Part 2 - He loves me...
When Anne returned to Green Gables, it was late afternoon. With the utmost discretion, she tried to sneak into the house without being seen, so she went through the door leading into the living room.
Unfortunately for the girl, Matthew was there, sitting in an armchair, reading a book.
"Oh, I thought you were resting in your room?", said Matthew innocently, but he was surprised to see her arrive with a dress in her hand and ribbons in her hair.
"Oh, Matthew, I... I was actually at Diana's house, to...", she replied, glancing at the sky-blue dress she was holding in her arms.
"What is...?", he tried to ask without knowing how to finish his question, he gestures with his index finger towards his hair, he was apparently referring to her ribbons rolled up in her hair.
"Oh this… it was Diana, who lent me her ribbons, and it was also she who wrapped the ribbons in my hair, I had never tried to curl myself."
"These ribbons, this hairstyle, is it for tomorrow?", asked the old man naively.
"Of course not, it's to have nice curls in the morning, I would only sleep one night with the ribbons.", She laughed and explained that she knew that he was not interested in these coquetries. And it is not with Marilla that he would have heard about it.
"Oh, I see.", He simply replied, his eyes a little lost, even if he didn't understand these things, he knew they were important to Anne.
The young redhead said in a worried tone, "But, Ma-Marilla must not know that I was at Diana's house, can we keep this between us, Matthew?"
"She'll wonder how you got that dress.", answered the pragmatic old man.
Suddenly Marilla entered in the living room, "Well, what's going on here? Supper will be ready in an hour."
The young redhead was so panicked, she stammered, "Oh Ma-Marilla! Uh, Diana brought it to me!", and then she quickly climbed the stairs to get upstairs.
Matthew glanced at his sister, he was just as confused as she was.
The next morning, the Cuthberts got up at dawn and all dressed elegantly for the day, which was in some ways the event of the year.
Matthew tried his best to fix his hair in front of the mirror, and then once he was ready he went to polish his radish so that it would be perfect for the contest.
While Marilla carefully chose her best plum puffs, placing them as delicately as possible in her wicker basket.
Anne was particularly excited about the day, she was still in her room in front of the mirror undoing her ribbons, seeing her hair with curls so beautifully filled her with joy. But the girl was also in the grip of great questioning. Indeed, feelings were also running through her head, she had realized something yesterday at Diana's house. Did she have a crush on Gilbert? Her friend may have taken all the precautions necessary before asking her famous question, but she felt like she had been slapped in her face.
Once all her ribbons were removed and her sky-blue dress put on, she was almost ready. Then she remembered that Diana had lent her a pretty sky blue ribbon that matched her dress perfectly, so she tied a beautiful knot in her hair, and then nervous she left her room.
Later, she found herself in the barn, sitting on a wooden railing. She was stripping the petals off a daisy, and with each petal she pulled out, she said, "He loves me… He loves me not."
She sighed, then declared dreamy, as she looked at the foal standing next to her, "Perhaps love unfolds out of a burgeoning friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slips from its green sheath..."
"He loves me…", she says again as she removes another petal.
"But what if romance spoils our friendship?", she worriedly wondered, "I won't let it. Maybe it's better if he doesn't love me. Next to true love, the best thing is unrequited love. It's even more romantic when you think about it."
She caressed the foal while saying thoughtfully, "All the great stories are about unrequited love.", She then tried to convince herself, "In fact, I hope he doesn't love me."
A noisy breath from the mare was heard, "You're right as always, Belle.", said the young redhead looking at her, "I don't know what I want.", she added with a nervous sneer.
Soon after, Anne heard her name, it was Marilla calling her from the other side of Green Gables, Matthew and his sister were both already settled in their cart. When the girl saw them, she ran to join them, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
"This is no time to daydream!", exclaimed the woman with the bun.
The redhead gasped, "Day-daydreaming, but no, I-"
But the elderly woman didn't let her finish, "No time to chat, at this point, Sebastian and Gilbert must be getting impatient! »
Once the girl was settled in the carriage, Matthew took the reins and they were finally gone.
Meanwhile, Sebastian and Gilbert were in the midst of their preparations, as they were making an inventory of what they needed to take care of little Delphine.
