It was a chilly spring morning in Kingsport as Anne was walking in the park, enjoying the mysterious mist and the sound of the birds chirping harmoniously. As she walked across a wooden bridge that provided a path across Kingsport Lake (which Anne thought was the most unoriginal and unimaginative name someone could come up with), Anne was stopped by the distant sound of someone calling her name. She turned around to be face-to-face with Gilbert Blythe, whom she hadn't spoken to in over a year.

"Gil!" Anne yelled excitedly as she ran toward him. Gilbert watched Anne's large head of curly, auburn hair sway to the rhythm of the wind, though she was not perfectly visible due to the early morning fog. How Gilbert loved the color of her hair, her freckles, and the twinkling of her grey eyes. As Anne came closer, he expected her to come to a stop, except she continued to run until she found herself wrapped in Gilbert's embrace, her body connected to his.

Gilbert was quite surprised at the sudden and unexpected response on Anne's behalf. He found himself smiling uncontrollably at the fact she had come running toward him, not the other way around. He ran his hand through her red locks of hair as she pulled him in tighter. For a while, the pair remained in their caress until Anne pulled away lightly, her hands drifting down Gilbert's arms to find his hands.

"What are you doing here, Gil?" She asked him, still unable to control her excitement. Finally, someone she cared about was in Kingsport!

"Teaching," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Teaching?" Anne repeated the word as she laughed happily. "You got a teaching position? In the springtime? But what about medical school?"

"I finished my first year of schooling just last week. I took my finals and was planning on heading home until I saw an ad in the paper for a teaching position at Kingsport Ladies College. The mathematics and science teacher, Ms. McKay, is out ill and will not be able to return for the rest of the term, so the school was looking for a person to temporarily hold the position."

"But Kingsport Ladies College does not hire male teachers, Gilbert! However did you get the job?"

"Well, there wasn't much competition, considering that I was the only one who applied. Though the board of trustees was reluctant to accept my application at first, but between their desperateness and Ms. Stacey's convincing, they accepted."

"Gilbert! You do not know how utterly happy I am at this very moment! I feel as if I am absorbed in an unobtainable dream! It will be just like old times, Gil. And you'll finally get the chance to witness the Kingsport snobbery!"

"Yes, Ms. Stacey told me about the haughtiness of this old town. But I am sure that you and I can tackle it together."

"Yes, of course. We'd make a good team, you and I." Anne smiled and gazed up at Gilbert's radiant face, highlighted by the rays of the rising sun. Gilbert's smile reappeared at the comment, as he could not agree more. Then, Anne suddenly realized that she was still holding Gilbert's hands. Blushing at the realization, she pulled away, patting down her dress and clearing her throat. Gilbert put his hands back in his pockets, shrugging slightly, and began walking toward the bridge, where Anne was headed in the first place.

"You don't have any plans tonight, do you, Anne? Ms. Stacey was planning on taking both of us out to dinner at the Pringle Hotel to catch up on everything."

"That sounds lovely! Where are you staying while you're in Kingsport?"

"I am staying in the room and board house at the College. I assume that that is where you stay?"

"It is! Oh, Gil, you have no idea how joyful I am that I will have someone else with me for the rest of the term! I'm afraid that I've grown so lonely here, without you or Diana or Marilla or Rachel to keep me company. Ms. Stacey is dear to me, but really, it just isn't the same."

"Yes, it's been pretty lonely at Dalhousie, too. I have a small circle of friends though."

"I assume Christine is in that circle of friends," Anne said regretfully.

Gilbert's mouth dropped open slightly at the comment. Was Anne Shirley jealous of Christine Stuart? Did she care after all?

"Actually, Christine is engaged to Robert Jones, a fellow from Calgary."

"Really?" Anne replied, internally relieved that Gilbert was not still with the stuffy, affluent city-girl. "But there must be someone else," she insisted as she raised her eyebrows, speaking her thoughts without thinking beforehand. Gilbert was too handsome and smart to not be courting any girls.

"No, Anne," Gilbert ensured her, placing his hands on her shoulders, which caused her to turn around and face him. "There is no one else. There has never been anyone else."

The couple continued sauntering down the until Gilbert thought of something: why was Anne so concerned about who he was courting? "Anne," he asked quietly, "why did you think that I was courting somebody?"

Anne, caught off guard, had to stop and think for a moment about how to respond without seeming romantic. "I guess that I just thought that a man of your...caliber would be courting someone, that's all."

"No. I'm holding off on romance for a little while," Gilbert admitted.

Anne knew that she had thwarted Gilbert's attempts at romance, and though she cared about him and appreciated him more and more each day, in her mind, she still didn't have the same feelings that he had for her when he proposed. They were just still friends, she assured herself, and would only remain friends.

If only Anne Shirley had known how wrong she was, and what was in store for her over the course of the next few months to follow.