Blythe.
Blythe.
Blythe.
Blythe.
Gilbert abruptly pulled his head out of his pillows and realized grumpily that his mouth tasted like cotton, he had slept on his stomach so had a huge kink in his neck, and that his whole room was flooded with bright sunlight except for a large black shadow directly over him. He looked doggedly up into the familiar goggle-eyes of a one Charlie Sloan and barked "What?!" up at him with more aggression than intended.
Unperturbed Charlie continued to lock Gilbert in his gaze and said 'It's 12:00 are you hungry or are you sick?'
Such Sloanish-ness to wake someone up to ask if they're sick Gilbert thought peevishly. His stomach gave a queer turn at the thought of the word Sloanishness; it was an Anne-term through and through but why should that make him feel-
Oh. The previous night flooded back to him and he suddenly felt like he had a terrible hangover.
He was about to snub Charlie and roll back towards the peace of a dreamless sleep when his stomach growled loudly and reminded him that not only was it already lunch time but he had missed dinner the night before. 'Give me 5 minutes' he reluctantly muttered to his stoic companion.
A prompt five minutes later found Gilbert and Charlie waiting in line for food at their boarding house. All 24 boys had turned up for lunch promptly at 12, most having slept through breakfast on a lazy Saturday that had held the most promise of summer out of any weekend experienced since winter had ended. When Gilbert finally managed to make it to the front of the line he was greeted by the warm smiles of Mrs. Rellinger and Ms. Geraldson; two women who had been widowed early in their marriages and had made their livings off working in the boarding house for the last 23 years. Gilbert had quickly become a favourite of theirs with his charming manners and easy laughter, and he genuinely liked them both, but today he was in no mood for banter. The sight of his red-rimmed eyes and unruly hair checked Mrs. Rellinger before a cheery quip fell out of her mouth. She and Ms. Geraldson exchanged a glance and handed Gilbert his lunch in uncommon silence.
He took his seat in the center of the rowdy pack of boys but was entirely focused on glumly eating his food until he felt two pairs of eyes boring into the back of his neck. Gilbert turned to see the identically concerned eyes of the ladies fixed on him. All of a sudden Gilbert imagined how he must look from their perspective: dejected, useless, and hopeless. And he hated it. With resolve, he decided that that would not be the story of the rest of his life and he would start changing today. After lunch, when he wanted more than anything to return to his bed, instead he went to play football in the park with the sophmores that remained. It was a long day full of forced laughter and energy but by the end of it Gilbert was too tired to do anything but sleep. As he laid his head down on his pillow he thought with grim satisfaction that he could do this. He could get over Anne. It was just one day at a time.