inevitable [SHIRBERT]

Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Dream

Gilbert usually would start off his mornings alone. Every morning, he would wake up at five am. The world would be quiet, and the sun would start to rise. He would feel okay, and safe. The warmth of his bed sheets and the glow of the sun. His mind would be at peace. Except, this morning, his mind was far from at peace. It was scattered all around the room, bouncing off one wall and onto another.

    He'd had the strangest dream about a girl (it's always about a girl, isn't it?). This was no ordinary girl. Everyone stared at her as she skipped through the doors of Avonlea High School, and twirled till she fell laughing to the floor. The other girls and boys were laughing at her, but she didn't care anyway. She just kept smiling and dancing. It made him smile as well. And she had the most brilliant hair, the color of carrots. Then, all of a sudden, she turned around and said to him: "Hello, my name is-"

...

    "Anne Shirley-Cuthbert! You better get up! It's time for school." Anne, however, was also just as scatter-brained as the boy who had dreamt of her. She had woken up at five am every morning to watch the sun rise. It was such a glorious setting, romantic almost. Anne loved watching the colors of the sky changing before her eyes.

    This morning, all she could think about was the first day of school. She had woken up at five as usual, but the sunrise was not as bright or romantic. She had nothing to wear it seemed, and couldn't seem to fully wake up by the time she had to get ready. She tried to tame her awful red hair by french braiding it into two long strands (she taught herself to braid her own hair at 7 years old), and wore a pretty white blouse and a simple jean skirt. She put on her lucky black converse (she'd had them for years now), and a simple blue, braided bracelet Matthew made for her a few years back. She smiled sadly at her reflection, only hoping for the best.

    Walking into the kitchen, she smelt bacon and eggs, and sat down at the long wooden table in the middle of a somewhat bare kitchen. They had moved to Avonlea from a small town on the other side of Prince Edwards Island. Marilla's best friend, Rachel Lynde, lived next door, and found them the home they were currently living in. Anne knew better than to get her hopes up about this new town, but it was a fresh start. No one here except for Marilla knew of her horrid past, and she didn't plan on sharing it with anyone anytime soon.

    Marilla gave Anne a plate of bacon and eggs, and Anne graciously ate them in a timely manner, and quickly got her backpack ready. "Anne," Marilla said, "Please be careful."

    "I always am Marilla." Anne said with a smile. She kissed her on the cheek and ran out the front door. Then she was off into the world unknown.

    Summer had been a glorious time for Anne in Avonlea. She had met her best friend and next door neighbor, Diana Barry. They became quick friends, and spent almost all summer imagining what high school would be like. They came up with all sorts of scenarios in their heads. Anne had such a wide scope for the imagination, so it was harder for Diana to keep up. Either way, they became close that summer. Anne almost told her of her past, but dared not to. She knew better than that.

    Diana and Anne walked happily to school that morning, talking as they went.

    "Did you hear? Gilbert Blythe is finally back in town. He's so cute." Diana said with a smile, "His father passed some time ago, and he left, but he came back to finish high school." Anne gave a humph, making a strand of her wild, red hair fly out of her eye.

    "I don't see why you like all these boys so much Diana." Anne said, sticking her nose in the air, "Boys are nothing but trouble."

    "And I don't see what you have against them! You haven't even met Gilbert before!"

    "And I don't want to." Anne said, stopping and turning towards Diana, " I just want the other girls to like me, and I feel like if I become too close with the boys-"

    "Anne, I get it. I won't make you talk to him." Diana said, grabbing her friends hand, "I just want you to give these people a chance."

    "And I will." She said, giving Diana's hand a squeeze, "So, tell me all about these friends of yours! Where do you sit during lunch? I need to know everything I can..."

...

    Gilbert parked in the back lot behind the school and slowly started to get out of the car to gather his things. He knew when he walked in there, it would be back to the smiles and hello's. Part of him didn't want to go in, but he knew that his family would have wanted him to finish. In the middle of his thoughts, he saw something forming. A group of girls forming, actually. His eyebrows rose, and he didn't really remember deciding to walk towards them, but all of a sudden he was in front of Josie, Ruby, Tillie and Jane, all giggling and talking about god knows what.

    "Hey Gilbert! Oh my god, its so good to have you back." Josie Pye said with a seductive smile, which honestly make Gilbert feel a little sick. He gave a nod and then, "Good to be back."

    All of a sudden, all his old friends were there: Charlie and Moody. More and more people kept coming to say hello to Gilbert. He smiled, and patted everyone's shoulders. It was almost as if nothing had changed. They somehow all felt as if that was true, however, Gilbert knew what had changed; it was himself. He could still be the self arrogant prick he was a year ago, but he knew better than that now.

    He drove to school. Classes happened. He ate lunch with Charlie. Got back in his car at the end of the day. It would be the same cycle of things. He knew this. What he didn't know, was that the cycle was going to be broken sooner or later, he just wouldn't see it coming.

...

    Anne loved school. She didn't love the crowded halls, or how dirty the floors were, or how she had to sit in the bathroom to eat lunch because Diana's friends needed to have a "private conversation". But she loved the learning. She was brilliant at spelling and writing. Math wasn't too easy for her quite yet, but that had always been an issue.

    The other issue, is that these kids had known each other for years, and she was just the new girl with the obnoxious red hair who talked too much. Anne knew all this of course. She knew all this going into school. She knew she would be an outcast, again, however, she'd hoped Avonlea would be different.

    Diana's friends were nice enough. She could tell when they were being sincere and insincere, Josie especially. Anne had planned her introduction speech to Diana's friends before they had gotten there. When she met them that morning, she said everything she had prepared.

    "Anne, this is Josie, Tillie, Ruby and Jane. Girls, this is Anne. She's new this year." Diana said lovingly to her friends. They all said a polite hello.

    "It is such a delightful and scrumptious pleasure to meet you all! I have heard so many wonderful things about you guys, and I hope that we can all be friends." Anne said, her eyes lighting up, waiting for a reaction. After an ocean of silence, Josie was the first one to speak up.

    "Where are you from, the 19th century?" She said, dead serious. Anne could almost cry hearing her say that, but Josie continued with: "Hahaha, oh my god! I was kidding. Welcome to Avonlea High!"

    On their way home, Anne asked Diana, "Is Josie always that rude and sarcastic?"

    Diana only replied with: "It's something you have to get used to."

    Anne walked to school with Diana. Went to her classes. Ate lunch alone. Walked home with Diana. This was her continuous cycle. She knew that somehow, she needed to break it. What she didn't know is that she didn't have anymore control over it than Gilbert did.

Hope you all enjoyed! This is so much fun to write, and I really like the first chapter (don't worry, they get more interactions in the next).

XOXO

-c