Chapter 8: The Aftermath

Anne didn't stop running until she reached the benches on the outer perimeter of the garden surrounding the hall. There she met a comforting, familiar face.

"Phil?"

"Anne?"

"Hey!"

Seated on one of the beaches was Phil Gordon, a friend of Anne's that she had met the year before. She was a student at Redmond and knew both Gilbert and Roy pretty well. She gave Anne a hug and scooted over on the bench to make room for Anne to sit.

"Phil, what are you doing here?" Anne asked. "I thought you'd be at the dance."

"Well, I didn't want to deal with the crowds in there, and besides, I wanted to avoid Alec and Alonzo."

"Are they still after you?"

"Pretty much, but I'm over them now. I'm now engaged to Jo Blake."

"Really? Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Anne. What brings you here to Redmond? I didn't expect to see you tonight."

"Well, I came here as Roy Gardner's date."

"Well aren't you a lucky girl!"

"Not exactly." Anne looked down at her feet.

"Why? What's the matter?"

Anne told Phil her tale, beginning with her dreadful last three weeks in Avonlea and ending with the debacle inside the hall with Morgan, Jack, Roy, and Gilbert. When she was finished, she looked like a wreck.

"Oh you poor thing," Phil commented as she patted Anne on the shoulder. "What are you gonna do?"

"I have no idea," Anne replied sadly. "I wish I could get myself out of this mess. If only I could get a ride back to Kingsport, but it's too late now. I could ask Roy to take me back home, but then I'd have to deal with the other three men that are fighting around him. And God knows what Jack Garrison's going to do when Roy takes me back home."

"I tell you what, Anne. Why don't you stay at my apartment for the night? My roommate's out of town, so that'll be no problem. And I could drive you back in the morning."

"But Phil, you'll have to drive yourself back after you drop me off. That's a long way! You'll be exhausted once you get home, and there's no way you can pay attention in class the next day."

"I'll be fine. I promise. Besides, there's nothing really going on on Monday, so I could always skip."

"Philippa Gordon!"

"What?" She laughed.

"Let me guess. There's something due that day, and you haven't started it yet."

Phil nodded. "Yep."

It was Anne's turn to laugh. "In that case, I'll take you up on your offer."

"Yay! Now on that note, let's hurry up and go before the crazy quartet catches up to you like a hungry pack of wolves."

"Okay."

The girls hurried up and went into Phil's car just in time to avoid the Fab Four running outside. Phil hit the gas pedal and sped off into the darkness, heading towards her apartment complex.

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"Will you stay out of this?" yelled Jack to Morgan.

"You don't even have business being here," Roy snapped.

"That's right," agreed Morgan. "You're just here to ruin everything."

"Exactly. I couldn't agree more," Roy commented bitterly.

"Excuse me?" Jack asked.

"Well, everything was going fine until you showed up."

"If Grandpa over here hadn't ruined everything, then everything would have been fine."

"Hey!" Morgan snapped.

"Uh guys?" Gilbert interrupted. The remaining three stopped arguing to look at him. "You know Anne's gone, right?"

"What!" they all exclaimed.

"Where'd she go?" asked Morgan.

"I don't know, but she's not in here," Gilbert replied.

"I'm gonna go find her," Jack proclaimed.

"Oh no, you're not," Roy said. "If anyone's gonna find her, it's gonna be me."

"Since you two won't stop bickering, I'll go find her," stated Morgan.

"You know what, if we keep fighting like this, Anne could make it to Michigan by now with her determination," Gilbert added.

"He's right," Roy admitted. "I say we all look for her before she makes it to the border."

"Fine," stated Jack and Morgan.

Together the four men quickly came out of the hall and searched for their beloved redhead.

"Anne!" they cried.

It was of no use. As soon as they got outside, they saw a car speeding off in the distance and somehow knew Anne was in it.

"Way to go, guys," Roy said sarcastically. "Way to go."

"It's your fault," Morgan pointed to Jack.

"My fault?" asked a stunned Jack. "Excuse me?"

"I'm gonna go," Gilbert declared. "I'm worn out. I'll find Christine first, and then I'll go back to the dorm. I'll see you later, Roy."

"Later, Gil."

