before you left

06. Moving On

Well. It was officially awkward. Their friendship (if you could call it that) was still so new, and kissing Gilbert hadn't exactly helped to clear things up on that matter. Anne wondered more why it was awkward in the first place; they were barely more than acquaintances on the best of days, and that wasn't changing anytime soon. Certainly one childish kiss wouldn't change anything. He was still atrociously rude and horrid, and she was perfectly content with maintaining her distance.

However, there was a small, tiny, fragment of a part of her that acknowledged that it had been her first kiss. Gilbert Blythe was her first kiss. Strangely, she didn't feel bad about it; it's not like there was anyone else she wanted to kiss at the moment. Shouldn't it have mattered more? Shouldn't it have been more romantic? She had imagined a variety of scenarios relating to her first kiss, but she had never anticipated that it would be as mundane as a petty dare amongst friends. It somehow felt like she had been slighted, so she made up her mind that the kiss simply didn't count. When she found her true love (yes, Anne had gone back to assuming she would one day find true love - it was much less pessimistic than believing one would be an old maid), she intended to live a life full of as many romantic scenarios as she so desired.

The past few weeks had passed since the kiss, and it seemed that time had done little to lessen the awkwardness of the situation. Aside from stolen glances and hushed whispers to friends, Anne and Gilbert had not spoken at all.

So this was the predicament they faced one dreary Monday afternoon when Miss Stacy eventually got fed up by their obvious avoidance of one another.

"That's it," Miss Stacy chided abruptly during one of their class discussions. The entire class began to search for what had caused this disruption; dozens of eyes landed on Gilbert and Anne as her gaze shifted between the two of them. "Gilbert, Anne, you two are always the first to offer your opinions in these discussions, and we often have to stop the two of you to encourage participation from the rest of the class. What's going on?"

Both of the aforementioned pupils began to blush profusely, and the blazing stare of their entire class didn't help matters.

"Anne kissed Gilbert when we played Truth or Dare," Josie explained quickly. She pursed her lips and seemed satisfied in knowing that she had successfully made Anne Shirley want to die of shame. Anne whirled around to face her sworn foe, intending to give her a piece of her mind.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to mind your own business?" Diana snapped as she turned her head to glare at Josie. Ruby and Tillie stifled their laughter as Josie's jaw slacked.

Clearing her throat, Miss Stacy sensed that this escalating situation was not one she wanted to be involved in right now.

"Settle down, settle down...Anne and Gilbert, take this outside and work it out. Come back in fifteen minutes, and I expect both of you to be in a peak debating state of mind." She gave them a brief smile and gestured towards the door before turning her attention back to the agitated class. Today would be a long day.

Anne made a point of waiting until Gilbert was almost outside before following him. Her plan seemed to fail enormously, as he stood waiting for her by the door when she arrived. He grinned at her sheepishly in an attempt to melt the tension between them. It slightly helped, and they moved to sit comfortably on the steps of the schoolhouse.

"This isn't awkward, is it?" Anne spoke, mostly to assure herself.

"No, of course not..." he replied quietly.

This is definitely awkward, you fool, he thought.

She felt the words coming out of her mouth before she could stop them: "And besides, it's not like you actually wanted to kiss me or anything, it was just the dare."