𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 | gilbert blythe

04. his return

The next day, Anne had beat her to their meeting point. The red-haired girl waving frantically as Penny came into view.

"Penelope!" Anne waved, "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Anne," Penny smiled as she joined the girl and they immediately fell into pace together.

"What happened to your hand?" Anne asked, eyeing the bandages across Penelope's palms.

"I dropped a plate and hurt myself picking it up," Those lies were the easiest in Penny's opinion, lies of omission. There was truth in her words, just not the whole truth, and that's how she liked it.

"You must be more careful," Anne worried and for a moment, Penny couldn't breathe. It had been a while since she had heard that tone directed towards her. Occasionally, Mrs. Gillis would approach her with a grin and ask how she'd been and those were moments Penny cherished more than the older woman could know, but this was different, this was pure worry for her and her wellbeing, it wasn't an offhanded greeting or polite conversation. Someone cared.

"Are you ready for today?" Penny was quick to change the topic, trying to keep in check her emotions that had begun to run rampant.

"I just have to remember what Jane Eyre said," Anne explained, "'Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs',"

"You astound me, Anne," Penny couldn't help but feel her appreciation for Anne increase at the girl's tenacity.

Suddenly a tall figure approached them.

"Of course you'd befriend her, Penelope the klutz" Billy Andrews had hid behind a tree in wait of Anne and let a smirk overcome his face as we saw the other odd girl of their school as well, "She's going to ruin your reputation, y'know? Not that you really have one..."

"I think I'll take my chances," Penny spoke, taking a step away from the boys threatening body language. Feeling a familiar panic race through her, Penelope wrapped her arms around herself defensively.

"Hm, your decision. I'm not here for you anyway. I'm here to have a little conversation with Anne," Billy stomped towards Penny as though to scare her away, it did it's job as Penny flinched back violently, before turning to advance on Anne, "You said some pretty nasty stuff to my sister,"

"Who's your sister?" Anne asked softly.

"Prissy Andrews, dummy," Billy sneered.

Penny hadn't been present for the conversation but gossip spread rapidly in Avonlea and she had heard of Anne's 'pet mouse' story quite quickly the previous night.

"I'm sure I didn't mean to be nasty," Anne tried to placate.

"Is that why she was crying all night?" Billy asked, "My parents say that's slander. You want to get slandered?"

"Sorry, I truly meant no harm..." Anne backed up with each of Billy's steps forward.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson, Fido. You're a bad dog. Bad little dog."

Anne had taken a misstep backwards and fell roughly onto her back. The blood pumping in Penny's ears began to double in speed as she watched Billy approach her new friend, the one who had been so kind to her, the one who reminded her so much of when she used to be loved, and despite every nerve in her body saying not to do anything, Penny moved.

It wasn't anything big, she didn't run up to Billy and slap him across the face as she'd often like to but Penny was proud of herself as she stood in front of Anne, placing herself between her friend and the bully.

"Please leave us alone," Penny asked, in the back of her head she could hear her father approving of her lack of stutter, while simultaneously yelling at her for showing weakness in the form of placing her arms protectively in front of herself.