Green Eyed Beauty

Chapter 11

Heartbroken. That was the word that seemed to float around Anne's head as she watched Gilbert Blythe laugh with his friends at lunch, completely unaware of the redhead's burning gaze into the side of his head.

"Anne!"

She snapped her eyes away from the curly-headed boy and onto her annoyed best friend.

"Yes, dear Diana?"

Sighing, Diana gave her friend a sad look. "You haven't been in your right mind all week, Anne." She glanced nervously at Gilbert. "Did you and Gilbert have another spat?" Diana asked quietly.

Is that what she should call it? A silly fight between her and Blythe?

"You could say that." Anne grumbles, picking at her sandwich and refusing to make eye contact with Diana. She heard another sigh but the raven-haired girl did not push the subject further.

Diana inserted herself into the other girls' conversation as Anne opted to zone out once again.  She couldn't stop replaying Monday's encounter in her mind. He likes me. He confessed his feelings for me and I completely shut him down. Anne thought miserably for the hundredth time that day. That was all she wanted, wasn't it? An intelligent, well-mannered boy who believed in her and liked her.

And I went and messed it up. She glanced at Ruby, who unsurprisingly was staring straight at Gilbert with no caution to the wind and was undoubtedly gushing about how good his hair looked or how handsome the olive green shirt he was donning made him look. As long as Ruby is happy, I'm happy.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jade glance in her direction and felt guilt eat at her. She had offered her words of encouragement and help regarding the entire 'forbidden crush' situation then Anne proceeded to lie to the girl. She continued to let her thoughts consume her as the rest of lunch dragged on.

Then class. The next thing she knew, the day had ended and it was time to go home. Anne rushed to grab her things, yelled a quick goodbye to Diana, and run out of the school house's doors.

"Oh, I don't think so."

Anne stiffened. She turned around and saw Jade walking towards her with an expression of conviction.

"You're not getting off that easily, Ms. Shirley-Cutbhert." Jade scoffed, crossing her arms and making sure to stand between Anne and the pathway to Green Gables. "You've been quiet all week and keep staring at Gilbert like you want to cry. Are you going to tell me what's happened or should I lock you both in a room until one of you cracks?"

She didn't know how to respond. Anne bit the inside of her cheek to keep her tears from spilling over. "I'm just on my cycle, Jade. Gilbert and I had a small argument and I'm simply just overly upset." She lied once again. "I promise you I will be as fit as a songbird next week."

Jade raised an eyebrow. It was evident she didn't believe her but she nodded nonetheless. "If you need to talk about anything Anne, please don't hesitate to come to me. I won't judge you or tell anyone your business."  She said in a calmer tone.

Anne gave her a strained smile. "Thank you, Jade. You truly are a saint."

With that, the redhead began her walk back to Green Gables, leaving a confused and suspicious Jade behind.

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Anne crumpled up the 6th piece of paper she had messed up on and threw across the room with a frustrated groan. She had been trying to write her story for the last 2 hours and could only think of male protagonists with curly brown hair and warm brown eyes.

And now she was thinking of Gilbert Blythe once again.

"You are going to be the absolute death of me, Gilbert Blythe." She muttered under her breath. Anne was no fool. After many long, excruciating hours tossing and turning in bed, she had come to the unwanted conclusion that she also harbored feelings for Gilbert. However, she was having a hard time accepting it.

How was she to tell Diana or Jade that she fancied Gilbert Blythe after lying to them both and insisting that she didn't? Oh, and to think of the ruckus Ruby and Josie would wreak over this revelation. Anne shuddered at the thought.

Careful to not make much noise, she cleaned up the crumpled-up pieces of paper and went downstairs to discard them in the fireplace. Anne watched as the paper erupted into flames, burning the subpar writing she had labored over for the last few hours into mere ashes.

"Anne?"

The tired voice of Matthew Cuthbert broke Anne out of her reverie. She turned to see her adopted father standing at the bottom of the stairs with a confused expression plastered onto his sleepy face.

"Oh, Matthew! I do hope I didn't wake you." She fretted, stepping away from the fireplace. He shook his head, eyes flickering to the fire burning behind her before settling back on Anne.

"Is there a reason you're awake at this hour? You know Marilla won't be pleased to know you're out of bed." Matthew asked as he made his way over to the fireplace.

Anne twisted the fabric of her nightgown between her hands, wondering if she should tell Matthew what was bothering her. "Well, I was trying to write a story about a heroine under the name of Evergreen who gets saved from her overbearing family by falling in love with a boy named Bailey." She rambled. "I was having trouble with the characteristics of the male protagonist, I'm afraid."

Matthew listened intently, no doubt trying to make sure he caught every word Anne said. "Well, what's wrong with your male, uh, character?" He scratched the back of his head.

"The technical term would be a protagonist." Anne giggled. Her smile dropped slightly. "Matthew, could I ask you something?"

Noticing the change in tone, Matthew nodded, gesturing for her to go on. "If a boy were to confess his feelings for me and I were to insult his right to feel because I don't want to hurt a very good friend of mine even though I like him as well, am I a bad person?" Anne blathered.

The older man's eyebrows furrowed together as he stayed quiet, taking in Anne's question. "Well," He started. "Having feelings doesn't make you a bad person, Anne."

Her head snapped up to meet his gaze. "You were careful because you didn't want to hurt your friend but you hurt yourself and this boy both in the end." Matthew looked into the flames, where Anne's papers had disintegrated. "By the sounds of it, it seems like a complicated situation but you have to ask yourself, do you love him?"

Anne's mouth dropped open. "Love? No! I simply have feelings for Gi- I mean this boy!" She defended, catching the slip before Matthew heard it. "I absolutely do not love him, I assure you, dear Matthew."

"Then you've got to tell him." He answered simply. She huffed.

"But what about my friend? Won't I betray her by telling this boy I like him?"

Matthew shook his head. "Anne, it is not your responsibility to protect your friend's feelings. If this boy liked her, he would have confessed to her, not you." He squeezed her hand. "Don't make the mistake Marilla and I both made. Tell him how you feel, before it's too late."

Anne bit her lip. "What if it's too late and he doesn't like me anymore?"

"Love is never late, Anne. If you truly love each other, those feelings will never leave."

The words sank to her stomach as Matthew turned to head back to the bed.

"Oh, and Anne?"

She looked up. "Yes?"

He smiled. "There are many other fine men out there who aren't Gilbert Blythe."