Chapter 21
Aftert the excitement of the concert the other scholars may have felt flat, but for the Queens class it was time to buckle down. Gilbert, Anne and Henry increased their study sessions in the Green Gables kitchen. Gilbert caught himself often worrying about what would happen if he didn't make it in to Queens. He was positive Anne would easily get in and his greatest fear wasn't that any of the Avonlea boys, that Anne didn't seem to notice, would sweep her off her feet, it was that some suave stranger would turn her head before she every really looked at him, Gilbert. This nebulous fear seemed to solidify and condense when it came time for the entrance exam at the end of the school year.
Gilbert couldn't help but notice as he stood with Henry, Anne between them, that more than one male eye looked Anne's way with appreciation. He was relieved that Anne seemed blissfully unaware of these new males and their admiring gazes. Henry after his initial upset about Anne drawing male eyes at the Christmas concert appeared to have gotten over it and wasn't phased by any of the interest Anne generated.
The other Avonlea scholars were near by and Miss Stacy was offering a soft word of encouragement here and there. Gilbert standing so close to Anne, couldn't help but hear when she stood on her toes and whispered up to Henry on her otherside, "We're here, Henry. We are really here. If your father's family could see you now-"
"They wouldn't want anymore to do with me now then they did when he married my ma, or I was born. Besides, I told you. They don't matter. I don't have to prove anything to them. They aren't my family. We built our own family," Henry said softly back.
It struck Gilbert than that though Henry was his best friend and he knew he had been at the orphanage for almost a decade, he didn't know anything about Henry's father other than he had died when Henry was two and his ma started cleaning houses until she died three years later. Anne's parents had both been teachers. He had found it amusing that her father had specialized in maths, given Anne's own distaste for the subject. He had assumed Henry didn't know much about his father, but Henry's words to Anne suggested there was more to the story.
"Your going to be a lawyer someday, just like he was. I know it," Anne said softly before going up on tiptoe and placing a kiss on Henry's cheek.
Henry threw his arm around her shoulders, gave her a side hug and said, "And shall we be like Marilla and Matthew and live our lives out as brother and sister, keeping house for each other? Or will you go off an find yourself a beaux?"
"With this red hair?" Anne said making a face.
"You know very well it has darkened up this last winter to a becoming auburn," Henry teased her, repeating Mrs. Lynde's words to her when she saw them off, telling Anne her hair was a becoming auburn and even if she didn't pass she was sure to turn some young man's head someday and wouldn't need to support herself, so not to fret about the exam. Henry had snorted, thinking that Anne had already thoroughly turned Gilbert's head and didn't need to turn anyone else's, but Anne, unaware of his thoughts as she was of Gilbert's regard, had glared at him.
…
"We're done!" Henry said clapping Gilbert on the back as they left the last exam room. Shall we go gather Anne and celebrate?"
"Shouldn't we wait to celebrate until we find out if we pass, mate?" Gilbert asked already moving towards Anne.
"Well if you want to wait until then, but I for one am gonna go celebrate with Anne right now," Henry said, laughing with exuberance. Approaching Anne at a lope, he called out, "A dance my lady?" Before waiting for her answer he grabbed her hand in his and twirled her around laughing. Anne laughed with him and didn't even blink when Gilbert cut in and twirled her himself. Henry grabbed the near by Ruby's hand and twirled her as well. Moody getting into the spirt grabbed Jane and enthusiastically twirled her. Soon all of the Avonlea applicants were laughing and spinning in an impromptu dance on the lawn, other bold Queens hopefuls joining in as well, the gaiety infectious.
