Hello, everyone! It's been awhile since I posted anything here. My life has been so incredibly busy that I haven't found the time to write as much as I used to. However, I found this story that I wrote years ago that I thought you all would like. Enjoy!

- ladybell

Nothing Else Matters

Chapter 1

They say it's only natural to want what you can't have, and in my case it couldn't be any truer. I've been in love with Anne Shirley ever since that first day of school many years ago, and I can remember it as if it were yesterday.

Let's flashback to six or seven years ago, shall we? I was a 14-year-old schoolboy who was - and I admit -very immature. I took joy in teasing the girls. It was fun; I couldn't help it! Besides, it was way too easy. They'd scream or cry whenever I'd poke them or call them names or throw stuff at them, and I'd sit back in my seat and laugh. It was mean to do such a thing, I know, but that's the way things were. They didn't fight back or anything; therefore, it made everything so much better. I have no idea why, but despite the fact that I'd tease those girls silly, they were all crazy about me. I tried my best to avoid Josie Pye and Julia Bell. Those two were the worst, especially Josie; who else writes "TAKE NOTICE!" in all caps on the wall anyway? The only reason why I did associate with Josie in the first place was because I could, and I knew it would make all of those girls jealous.

Then one day, Anne entered my life and turned it completely upside down. She was the new girl in town and was apparently the talk of the town. The Cuthberts adopted this new orphan girl, and it was a bold move, especially for Marilla. I knew the history between her and my father, and it was always awkward whenever a Cuthbert was mentioned in a conversation. Anyway, I remember hearing about Anne from the other kids in school and couldn't wait to meet this new girl. It was someone new that I could pick on, but boy, was I ever in for a surprise. I took my seat across the aisle from Anne and Diana Barry and waited to make my move. In order to get her attention, I pinned Ruby Gillis' braid to the back of her chair and watched her scream.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" she cried.

It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Ruby tried to get her hair off the chair while I went back to "studying." I did my best to keep a straight face so the teacher, Mr. Phillips, wouldn't suspect that I did anything. I looked over at Anne and gave her a wink, and to my surprise, she looked away with disgust. That wasn't the reaction that I was used to getting. Girls would usually blush when I did such a thing and whisper to their neighbor, "Oh my gosh, Gilbert winked at me!" But not Anne. Since she wouldn't look at me, I decided to get her attention. I rolled up little wads of paper and threw them at her, but she still wouldn't look. That's when I had the brilliant idea of pulling on one of her red pigtails.

"Carrots!" I whispered. "Carrots!"

She turned around and gave me the most hateful look I ever saw. Her face was as red as a tomato and yelled the harshest words my ears had ever heard. "You mean, hateful boy! How dare you!" She reached behind and grabbed her binder and smacked me over the head with it, sending the pens and pencils in there flying across the area of my desk and my lap. The room went silent. Mr. Phillips approached Anne and took her to the front of the room.

"It's my fault, sir. I'm the one who teased her," I said, trying to get her from being punished.

He didn't listen to me. Anne was forced to stay after school and copy down word for word "Ann Shirley has a bad temper," but knowing her, I knew she'd add an extra "e" where it belonged. I waited for her after school and tried to apologize, but she wouldn't budge. She simply stuck her nose in the air and walked home with Diana. I overheard her talking to Diana, saying "I shall never forgive Gilbert Blythe," and I smiled. Normally I wouldn't do such a thing, but I couldn't help myself. Any girl who refuses to look at me and has the guts to smack me on the head with a five pound binder is someone special. This girl was certainly something.

Fast forward to six or seven years later. Anne and I had become friends - good friends. We could talk for hours about nothing and just hang out. I knew all of Avonlea had secretly gossiped for years about us being together for eternity, and I hoped that they were right. I fell head over heels for Anne and decided one day to ask her to marry me. And that's where I went wrong.

It was a beautiful, sunny day at Patty's Place. Anne was sitting outside in the orchard and looked absolutely stunning with the sun highlighting her features. I gathered mayflowers and gave them to her. We had a bit of small talk before I poured my heart out to her. Maybe I was a bit too forward in my delivery because that's when I heard her say, "I-I can't."

Was I hearing things? Did she honestly say "I can't"?

"What do you mean?" I asked, wanting to know if I was hallucinating or not.

"I'm so sorry, Gilbert, but I can't marry you," she said. She looked in the other direction.

"But why? Don't you love me?"

"I care a great deal for you, Gil. Really I do but not in that kind of way."

"Is there someone else?" Desperation led me to ask that.

"No. I'm perfectly happy with where I am. I don't want anything to change. Can't we just be friends?"

Friends. Sure that could work, but I'm in love with her. How can I think about friendship with I'm in love with her? But I guess it's better than nothing.

"Sure, Anne."

"Thanks, Gil."

She gave me a hug and then went away, and I watched her run back into the house.

And this is where I am now, my first day at Redmond University. It's a little weird being here on my own away from the usual comforts of home, meaning Mom's home cooking and Anne, but I have to do this. My ultimate goal is to become a doctor. I want to help people, and being a doctor is just one way to do it. It'll be a slow and steady process, but I'm up to the challenge. Studying for exams is nothing; it's the thought of Anne being with someone else that's driving me insane. This is the first time that she's out of Avonlea too, and I know that other guys will fall for her charm just like I did. Maybe while I'm here I'll meet someone else who I can fall for, but I don't know if she'll ever compare to my Anne.

