𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐑 | gilbert blythe ✓

𝐯𝐢.

"MAGNOLIA!". . .

She jolted awake, and as soon as she opened her eyes she met the face of her angry mother. She knew immediately something was wrong, but she couldn't process it just yet because her head ached badly.

Her mother gently grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the chair, she guided Magnolia out of Anne's house and to theirs.

Magnolia had no clue of what was going on, but before she left she locked eyes with Anne, who was sobbing. She didn't know what to think, the last thing she remembered was going to Anne's for tea.

"What happened?" She asked her mother, however, her words came out in a slur.

Her mother glanced down at her and frowned. "You're drunk." Her eyes widened, but when did she drink alcohol?

That's when it hit her, the raspberry cordial was the culprit.

"You are not allowed to associate with Anne anymore," Her mothers voice sounded fuzzy, but she got the gist of it.

"Why? She didn't do anything wrong, mother."

"Don't question me." She shut her mouth, looked down, and pondered how she could stay away from Anne. She was her best friend, how could she ignore her?

Their house soon came into view and Magnolia's mother brought her straight to her room and laid her in her bed.

Magnolia wanted to protest, but she was too tired to even think about it.

Her mother kissed her forehead then left, Magnolia fell asleep almost instantly.

♡

Magnolia walked through the school doors with her eyes glued to the ground, she didn't want to lay eyes on Anne. She had to do what her mother said even though it was going to be hard.

Instead of sitting in her regular seat by Anne, she sat next to Ruby. She never liked Ruby much because she was a bit of a crybaby, but she was still nice to her.

The rest of the school day flew by quickly, however, it was quite hard for Magnolia to not talk to Anne.

Magnolia packed up her things and started to leave when Mr. Phillips called her over to him. She held her breath and slowly walked to him.

"Take these lessons to Gilbert Blythe. He'll be missing class for a time, and I don't want him falling too far behind. Now, hurry along." Magnolia wanted to runaway, she couldn't face Gilbert, not after hitting him with her slate.

He held the books out for her to take, and she did so, what other choice did she have? So, Magnolia turned the other way and started her horrid journey to Gilbert's house, not before putting on a coat of course.

She left the school and walked in the direction of his house. She had been to his house only once for a birthday party, and she could still vividly remember how to get there.

Gilbert lived on a small farm just like Magnolia, however, unlike hers, his house was far from civilization.

Finally, the red head reached the house, she almost ran in the opposite direction far away from Gilbert and his house, but she stopped herself. She had to give him the books no matter what.

So, she dragged herself up the snow covered hill and to his front door. She reached up and knocked on the door, then stepped back.

Minutes passed and no Gilbert came to the door, so she knocked again. The door opened a moment later and instead of a tall, curly haired boy, there was an older looking man.

Magnolia recognized him instantly, it was Gilbert's dad, only sick looking. He had dark under eyes, pale skin, and sunken in cheekbones.

"Sorry to make you wait. Gilbert is out back chopping wood." He said out of breath. "What beautiful red hair." He complimented, she politely smiled.

"Thank you."

"You must be the fiery girl Gilbert always talks about." Magnolia was shocked, why was Gilbert talking about her? Maybe because she and him were both at the same academic level.

Before she could reply, a voice came from behind her. "Dad, what are you doing? You shouldn't be walking." Gilbert asked while carrying freshly chopped wood in his arms.

"My son worries too much. It seems this going lady has business with you, I'll go inside now." He turned but Gilbert stopped him.

"I'll fetch you a chair—"

"—No, I'll go on my own. Thank you, son." He looked to the redhead. "Nice to meet you, give my regards to your parents."

"I will, Mr. Blythe." Gilbert made sure he was fine getting back to bed then looked back to her. He had white snowflakes in his black hair, and his cheeks were tinted pink from the cold. She also noticed his gray eyes were glimmering in the sunlight, for some reason Magnolia had never noticed his eyes, probably because she always hated the sight of him, but now, he wasn't so bad to look at.

"Those for me?" He questioned, looking down at the books in her hands.

"Uh, yeah." She handed them to him, his hand brushing against hers. Her heart rate sped up as she pulled her hand away.

"Well, uh, it was kind of you to bring them by." He said, nervously.

"Mr. Phillips doesn't want you falling behind."

"I don't either, if you're going to beat me in class, I want you to do it fair and square." Magnolia tried to hide her smile but it came anyway. Gilbert returned the smile, knowing that he probably would never see another from the Baker girl.

"Um, thank you again. I'll see you." He finally said after a moment of silence.

"Uh, yeah, see you." She turned around and heard the door shut behind her. A small blush crept up her cheeks as she walked down the hill.

Something felt different, and Magnolia couldn't tell if she liked it or not.

♡