(ᴛᴜᴛᴏʀ ɢɪʀʟ)//sʜɪʀʙᴇʀᴛ

FIVE.

"There you are, I was getting worried." Mila came up and latched arms with Michelle. "Hi." She smiled.

Michelle poked his chest. "Number three here was just helping me with boxes. Such a gentleman, am I right? Well, I have to start practice. Thanks again!" He waved to both girls and began to walk home.

✎

It's been a week since Gilbert came to Anne for help. She did feel a little guilty but she knew it was for the best.

She was locking up the tutor center after school when Gilbert came down the hallway with a paper in his hands. "Shit." She mumbled. He stopped in front of her.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be fine." That took of most of the guilt off of her shoulders.

"Good." She sighed.

He held up the paper in his hands. His math test was seen with a big, red F written on it. "I mean F is for fine right?" He walked away without looking back. She tucked a piece of her red hair behind her ear.

She walked into work and put her things down. "Hey Anne." Millie said but Anne just awkwardly smiled. "You okay, you don't seem yourself." She just nodded and put her apron on.

She was two hours into her shift when she got a call. "I got it!" She grabbed the phone and answered it. "Millie's Cafe, how may I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for Anne Shirley." The voice on the other end said.

She looked back at Millie who was working. "This is her."

"Hey it's Gilbert." She felt her stomach drop. "Um, I really need your help."

She panicked. "Sorry this isn't her." She hung up the phone quickly, causing Millie to give her a confused look. "Wrong number."

"But you said it was you?" Anne just awkwardly laughed before going to an empty table to clean it. She got the empty mugs off of the table when Atticus came in. "What's up? How was practice?" Millie asked.

Atticus walked passed the both of them. "Fine, just really sweaty."

"Yeah I can smell it from over here. Please take a shower before I puke." Atticus playfully threw a towel at her. "You're lucky your mom is here or I would beat you up."

"Anne you are like a CareBear, you wouldn't kill a fly." He kissed his mom on the head before leaving to go to his house.

The next day Anne and Atticus walked to school together. "Big game coming up, how are you feeling?" He just shrugged. "You are so boring. I feel like you've been hit in the head with a basketball one too many times." Suddenly, someone called his name. Michelle. She was gesturing for him to come over. He looked at Anne and back to Michelle. "Go you big horndog." He hugged her quickly before running over to the cheerleaders.

The bell rang and she walked into math. Tests were already on the desk and she began hers. She watched as Gilbert came in and took his seat. He began his test but struggled. She saw him sigh and bite his nail. He was only on the second page of four and class was about to end. He handed in the test as the bell rang. He looked over to Anne and shook his head.

The whole day she could just picture him struggling with the test. It ate her alive. She got out of her bed and put her shoes on before walking out of the house. Gilbert only lived two blocks away and she knew where his house was because of previous parties she heard of. His house was big and lit up. She bit her lip as she brought her shaky hand up to the door. With two knocks, it was opened. His face looked surprise.

"Hey." He said.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Hi. I looked over your math exam and if you really want to learn, I can help you."

A smile broke out onto his face. "That's great, alright." He could tell she was nervous by the way her pale hands shook.

"Listen, I have two conditions. One, Atticus does not find out, okay? Ever." He nodded. "Number two,  you leave him alone. You and the whole team."

"Well, I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

She just shook her head. "Okay, tomorrow morning. Seven a.m. at Maude Park." She began to walk away but he said something.

"Wait, what about the tutoring center?" He looked confused.

She looked at her feet. "No way, Maude Park. Take it or leave it."

He looked taken back. "Okay, seven." She smiled and began her walk home. She heard the door shut and she let out the breath of air she was holding.

Atticus can never and will never find out about this.