I walked into my first class of the day, which happened to be history, and it already seemed that the girls here were already starting to notice me. I don't get it. Had Josie Pye been talking to them or something? I don't know. Sure, I would have loved this reaction when I was younger but not now. The only girl I want noticing me is Anne, and she won't have me. But I can't keep my mind on her for too long because unlike most people here I actually do want to learn something.

I look over to my right, and there's a guy sitting in the corner who the girls are also swooning over.

"Oh, Roy!" I hear the girls say while they flutter their fake eyelashes and try their best to flirt with him.

He sees me looking over in his direction and gives me the little head nod as if to say "What's up?" I give one back, and we both go back to where we were before. The professor walks in, and then class starts. I admit it was hard sitting through his lecture on various kinds of wars and weapons used throughout the centuries for two hours or so, but at least I made it. My new buddy, Roy, on the other hand, isn't as lucky. He's fast asleep, and I swear the guys over there are trying to draw a unibrow or something across his face. It'd be pretty funny though; I'll admit that.

After class is over, I'm approached by some guys that I met earlier who are begging me to come to a party.

"Blythe, you gotta come to our party tonight," said Brad.

"Please, dude! We need chicks!" pleaded Ryan.

"Yeah, and you're 'the hot one' according to all the girls here," added Colin. "I've heard them talk about you. Once they know you're coming, they'll come, and we'll have a chance to score!"

"Please, dude!"

"I'll think about it," I said. I'm really not a party animal as the typical male college student stereotype perceives me to be, and I really want to keep it that way.

"C'mon, Blythe. Just one party, man. It won't kill you, and besides, there are some pretty hot chicks after you," said Ryan. "Like Christine Stuart. That girl is smokin'."

"Oh yeah. If you get her to come, we'll love you forever, man," said Brad.

"You get her to go, and we'll never ask you to do this ever again," added Colin.

I don't know if that's gonna be true or not, but I really want them to leave me alone after this. So I caved. "Alright. I'll go."

"Woohoo! We're getting chicks tonight!"

Lovely. "So I'll see you guys tonight."

"Later, bro!"

I leave, letting the guys celebrate on their own. I go to the rest of my classes for the day thinking, "What did I just get myself into?" Maybe it won't be so bad. I'll at least have a chance at meeting some new people, and I'll get to check out this Christine Stuart girl that the guys are raving about. Who knows? Maybe she'll be the person after my own heart.

I finally got a chance to walk into the frat house where the party will be held, and needless to say the guys were, in a word that I'm gonna borrow from their terminology here, "stoked."

"Blythe, you made it!" exclaimed Colin as he pats me on the back.

"Dude, I'm so glad you came! The chicks heard that you were coming, and they're totally rushing to get ready to come over here," said Ryan.

"I've got the booze!" announced Brad. He places the cans of beer in a cooler.

Wonderful. Like I said before, I'm not a big party loving kinda guy; I'd much rather stay at home and relax. Besides, I'm not a big believer in getting yourself drunk just to have a good time. It's just not me. There are other ways to have fun while being sober at the same time...like doing tag team bowling with your best friend and almost getting kicked out of the bowling alley five times because the employees there were all cranky and wanted you to stop throwing ten balls at a time down the lane. But that's another story.

Anyway, loads of people started arriving, and needless to say, I didn't feel too comfortable. I was like a fish out of water and desperately wanted to get back to its bowl. I saw Roy there, and he gave the little nod like he did before in class. I gave one back and left him there to mingle with the various puckbunny, hockey like groupies in the corner.

Brad ran up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Dude, Christine Stuart's here! I love you man!"

So I'm guessing I'll never have to show up to one of these parties ever again assuming that the guys keep their promise.

He pointed me to the direction where Christine was standing, and I automatically knew why the guys were crazy about her. There was an angelic like quality about her that came with her beauty. She was tall and had sweet violet eyes with dark brown silky hair. There was no question that she was a beauty, but did she have any personality? That I would have to find out.

I made my way through the crowd and decided to talk to her.

"Hi," I said timidly.

"Hi," she said back, giving a smile.

"It's a little weird here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

We started having some small talk, and it was quite a pleasant experience despite the fact that we were surrounded by crazy drunks. We were in the middle of our conversation when I noticed a blurred face walking towards me. I couldn't see because of the crowd, but when I squinted my eyes, I could make out the figure of a redheaded girl. Anne?

"Excuse me for a moment," I said to Christine.

I made my way from where I was standing and saw the girl bolting in the other direction. I had to follow her to see if it was her or not, so I did and went after her outside. She stumbled from her shoe, and I caught her by the arm. Sure enough, it was her.

"Anne?" I asked.

She looked up at me and nodded. "Oh, Gil. I'm an idiot. I should have never let those girls talk me into this!"

"What?"

"I always wanted to have the college experience first-hand, and now I'm finding out what it's like." She started to walk towards her dorm.

"Anne, wait!"

She turned around before walking back. "Go back to your friend, Gil. It'd be rude of you to leave her behind like that."

When she walked back, I felt as if I were punched in the stomach. I slowly made my way back to Christine to tell her goodbye for the night and headed to my dorm.