Chapter 6
Gilbert once again took the seat across from Anne at breakfast, relieved he could try and get to know her just the two of them again. Last night at dinner he had been dismayed to find both Josie and Gertie had decided to join the group for dinner and both had latched onto him. Having not seen Anne since lunch time he had been looking forward to seeing her. He didn't mind at first when the Pyes began complimenting him and even encouraged them hoping their words about him would impress Anne, but the way Anne and Phillipa both seemed to be laughing into their drinks about it, made him wonder if that was backfiring.
When the two had disappeared to the restroom while Josie was having him flex his bicep, he had waited for them to return as Josie and Gertie kept one upping each other to get his attention. When after twenty minutes they hadn't returned he realized that they weren't coming back. That fact that they hadn't even said goodbye or told him, put him in a bad mood and he had trailed after Diana upstairs hoping to find Anne and Phillipa there. When they weren't there he had sat down and glared at the open doorway.
He had texted Phillipa, who responded that as amusing as watching him with his fan club was, acting like he was God's gift to women was really not the way to recommend himself and that her and Anne were out, but that she would be sure to return her safe and sound later. He had tried to convince Diana to give him Anne's phone number, but Diana had refused. Pointing out that if Anne wanted him to have it she would have given it to him when he asked the first night at dinner. Diana eventually accused him of pouting like a toddler and kicked him out of her and Anne's dorm room before she herself left, to meet up with Anne and Phillipa.
"Hey, beautiful. Did you have fun out last night after you abandoned me to the Pyes?" Gilbert asked sitting down.
"You didn't look terribly upset to be abandoned to the Pyes," Anne said rolling her eyes.
"Well it wasn't the Pyes attention I was seeking. You were supposed to admire me," Gilbert declared.
"So you were having the Pyes ooo and ahhh over you so that I would notice how great you were and ooo and ahhh over you as well?"
"Yes!" Gilbert said in relief, glad she got it.
"That is even stupider then your pick up lines," Anne said in derision.
"I told you, I'm new to this and you should make allowances for me. I want to impress you, but I don't seem to know how," Gilbert argued.
"Why do you want to impress me so bad?" Anne asked preperlexed. "Is it because I don't like you and you have to have everyone like you?"
"It isn't cause you don't like me. It's cause I like you," Gilbert said.
"I'm duly impressed, " Anne said sarcastically. "So now you may leave me alone. I also need to get going."
"Already?" Gilbert said frowning.
"Yes. Goodbye Gilbert," Ane said walking off.
Gilbert smiled since she said goodbye and called out, "Goodbye Anne!"
…
"Hi Anne, Hi Di!" Gilbert greeted them as they entered Prof. Philips' History lecture.
"Hi Gilbert," Diana said blushing and when Anne said nothing, she nudged her prompting her to say cooly, "Hi Gilbert."
"You still haven't accepted my friend request on facebook, Anne," Gilbert told her.
"Gee, I wonder why?" Anne dead panned.
"Anne!" Diana hissed in rebuke.
"Why do we need to be Facebook friends? I see you every day," Anne said to Gilbert widening her eyes at him in emphasis, as if to say that was bad enough.
"That is true. But wouldn't it be nice to be Facebook friends? Or you could at least give me your phone number," Gilbert said.
"I told you I don't give my phone number out to strangers," Anne said.
"It's true. She told Charlie the same thing. But you did agree to accept his friend request on Facebook so you should accept Gilbert's too," Diana said diplomatically.
"Fine. But Jessie's mom will be back from her Florida trip soon and when she sees I have accepted another boy's friend request and calls me to investigate-" Anne said.
"Who's Jessie?" Gilbert asked curiously.
"My case worker. Well technically I was adopted and I'm now over 18 so I don't have a case worker anymore and she was really only mine for a short time, but her mother knows Marilla and we stayed in touch."
"And her mom keeps tabs on your social life?" Gilbert asked grinning.
