Hours passed by and with each of them Anne felt more certain that the realisation she had come to this morning was as true as it had felt at first. Her walk to school would have been a reason enough, with the warm wind caressing her cheeks and Diana chattering animatedly for almost an entire way. It was an unusual case, with Anne's general eagerness to speak – but it looked like Diana had more than a word to share with her friend as well, and just this once, Anne was happy to just listen, enjoying the company of her dearest Kindred Spirit and trying not to think about the demons that had haunted her before.

She knew that the less she'd think of them, the more likely they would be to leave her mind and soul in peace.

Besides, the other girl's presence was just another proof of how truly happy her life had become already. Having Diana as a friend was a miracle she'd never stopped being thankful for, and her loyalty had already given Anne the chance to start and maintain many other friendships. She walked to school with Diana – was greeted cordially at the threshold by Ruby – and then welcomed with sincerity by the rest of the girls. Had Cole been there, he surely would have done the same, but even in his absence, she could still count on a smile and a nod from the other side of the room where the boys stood, occupied with their own, mysterious business.

Apparently, being friends with Gilbert Blythe wasn't such a bad idea after all.

What helped her more than anything, however – and was in no way surprising, either – was the presence of Miss Stacy, as well as her determination to busy her students with all kinds of sensible tasks. She by no means wanted to exhaust them, and was very careful not to do so and yet, the fact remained: no matter how kind or understanding Muriel Stacy was, she would not tolerate wasting the precious little time they had on daydreaming and self-pity.

She was as consequent in her strictness as she was in her kindness – and there wasn't a quality for which Anne Shirley-Cuthbert could feel more grateful for at the time. Too occupied to wonder much about anything other than her current subjects and tasks (even geometry didn't seem that horrible that day), her mind became at ease. She was feeling safe now – and by the end of the day she'd already forgotten that she had been unwell at all.

And she certainly didn't expect it to change.

"Alright class, there is one more task I have planned for you for today," Miss Stacy announced then, her usual enthusiasm ringing in her voice as she finished collecting her pupil's slates, a complex equation written proudly on each of them. "It is a group project, in a way, and it's duration depends solely on your own pace of work. It should not take you any longer than till the end of the lesson however, and I'm quite sure that most of you will finish it long before that time. And since it is the last thing you'll be focusing on today -"

"We can go home early!" an excited voice cut the teacher off mid-sentence.

Anne rolled her eyes with a smile, while the teacher glared indulgently at the boy in the back of the room.

"Yes, Moody, that's exactly what it means," she admitted. "But I still need to see the task fulfilled before that happens."

The children laughed cordially when Moody blushed in embarrassment and sank lower in his chair. Miss Stacy shook her head with understanding and clapped to regain her class's attention.

"Alright, then," she said firmly, determined not to lose any more of their precious time – especially as she knew that, contrary to her own encouraging words, there were at least a few students who needed it to finish their assignment before the end of the lesson and she certainly didn't want any of them to stay longer than their usual timetable required. "I'm sure you'd like to know the details of what is coming for you. I said it was a group project; but perhaps that's a slightly inaccurate word. What I want you to do is to work in pairs and try to interpret a short poem I have chosen for you."

Anne shifted excitedly and glanced at Diana. Her bosom friend responded in the same way.

"I am sure you'd love to work on the assignment as usual, with the person that sits right next to you – but it won't do this time," Miss Stacy continued with the same warm smile, the corner of her lips twitching ever so little as she cast short glances at her agitated pupils. "The very point of this task is to see how well you can work with someone you don't know so well, someone you haven't had a chance to work with before. Now, I don't think I know you well enough to decide which arrangement would be best, so I am not going to pick your pairs for you; it will be decided by a draw instead, as it seems to be the fairest way to do it."

"Excuse me, teacher," Josie Pye opposed in her sweetest voice, the same which everyone had learnt to recognise as fake and derisive by now. "But doesn't it create a risk that some of us might be paired with someone they actually do know? I mean, what guarantee do we have that, let's say, Anne Shirley won't end up working with Diana Barry?"

Anne hardly managed to refrain from snorting; Diana wasn't much farer from that.

Miss Stacy, however, didn't appear surprised in the slightest. She gave Josie another warm smile of hers. "That's a very good observation, my dear, and a question fully justified. You may stop worrying, though. I can promise you that Anne will not be paired with Diana – or with any other girl, for that matter."