He left the remaining three standing there, bickering and arguing like a bunch of little old ladies fighting over the only available man at a nursing home. Gilbert found Christine and told her that he was tired, so he made his way back to his dorm after dropping off his date. He felt guilty about neglecting Christine and putting Anne in such an uncomfortable situation; he felt that the whole mess was his fault. If he hadn't agreed to come, then Roy wouldn't have brought Anne. Without her, Jack wouldn't have followed them from Kingsport, and Morgan would have stayed the entire night with Elvira, making everyone's life a bit easier. Gilbert slapped his forehead.

I knew I shouldn't have come, thought Gilbert. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!

He made it into his dorm room and took out his cell phone.

Should I call Anne? He asked himself. I really want to tell her sorry for getting her into this mess. After debating the matter for another couple of minutes, he decided to take a risk and make the call before kicking himself for not doing it.

"Hello?"

"Anne, it's Gil. Please hear me out."

After a few seconds of silence, Anne decided to hear him out. "I'm listening."

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for tonight and everything I put you through. I feel as if it's my fault for starting this whole fiasco with Morgan, Jack, Roy, and me. It's not fair to you, and I should have realized that. Can you forgive me?"

Anne just sat there breathing heavily.

"Anne, say something."

She looked over at Phil who was sitting next to her on the couch in the apartment. She gave her a shrug.

"Please!" Gilbert pleaded.

"Are you with the other guys right now?

"No. I'm alone in my dorm room."

"Oh."

He didn't know what to do or say next. "Well..."

"I forgive you, Gil."

He was a bit shocked at getting a response from her without having to get on his hands and knees. "Really?"

"I mean it. It's not your fault. I don't blame it on you, Gil; I kinda blame it on myself actually."

"Don't do that, Anne. It's not your fault."

"But it is! If I didn't agree to go with Roy, then I wouldn't have to deal with Jack or Morgan. But...I have to admit that it was nice seeing you, Gil."

He smiled. "You, too."

"I'm just kind of shocked that Roy wasn't the first one to call, but it's nice to hear from you."

"We're friends, remember?"

"Yeah." Just friends...

"So where are you right now?"

"I'm at Phil's."

"Phil? She was at the dance?"

"Oh no, I just met her outside while you goof balls were fighting like crows."

"Ah."

"She's going to drive me back to Kingsport tomorrow morning."

Gilbert hated to ask this, but he had to know. "But what about Roy?"

She sighed. "He can fend for himself. If he asks where I am, don't tell him, okay? Have him call me on my cell so I can yell at him."

Gilbert laughed. "Whatever you say, Anne."

"Thanks, Gil. It was great seeing you again, and that dance we had was fun even if the main purpose was to scare off Jack."

"Yeah. Well, take care of yourself, Carrots."

"You too, Gil."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Now that's the person who should be calling me "Carrots", thought Anne.

"Are you okay now?" asked Phil.

"Yeah," Anne replied.

"That's good." Anne, just go back to Gilbert. You know he loves you!

"I'm going to go to bed now," Anne declared. "I'm tired from tonight. Good night."

"Good night."

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Tired of feuding with Jack and Morgan, Roy finally made his way back to the dorm and looked exhausted.

"You alright?" asked Gilbert.

"Yeah. I should have came back when you did," Roy admitted.

"Ah."

"So do you know where Anne is?"

Yeah, I know where she is, but I'm not telling you! "Uh no, I don't; I'm sorry. Why don't you try calling her on her cell?"

The light bulb in Roy's head went off. "Why didn't I think of that before? Thanks, Gil."

"No problem."

Roy headed out into the hall before turning around. "I'm sorry for tonight, man. I know you weren't trying to hurt Anne or anything since you two have been friends for a long time, but it's just that I wanted to keep her away from that Garrison character, that's all."

"I know."

"Thanks for doing what you did. You're a great friend."

Gilbert shrugged. "Thanks. Don't mention it."

"If you ever need anything, let me know."

"Okay."

Roy turned around and left to make his call while Gilbert sat on his bed. So maybe this year won't be that bad after all. His roommate was friendly...except he had the one thing Gilbert wanted the most: Anne. He sighed. I could use a vacation...