"She keeps tabs on everyone's social life," Anne said rolling her eyes. "Not just those in Charlotte, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the whole island. I keep expecting to run into Mrs. Lynde's spies even here on the mainland."
"Mrs. Lynde? Mrs. Rachel Lynde?" Gilbert asked in horror as Diana also blanched.
"Yes," Anne said looking at them curiously. "She's practically family. She moved next door a year or two before I came to Green Gables."
"You know Mrs Lynde? She was the principal at the middle school in Avonlea forever until she retired," Diana said. "You didn't tell me she was Jessie's mom. You always just call her Jessie's mom!"
"Mrs. Rachel Lynde," Gilbert said with a groan. "Mrs. Lynde hated me."
"I call her that cause she is Jessie's mom, Di. Ya know the song Jessie's girl? Jessie's mom. I made a very entertaining parody of it once. Matthew loved it,thought it was very creative. It was part of an apology Marilla made me make. Mrs. Lynde was so touched she cried. The power of music. And words. I can't believe you know her. Further proof we were meant to be bossom friends," Anne said to Diana and turning to Gilbert asked, "What did you do to poor Mrs. Lynde?"
"Now we are here to learn," Prof. Philips said calling the class to order before Gilbert could respond.
….
When class was over Gilbert strolled out after Diana and Anne who were chatting. He didn't bother to interrupt them, knowing that in moments Diana would be headed a different direction and he and Anne would be headed to creative writing. A smile played at his lips to think of what anyone, but especially his old principal, who thanks to his antics, was on a first name basis with his mom, would say if she knew he had signed up for a creative writing class just for a girl. Admittedly it wasn't just any girl, it was the girl of his dreams, Anne Shirely Someday-to-be-Blythe. He was absolutely convinced she was the one, which is why he didn't let her rejections phase him. If Phillipa was to be believed it wasn't just him, but pretty much anyone that asked her out. That she didn't date. Phillipa had assured him Anne liked guys, she was just wary of them. He had taken that as encouragement that she just had to get to know him. Anne didn't strike him as naturally shy, but he remembered thinking he would need to coax her out from behind the curtian at the hospital and he had noticed, after Phil pointed it out, that she was wary of all guys.
"Where do you head now?" Diana's voice asking him called him out of his thoughts on Anne.
"Oh Monroe Hall," Gilbert said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Anne's headed there too! You can walk over together," Diana said beaming at him, while Anne regarded him skeptically.
"Shall we, babe?" he asked Anne.
Anne's response was to glare at him and say, "If you call me that again you will find yourself with more than tea poured on you."
"Sorry," Gilbert said with a grin and made a mental note that babe was not an acceptable form of endearment. She hadn't objected outright to any of the others he used, other than carrots. But babe had definitely been a no based off her reaction.
Saying goodbye to Diana who was beaming at them, Gilbert asked the question he had been wanting to ask since Phillipa had first mentioned it and warned him not to make an ass of himself,"So your adopted?" More than once now she had mentioned it in front of him and he wanted to know everything he could about her.
"Yes," Anne said carefully. "I was adopted when I was 16."
"So your parents-" Gilbert started to ask.
"Died when I was little. I was in foster care until the Cuthberts adopted me."
"I'm sorry," Gilbert said softly, unsure what else to say and considered that this was likely why Phillipa had told him not to make an ass of himself. He had broached a topic that was likely a minefield and he hadn't had the best of luck with Anne on safer ground.
"You're the first person who has actually come right out and mentioned I am adopted that I've met here. I don't make it a secret so people know, but most avoid any mention of the fact. Even Di at first wasn't sure what to make of it until Stella and Pris mentioned it. I hate how people always want to pretend like I'm not. Like if they don't mention the word adoption or orphan to me it means I'm not," Anne said with a huff. "I was adopted. I was glad to be adopted. I can say the word adoption. Adoption," she said firmly and loudly. "But its like everyone I meet can't say it or if they do, they practically whisper it. Their voice always lowers when they say it."
