broken hearts club | C. MACKENZIE

seven

"gilbert is so dreamy, don't you agree, anne?" ruby gillis asks, tying the ends of diana's plaits.

"he is a pain in the butt," anne shirley-cuthbert spits out, taking a massive bite out of her apple.

"what's your opinion, di?" ruby questions, finishing off the plaits with a blue bow.

"i do agree he is dreamy," diana nods her head, her eyes traveling towards cole. "what do you think about gilbert, cole?"

cole mackenzie glances up from his drawings. he hadn't drawn in his book for over three months, but he enjoyed looking back at what he used to be able to do. he hopes to will himself to one day be able
to do those things again.

"what?" he asks, his eyes narrowing towards diana.

"what's your opinion of gilbert?" diana asks again, a smile forming on her face.

"it doesn't matter what cole thinks, it's not like he's into boys or something. besides, gilbert's not into boys," ruby quickly interrupts, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

"exactly," cole softly smiles at ruby, tilting his head to the side. "he's ruby's."

"cole, can i talk to you?" diana asks, standing up. she doesn't wait for him to respond, she grabs his arm and pulls outside of the gillis household.

"diana what-"

"you like gilbert and gilbert likes you. stop trying to deny it in front of me. you can deny it in front of the others, but don't lie to me," diana rushes out, leaning against the fencing of the house.

"how-"

"i saw you sleeping on his shoulder. anne saw too, but she's oblivious. i see the way you guys look at each other! he grabbed your hand during your panic attack for heavens sake!" diana exclaims, throwing her hands into the air. "just kiss him already!"

cole stares at diana, trying to piece all the information together. gilbert did not have feelings for cole, he was sure of that. now more than ever.

"diana, i seriously have no idea what you're talking about," cole says, his heart sinking.

"you weren't sleeping on his shoulder?" diana asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"i was," cole says slowly, coming up with an explanation for this. "i was worn out from the panic attack, gilbert was just there."

"you are so frustrating! you're going to tell me that you two kissed one day and i'm going to tell you i told you so," diana groans, stomping back in the house, not bothering to wait for cole.

~

"hey cole," a feminine voice says from above him. cole was sitting on the steps of the schoolhouse, his head leaning against the railing. he looks up and sees that it's jane andrews. he smiles up at her and pats the empty spot next to him.

she takes a seat and sighs, staring at the boys playing some sort of sport in front of them.

"what's wrong?" cole asks, tilting his head to the side. "some boy trouble?"

"i wish," jane whispers, looking down at her hands. this alerts cole and he turns his body towards jane, signaling that she has his full attention.

"i'm wrong."

"you're wrong?" cole asks, taken aback. "what do you mean you're 'wrong'?"

jane glances up, tears welling up in her eyes. "promise you won't tell anyone?" she asks and she seems so helpless. cole nods his head and rests a hand on her knee, rubbing it softly.

"i'm so different, i tried to hide it and be normal and like all the other girls. i pretended to be interested in boys and who liked me and i even planned out who i was going to 'like' that week. it all felt so wrong. i thought i would grow out of my phase where i wasn't interested in boys, but i didn't. instead i realized i was interested in someone. that someone just wasn't a boy," jane finishes, tears streaming down her face. while she looked sad, cole also noticed she looked relieved, she was glad she was finally able to tell someone.

"oh jane," cole mumbles, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug. "you're not wrong, you're very much not wrong." he could hear her sobbing into his shoulder.

"nobody else here is like me, cole. i am so alone," she whispers and he is barely able to hear her through her sobs. he rubs her back and lets her have her moments, he knew she needed this.

as much as he wanted to tell her that she wasn't alone, he knew he couldn't. he couldn't risk anyone knowing that he liked boys, he just couldn't. if any of the girls found out, all his actions with gilbert would clearly give away that he had feelings for the boy.

so, for the time being, he had to let jane think she truly was alone. and that hurt his heart more than anything. he hated making her feel like this.

"jane," cole says and she picks her head up from his shoulder, looking at him. she looks so weak right now, her eyes puffy and her hair a mess. instinctively, his hands go to her hair and he pulls out her current hairdo. he smoothes out her hair and smiles, leaning back.

"what?"

"who's the girl?" he asks quietly, his eyes wondering over to the group of girls jane normally hangs out with. curiosity got the best of him and he asked. "if you're comfortable with telling me."

jane follows his eyes and looks at her group of best friends, her eyes longing. she places her hands in her lap and sighs, looking down.

"it's ruby," jane admits, turning back to cole. as soon as she speaks her name, tears fall from her eyes again. cole panics and grabs her hand, pulling her upwards. he heads over to the spot with the trees that hides them nicely.

"now no one can see us," cole smiles softly, letting jane cry into his shoulder again. he sighs, giving her a tight hug.

how his heart hurt.

an; teehee hi guys