

“I’m open to suggestions; do you have anything in mind?”

“Cupid is the Roman god of love, right?”

“Mm,” Mr. Phillips nodded in affirmation.

“Who’s the Greek one?”

“Eros.”

Gilbert thought about it and said, “Eros is fine. If I have to do this, let’s go with Eros.”

“Good man.”

“I can’t believe this,” Gilbert said under his breath as he stood up.

“Who knows? Maybe it’ll help you figure some things out.”

“Like how much I hate being on the paper now?”

“Gilbert. You’re going to be great. If you actually end up hating it, we’ll switch the assignment, but I promise you can do this. And I think you might even end up liking it. Believe it or not, I’m not looking to see if I can make you fail at something. I’m looking to push you outside of your comfort zone to discover what you’re capable of. Give it a chance.”

He nodded at Mr. Phillips, headed to his locker and was pleased to see that Anne was still at hers when he walked by. He smiled politely then got lost in his head wondering how he was going to write a love column when he had absolutely no experience with the subject matter. He figured one good thing was at least it was anonymous so no one would be able to complain to him or blame him for their relationship ending in disaster.

“Gilbert?”

He startled back to reality and found Anne standing beside him. “Hi. Sorry.”

“Everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Phillips just wants to challenge me this year and I was surprised by his ideas. You aren’t walking home with Diana today?” He knew he sounded too eager, but it was done and there was nothing he could do about it.

“She had a piano lesson to get to.”

“Oh, right, of course,” he said.

“You know about her piano lessons?”

“Yep. Thursdays at 3:30. Since she was five.”

She laughed and asked, “You really do know everyone then, don’t you?”

“I know Diana better than the other girls with us being neighbors and all,” he said as he grabbed his bag and shut his locker. “Well, I’m probably a bad substitute but I can walk with you if you don’t mind. And if it’s not going to get you into trouble?”

“Everyone has gone home. I think it will be fine since we’re essentially walking to the same place.”

“I still don’t get why-”

“Are you sure you don’t mind walking with the weirdo?” Anne interrupted him.

“You’re the only one who calls you that,” he said as they started walking toward the exit together. He decided not to push her into explaining the issue and instead just accepted the opportunity and was grateful that she was talking to him at all.

“I don’t know that I am. Josie looks at me like I’m an alien. And her boyfriend-”

“Is a dick,” he finished for her. “Trust me, you don’t want him to have a good opinion of you. Just ignore him completely if possible. His sister Jane isn’t too bad-”

“Jane is his sister? Are they twins?”

“No, they’re just really close in age. Billy is the oldest you can be in our grade; Jane is the youngest. Besides you, I guess.”

“Anything else I should know about our classmates?”

“Hasn’t Diana filled you in? You two seem inseparable.” He really hoped it didn’t come off as jealousy because to him, it certainly felt like jealousy.

“She’s spoken about some more than others,” Anne said. “And I feel like her opinion is a little… biased. Mostly I’m just wondering who to stay away from so I don’t cause any more trouble.”

“Billy is who to stay away from. He hangs out with Paul and Paul, but they’re pretty harmless. You shouldn’t have many reasons to interact with them much at all though. That’s the benefit of being in the more advanced classes. Billy is an idiot. So are the Pauls.”

“Yay,” Anne cheered weakly.

He laughed. He couldn’t help it; she was adorable. Even with his confusion about why she was talking to him and why she wasn’t supposed to, he couldn’t help but get lost in the conversation and he was thrilled that, despite not being allowed to speak to him, she seemed to be doing so very enthusiastically. Her laughter was contagious and her smile was so beautiful that he finally had to agree with Mr. Phillips: he was staring. The problem was that he couldn’t stop even though he knew that he should. All he could do was hope that nothing got in his way as they walked home together. If something did, he was definitely going to run into it. Their conversation was so basic; he was simply trying to help Anne learn the names of some of their classmates, but he was so captivated by her that he accidentally passed his house and walked all the way to hers.

“You didn’t need to come the extra distance,” she said when they stopped by her mailbox.

“No, I didn’t. Sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention,” he confessed, looking around as though he had lost his house.

“It’s fine,” she laughed as she got the mail, then accidentally dropped some of it when trying to shut the box again. “Oops.”

Without thinking, Gilbert bent down to get it for her. Flowers. Her shoes were embroidered with little yellow and white flowers. Having the three-day-old mystery solved gave him an embarrassing sense of calm. He didn’t realize he cared that much about it. When he heard her say his name, he was brought back to the moment, stood up quickly and handed her the letters along with another verbal apology.

“Thanks,” she said as she fumbled the latch on the front gate. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

Gilbert walked home in a daze, desperately hoping and praying that his dad wasn’t looking out the window and didn’t see him walk Anne home. The questioning would be relentless and he wasn’t in the mood to try to make any sense of it.

He opened the front door and, without looking, called out, “Dad! I’m home! How are you doing?”

“He’s resting,” a man said as he entered the room.

Gilbert stopped suddenly in the foyer as his bag slid down his arm and fell on the floor. He took in the sight of the man standing before him then asked, “Um, who are you?”

“Sebastian LaCroix,” he said, holding up his medical ID badge. “I’m your father’s new nurse.”

Gilbert stared at him in disbelief.

He laughed and asked, “Not what you expected?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but no, not really.”

“Your dad said you kept staring at the young woman who previously held this position. He wanted you to have less of a distraction during the school year so he requested someone who looked a little bit different. And what is more different from a petite white woman with blonde hair than a tall Black guy from Trinidad with this kick-ass curly low fade?”

