Anne with an E The Next Chapter

Breaking Down the Barrier

As the sun began to set on Green Gables, Diana looked out of Anne's gable room waiting for her friend to return. She couldn't deny that she was also wondering what had happened to Jerry after his mother and Amélie had left. He'd had not returned from the field and she wondered if maybe he'd had a setback working out there. Perhaps the thoughts were overwhelming him and he needed someone to talk to, as he had the night before. She decided she'd better go and find out for herself and grabbed Anne's blue wool shawl from her dresser. She made her way down the stairs and out to the field where she could see Jerry in the distance.

He had been working out there for hours trying to finish what he and Matthew had started the day before. He thought maybe if he finished, he could will the poor man back to health. No matter how exhausted he was, or how out of breath, he just kept working the field, bringing it back to life. As he stood to stretch, he could see Diana approaching, the sun setting behind her with the wind whipping her hair and shawl around her like waves in the ocean. It created a vibrant silhouette and only further cemented his pain from last summer. She'd been so cruel and judgmental and he hadn't even seen it coming, which had made it worse. He'd been completely smitten with her since he'd arrived to Green Gables when he was 14 even though she didn't seem to know he existed. He had watched her for 3 years, every time she came to visit Anne, when they'd gone to town to pick up supplies, in church, at the market. She seemed completely untouchable to him and, for the most part, she was, until he'd walked her home. His whole world had shifted on its axis when he suddenly had her attention and even though it was a secret, it had been the most amazing summer of his life. 

As he recalled it vividly, he quickly erased it from his mind and replaced it with the anger she'd left him with. He kept digging at the earth as she approached.

"Jerry? You know the sun is going down, you've been out here a long time." She pulled a small glass bottle of fresh water out from under the shawl and handed it to him. He had been sweating for hours and most likely needed to rehydrate, but part of him wanted to refuse her kindness to spite her.

"I was wondering if you were ok. I thought maybe being back in the field would be difficult for you. Are you ok? "

Her question was met with silence. "Ummm...Marilla warmed up your mother's casserole, it's about to be ready. Will you come back for dinner?"

He barely muttered an answer and finally took the bottle from her outstretched hand and drank the entire thing, handing her back the bottle without a word. He continued to pick at the muddy ground and she could sense that something had changed between them.

"Amélie seems like a very nice girl. Congratulations on your engagement!"

She'd gotten his attention.

"She is a very nice person. She cares for me so much, I can barely stop her from visiting me. Marilla and Matthew are very fond of her too. I am really lucky to have her" he responded haughtily.

A strained silence hung between them and Diana could see the look of contempt in Jerry's face, something she had not seen the night before. She understood that he still hated her for hurting him and that he had Amélie on a pedestal which now created a dark shadow over her. She was clearly a much better person than she could ever be. She looked down at thedirt, the mud from the field covering her new white boots, her complete lack of proper attire for this environment and she felt oddly out of place at Green Gables now. This had been her second home and her soft place to land for so many years. It was an escape from her otherwise restrictive and proper upbringing at her own home. It broke her heart to feel this awkwardness now.

"Well, I'm very happy for you. You deserve to be happy" she said, finally meeting his eyes.

As she turned to walk back to Green Gables, he noticed her boots, how she'd crossed the muddy field in them to bring him waterand unexpectedly, he felt pity for her. Maybe he needed to let go of that anger.