Chapter Three
We ended up staying at Mrs. Lynde's house that night. Mike got a couch in the little room off the kitchen, Mell and I shared the big room and Sara got her own little room.
"How come you get your own room?" I had asked her.
"Because I'm special." "You are not." "Are too." "Are not." "Are too." "Are not." "Are too." "Basil-lover."
"Anne-freak!"
"Shut up."
The third day we spent in Avonlea Mrs. Lynde sent us to school early in the morning. I was eager for I knew who'd be there.
"Come on, let's go."
A groan came from under the blankets.
"Come on, Mike, you're holding us up. Let's go!"
He picked himself off the couch, still wearing the same weird-looking suspenders and brown pants. I dragged him to the door and pushed him out, followed by me, then Sara and Mell. We walked slowly through the path we went yesterday.
"I want my discman." Mell moaned.
"I need my Elton music." Sara dragged her feet.
"Oh, come on you guys, cheer up, this is going to be fun." I tried to encourage them.
"For you maybe," Mike protested.
I gave him a look. "Sara come on, pretend we have our Billy Joel songs. 'And we're living here in Allentown.'"
Sara looked at me and tried to raise an eyebrow. I exhaled and put my hands out in front of me in annoyance.
" 'You may be right, I may be crazy.'"
"Ya got that right." "Look, here's the school." I grabbed Sara's hand and beckoned the other two forward. Groups of students were surrounding the little white washed building. I gazed around excitedly. A boy with bug eyes was talking with another boy with dark hair and hazel eyes. Ah, Charlie Sloane and Gilbert Blythe. Gil's just as cute as he's described in the books, I thought. Sara must have thought so too because she whistled under her breath.
I looked around at the other groups. Diana Barry, Ruby Gillis, Jane Andrews, yeah, they were all there. Man, I wanted to scream and jump up and down. And then, a red-haired girl appeared on the other side of the playground. I almost passed out. I looked happily around at my friends, but only Mike was there. Mell was over talking with a group of girls, showing them the "Weezer sign" with her fingers and they were looking at her confusedly. I giggled and tried to find Sara. She was introducing herself to some girls near the school steps.
A bell rang from the front door of the school and everyone ran over to the front door. I tried to slow up to walk next to the girl with the red hair, but she was talking with Diana Barry. 'Figures,' I thought. We took our same seats in the back with me sitting with Mike and Sara and Mell behind us.
"Now, class," Mr. Phillips started, "We're going to start with English today. Students in Readers five and six, please." That was us.
"Today is plots and themes, etc. What is the mood of Edgar Allen Poe's story, 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?"
I guffawed and Sara's hand shot up behind me.
"Yes, Miss.um." "Sara, please." "Yes?"
"The mood is rather mysterious and frightening."
"Correct."
This went on for a while, until it was spelling time. I moaned inwardly. We were told to stand up and he'd tell us a word in order of our seating. Finally he got to me.
"Ann, correct?" "Yeah."
"Please spell: rendezvous."
I promptly spelled it for him, sighing with relief.
The next subject was math. Not my strongest suit, especially geometry, I smiled, it wasn't for Anne Shirley either.
"Does anyone want to do a sample problem?" Mr. Philips asked, looking around. Sara's hand, of course, raised.
"Yes, come up please." Sara walked up to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. Quickly she started writing down numbers and equations that made my jaw drop.
"So the answer is x = 12." She turned around and smiled at Mr. Philips. He was staring at the board covered in numbers. He raised an eyebrow. The whole class was silent. Sara looked around and walked back to her seat, whispering to Mell, "Wasn't it good I had that math test before we got here?"
By the time we had gotten through past dinner and afternoon subjects, Mike had fallen asleep at his desk. At the end of the day, I pricked him with a pencil in his forearm. He jumped and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, I had this really weird dream where we were stuck in this old- fashioned school."
He took his hands away from his from his eyes and looked around.
"Oh, shoot." Except he didn't say shoot. Several heads turned with surprised looks on their faces. I shrugged at them and gave a hollow little laugh. The heads turned away, but I still felt a little uneasy with these wholesome, religious folk.
The four of us walked back through the woods to Mrs. Lynde's house in the afternoon sunlight.