"Adoption," Gilbert said grinning at her, not lowering his voice when he said it.
He was rewarded with Anne smiling back and saying, "See just a word. Not mean or derogatory like some other words, like say I don't know, Carrots."
"I apologized for that, but if I need to apologize again I will. Is this when the flowers come in?"
"No. No flowers," Anne said rolling her eyes.
"So adoption," Gilbert said. "What's that like?"
"Well you know how people have birthdays?" Anne asked and at his nod said, "Well I get a birthday and an adoption day to celebrate."
"So two celebrations? What days?" he asked.
"March 5th, May 12th, and June 21st."
"That's three days," Gilbert said.
"Marilla says it is extravegant but Matthew says May 12th is the day they asked me if I would like to be adopted by them, so we celebrate it, but June 21st is when it all became legal and offical so he insists on it as well," Anne explained. "He tells Marilla its cause they missed the first 16 years so three days in one year is making up for lost time now. Marilla says it just gives Matthew an excuse to spoil me."
"I can't say that I think any excuse is needed," Gilbert said thinking that he agreed with Matthew.
"Well this is me. I'll see you later," Anne said stopping outside of the Creative Writting classroom.
"Oh it's me too," Gilbert said holding open the door for her.
Anne looked at him, not entering and said slowly, "You weren't in it on Monday."
"No, but here it is Wednesday and I am," Gilbert said casually, propelling her into the room with his hand on her lower back.
Stopping, her face preprlexed, Anne dropped into a seat at one of the many two seater tables and he sat down next to her, grinning. "You like writing?" Anne asked in surprise.
"Well I figured I'd give it a try. Fill in an elective. Be well rounded, ya know," he said figuring it probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell her he signed up for the class after finding out she was in it. That was when a group of girls entered and upon spotting him began blushing and making their way toward him.
"Hello," one of them said looking at him expectantly.
"Hullo," Gilbert said back.
"I remember you from Monday," the girl said blushing. When Gilbert looked at her blankly she said, "You ask what class this was."
"Oh yea," Gilbert said realizing she must have been the one who told him.
"I'm Hannah," she told him.
"Gilbert," he said. "And this is Anne," Gilbert said smiling at Anne who had taken out her notebook and pen.
"Prof. Stacy last time mentioned she would assign us editing partners for our papers so to choose our seats carefully. Mary and I had been going to be partnered, but you and I could sit together to be partnered instead," Hannah said blushing.
"Oh no, that's okay," Gilbert said reaching out to stop Anne from rising in alarm and moving to a new seat and partner by grabbing her hand and intertwing their fingers.
"Oh, okay," Hannah said her face falling seeing how Gilbert had grabbed Anne's hand. "I had just thought when you asked and then showed up here," she said trailing off.
"Er sorry about that," Gilbert said keeping a tight grip on Anne's hand as she tried to tug it out of his.
"Let go of my hand, Gilbert," she hissed as Hannah moved away.
Letting go of her hand he said, "If you abandon me, I'm following."
"Why are you taking a creative writing class?" Anne whispered with narrowed eyes.
"Well it is another elective and it does make me well rounded, but if you must know, cause you're in it," Gilbert whispered back, grinning at her.
"What?" Anne shrieked in a whisper.
"Is it maybe just a tiny bit romantic that I signed up for a class cause you were in it? " Gilbert asked hopefully.
"Is it a tiny bit weird and stalkerish you signed up for a class that a girl who dumped tea on you is in? When did you sign up?" Anne demanded.
"Pretty much right after you dumped your tea on me," Gilbert said sheepishly.
"Who are you?" Anne asked in complete and total disbelief wondering what could possibly possess someone who had just had tea dumped onto them to decided to sign up for a class with the same person who had dumped their tea on them.
"Gilbert John Blythe, at your service," he said grinning to which Anne rolled her eyes.
"Just because we are in class together does not make us friends," Anne said through gritted teeth as Prof. Stacy entered and started the class.