The dark-haired boy carried the baby carriage to the porch, while Bash followed him very closely with his daughter in his arms and a shoulder strap that contained all sorts of necessities.
"Bottles, nappies, pram, all that's missing is the Cuthberts if they haven't forgotten us.", laughed the young father.
"Knowing Anne, she had to take great care to work on the presentation of her cake.", said the brown-haired boy with a smile.
"Maybe you should hitch up the horse just in case...", Retorted Bash laughed.
Gilbert sneered and disapproved, when suddenly they heard the Cuthberts' cart arrive. Anne was sitting in the back, she had one hand on her hat to hold it up, lest the light breeze and the movement of the carriage carry it away.
When Gilbert saw the young woman in the distance, he couldn't help but notice that the girl's red hair was floating in the air. The sun's rays enhanced the color of her hair, making her bright.
Then finally he noticed the dress she was wearing, it seemed to match the color of her eyes perfectly. The young man didn't even realize it, but he literally smiled with his eyes as he gazed at the young redhead. Suddenly, he was taken out of his reverie by Sebastian.
"Oh, Anne is so elegant today.", Bash simply remarked.
Gilbert immediately had the feeling that he had read his thoughts, he felt embarrassed, "Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?", said the teenager as if to change the topic.
The young father just giggled, and walked towards the Cuthberts who had just stopped their buggy.
"I'm sorry for the request, but it seems that Anne would like us to travel in two different carriages. Sebastian, you can put your pram in ours because it's more spacious. »
Anne looked at Marilla in disbelief, "But no, I never said that! I-"
"You know how I feel about lies, Anne.", replied Marilla, interrupting her.
"But Marilla-"
"Enough talk, take your cake and join Gilbert, you'll have all the space you want over there."
Gilbert watched the scene with amusement, he couldn't help smiling as he listened to them quarrel, but in her own way Marilla was very protective of the young redhead.
The dark-haired boy intervened in an amused tone, while Anne got off the carriage, "Then I'll prepare the buggy, this cake needs all the necessary space."
She rolled her eyes, already regretting that the latter had once again something to tease her during the trip.
At the same time Bash gave Delphine to Marilla so that he could put the baby carriage into the vehicle. Then he moved to the back to retrieve his daughter from the old woman's arms. He couldn't help smiling when he saw Gilbert harnessing the horse to the cart, he thought that the two teenagers would certainly not be bored.
Meanwhile, Anne waited patiently to put her cake in the back of the dark-haired boy's buggy. She was both embarrassed by the scene that had just happened, Marilla never lost an opportunity to make her feel uncomfortable, and of course Gilbert had to be around in those moments. She knew that he took some pleasure in teasing her whenever he could. That smirk... he still had it today. And he had it ever since she knew him, from the very first day, in fact. That smirk never left his face anymore. And yet during the dance practice at school, it was something else. His smile... he was quite charming. And his eyes... seemed to kiss hers.
"Anne... This buggy seems to be just waiting for you and your cake.", Gilbert says in an amused tone, standing beside the cart, pulling the girl out of her thoughts.
She immediately walked to the vehicle and tried to wedge her cake in the back, "You can't believe what Marilla says. I never asked for this.", She protested while doing so.
The dark-haired boy watched her do it with a smirk on his face, "Oh besides... I hope you didn't forget to eat this morning, it's just to know if I should keep you away from the ditches."
"It's not funny, Gilbert. I forbid you to remind me of this ridiculous anecdote." she grumbled. This answer amused the young man all the more.
Then finally, she got ready to get down from the back of the cart, then she noticed the young man standing there, reaching out his hand to help her get down, he always had that smug little smile, which had the gift of annoying her. With hesitation, she then put her hand in his and got off the vehicle. The moment their hands touched, Anne felt a shiver running down her whole body. Was this what it felt like to have a crush on someone? Had he felt it too?