"Jeez, you were really good in there, Sara," Mell complimented.
"Thanks."
"The look on their faces when you explained DNA and its uses." I laughed.
"I can't believe we have homework."
"Oh, come on, Mike, this is a whole different century. It'll be easy." "How long do we have to be here?" Mike asked.
"I have no idea." "And what day is it?" "I think it's Friday." "Yes, no school tomorrow."
Saturday. It was a hot and muggy day. It must be June in Avonlea. We sat around the house being bored until Mrs. Lynde came into our rooms, complaining.
"You know, there's Barry's Pond away over the hill. Why don't you get off your lazy bones and have a swim?"
We took this offer jovially and ran off over the hill.
"But, wait, they haven't made swimsuits yet, so, what do we wear?" Mell asked.
"Petticoats." I answered, grinning. "I'm not wearing a petticoat in front of him," she pointed at Mike. "Well, you have no choice and people around here don't care."
We stripped behind a bush to the little white dresses we wore under our school clothes. Mike did a cannonball in his clothes giving out a wild whoop. Us girls looked at each other and stepped gingerly out from behind the bush. I ran into the cool, refreshing water and dipped my head under. Sara and Mell soon followed, Mell leaving her glasses on a rock.
We splashed and dunked each other. In a burst of laughter, Sara, Mell and I started singing "Uptown Girl." Mike looked weird at us and jumped under water. He came back up spluttering.
"I wish I had my nose plugs, but somebody stole them." He looked at me. "Hey, don't look at me. It was Melissa and Kate."
"Yeah, sure."
He dived under, pinching his nose and grabbed my ankles, tipping me over and under. I swam back up and I got Sara and Mell to help dunk him.
After a couple hours, we got out and lay on the grass, gasping for breath.
"Now, tell me that wasn't fun, you guys." I looked around at them. "Yeah, it's fun because it's what we usually do in the summer and not just in Avonlea or whatever this place is." "So? You still had fun here and it's a start. I'm going to make it so you'll love it here."
"Whatever, Ann."
I gazed over Barry's Pond, still taking short breaths and saw a flash of red go past the bushes.
We ended up staying at Mrs. Lynde's house that night. Mike got a couch in the little room off the kitchen, Mell and I shared the big room and Sara got her own little room.
"How come you get your own room?" I had asked her.
"Because I'm special." "You are not." "Are too." "Are not." "Are too." "Are not." "Are too." "Basil-lover."
"Anne-freak!"
"Shut up."
The third day we spent in Avonlea Mrs. Lynde sent us to school early in the morning. I was eager for I knew who'd be there.
"Come on, let's go."
A groan came from under the blankets.
"Come on, Mike, you're holding us up. Let's go!"
He picked himself off the couch, still wearing the same weird-looking suspenders and brown pants. I dragged him to the door and pushed him out, followed by me, then Sara and Mell. We walked slowly through the path we went yesterday.
"I want my discman." Mell moaned.
"I need my Elton music." Sara dragged her feet.
"Oh, come on you guys, cheer up, this is going to be fun." I tried to encourage them.
"For you maybe," Mike protested.
I gave him a look. "Sara come on, pretend we have our Billy Joel songs. 'And we're living here in Allentown.'"
Sara looked at me and tried to raise an eyebrow. I exhaled and put my hands out in front of me in annoyance.
" 'You may be right, I may be crazy.'"
"Ya got that right." "Look, here's the school." I grabbed Sara's hand and beckoned the other two forward. Groups of students were surrounding the little white washed building. I gazed around excitedly. A boy with bug eyes was talking with another boy with dark hair and hazel eyes. Ah, Charlie Sloane and Gilbert Blythe. Gil's just as cute as he's described in the books, I thought. Sara must have thought so too because she whistled under her breath.
I looked around at the other groups. Diana Barry, Ruby Gillis, Jane Andrews, yeah, they were all there. Man, I wanted to scream and jump up and down. And then, a red-haired girl appeared on the other side of the playground. I almost passed out. I looked happily around at my friends, but only Mike was there. Mell was over talking with a group of girls, showing them the "Weezer sign" with her fingers and they were looking at her confusedly. I giggled and tried to find Sara. She was introducing herself to some girls near the school steps.
