Chapter 33 - An Almost Studious Afternoon

It was a Saturday afternoon, Gilbert was in the midst of his revisions, settled in his room as usual. Jack was trying as hard as he could to concentrate, but unfortunately, one thing made him anxious, his father was coming in a few days, and he knew very well what that meant, incessant questions from him, and especially about the results. His father would not stand a failure from his son. So Jack did his best, he tried to imitate his classmate as much as he could.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, "Oh, that's the sound of mail.", said the dark-haired youth as he walked towards the door with a smile. Those made the redheaded youth giggle as well. Although there had been some tension a few days ago, things had calmed down. Gilbert had made sure to give his lessons directly at the Stuart's house to avoid disturbing Jack. And besides, it was also convenient for the young man with the brown curls, it made him really uncomfortable that Christine insisted on having his first class in his room.

When Gilbert opened the door, unsurprisingly it was the person who delivered the mail to the whole campus, and of course the letter was from a certain Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. He had been waiting for her reply for days, her letter had taken much longer to arrive than usual.

Once he picked up his letter and closed the door, Jack asked in a disillusioned tone, "I guess you're the only one who got something today."

The dark-haired boy looked at him with sorry eyes, "If it makes you feel better, I don't receive so many letters."

"Well, at least you have one person thinking about you.", said the young redhead with a touch of melancholy.

As always, when he received a letter from Anne, Gilbert settled down on his bed. Then he finally opened his letter.

"My Dear Gilbert,

Maybe I should say, My Sweetheart, but I was afraid it was too unoriginal, or I could have said, My Beloved, My Love? I'm really sorry, I couldn't choose.

There are so many wonderful words that I still haven't found one that could perfectly describe my feelings for you, Gilbert.

How can you still ask me if I have feelings for you? It seemed obvious to me by my gestures and my attentions towards you, didn't it?

I often think about you, I should even say every day, several times a day if I'm honest. I miss you so much here too, and it's not for lack of competition either, although I miss it in some ways too.

At the moment I'm a bit anxious about the contest, I've finished writing my short story at this time, but... I feel like I don't say enough, maybe I wrote my short story this way hoping to have more chance to win? But Kak'wet deserves more, I wish I could see her again, when I think that the last time I saw her was when I gave her my precious dress at the Bright River station, it tears my heart out. I will never get over that, I will never be able to forget Kak'wet. I also wonder what will become of her parents, they will probably never stop waiting for their daughter to return, if one day she finally manages to get out of this boarding school, this prison.

For my short story, if you want to read it, you'll have to wait until after First Snow's Prom, I guess. I'm not denying that I would have liked so much to be on your arm during this event. But your studies must come first.

When I came back from our wonderful weekend, I actually had a big surprise. You can imagine that Miss Blackmore was also part of the trip, she had probably just returned from Quebec. And...She had seen us. So I let you imagine the consequences of all this, but I finally decided to resist. I stood up to Miss Blackmore, and I even went to Avonlea. In fact, as I write to you, I have just returned to Charlottetown, and as you can see the first thing I did was read your letter. And this one was more than welcome, given that Diana and I had spent a somewhat hectic weekend in Avonlea. Marilla was aware of my escapade with you, and I don't know how she guessed it. I'm telling you this in case you are questioned when you return to Avonlea. As for Diana, she is still in conflict with her parents, but she is much more to be pitied than me.

I'm surprised to hear that you're going to give lessons to someone, I didn't think you were interested in education, are you still trying to encroach on my turf, Gilbert? I can't wait to meet Jack someday, I'm glad you made a friend there, although I would have been surprised if you hadn't, everyone likes you, and I'm the best person to understand why.

I'm sorry, this doesn't really look like a love letter, there is absolutely nothing romantic about this letter. It still confuses me, because I never thought that one day I would write this kind of letter to anyone, let alone that this person would be you. I've read them, I've even written them to help someone, but I don't know how to do it when it's you. I just can't believe it anymore, finally you love me?

I admit that I blushed when I read your letter, especially when you mentioned our last weekend, I wish it could have lasted longer. Now I understand why kissing is something so loved by some people. Your kisses, Gilbert, must be the most exquisite, because I can never get enough of them.

I can't wait to see you again during the winter vacations. When you receive this letter you will probably be in the middle of exams, just like me. And if you have time to reply by then, it will probably be around the ball.

After this long letter, Gilbert, I want you to know that I put kisses on the paper, thinking it was you I was kissing. I forbid you to tease me the next time we meet.

Your Anne. »

Gilbert couldn't help but smile as he read, reading her letter warmed his heart so much, he needed that right now, with the exams so close at hand. He brought the paper to his lips and kissed it.

