Yours truly, Gilbert | 𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐁𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄

three

"Hello class and welcome." Mr. Philipps walked down the row of desks, stopping in the back. "It's comforting to see some familiar faces."

He then walked by Anne's desk in front of mine. "And some new ones." I sat behind Anne and Diana, next to Josie, while Ruby sat behind with Tillie. Josie said, and I quote, "Ruby doesn't want to sit next to a boyfriend stealer."

"To get us all reacquainted, the other teachers voted we did a pen-pal activity." He stated boredly. "You will all get a slip of paper. Do not mess it up, you won't get another. And talk about yourself, what you do for fun, but don't include your name or any obvious details it was from you. Your 'pen-pal' is supposed to guess who you are by the end of the year."

Immediately, whispers broke out and heads turned in all directions. A hand shot up in the air, and Anne started talking before Mr. Philipps acknowledged her. "But sir, don't you think— I mean won't it be obvious who we have by the end of the year?"

He sighed. "The point is for them to not figure out who you are until the final moment. So... be as vague as possible." Mr. Philipps said it as if he was robot, he looked as if he would love to be doing anything else right now. "Get started."

I looked at the blank small sheet in front of me and tried to think of ways to describe myself. Intelligent? Creative? None of those really showed who I was. I was authentic, that's for sure, but I didn't want to just say it like that.

But then, an idea sparked in my head. and I scribbled it down.

"If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone."
If you can guess who said that without searching through books, I'll give you more hints to who I am.

I decided to give them an interesting hook, pull them in.

Let's start with the basics. I am a girl, I've lived in Avonlea my whole life with my family, and I've been coming to school here since I was a child.

It was required we put our gender.
The girl's would get girl partners and the boys would get boy partners. I thought it was strange at first, but it could just be an easier way for others to track down their pen-pal.

That's all I'll say for now. We'll see what you write back.

I brought my letter to Mr. Philipps front desk as the first one done and turned back around with a proud smile. My letter was short and sweet, but it had everything I needed to convey to this person.

***

About 20 minutes after everyone was done, I got my first letter handed to me by Mr. Philipps, folded and blank on the outside, just like the rest. He practically dropped it on my desk, then moved on to give Ruby her note. I couldn't wait, I had to know what it said.

Dear Reader,
Hi, I grew up in Avonlea almost like everyone else, I've been coming to school here for awhile, and I am a boy.

I froze. There had to be some sort of mistake, it was supposed to be boys with boys, and girls with girls. What to do? Tell Josie? No. Tell Mr. Philipps? That didn't seem right either.

But then, I realized this person probably worked hard on their letter just like I did mine, so I should at least finish it. Oh. This person had my letter. I wonder what their reaction was too. I scanned the rows of boys and none of them seemed out of the ordinary. All were just silently reading. I couldn't see any of their handwritings or the girls. We were specifically told to guard ours from others anyways.

I enjoy reading, writing, and doing other things with the people I love. I hope you're having a good day and you stay hydrated. ~Pen Pal

I read it twice. The handwriting was good, and there were never any grammar mistakes. Whoever this boy was, sure had a good education before school. But who? I knew it wasn't Billy, but how well did I really know all the others? Could it be Moody?

"Okay, it's lunch now, after that, you'll send another note and I'll pass it along. You'll only be writing and recieving 2 notes today, once that's over with, we can actually learn something." He emphasized the last two words and left to go to his office. But before he shut the door, he peaked his head out. "And if any of you discuss who your 'pen-pal' is with another student, or use any forms of verbalization besides writing in these notes to figure it out, you will recieve a message to your parents. This counts as cheating and is punishable."

With that note, he left us all there. Some boys stood up, and others slowly rose to join them outside. I tried to read all of their faces for any sign of seeming overwhelmed, flustered, or guilty, but they all appeared normal. Whoever this was, was good at masking, or maybe I didn't read the faces well enough.

***

"I don't even care who I got, this assignment is simply dumb so one of you fess up right now. Who stated in their letter—"

"Josie!" Diana snapped. "You'll get caught for cheating and sent home. And... I think it's fun to have a mystery. Almost all of the girls face's were curious, scanning around the room looking for any sense of eye contact."

No one said anything to back up Diana's theory. I did agree, but I didn't want to get shunned by all of them again like this morning. They had to create a specific rule for me. Which sucked.

"I like it too. Having something fun to look forwards too. A constant mystery of who could be behind the whimsical words." Anne suggested, smiling at Diana.

"No one asked what the orphan thought." Josie smirked and looked at all of us. Everyone froze, and Anne blinked, tucking her chin in to her chest.

"How could you say such a thing?" I asked loudly, unable to control the words coming out of my mouth. "The girl has lost her parents, and you think that's something to make fun of? Categorize her as?"

Josie scoffed. "You clearly don't understand a joke Harley, you take everything too seriously. I mean— Everytime we bring up Henri—" She paused, her smile falling when she saw my expression. My eyes were dead set on hers.

"What about Henri." I snapped, not breaking the gaze. She glanced around nervously and opened and closed her mouth. "What about Henri, Josie Pye?" I demanded, loudly.

We were all standing by now and the air in the room was tense, quiet.

I felt weak arms pull me back, but I shoved them off. I will not let anyone disrespect my brother. I don't care who they are.

The classroom door opened, but I ignored it, inching closer to her. "Don't ever say a bad thing about my brother. ever." I whispered, inches from her face. She gulped and nodded slightly, blinking fast.

"C'mon Harley." I heard one voice say.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Yelled 2 boys.

"Hey— Gilbert! Your ruining the fun!" One complained. I realized I was being pulled back by stronger hands now. My shoes stumbled beneath me but my eyes never left Josie.

Before anyone else could say another word, Mr. Philipps stepped outside of his room and faced us all. "Lunch is over." He said it as if it was obvious. "Get back to your seats!"