Destiny Brings Us Together (Anne and Gilbert)

A New Beginning

After the long hot summer of Avonlea, the breeze finally fell upon my face. Autumn had come. It had been a long time since I had come to Avonlea but it never failed to amaze me in its breathtaking seasons. Though Autumn meant school, I no longer dreaded the long, boring days that were taught by our unenthusiastic teacher, Mr. Phillips. But now we had an amazing teacher that had won our hearts, Ms. Stacy. 

Today, like all other days I was walking to our screat story alcove, well our former alcove. After Billy Andrews destroyed it, Diana, Ruby, and I took it upon ourselves to build a new one. Without the presence of Cole, i'd forgotton how beautiful he really made the spot feel. 

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I ran back home, enjoying the cool gusts of wind on my face. Tomorrow was the first day of school again and I couldn't wait.

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Since I had grown from last year, Marilla was forced to buy me a new school dress. It looked just like my former one, except it was a marvolous shade of emerald green. Miss Jeannie said the color would bring out my features. I was horribly mad at her for wanting to put my ugly features for display, but she told me that I was very beautiful and that I had matured a lot. I guess I look different. 

I couldn't sleep at all tonight because I am very nervous for tomorrow. I am nervous to see one person. I can picture him and hear the playback of Cole's words in my head "You know he has a crush on you, right?".

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It was the morning of the first day of school. I put on my green dress and wore my hair into two braids. I woke up early to help Marilla cook breakfast. After we finished eating, I went down to the barn to see Jerry. "Bonjour Jerry!" I called out to him. "Bonjour Anne, comment allez-vous?". "Woah, woah slow down" I laughed. "Remember the deal was that I taught you English and you taught me French, wouldn't it be wonderful to be fluent in two languages, like Diana!". The thought of Diana put a thoughtful face on Jerry's face. I chuckled and went inside to grab my school things. 

I walked inside and met Diana. We put out drinks out near the fountain and met all of the other girls. I looked around the classroom. Diana nudged me and said, "Looking for someone in particular?". I quickly snapped my head back to her and said "No, of course not". "Gilbert's by the door if you were wondering", Diana said as she smirked. Without any control my head snapped back to the door to see Gilbert. He grew even taller and his cheekbones and jawline were more defined than before. I felt heat rush up on my cheeks. I turned back to Diana, crossed my arms, and said "I wasn't looking for him".  Ruby stared straight past me and looked at Gilbert. "How could he have gotten even more handsome?" she said with a sigh. I roll my eyes. "Oh my, he's coming this way" she freaked out and patted her hair and dress down. I ignored her comment and turned to Diana. "So Diana, when do you think we will finish building our hideout?". Before she could answer I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around and saw Gilbert in front of me. "Hello Anne!" he said. "Hello Gilbert" I said. He looked around and made me realize that all of my friends were looking at us. I could see Ruby's flushed cheeks. I felt a twinge of sadness for her because Gilbert didn't pay attention to her. "So.." he said smiling. "Yes?" I answered. "Ready for me to beat you in the spelling bee this year?" he asked. "In your dreams, Blythe" I replied. He laughed and looked down at his shoes. Ms. Stacy entered the room and asked everyone to be seated. I could still feel Gilbert's eyes on me as I sat down.

"Okay class, today we are going to do a different assignment! This assigment requires you to pick a partner of the opposite gender." Ms. Stacy said. Immediatly I thought of one person, but that thought was disturbed when I heard Ruby whisper "Gilbert!" to Diana.

Ms. Stacy continued, "The assignment is to put your shoes in the other person's life. This project will take 2 days so you will not need to come to school for those days. I will let all of your parents know".

I was suddenly unsure of who my partner would be because I didn't want to let Ruby down. We were in such a good place that I didn't want to mess it up. But I guess I didn't have to worry because Gilbert was making his way down to Ruby. My face turned red. I guess I didn't have to worry about anything. I looked around the room to see who I could be partners with, and he was standing right there... Billy Andrews.