The young man had a little embarrassed sneer, when she finally let go of his hand, this contact had been very brief but enough to confuse his feelings again. He had some feelings for the young redhead, but he had difficulty understanding what he was feeling. What could it mean? He took some pleasure in teasing her sometimes, because it was a way to be even closer to her, isn't that what friends would do? He certainly liked her a lot, and he was sure of that from day one. Their friendship had been so hard to build, she had never been the tenderest with him. But their friendship undoubtedly grew stronger after Mary's death. Who would have thought that Anne would be the person who would give him the most comfort to get through this ordeal? Certainly not him, he could never have imagined that she cared so much for him. Crying in her arms had been the most intimate moment he had experienced in years. There was no way he could lose her friendship because she meant so much to him now. So no, he could no longer think about what his feelings for her meant, because now they were friends for real. He didn't want to scare her away.
When Anne saw his little embarrassed smile, she immediately looked away and moved away from him, to settle into the cart.
"So we should hurry now, Matthew's buggy is long gone by now.", The girl said as she sat down in the front seat.
Gilbert immediately rushed to join her, took the reins and said at the same time, "I wouldn't take the same path as Matthew anyway. I have another way."
"Another way?", asked the confused redheaded girl.
"You'll see.", he said as he alerted the horse to move the cart forward.
"I remind you that I have my competition in the morning, I hope your other way is a shortcut."
"Why don't you ever trust me?", he asked amused.
"But I-I do trust you, I was just saying that-"
"I know. You just wanted to contradict me.", he said, interrupting her with a smile.
"No, I didn't. And... That answer doesn't matter.", She replied embarrassed.
Actually, the teenage girl did not know how to behave, why was she so defensive? She had to be as usual, but... With this dress, this hairstyle, it was definitely not a day like any other. She wanted him to notice her but at the same time she didn't really want that. He had been her friend for a while now, despite the differences they had had. And if love interfered with that, and it wasn't reciprocated, it would be worse than anything else. This friendship couldn't survive that, what an embarrassment it would be for her or for him...Only... He was so charming, and today of course it was worse than ever. With his sarcastic smiles, his reflections, his arrogance. Luckily, he was annoying and that compensated a bit for the fact that she fell under his spell despite everything. And if it was in fact exactly for that reason that she felt all this, even when he had the audacity to tease her, part of her liked it when he did. Wasn't that the most foolish thing?!
All her thoughts were jostling in her head, while he was sitting next to her with that smile, that smile so annoying, but at the same time so charming...
"So what are you planning to do at the fair today?", asked Anne.
"Well, I don't know, I'll probably stick with Bash and Delphine. Since I hadn't even planned to come to the fair in the first place..."
"Why did you want to deprive yourself of this outing? There aren't that many such events in the year."
"I guess I wanted to avoid going to the dance, I still hope Bash will never force me to go.", he replied with an embarrassed laugh.
The mention of the dance implied the Barn dance. This famous dance was practiced the other day at school. He must have really hated that dance to want to avoid it so much? Why did she now feel sad to hear that from the young man's mouth?
The young girl finally said, "I agree, this dance is awful, isn't it? How could Miss Stacy make us dance a whole afternoon instead of studying? I-I still can't believe it."
Gilbert, who hadn't even mentioned dance at school, suddenly had a wave of memories. Did she really think it was awful? Was it so horrible to dance with him? Of course on that same day he had made exactly the same comment as she had. But to hear her say that, it was like... a real stab in the heart. So he had dreamt her smiles? The way she looked at him? She seemed to be having fun, just like him, even though he had had a hard time admitting it. He had enjoyed sharing this moment with her, even if in fact they had never been alone during this dance, only her face had remained, and her smile, her gaze…
The young man cleared his throat before answering, "Hm. Yes, it was a waste of time, I... guess."
"I had the feel that you liked to dance though. But, if you...if you want to avoid that dance so much, you really hated it.", She retorted awkwardly, then she had a nervous chuckle and added, "I...I know I'm not the best dancer, I must be a terrible dancer."
"Oh no, I didn't want to insinuate that. I-I mean you're not a bad dancer at all. To be honest...I… I didn't find it unpleasant dancing with you."
The young redhead's face brightened, and then she felt warmth invade her cheeks. How could she respond to that? Then she cleared her throat in turn and said, "It's the same with you, I mean... you're not a bad dancer either, if you needed to be comforted."
"So we're both good dancers, I suppose. This is good to know."
Anne didn't even seem to hear Gilbert's comment, as she turned to look at the landscape behind her, "It's not the way. Where are you taking me?!"
