✧･ﾟ:tales of avonlea-anne with an e:･ﾟ✧

iii. cole's dilemma

cole had been hearing the rumors all day long. whispers filled the schoolhouse and the playing yard. gilbert has a crush on someone. gilbert has been spending an awful lot of time with anne, don't ya think? anne seems flustered when anyone asks her about gilbert. they had better be just friends, i called dibs on gil years ago! 

different voices had different opinions, and, as usual, cole wanted nothing to do with it. but, he was anne's friend, so he felt a moral obligation to ask if the stories were true. 

as soon as miss stacey dismissed them, cole ran to the girls' side of the room, where anne was chatting with diana and jane. he tapped the girl on the shoulder. 

anne spun around to greet him. even though she wore a bright smile, her eyes were frantic. cole took one look at her and dragged her outside, to the side of the schoolhouse.

"anne, what's going on," he began, noticing anne's smile fade. she looked at him, desperation in her eyes.

"oh, cole!" she sobbed, collapsing into his arms. he stumbled back, surprised, but caught her and lowered her to the ground. he held her tight as the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. 

"anne, is this about the, uh, rumors?" he asked, trying to be gentle. anne just nodded, pulling herself away from him and wrapping her arms around her legs, knees touching her forehead. 

"ruby's mad at me now. of course, diana and jane are still my dearest friends, but josie and tillie have turned against me, thinking that gilbert would-- would have feelings for me. it's stupid, really. i guarantee that he likes ruby, but the girls still seem to hate me," she murmured, sniffling. cole reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"it's okay. plus, they're right, you know," he said, half-hoping she wouldn't hear. anne snapped her head up, looking cole dead in the eyes.

"what do you mean?" she asked, concerned. cole laughed.

"that gilbert likes you! anne, i know you deny it, but don't you see how he looks at you? i've heard him talking with charlie and moody, you know, and somehow you always find a way to make it into their conversations." cole said, anne furious. 

she stood up, turning around and marching back inside. cole rolled his eyes but followed suit. 

anne stomped back into the schoolhouse. retrieving her coat from the mudroom, and turned to leave, when--

BAM!

she crashed rather ungracefully into none other than gilbert blythe. she fell to the floor, her basket spilling its contents all over the ground. gilbert started to help anne, up, and even though she didn't want to admit it, she was grateful. gilbert looked at her, apology in his eyes.

"oh, anne, i'm so sorry for knocking you over like that," he said, sympathetic. 

for some reason, as much as anne wanted to, she couldn't hate him for it. she couldn't even blame him for bumping into her. she shook her head, smiling weakly.

"nothing to worry about, gil. it's okay."

gilbert lit up with joy. he helped her pick up her things, and just as they were about to part ways, he gathered up his courage.

"say, anne," he called out, catching up to her. "would you, um, maybe like to go to town and plan my picnic over supper?" 

anne stopped, turned around. a million thoughts were going through her head, but they were interrupted by the fuzzy feeling in her stomach that eventually made its way up to her throat. she smiled at him.