Shirbert in the Modern Era

Chapter Thirteen: The Presentation

When Anne said nothing in response, Gilbert faltered, but tried again.

"Anne?"

Shocked to discover Gilbert next to her, Anne cried out.

"Gilbert!"

Gilbert winced at how loud she had said his name.

"Anne, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Anne merely scowled at him. He would never understand the conundrum she was in, and she didn't appreciate the comment on her (admittedly disheveled) appearance.

Gilbert tried once more, learning slightly towards her and nudging her elbow with his.

"Come on Anne. What's up with you? Did I do something? Did someone pull your hair?"

"Nothing is wrong!" She said sharply, "I have a lot on my mind right now that I don't care to talk about! And not that it's any of your business, but it isn't about you or my hair!"

"Then what is it?"

Anne turned to face him, glowering.

"It's none of your business! Shockingly enough, not everything concerns you, Gilbert!"

And with that, Anne slumped back into her desk, crossing her arms and leaning away from Gilbert.

Gilbert opened his mouth to speak, but found no appropriate words. Why was Anne mad at him all of a sudden?

A horrible thought occurred to him: did Anne somehow know about his desire to kiss her? It wasn't possible! He hadn't vocalized it to anyone other than his pillow.

It was at that moment that Miss Stacey walked in, a twinkle in her eye, and announced that Gilbert and Diana would be presenting first.

With a gulp, Gilbert stood up and walked to the front of the class. He turned over his shoulder to look at Anne, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.

Bright as ever, Diana began.

"The Odyssey spans over many years, and features many villains that the titular character, Odysseus, must battle."

The rest, to Gilbert at least, was a blur. He said his piece, gestured appropriately, and received a smattering of applause.

Anne congratulated Diana passionately as she sat down, but continued to ignore Gilbert, even as he sent pleading looks her way.

Gilbert tried to push Anne out of his mind to no avail. He could not pay attention to any of the presentations that followed, as he was too busy playing out theoretical conversations in his head.

He imagined apologizing, yelling at her, kissing her senseless. Of course, no amount of imagining did anything for the fact that she was still pissed at him in real life.

She was standing up now, Charlie as well.

Diana looked from Anne to Gilbert, noticing that he was staring intensely at her.

"Gilbert!" Diana said in a whisper, "I think we did a good job, don't you? Miss Stacey seemed pleased."

Gilbert responded with a low murmur of agreement, but never tore his eyes from Anne, a fact which Diana plugged into her memory.

Anne's presentation, at least according to her, was going terribly. She had stuttered multiple times, and was having trouble conjuring up the emotions which Penelope's journey generally aroused in her.

She was simply too frazzled over what she had seen in the library, not to mention that Gilbert refused to stop staring at her! It was truly irritating, like an itch she couldn't scratch.

Charlie was doing his best, but he wasn't a great public speaker.

When Anne finished and sat back down, she was even more miserable that when she had stood up. It was awful! Even kind Miss Stacey looked a little disappointed. She was sure to get a poor grade.

What a waste of a good project.

Gilbert. Gilbert had gotten in her head and gotten her annoyed. How dare he ruin her project!

Welp. Anne was thoroughly resolved. She was furious with Gilbert.

She was so caught up in her anger, she almost forgot about the horrific image seared in her brain of Jane and Jerry sucking face.

Right. Another thing to deal with.

As class went on, Anne formulated a plan. An Anne Plan. One which, she thought, was sure to succeed.

The plan started with sending Jane a text, which she did as soon as class was dismissed.

"Hey, wanna get coffee after school? I have a gift card lol".

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A:N
- yes im fanfic writer
-yes I never write
-we exist
-In all seriousness im so incredibly sorry fo the long ass hiatus, I have a trillion excuses but y'all don't wanna hear em lol they're kinda shit
-THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT IT MEANS A LOT TO ME AND I WILL TRY TO EARN IT BETTER IN THE FUTURE
-what did you think of this chapter? Comment pls! Also vote lol
-what shld happen next BC idk