Chapter 15

"It's so hard to consider geometry on today of all days," Anne said wistfully. Her, Henry and Gillbert were, as usual, gathered around the Green Gables Kitchen table.

"And here I thought it was always hard for you to consider geometry. The marks don't lie, Anne Shirley," Gilbert said with a grin, referring to the fact that he constantly scored better than her in the subject.

"My maths are just fine," Anne said narrowing her eyes at him. "It doesn't take a math genius to know today's date." Then turning to Henry she said, "It was one year ago today, do you remember? I came to Green Gables and when I left the orphanage you made me swear not to look back and grab my chance with both hands. You knew I was scared but made me promise not to cry to leave you and Tommy behind, or to feel guilty. I knew you had already started thinking about where we would be in a year. That you were already thinking of finding work as close to the orphanage as you could once you aged out. I was gonna make you promise not to let me and Tommy hold you back. To really survive, to make something of your life, I knew you couldn't hang around waiting for us working in one of those death traps, that you would need to leave the vicinity of the orphanage. That after you left we would be saying goodbye forever, " Anne said her voice breaking.

Reaching out and grasping her hand, Henry said, "But then you weren't a boy. Who knew you being a girl would finally come in so useful? I lost track of how many times Tommy asked why you couldn't have been born a boy so you could be with us more. I always told him that you couldn't be Anne if you had been born a boy."

"I would have made a horrid boy," Anne said with a shaky laugh.

"Aye, you would have. Remember when Tommy wanted to cut off your hair and disguise you as a boy new to the orphanage,?" Henry asked with a chuckle as Gilbert frowned at the thought of Anne's hair being cut off.

"I do and we were all set to do it, until you grabbed that scissors and pointed out how impractical our plan was amd how much more I would hate shorn red hair then thick, long, curly red hair. I had never considered a reason to be vain about my hair until then, but that did the trick. It was the only consolation for it being red," Anne said laughing at the memory.

"It's been quite a year, huh?" Henry said with a grin.

"The best year," Anne agreed.

"Lighting into Mrs. Lynde and breaking slates aside?" Henry teased.

"I really should not have raged at Mrs. Lynde like that, " Anne admitted.

"Hey, what about my head?" Gilbert demanded grinning at Anne. Knowing what would come next. He couldn't help but bait Anne, always finding the way her eyes would flash mesmerizing.

"I wish I would have had a harder slate," Anne said with a toss of her hair. "Then maybe I would have knocked some sense into your pigheaded, small minded, backwards mind. How dare you-" Anne said getting riled up, her eyes flahsing, remembeing the incident.

"Easy there, carrots," Gilbert said affectionately with a grin, grabbing her text book from in front of her and holding it in front of him in playful self defense.

"Better watch it, Anne," Henry said laughing. "Gilbert would just love for you to have to apologize to him again. And Marilla would make you. You know she would."

"You're a blight on my life, Gilbert," Anne said dramatically, but her tone didn't hold the same venom it used to. Anne was thawing to Gilbert, though she wasn't ready to admit it

"You mean Blythe, Anne," Gilbert said with a wink. "I'm the Blythe of your life, not blight on your life."

"And she's the light of your life, eh Gil?" Henry teased. "That fiery red hair could light up the darkest spot."

"Your just as much a candle head as me," Anne exclaimed in indignation to Henry, missing the fact that Gilbert hadn't denied that she was indeed the light of his life. But then again Anne completely overlooked the fact that Gilbert adored her, so it wasn't surprising she missed Henry's tease to Gilbert.

"When your done studying, I need you to run over to the Barry's for me, Anne," Marilla said entering the kitchen. "Mrs. Barry has a pattern she's letting me borrow."

"Oh no, It's to dark," Anne said nervously and a smirk crossed Henry's face, knowing exactly what the problem was and thinking he knew exactly how this would go. He was aware that Anne and Diana had christianed the wood that ran between the Barry's place and Green Gables, the haunted wood and that they had imagined all sorts of ghosts and things for in it. Anne would have to confess this to Marilla, who would declare it to be nonsense and to teach Anne a lesson she would order her to go with out delay to the Barry's. Of course Gilbert would see it as an opprtunity to be a hero for Anne and offer to walk her there, even thought Diana's was the opposite way of Gilbert's family's farm. Sure enough Anne was told by Marilla that she would just have to go, and that Marilla didn't want to hear a word of protest about it.