A wave of whispers and gasps went through the class in response to her words. Some girls covered their mouths with their hands, astonished, other, like Jane Andrews, seemed to have frozen in space for the few seconds that followed. The boys snickered and smirked, deciding to exchange their comments immediately after – and there wasn't a child in that room whose eyebrows would not have risen at hearing her words.

Miss Stacy kept her composure perfectly, like the good teacher she had been taught to be, and only she knew how much satisfaction the more dramatic part of her felt.

She coughed gently. "Alright, students. I can imagine your surprise at the news but that is no reason to start a row now. You're in here together and you're supposed to be friends, which means you need to learn how to work with one another. Now, I know that there had been some... troubles concerning the cooperation between boys and girls in this class but that's all the more reason to focus on it today. Whatever happened in this classroom earlier, whatever animosities you hold towards each other, I want you to forget about them today. I expect you to approach the matter maturely. No jokes, no teasing, no flirting," she emphasised, trying not to look at anyone in particular. "Just work. You will be allowed to talk, although I'd like you to try and avoid it – it will make the task this much more interesting. Any questions? No? Good. I think we may as well start now."

She turned around and walked up to her desk and took a small wooden box that was placed on it. Her fingers touched the small cards hidden inside it. "What I have here is the boys' names written down and mixed. I will say a girl's name first, then draw the boy's name from the box and thus a pair will be made. We'll start from the back of the room."

Eighteen pairs of eyes were fixed on her hand; eighteen pairs of ears waiting for her to speak.

"Josie Pye – you're paired with Moody Spurgeon today."

Josie let out a groan but nodded towards Miss Stacy nevertheless. The latter thought it might not have been the best of starts, what with the rest of the class chuckling again; but it was a start and it had to do.

In fact, it all went rather smoothly from there.

"Ruby will be devastated if she doesn't end up paired with Gilbert," Diana whispered into Anne's ear as their teacher continued with the draw. "A moment more and she'll fall down from her chair; she's been sitting on the verge ever since Miss Stacy explained the pairing system."

"Well, I wholeheartedly wish she is paired with him then," said Anne calmly. "Ruby is a sweet girl and everyone deserves to have their dreams come true every once in a while. Even if I can't possibly understand those dreams myself."

"Jane Andrews and… Billy!" Miss Stacy announced, causing Diana to pause in surprise before she had a chance to utter a proper comment to her friend's declaration. At the same time, Anne sighed quietly with relief; she preferred not to imagine Billy's reaction to him being paired with her.

"But he's her brother!" She heard Diana exclaim that very second. "That doesn't make any sense to pair them!"

"Oh, and I bet they do plenty of studying together at home," Anne contradicted her with a sceptical grin that involuntarily crept on her face. "Billy seems to be just the kind of older brother who'd do that."

Diana only shook her head. "That's probably true. But you know, if I got to choose, I'd like to work on this assignment with Cole. I wish he was still here."

"Or that Jerry went to school with us," was Anne's innocent response. A spark appeared in her eyes when she saw Diana blush.

"That's – that's ridiculous, Anne," she tried to protest. "All I'm saying is that I'd rather work with a smart and kind friend, like Cole, than with someone as self-righteous as Charlie Sloane. But knowing my luck, he will be exactly the person I'll get to work with."

"I'm afraid there's no such thing as your luck then, Diana," Anne stated evenly.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because Charlie has just been paired with Ruby."

That he had been indeed, and Ruby's reddened cheeks and trembling chin were the best proof of it. Anne tried to send her distressed friend an encouraging smile, which then caused her to miss the name of the boy chosen for Diana – and to see the change on Ruby's face when it was finally pronounced.

She didn't understand why Ruby turned away from her with a frown then, or why Josie gave her another of those infamous death glares of hers (although by comparison, that was certainly less surprising), or why Diana smiled so smugly when Anne finally turned back in her seat and looked at her.

That was until Miss Stacy looked directly at her and explained with a smile, "With only the two of you left, it can't come as much of a surprise, but I think we should do justice to the formalities and announce it officially. Anne, you are paired with Gilbert Blythe."

Author's note: As promised, the second chapter is here, too.

I hope you have enjoyed it no less than the first!

God bless you all, Kindred Spirits
annewithagee