[1] YOU FOUND ME ( gilbert blythe! )

07 | FORBIDDEN

⎾07 | FORBIDDEN⏌

WHEN I ARRIVED AT school the next day, things were a little off. The boys were doing their normal routine—teasing the girls and fooling around outside. The girls on the other hand, looked disgusted as they saw me walk up to the pond and set my things down.

Diana hadn't walked with me that day, so she wasn't there to defend me in front of her friends. I'm guessing she was running late since she was going to walk with Anne today. That meant I had to defend myself.

I tried to walk one way, but I was stopped. I tried to walk to other way, and I was stopped again. There must've been ten girls there, because everywhere I went they blocked me.

"Well look who we have here." Josie said in a snobby voice.

She was standing with a group of girls that I was not yet familiar with. The only girls I had recognized were Ruby and Josie. The other girls had to be older.

"Boy stealer." Ruby spat under her breath.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked, confusion flashing on my face.

"Yesterday," Josie said, clenching her jaw. "I heard what happened. You made a very big mistake."

"You mean with Gilbert? That was nothing. I—" I tried to say, but an older girl cut me off.

"You must not know how things work around here, Darling." The girl said, taking a step towards me.

I took a step back as a cautious reflex, but that didn't stop her.

"You know, my dear friend Ruby has been very hurt these past few days. Gilbert hardly pays attention to her, or any of us for that matter, when you're around." The girl said.

"That's not my fault!" I defended, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Oh, but it is." Josie cut in, stepping closer to me as well. "You see, you don't belong here."

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my skin.

"Look, I don't want any trouble." I tried to say calmly, but that made the girls laugh.

"The trouble started when you got here!" Ruby yelled from the back of the group. "I told you not to talk to Gilbert, but you couldn't resist."

"You know what we do to people who don't listen?" The girl asked, cracking her knuckles and shoving my book bag onto the ground, causing all my belongings to fall out.

I suddenly got the wind knocked out of me when the eldest girl punched me in the stomach. The second girl kicked me in my side as hard as she could, causing me to collapse onto the ground.

Josie then punched me harshly in the face and bent down, "You know, I never liked you."

My vision was now blurred, multiple punches and kicks coming all at once. I could faintly see Ruby standing in the back. Her arms were crossed but her face sat struck with worry, as if she knew this wasn't right.

I desperately looked around to see if anyone could help, but the boys were circling around us, laughing and cheering the girls on. Billy was in the front, pointing and laughing.

Finally, the last punch was thrown, and Josie bent down and whispered, "You are forbidden to ever talk to Gilbert Blythe again. And if you do, there's more where that came from."

She then stood up, and walked away, leaving me unmoving and helpless on the grass. After a minute or so, Anne and Diana finally arrived at school. For a moment, I thought they would see me and help me.

But I was mistaken. The two girls laughed and giggled and didn't even look in my direction. Sure, it wasn't their fault. You can barely see the river from the front of the school, so I was completely out of view.

I looked up to the windows to see Billy and his friends making faces at me, causing my eyes to well up with tears.

It took a lot of strength to sit up, but I managed. I grabbed my things and put them into my bag before swinging it over my shoulder. Now was the hard part—getting up.

I didn't know how I was going to do it. Then, as if god had seen me struggling, I heard a rustle of leaves come from the entrance. It was Gilbert—he must've been running late.

"Gilbert," I choked, causing his eyes to shoot over to me. "Help me."

"Samantha!" Gilbert shouted, running over to me and kneeling down. "What happened?"

"Please hurry! They can't see us!" I cried, pointing to the window.

"Who?" Gilbert asked, examining my cuts and bruises.

"Anyone!" I quickly said. "Please, take me anywhere but here and I will explain but if you want to help me you're going to have to carry me. I can't walk—"

"Done." Gilbert said, cutting me off and picking me up bridal style.

After getting away from the school property, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.

"Thank you," I said, looking up into his familiar hazel eyes that make me feel like I'm stargazing every time.

"Anytime," He said and smiled slightly. "Where am I going, exactly?"

"Well, I don't know. Mrs. Barry would have a heart attack if she saw me like this, and neither Diana nor Anne can know about it either." I said to him.

Gilbert nodded, knowing it was best not to ask any more questions.

"We can go to the shed. Nobody can see us there. I work there every day and it's pretty lonely." He admitted.

"Haven't you got any brothers or sisters? Or is it just you and your parents?" I questioned.

"It's just me and my father..." He trailed off, looking straight ahead.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." I said, mentally slapping myself for asking such a question.

We were silent for a while until we finally arrived at Gilbert's shed just across from his house. He carefully set me down on the ground, and stood back up.

"I'll be right back," He said, smiling and running over to his house to grab some medicine and a blanket.

When I was alone, I thought to myself:

"How am I going to explain what happened to Gilbert? I'm not even supposed to be talking to him. What if the girls find out? That can't happen. I don't think I can handle getting beat like that again. What am I supposed to say?"