Yes, yes, I know I said I would have more posted sooner, but I really couldn't get around to it. I was momentarily deserted by ideas or the will to write any more…but I'm back now, and I'll finish soon…so, enjoy!
Anne groaned and opened her eyes. She lifted her head and slowly began to massage her neck. She'd fallen asleep at her desk, in the middle of writing a letter to Gilbert. The reminder of what she'd been doing before fatigue had overtaken her made her snap her gaze down at the sheet of paper in front of her. She needed to find someone to deliver it into town today, or else she'd never work up the courage to actually give the letter to him.
Looking around her room, she realized that Marilla had probably come in and covered her with the heavy wool blanket that was now laying at her feet. Biting her lip nervously, she wondered if Marilla had read the letter. But…no! Marilla would never do something as un-Christian as reading someone else's mail without their permission. Anne slowly sat up, and walked to the water jug on her windowsill. After pouring herself a glass of water to moisten her burning throat, she decided to go downstairs and try to sneak the letter into Matthew's belongings. She knew he was going into town soon to mail his lab results to his doctor.
Anne quietly slipped out of her room after folding up her letter to Gilbert, and carefully putting in an envelope with his name and address on it. She swiftly slipped the envelope in between Matthew's lab results and a formal invitation from Marilla to the minister's wife for tea at Green Gables the following Saturday. That done, she headed to the kitchen to see if she could talk Marilla into making her some more herbal tea.
Gilbert paced his room, deep in thought. How could she have just disappointed them all like that? This wasn't like her! Anne Shirley was an infinitely dependable person!
Hearing the doorbell ring downstairs, he grabbed his wool coat and dashed down the stairs. He opened the door with gusto, briefly reminisced about a time not too long ago when he had shocked Anne with his enthusiastic greeting, and came face to face with Charlie Sloane. Charlie had invited Gilbert to go to a fair in White Sands today. Mr. Sloane would be driving the boys there in his buggy, and would pick them up as soon as his business in White Sands was completed. Gilbert greeted Charlie, called to his father that he was leaving, and shut the door behind him.
While riding in the buggy, with Charlie's goggle eyes staring at his profile as he jabbered away about the success of the play last night, and how he couldn't believe that Anne Shirley hadn't shown up, Gilbert began to really think about why Anne would have missed out on her grade, her friends, and the performance.
Matthew checked to make sure that the horse was harnessed properly, and that he hadn't forgotten to take anything with him. After making sure he had all of the money he would need for stamps, Matthew scooped up the letters that needed to be mailed, climbed into the buggy, and drove off into town.
He never noticed the single letter that had fallen out of his pile and into the snow, and how the wet snow was now distorting the carefully written name and address until it was no longer recognizable.
Anne sat at the table and drank the chamomile tea that Marilla had just heated for her. It scalded her throat and made her eyes water, but she drank it down anyway, knowing that it would eventually do her good. She saw Matthew's buggy pull away from the house, and thought, Good. The letter will be sent soon, and then, Gilbert will at least know my side of the story.
Looking up at Marilla, Anne said, "Is there anything I can help you with, Marilla? I don't really have anything to do today, seeing as I can't go out, and I have no schoolwork to complete."
Marilla gave Anne a stern glance, and said, "You need to rest, young lady. You've done plenty to bring on that nasty virus, and now you'll just have to rest and do everything you can to make it go away. Now, off with you. You may go into the parlour and read, if your head isn't bothering you. If it is, then I'd prefer that you just sit and relax."
Anne watched Marilla turn briskly away and begin to stir the stew some more. She sighed heavily, and made her way upstairs to her room to get her book. She was currently reading a fabulous compilation of Shakespeare's best sonnets, and she was really starting to enjoy speaking in Shakespearian English. If only these didn't remind me of him, she thought miserably.
So, for the rest of the day, Anne sat in the parlour and read her sonnets, eventually dropping off into a peaceful, if somewhat brief, sleep.
It took a full three days before Anne could even overcome the inflammation of her vocal chords enough to speak again, and another three days after that before her fever broke. Finally, on the Monday nine days after the performances, Anne was finally able to return to school.
As she walked along her known path alone, she saw a figure up ahead whom she thought she recognized.
"Diana!" Anne called in a hoarse voice for, even though she had overcome the worst of her illness, she wasn't yet fully recovered.