"Trust me."
"But the coasts are on this side! There we sink into a grove. Gilbert, if I don't arrive on time for the competition... I already don't have the luck with me, so... "
"It's a good thing you're talking about luck. But you'll arrive on time, tru-"
"Trust me... I know, but what's the point of... ", she stopped talking by herself when she looked at the flower beds.
The dark-haired boy stopped the buggy at the same time in the midst of the path, he had a smile on his lips, he was rather proud of himself.
"You wanted to show me the first lily-of-the-valley flowers?", asked the young girl who couldn't help but be amazed.
"It's been at least a week since I spotted them. Will you come down? Wouldn't you say no to a lucky charm?"
"A lucky charm?"
"Didn't you know that lily of the valley is a lucky charm?"
She rolled her eyes, "I presume you're going to teach me something today.", she said as she got off the cart.
He did the same, and then began to explain, "Well, I read somewhere that lily of the valley is like a lucky charm. Did you know that it is celebrated in some European countries, especially in France, where they have been celebrating it on May 1st for centuries. We couldn't do it here because we have to wait until summer to see the first lily of the valley flowers appear."
"I know this last thing, I live here too, Gilbert."
The young man advanced towards the expanses of Lily of the Valley, and picked a sprig. Anna, who was then behind him, approached him when he signaled to come closer.
"You see the little bells, if you have thirteen bells on your sprig of lily of the valley, then it will bring you good luck."
The redhead began to giggle, "And since when are you superstitious?"
"I am not. It's just...I just thought you'd like the idea."
She sighed before saying, "I love this idea, but I don't have time for it.", She laughed nervously and added, "I can't afford to look for that famous sprig of lily of the valley, we'd spend the morning looking for it and I-",
The young girl paused when she saw Gilbert holding a new sprig of Lily of the Valley in front of her eyes, "I guess I found it for you.", he said with a small smile.
Indeed, the sprig of Lily of the Valley had thirteen small white bells. It was just a simple sprig of Lily of the Valley, but for the teenage girl, it meant so much. He had simply thought from the start to bring her here to give her this wild flower. Did he realize how romantic this gesture was? Of course he must have known... So Cole was right all along, Gilbert had a crush on her? Why else would he give her a flower? Of course the flower represented luck... but... it wasn't just that, was it?
Anne finally took the sprig of Lily of the Valley from the dark-haired boy's hand, but she was so confused by the situation that no words could come out of her mouth.
As for the young man, he was always content to gaze at her with certain tenderness. It melted his heart that the young redhead had not been able to say anything. It was so rare that he left her speechless, so he savored the moment.
Suddenly the young girl took Gilbert out of her daydream, "We-we should go now.", she said clumsily.
He simply nodded, and they left the bed of lily of the valley and headed back to the cart.
When the two young people had finally left, and the young man had taken over the reins, he couldn't help but notice that the young redhead was busy with something.
Indeed, Anne was placing the sprig of Lily of the Valley between her blue ribbon and her hair. And when Gilbert noticed this, he couldn't hold back a smile. Why did this simple gesture make him waver? It was only a wild flower, it was only a lucky charm? Then why did it make her look even more beautiful? Why was it so bright? Why did he want to...
The young man shook his head as if to pull himself together, then looked straight ahead again. As Anne glanced at him, she couldn't help but smile as she watched the young man. How was it possible to start the day in a better way? She began to think.
A few moments later, the two teenagers finally arrived at the County Fair, the place was already crowded.
Anne rushed to the back to get her cake, while the dark-haired boy tied the horse to a railing.
Then he finally made his way to the young girl who was having trouble coming down with her big cake.
"Let me help you, please?", asked the young man standing at the back of the cart.
Anne then handed him her precious cake, then put her hat back on her head before going down. Gilbert waited for the young redhead in front of the entrance to the fair.
She took a deep breath before joining him, her stomach was knotting up, she still didn't know why. Was it the competition that was stressing her or was it something else that was overwhelming her?
She was finally able to join him, and they both entered the fair.
At the same time, a luxurious carriage arrived on the road towards the County Fair, with a charming young blonde woman dressed in white on board. She had a smile on her face as she looked forward to the day.