Chapter 34 - The Brave Soul of a Fragile Heart

Ruby stood in front of the two friends, "What could Josie learn?", she asked innocently.

"Uh... nothing at all.", Anne replied embarrassed.

"Before, you girls used to tell me everything. Anne, you still haven't forgiven me, right?"

"It... it's not about that."

"Ruby, there's nothing exciting there, I assure you.", said Diana.

"By the way, what do you think about the three of us meeting in our room tonight for a writing reunion like in the days of the Storybook Club?"

"Oh! Anne! It's a wonderful idea! Thank you!", The young blonde took this one in her arms, which surprised the redhead, she giggled.

As revisions were coming to an end, the group of girls had left the institution.

"So Josie, are you going to ask him?", Jane asked mockingly.

"This is not an appropriate moment...", Josie replied.

Anne who was on the side had seen that Roy was still near the fountain, she looked away, to avoid his noticing her.

"Why not? The ball is in a week. You should have asked him a long time ago.", said Jane.

The young blonde seemed embarrassed, "I...I hardly ever met him."

"You're scared..."

"Hum! Not at all."

"I would never dare, me, in front of everyone... With all these boys around him...", Ruby said in a frightened tone.

"It's normal, you're a chicken Ruby. Boys don't scare me.", said Josie proudly.

"So, go ahead?", defied Jane.

"Oh, I'd pay good money to see that too.", Tillie added.

"No, you don't have to do that.", Anne intervened.

"That's fine. Watch and see... I'm going in.", Said Josie as she clumsily walked to the fountain, where the dark-haired boy and his friends were sitting.

The young blonde didn't really know what to say to him, but she had to prove to the girls that she had more brave than they did. And then it wasn't a bunch of boys who could intimidate her?

The group of girls watched Josie walk away, Jane had a smile on her face, she hoped the teenager would be embarrassed. Indeed the girl had always had a kind of animosity towards her.

"Josie is so brave...", Ruby said.

"It's not bravery, Josie has her pride.", Tillie laughed back.

Anne, who heard everything in the conversation, couldn't help but think that if the poor girl was rejected, it might backfire on her somehow. No, it couldn't be possible, after all she had only spoken to Roy once. It was really pretentious to think that he had any interest for her. He had probably forgotten about her and it would be fine with her.

When Josie finally arrived in front of the young man, he was in the middle of a passionate discussion, she took a slight breath and cleared her throat before starting to speak, "Hmm. Hello."

Roy, who was chatting with his friends, was interrupted, so he turned his head, and the other boys did the same. The girl now had five pairs of eyes on her.

"Hello. Is there anything I can do to help you?", Roy replied, and noticed that the young blonde seemed to be talking to him first.

Josie's confidence had evaporated the moment she crossed the young man's eyes.

"Well...Uh...I just wanted to tell you that I thought you were charming.", She opened her eyes as she realized what she had just said. It was sure, she had just ruined everything. If he already knew that she was interested in him then he would lose interest in knowing her. She was sure that boys did not appreciate girls who were easy or who gave in too quickly to their favors. If her past experience had taught her one thing, it was that she could no longer afford to indulge a boy so easily. And now she had just done the exact opposite. Why had she gone to see him spontaneously? Once again her pride was playing tricks on her.

The boys around the dark-haired boy started giggling and glaring at each other, Josie didn't know where to stand, she thought she had never experienced a more embarrassing moment in her life.

Roy, however, didn't laugh, of course the compliment he had just received made him smile instantly, but he didn't make fun of her.

"Oh... thank you.", He said in a surprised tone, not knowing what else to say at that moment.

The young blonde, who couldn't figure out what more she could say, panicked, "Well, I-I mean, I've never seen you here before."

The young man didn't even have time to respond something that one of his friends jokingly said, "I wasn't here a few weeks ago either, if you're interested."

"Don't pay attention to him. And indeed I spent a large part of the year in London, with this idiot you see there.", He says while pointing at his friend.

"I knew about this. Uh...I mean, Dorothy and Aline are in the same history class as me."

"Oh...", said Roy who didn't know how to react, "Well I guess my sisters like to talk about me.", He concluded with a laugh.

The young blonde thought it was time for her to join the girls, the situation was far too embarrassing for her, "So, I'll leave you alone, have a nice day.", she says courteously to him and takes a quick look at the other boys who still had those slightly mocking smiles on their faces.

As she turned around, she heard one of the boys say to the dark-haired boy, "I thought she was going to ask you to the dance.", The others laughed at this remark.

Of course, this did not escape the ears of the poor girl, who was already feeling terribly embarrassed, but hearing this confirmed even more the discomfort she was feeling.

Roy disapproved, he didn't really appreciate the fact that the girl was being made fun of.

When Josie returned to the girls, her eyes seemed empty, as if this short conversation had exhausted all her energy.

"Do you think she's okay?", Ruby asked worriedly.

"I must admit, you're scaring me Josie, would you like to sit down?", Anne worried.

The young blonde just nodded her head and walked to a bench.

"I told her it was a bad idea, with all those boys around...", Ruby insisted.

"Well, we didn't force her, she's the one who wanted to prove something.", said Jane, who could never feel pity for her.

Anne took the blonde girl's hand, "Do you want to tell us what he told you?"

She declared with some pain, "He...He was so kind...and I was...", The poor girl didn't seem to find the words.

Suddenly, a young man approached the group of girls, "Anne... right?"

The young redhead turned her head at the mention of her name, and that's how she saw Roy, standing in front of her with a smile on his face, "Uh... I... yes.", she finally answered, already dreading the consequences of this conversation.

All the girls around her were looking at each other with their big eyes, and if their eyes meant anything, it was confusion, except for Diana of course, who already knew the whole story. The young brunette couldn't help but think that her friend was going to get into trouble again.