Anne looked anxiously out into the fading daylight and Gilbert having gathered his school things offered quietly to walk her through the woods. Anne was clearly torn between accepting this life line or snubbing Gilbert. Six months ago, Anne would have declared she would rather walk through 100 haunted woods then walk anywhere with Gilbert. Anne though was thawing. It could be seen in the way she hesitated to turn the offer down flat and wieghed being forced to spend time alone with Gilbert or braving ghosts. Gilbert won out and Anne nodded. She didn't say a word to him during the walk, but she let him walk her there and back. Gilbert didn't mind her silence one bit, he thought the way the way the fading light touched her hair and skin to be beautiful and wasn't sure he could have managed a conversation.

As they walked along, Henry carrying a picnic hamper, he tugged one of Anne's braids and said playfully, "Did you pack any of these for Gilbert? He's awfully fond of carrots you know."

"I'm not fond of any vegtables," Tommy said with decisiveness. "I hope Anne didn't pack any. Seems like it would be a perfectly good way to ruin a birthday picnic."

"Why does Gilbert Blythe have to join us for our traditional picnic for your birthday, Henry?" Anne said crossly, hoping that she hadn't made any mistakes in the kitchen when she prepared their picnic for Gilbert to mock her over.

"It's hardly a tradition, since last year was the first one," Henry pointed out. "And he's my best mate, Anne. You wouldn't want to celebrate without Diana for your birthday."

"I do wish Diana could have made it today," Anne said wistfully. "Instead she had to go to her cousin's, though she was sweet and helped me with some preparations before she had to leave, though she wouldn't get to enjoy them. That is a comfort."

"I'd say it is," Tommy declared. "I hope she helped you with the cake, Anne. A fella usually looks forward to some cake, but some of yours are a mite strange."

"Your getting spoiled with Marilla's cooking," Henry said ruffling his hair, to Tommy's annoyance.

"I guess a strange tasting cake is better than no cake, as long as it isn't too strange mind you," Tommy conceded.

"If it's another liminnent flavored one, Gil will think you are trying to poison him," Henry said with a smirk knowing if Anne did flavor the cake with limminent again, Gilbert would choke it down rather than hurt her feelings. Tommy would have no such restraint and spit it out. For Anne's sake more then his own, he hoped the cake did turn out properly. If it didn't she would be embarrassed and her mortification would be due solely to Gilbert's presence. A cake gone wrong with just them was a funny occurrence, with Gilbert though, in Anne's mind it would be a disaster and something else he could supposedly hold against her. Anne avoided Gilbert outside of studying and school whenever she could but she hadn't put up much resistance to his presence today, until this morning when she began her baking.

"Hey, there's Gil!" Tommy declared, running ahead to meet the older boy.

"Hullo, Anne. Happy Birthday, Henry," Gilbert said with a grin. "How does it feel to finally be as old as me?"

"I think my 15th year went much better than yours, but there is something about 16," Henry said grinning. "What do you think, Anne? Have I reached a pinnicale of manliness?"

"A pinicale of manliness?" Anne asked rolling her eyes. "Just what is a pinicale of manliness?"

"It's when a fella has done something manly," Tommy supplied helpfully.

"All boys turn 16, so I don't see what is so manly about it. Girls to and they aren't manly," Anne said with a laugh.

"But when a girl turns 16 a fella can start courting her," Gilbert said gazing at her intently. He knew that he had high hopes of courting her when she finally turned 16, even though she still maintained her anger at him, though it had lessened notably. She seemed to more so regaed him warily than angrily these days.

"And boys need an equivalent of something when they turn 16? Theoretically they could stsrt courting then too, but I don't see how that is a pinicale of manliness if it also applies to girls," Anne said doubtfully.

"You gonna court someone now, Henry?" Tommy asked. "Did you start courting anyone when you turned 16, Gil?"

"For me to court someone she'd have to be 16 too," Gilbert told Tommy with a wink.

"Besides," Henry said with a smirk, "Where would he have found the time, always hanging around Green Gables?"

"Well I don't want to court anyone when I turn 16," Tommy declared. "I've heard Ruby talk about it and it all sounds like a bunch of nonsense. Why does a fellow want to waste his time picking flowers for a girl?"

"You pick flowers for Anne," Henry pointed out.

"And I like them very much," Anne said beaming at Tommy.

"That's cause I love Anne, she's my sister. But I wouldn't want to waste my time picking them for anyone else. Well, I'd pick some for Marilla, but she thinks the ones I give Anne are weeds and that there are more then enough flowers scattered about the place thanks to Anne as it is. I don't mind picking them for Anne, they make her bappy."

"And that's why a fella gives a girl he's courting flowers, to make her happy," Gilbert said his eyes darting towards Anne.

"Well I already give Anne flowers so she won't have to court anybody when she turns 16 to get them. And she gathers them herself, so seems she don't really need a fella for that," Tommy declared with practicality.