Wonderwall | Gilbert Blythe (Not Really)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Green & Heather

"This is the dress you were talking about? It's not even great—Ouch! Alright, alright. I was kidding, H, Ow! Let go! Let go!" Frankie whimpers as she pinches his arm. "I was kidding. I love the dress. It brings out the color of your eyes" He rambled on, wincing and knowing that would leave a mark.

"In fact I'd even wear it!"

She lets go and he sighs in relief. Then, she hits him again. She had to miss out in a lot of after meal meals and stress-meals to fit in the dress. It was a torture for her, and for Frankie. He hated it.

"Wait. Stop." Heather mutters under her breath, discreetly giving Frankie hints that her mother was watching them. The boy nods and begins to walk away from the grown ups. Heather follows close behind.

She pretends to walk towards a flock of girls before returning to the same path. They sit behind the tall grass but stayed a foot away from each other. They were quiet for a second. What Heather said really affected Frankie.

"So um, that poem you were working on from before, how is it?"

He pats down his clothes, realizing he forgot the pocket sized notebook at home. "I'm planning to rewrite it." He mumbles with a shrug, making the girl knit her eyebrows together. "Why?"

"Things changed. I changed...the way I feel about it...and I can't really tell the same story anymore." He explains and she nods like she understood. It confused her actually.

"Leave her alone, Billy."

From a distance she hears Gilbert's voice and without processing his words, her eyes lit up. Frankie notices this but pushes his thoughts and opinions about it aside. Happy looks good on Heather.

"I can handle myself. Thank you very much, Gilbert." Anne Shirley remarks, chest out and proud. The tall blonde continues to pick on her discreetly so the adults don't notice. He was still the good boy in his father's eyes.

Gilbert doesn't budge and stays between the red headed girl and the blonde bully. After almost a minute of stare down, Billy Andrews and his friends walk away. Gilbert smiles spiritedly at Anne, recognizing their win.

From a distance, Heather also spots Ruby Gillis and her circle of friends, which Anne was actually a part of. Heather remembers how Ruby told her she liked the Blythe boy. 'Did she tell Anne too?'

"What's with the face?"

She scowls at the boy, earning a flick on her forehead. "Ouch?" She shoves him playfully and continues to steal glances at the boy and the little friend of his. Frankie notices this and just sighs, sitting a foot away from her again.

Anne notices the girls looking at her, Ruby with a tiniest hint of envy and Diana warily. She pushes Gilbert away, "Leave me be, Gilbert! I can take care of myself". Gilbert just grins, possibly immune of the pushing because of Heather.

"C'mon. I just want to get to know you." He responds teasingly, trailing behind the girl. This time, Heather groans and sighs. She sits back down and faces Frankie, who now had a caterpillar on a stick in hand.

"It's always something with her—"

"Heather,"

"Alright. I know, I know. Same goes with me. I'm sorry." She rambles before they both fell into silence staring at the tiny creature. It wriggles and crawls around. Frankie sets it down on a branch and they just watched it for almost half an hour.

"Can we keep it?" Heather whispers, head down but eyes looking at the boy. He does the same thing and shakes his head, "No."

"Okay."

"But the birds..." She trails off when a shadow towers over them. She sits upright and looks up without turning around. Of course, it was Gilbert. He looks down at her, beaming a soft smile. His eyes were in a thin line. "Hello,"

"Bonjour?" she replies, caught off guard. She could feel her heart beating so fast in her chest. She looks away from the boy as he chuckles at her response. Frankie and Gilbert give each other a nod.

Gilbert motions for someone to come over. Frankie notices but Heather was too busy pinching herself back to sanity. It was Anne...with an E, with her friends. Frankie signals to Heather, knowing it would make the her blood boil.

It was just like what her parents does; putting her on the spotlight so she has no other choice but to act like everything was just fine and that she was a fine lady. That, and crowds.

She turns and meets Anne Shirley's blue eyes. Heather could only stare at them; Gilbert, Anne, Ruby, Diana, and everyone else who decided to show up. 'Why are they here?' She cried in her head.

"A lovely day, isn't it?" Anne begins, cutting the silence. "Oh...yes." Heather replies, summoning a smile along with it. The brunette glances at Gilbert, who remained oblivious of the growing tension.

"The sun shines so perfectly over the meadows. Although I love the snow of Avonlea, the green..." Heather stops listening after that but nods and smiles at the girl. Everyone shuffles around to sit. Heather hates that.

She disliked the idea of them thinking she liked this, having them spend the day with her and talking to her about how green the grass is or how yellow the sun is or how blue the skies are.

"Marilla, Matthew, and I went to the majestic—"

Heather begins screaming in horror, cutting Anne off, but she was too late. Frankie follows her gaze and his eyes grew wide. Everyone was just looking at Heather then at Gilbert then back to the girl.

Gilbert jolts up from the large rock and Heather scoots to it. "You've squished my caterpillar."