"I didn't know you studied here. Do you remember me? I'm Roy. We had a brief chat in the park the other day?", he asked in the most innocent way, still unaware of the consequences of his question.

"I...uh...yes indeed.", Anne tried to be the most evasive in the world, she didn't want the girls to think she wanted to engage in a real conversation, or show any interest with him.

"Well, I feel like I'm intruding, so I'll go. Have a good day, ladies.", He simply withdrew.

As soon as the dark-haired boy was gone, all the girls were staring at Anne, looking at her with an evil eye.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Gilbert was in a hurry to write a letter, sitting at his desk. Jack watched him in amusement.

"Well, you don't waste any time answering her.", He laughed.

"I'm not answering Anne.", said the dark-haired boy, who seemed very serious.

"Can I ask who?"

The young man turned around and smiled, "Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not right to interfere in private matters?"

"For months we've been sharing the same room, I thought there wasn't much privacy anymore...", his friend laughed back.

"I'm writing to her best friend, if you want to know. I'll send her a telegram."

"Oh interesting. Are you plotting something for your return?"

Gilbert chuckled, "I'm not plotting anything, I'm organizing something."

"Well, well, whatever you call it, it's the same thing."

"Are you going to bother me again for a long time? You're distracting me from focusing and counting my words."

"All right, I'm going for a walk then. Good luck with your shenanigans.", said the young redhead as he left the room.

In Avonlea, Bash and his family returned from the Bog, as they used to do every two weeks. Mary's friends were especially keen to see the little Delphine grow up, and this allowed Hazel to get to know this community, which was very different from Avonlea. Elijah had been able to see some of his friends, the most recommendable of course, since he had given up his old life and stopped drinking, he wanted to be a real example for his little sister.

When the young father arrived on the porch, he discovered a note slipping in the corner of the door. At first he was taken aback and then he finally took the letter.

Elijah, arriving behind with Delphine in his arms, could not help but question him, "Whose letter could it be from?"

"Well, I'm going to find out soon.", Sebastian replied as he entered the house and settled down at the kitchen table to read.

"Dear Sebastian,

I left you this note because I couldn't find you this morning when I came to visit you on your property. There was neither your mother nor young Elijah. I dare to hope they were not hiding from me, I have a feeling they don't appreciate me very much. In any case, I hope you will find this note as soon as possible. This is really an emergency.

There has been a rumor in Avonlea for a few days now. But I didn't initiate it, I promise you. The other day, you will have been seen with Muriel, accompanying her to school in the morning and driving her home in the evening. Well, I admit it, I had witnessed it, and we had crossed paths. It disconcerted me in the moment, to tell the truth I even discussed it with Marilla.

I know that you were with her only because her misfortune's machine had broken down again. But the others don't know this, they don't care about the circumstances.

You know how much I appreciate you and Muriel. But I have heard some unbearable things about you, the way some people talk about you, simply because you are not from here. Anyway... you know what I'm getting at, they say you don't belong together. But I told them, after all, you don't even think about finding a new wife, Mary was the love of your life and that's understandable.

Well, here's the point, I'm trying to deal with this situation. No one will come to your house with pitchforks, people are actually more hypocritical and cold, and that's what I'd like to prevent from happening. People still love you here at Avonlea, and I'm one of them, your family is very important to the Lynde family, the Cuthberts and the Barrys.

I'm on my way to Muriel's house right now, I hope to find her there, hoping she doesn't have her hands in the sludge again. Oh, and I'll see you at the village hall very soon for the preparations for the Christmas Panto. I hope that this year the children will be more manageable than last year...

Best regards,

Rachel."

"So, what does it say?", Elijah asked curiously.

Sebastian closed the note and slipped it into his pocket, then finally answered with a totally confused look on his face, "A note from Rachel Lynde."

"Oh... that old owl.", Hazel intervened, putting on her apron and getting ready to prepare the meal.

Elijah chuckled at Hazel's remark.

"Ms. Lynde is the village gossip, but she cares about our family. We can't reject the few people who support us here."

"Surely..."

"She had helped me a lot with Delphine, the house. And you know what, you have a lot more in common with Rachel than you think.", Bash said with a smile.

Hazel was outraged by this remark, "Oh, well, I wish I knew where you got that nonsense from."

"I'd say, the character, there's definitely something there.", Elijah intervened in an amused tone as he seemed to be playing with his sister.

"Traitor. I thought you were on my side all along.", said the old woman grumpily.

This made the young father laugh out loud, but then he said more seriously, "Yet, I have a feeling that you and Rachel had many interests in common when we had lunch at the Cuthbert's... Oh... I almost forgot! On Monday I have to go to the village hall to help make the sets for the Panto. So I'll be gone all afternoon."

"The Panto?", Hazel asked.

"It's a Christmas tradition, they organize a show every year, and since I arrived in Avonlea, I've been helping with the decorations."

"Oh... and... we are invited to this... Panto?", she says with a grimace.

"If you wish. In any case I would take Delphine to see this show.", He declared before leaving the kitchen.

He was still pondering about this note, he thought he should have a conversation with Rachel as soon as possible, and even though it bothered him a lot, he had to have a talk with Muriel.

I hope there are still a few of you following this story and that you still love it. I'll repeat it just in case, but it's not my only current fic, also I write in French, so I have to do a lot of translation as well.

Anyway, I still want to continue this story, and I'm so excited for the next chapters! ^^

Feel free to comment, for me it's important to know if you still appreciate the story and it motivates me to continue!
I'm on twitter if you want to see my drawings (a lot of Awae's fanarts but not only), or just when I'm making polls about my fics. emneeli