Jack, who had seen his friend across the room, couldn't help but smile, he envied his friend's happiness so much.

In Charlottetown, the girls were in the midst of studying as well, they had all settled into the Queens College library, sitting at a table near the large windows.

"This should be illegal.", says Ruby, frustrated.

"What should be illegal?", asked Anne, who raised her head from her history manual.

"To study! On a Saturday afternoon! While... I could see Moody for example."

"So, you finally decided to talk to Moody again?" asked Jane.

"I think I've made him brood enough.", The young blonde retorted rather proudly.

"Much more than anyone else could ever do.", Jane replied sarcastically.

The girls giggled at this comment. But one of them remained very quiet, it was Josie. She was staring away, she seemed to be staring at something outside.

"Tell me, Josie, what's so hypnotizing out there?", Tillie teased.

The pretty blonde was then interrupted in her thoughts, "Uh...nothing.", She immediately looked away from the window.

Tillie stood up to glance out the window, "That Nothing, wouldn't that be the Gardner sisters' brother?", said the girl with a mischievous look.

"The Gardner's brother?", asked Anne, who had never heard of him until now.

"Well, that's the brown guy standing over there by the fountain.", Ruby replied, while looking out the window, That's the most handsome boy in Queens."

The redheaded girl simply raised her eyebrows, because she was used to hearing Ruby talk only about the appearance of boys, sometimes she talked about other qualities such as kindness. Gilbert had been defined as chivalrous, for example, although she found him both handsome and smart. But more often than not, it was the boys' appearance that prevailed. So she didn't really pay much attention to it, until she heard...

"It's Royal his name, isn't it?", asked Tillie, who always looked outward.

"Yes, but Dorothy told me he doesn't like to be called like that, he prefers Roy.", Ruby replied.

This made the young redhead react. Roy... was the name of that boy at the park the other time. Diana, who was sitting in front of her, widened her eyes, because she too had just realized. Then the young brunette discreetly kicked her friend, and when Anne lifted her head from her book, she crossed her friend's eyes. She nodded her head as she looked out of the window. The young redhead instantly understood that she was telling her to take a look at the window, if only to check.

Anne then got up from her chair and walked to the window, "Which boy is he again?", she asked, looking at Ruby.

The young blonde girl immediately stood up to point at her. And that's how she recognized him, she couldn't be mistaken, it was the same boy. But why hadn't she met him once since the other time, if he was also studying in Queens?

The redhead then turned to the young brunette and signaled to her to go outside to talk in private.

The two friends were now out of the library and had left the girls' group without saying a word.

"Don't tell me it's the same boy, Anne?", Diana asked worriedly.

"Then I won't tell you."

"But it's a disaster! Josie clearly has a crush on him!"

"I noticed, but you may be wrong, we probably misinterpreted.", said the redheaded, confident.

"Misinterpreted? My God, Anne, he sat next to you and flirted with you!"

"No, he didn't."

"Fine, if you want. So why did you mention this boy to me the other day?"

"I don't know. I was just wondering if... Boys don't flirt like that…", Anne says with a giggle.

"Oh Anne, you're probably the last person to notice these kinds of signals. Remind me with Gilbert how long it took you?"

"Well, it was different, Gilbert had never flirted with me."

"First of all, Gilbert always flirted with you, from day one, except he was just a silly boy. Second, you admit that Roy flirted with you that day in the park.", said the young brunette in a very serious tone.

"But what's wrong with you, Diana?"

"I think you're headed for exactly the same situation as with Ruby, except now it's going to be with Josie. And I'll be in Paris by then."

"But the difference here is that I don't care about this Roy."

"You said the same thing with Gilbert at first..."

"My dear Diana... I don't understand where you're going with this? I love Gilbert. I don't care about other boys, or even those who recite poetry.", Says the young redhead, beginning to lose her patience.

"You're right... But, Josie must never know that Roy flirted with you. Moreover, I believe she intends to ask him to escort her to the First Snow's Prom. It's the first time she's been interested in another boy since Billy.", says Diana worried.

"But...I don't see how Josie could find out.", Anne said with confidence.

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice, "What are you girls doing?", It was Ruby.

The two friends looked at each other with a desperate look on their faces.

I finally come back on this long fic, it was a bit hard to get back on it, but I think I started well this time, let's hope, as some people have noticed, I have three Awae fics in progress, with different timelines: one happening during season 1 (a fic that promises to be a bit long), and the other during season 3 (a short fic). Anyway, I'll try to alternate each of these fics as best as I can because I really like each of them. Hopefully this chapter was still fun, this story really needs to move forward!