A bell rang from the front door of the school and everyone ran over to the front door. I tried to slow up to walk next to the girl with the red hair, but she was talking with Diana Barry. 'Figures,' I thought. We took our same seats in the back with me sitting with Mike and Sara and Mell behind us.
"Now, class," Mr. Phillips started, "We're going to start with English today. Students in Readers five and six, please." That was us.
"Today is plots and themes, etc. What is the mood of Edgar Allen Poe's story, 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?"
I guffawed and Sara's hand shot up behind me.
"Yes, Miss.um." "Sara, please." "Yes?"
"The mood is rather mysterious and frightening."
"Correct."
This went on for a while, until it was spelling time. I moaned inwardly. We were told to stand up and he'd tell us a word in order of our seating. Finally he got to me.
"Ann, correct?" "Yeah."
"Please spell: rendezvous."
I promptly spelled it for him, sighing with relief.
The next subject was math. Not my strongest suit, especially geometry, I smiled, it wasn't for Anne Shirley either.
"Does anyone want to do a sample problem?" Mr. Philips asked, looking around. Sara's hand, of course, raised.
"Yes, come up please." Sara walked up to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. Quickly she started writing down numbers and equations that made my jaw drop.
"So the answer is x = 12." She turned around and smiled at Mr. Philips. He was staring at the board covered in numbers. He raised an eyebrow. The whole class was silent. Sara looked around and walked back to her seat, whispering to Mell, "Wasn't it good I had that math test before we got here?"
By the time we had gotten through past dinner and afternoon subjects, Mike had fallen asleep at his desk. At the end of the day, I pricked him with a pencil in his forearm. He jumped and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, I had this really weird dream where we were stuck in this old- fashioned school."
He took his hands away from his from his eyes and looked around.
"Oh, shoot." Except he didn't say shoot. Several heads turned with surprised looks on their faces. I shrugged at them and gave a hollow little laugh. The heads turned away, but I still felt a little uneasy with these wholesome, religious folk.
The four of us walked back through the woods to Mrs. Lynde's house in the afternoon sunlight.
"Jeez, you were really good in there, Sara," Mell complimented.
"Thanks."
"The look on their faces when you explained DNA and its uses." I laughed.
"I can't believe we have homework."
"Oh, come on, Mike, this is a whole different century. It'll be easy." "How long do we have to be here?" Mike asked.
"I have no idea." "And what day is it?" "I think it's Friday." "Yes, no school tomorrow."
Saturday. It was a hot and muggy day. It must be June in Avonlea. We sat around the house being bored until Mrs. Lynde came into our rooms, complaining.
"You know, there's Barry's Pond away over the hill. Why don't you get off your lazy bones and have a swim?"
We took this offer jovially and ran off over the hill.
"But, wait, they haven't made swimsuits yet, so, what do we wear?" Mell asked.
"Petticoats." I answered, grinning. "I'm not wearing a petticoat in front of him," she pointed at Mike. "Well, you have no choice and people around here don't care."
We stripped behind a bush to the little white dresses we wore under our school clothes. Mike did a cannonball in his clothes giving out a wild whoop. Us girls looked at each other and stepped gingerly out from behind the bush. I ran into the cool, refreshing water and dipped my head under. Sara and Mell soon followed, Mell leaving her glasses on a rock.
We splashed and dunked each other. In a burst of laughter, Sara, Mell and I started singing "Uptown Girl." Mike looked weird at us and jumped under water. He came back up spluttering.
"I wish I had my nose plugs, but somebody stole them." He looked at me. "Hey, don't look at me. It was Melissa and Kate."
"Yeah, sure."
He dived under, pinching his nose and grabbed my ankles, tipping me over and under. I swam back up and I got Sara and Mell to help dunk him.
After a couple hours, we got out and lay on the grass, gasping for breath.
"Now, tell me that wasn't fun, you guys." I looked around at them. "Yeah, it's fun because it's what we usually do in the summer and not just in Avonlea or whatever this place is." "So? You still had fun here and it's a start. I'm going to make it so you'll love it here."
"Whatever, Ann."
I gazed over Barry's Pond, still taking short breaths and saw a flash of red go past the bushes.