“Well, that’s embarrassing,” Gilbert said, looking away from him while he took off his shoes. He had started the week with the extremely unwelcome realization that he didn’t know how to talk to girls and now he was learning for the second time in as many hours that he couldn’t even look at them without causing problems. “I didn’t think I was that obvious.”

“Can I offer some advice? If you think you’re getting away with something, just go ahead and assume that your dad already knew it was going to happen.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes in frustration. “Look, I wasn’t doing anything weird, okay? I just thought she was pretty. I wasn’t like, hitting on her or anything. I would never do that. I wouldn’t even know how to if I wanted to. We’ve just never had a woman in the house. She was pretty but mostly I stared because it was weird and I couldn’t get used to it.”

“You don’t need to defend yourself to me. Busy as I am, I find I am also frequently a spectator. And I don’t think your dad thinks you did anything wrong; he’s just trying to help you focus.”

Gilbert laughed, put at ease by his honesty and asked, “So, you’re going to live here?”

“Yep. Is that okay?”

“Yep. Do you need help settling in? Anything I can help you find?”

“No, not yet. You got a name?”

“Oh, um, Gilbert, sorry,” he said, offering his hand to Sebastian and shaking his. “And don’t worry, I know you’re not here to take care of me. I’m pretty much used to taking care of myself. It’ll be nice to have you here. I… I do the best I can, but it’s a lot and I don’t always feel like I’m doing enough, or even the right things.”

“You’re his son. All you need to do is be his son. I’ll do the rest. How’s that?”

“I like that,” Gilbert said, smiling in relief, already feeling like an immense load had been lifted from him. “Do you want me to call you Mr. LaCroix? Or Sebastian?”

“You can call me Bash.”

“Bash. Got it. Alright. I’m going to do my homework out on the porch, let me know if you need anything. When I’m done I’ll get dinner started.”

“What kind of food do you like?”

“I’ll eat pretty much anything. Especially if someone else is cooking it. We usually eat basic things that I can’t screw up though. Lots of pasta and chicken.”

“Alright,” Sebastian laughed. “Let me take care of dinner tonight. I’m here to help with nutrition as well. I meant what I said. You just be his son. That sound good?”

“That sounds amazing. Thank you.”

“One more question. Didn’t I just see you walk by with a girl?”

Crap, Gilbert thought, but he didn’t want to start the relationship out with a lie so he answered, “Yeah.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No. Just a… I don’t even know,” he said, making sure to emphasize that there was nothing of note going on between them. “Honestly? She’s mostly just a new girl at school who doesn’t want to talk to me.”

Sebastian didn’t look like he believed him and said, “That was an awful lot of talking for her not wanting to talk to you.”

“I know. It was unusual. But she had some questions about some classmates and she lives two doors down. I didn’t mean to walk her all the way home, I just got distracted.”

“Mmhmm,” Sebastian said, doubtfully.

“For real.”

“I have no trouble believing that you are for real. I, too, have been distracted by a pretty girl before. For real. Especially in high school. There was even one who I happily let distract me under the bleachers during an assembly one time and then distracted me all the way to detention.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes, then put his shoes back on and said, “It’s not like that with Anne.”

Bash looked up with his eyes sparkling, lost in the memory, sighed and wistfully said, “That was a good day.”

“I’ll be outside if you need anything.”

Bash snapped back to reality and called after him, “Oh, so we’re pretending that you’re not just out there hoping she’ll also go outside so you get another chance to see her?”

Gilbert glared at him, picked up his bag, then opened the door and walked outside.

“That’s cool!” Sebastian called through the screen door. “I’m really good at pretending. Have fun doing your homework!”

Gilbert sat down, half exasperated by the outrageous assumption, half laughing at the fact that he could actually hear the air quotes Sebastian had put around the word ‘homework.’ Truth was, it wasn’t unusual for him to do his homework outside and he did so whenever he could. It was literally a breath of fresh air after spending all day inside. He knew though that it was entirely possible Sebastian’s assumption wasn’t all that outrageous after all. Gilbert wasn’t sure exactly how often he looked toward Anne’s house hoping she would appear, but he also didn’t keep count because he knew the number would be embarrassingly high.

He was astonished when he looked up one time and she had suddenly appeared. She was sitting on her porch, reading a book or, rather, holding a book and seemingly waiting for him to look at her. She offered him the smallest of waves when their eyes met and he immediately had to fight the surge of excitement he felt building in his chest. It was dangerously close to the feeling he got when his final shot won them the province basketball championship the previous year. Or what he felt when he opened the letter from the university saying that he was accepted into their pre-med program before beginning his senior year of high school.

All from a stupid, little wave, he thought. I might be in trouble.

He forced himself to take a breath and, as calmly as possible, raised his hand and waved back, hoping his smile wasn’t as ridiculously eager as it felt just as Sebastian walked out onto the porch and sat down in front of him, blocking his view.

“So. I have a good half hour of free time while that sauce simmers. Tell me about yourself. You know, besides the fact that you’re a terrible liar. Just… truly awful.”

Gilbert laughed and turned his attention to Sebastian. Not that he had much of a choice. They talked while the sauce simmered and well into the evening. Everything seemed to settle into a rhythm after that. At home, at school, with the newspaper, even with Anne. Sure, they didn’t really talk, but the notebook provided a means for him to get to know her and he was grateful for it. Plus, if he was being completely honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he could handle much more than that because he always got so nervous around her.

None of it went unnoticed by Sebastian, but Gilbert eventually got used to Sebastian’s teasing and quickly forgot that he was there as an employee. They became fast friends and, soon after that, Sebastian became more like the brother he’d never had.