The figure turned to Anne, and seemed to hesitate before turning and heading towards Anne.
"Oh, Diana! It's been torture being away from you for so long!" Anne cried, throwing her arms around her bosom friend's neck, and quickly noting how Diana seemed to stiffen up upon contact. She drew back.
"How are you Anne? Are you feeling much better?" Diana inquired politely, if a bit coldly.
Anne studied her friend, and realization dawned on her. "Oh, Diana! I'm so terribly, horribly sorry about the performance! I was desperate to talk to you, but Marilla would not let me out of the house, and I had no way of coming to see you under her watchful eye! It was horrible of me to not show up and to put you in that dreaded position of having to substitute being Juliet for me! But, everyone said you were marvelous, darling Diana! The minister and his wife came for tea at Green Gables the other day and they raved and said you were the most beautifully enchanting Juliet they had ever had the pleasure of seeing!" Anne looked imploringly at Diana. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but perhaps you could find it in your heart to – just this once – forgive your foolish and hot-headed bosom friend, I would be eternally in your debt, and I promise to do my darndest to never, ever let you down ever again!"
Diana studied Anne's sincere and hopeful face, and had to bite back her smile. "Anne, do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to fill in for you that night? I thought I would faint in front of the whole audience…or lose my lunch! I just don't know how you could have done that, and let down our whole group! And then, when I didn't hear from you immediately afterward, do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Why, I thought you had left town or changed schools or some such thing when you didn't even come to school all of last week!"
"I'm so sorry, my dear, darling Diana! I never meant to worry you, but I did try to come and see you. Several times. I just never made it past the Green Gables porch, where Marilla almost always caught me and forced me to go back into the house. I am truly, and sincerely, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart sorry!" Anne looked pleadingly at Diana. "Will you forgive me?"
Diana studied Anne for a moment, then threw her arms around her bosom friend's neck and hugged her close. "Oh, Anne! Of course I'll forgive you! How could I not after you apologized so eloquently? I was just angry that you hadn't tried to apologize before this, and if you had asked me to forgive you right after the performance, there was a very good chance that I would have said 'no', but I've had time to think things over, and I think that everyone is entitled to let others down at least once in their life and get a second chance. So, Anne-girl, consider this your second chance!"
Anne laughed and hugged Diana fiercely back. "Thank you from my very soul Diana!"
As the two walked to school together, once more the picture of best friends, Diana informed Anne about what she had missed during her week at home, and also informed her that some of their classmates would not be quite so forgiving. However, she assured Anne that they would win them all over in the end. And so, with a lighter heart, Anne was able to force the nervous feeling in her stomach down enough to enjoy walking to school with Diana in the crisp morning.
It became increasingly obvious, the closer they got to school and the more classmates they encountered, that not everyone would have such a forgiving disposition about performance night.
Josie Pye gave Anne such a nasty look that she thought Josie's face would be sure to freeze like that, while Moody, polite as always, informed her that she had let their group down grievously and so he would need some time before he would be able to talk to her as a friend again.
The worst blow, however, came when Anne spotted Gilbert across the field, walking into the schoolhouse. The nervous feeling surfaced ten-fold and she thought she would be sick right there in front of everyone. Had he gotten her letter? He should have as she had sent it more than a week ago. What did he think? Did he understand her side of the story? Would he eventually find it within himself to forgive her?
"Anne, come on! We're going to be late!" Diana pulled on Anne's arm and shook her out of her trance.
"Coming, Diana,' Anne muttered, and slowly dragged her feet towards the schoolhouse.
When the two of them entered and began to take off their outer clothes, a hush fell inside the school room, and Anne felt every single eye in the room on her back as she hung up her coat. Turning around, her eyes sought out the one person who she absolutely needed to forgive her. He was looking at her with cold eyes and an emotionless expression.
Her stomach dropped, her insides froze, and she thought, He's given up on me! After all these years, Gilbert Blythe finally wants nothing more to do with me. She could already feel her eyes tearing up.
Hey, hey, hey! It's summer vacation and I absolutely need to apologize to you guys for keeping you waiting for so long! I'm sorry, but I've been busy with vacations, and the like. So here is the next chapter, and I don't know when the next one will be out since I haven't written it yet, but I should be soon since I'm done with vacationing in foreign parts and I'm hanging around home for now…so review, review, review, and the next chapter will be up soon. Ciao, ciao!
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