'she stuck a bookmark in his heart and walked away'
Aurelie sat on the floor once again with the class. Tiredly, she leaned her head on Moody's shoulder, awaiting for Miss Stacy, who was preoccupied with Marilla Cuthbert, to give instructions.
"Alright, class. Let's begin." Announced the woman. She looked to Gilbert, who sat beside her on a chair, studying. "Gilbert?"
He looked up, quickly shutting his book and joining the class, who all now stood around her desk, since she had set up a display on it. As soon as he did, Miss Stacy began her lesson. "Science changes the world for the better. Does anyone know what electricity is?" She inquired. She dumped out a few metal plate-like objects onto the desk.
"Light." Anne stated confidently.
"Yes. And?" Miss Stacy continued.
"A form of energy." Aurelie and Gilbert mentioned at the same time, causing the two to glance at each other. Aurelie now noticed that Gilbert stood just beside her.
"Electricity is indeed a form of energy." Confirmed the teacher. Gilbert and Aurelie continued to glare at each other competitively for another moment, before Aurelie forced her eyes back to Miss Stacy.
"If you ever watched a thunderstorm, with mighty lighting bolts darting down from the sky, that's electricity. Powerful stuff." Explained Miss Stacy with enthusiasm. "A bolt of lightning is a sudden, massive surge of electricity between the sky and the ground beneath. Electrical currents live inside atoms. And atoms are small particles that make up all matter." The woman continued to set up her example.
"But they're so small that it takes billions and billions of them just to make something useful like a nail." She held up a nail. The class chuckled. Miss Stacy began sticking a few nails into potatoes that she had set on the table. "All objects that take up space and have mass are called matter." She informed.
"And everything around you is made up of matter. Chocolate cake is made up of matter." Explained Miss Stacy. The class laughed once more. "These walls, the school is made up of matter. You are made up of matter." She added.
"Now, today, without a standard power source, like they have in the big cities, we are going to make our own electric current in order to illuminate..." Miss Stacy raised a small glass object. "...a light bulb."
The class murmured in excitement. "How many of you have ever seen one?" Wondered the woman. Aurelie, Anne, Gilbert, and Diana raised their hands.
"In New York, actually." Gilbert stated.
"We have one at my house that my father brought from the city." Aurelie spoke.
"In Charlottetown." Anne lowered her hand.
"Uh, my aunt Josephine has electricity." Diana added.
"Well, with a light bulb..." Miss Stacy wrapped pieces of wire around the nails that were inside the potatoes. "...scientists have found a way to send electric currents-atoms carrying energy-into a container full of gas-a different type of atom-and when those two types of atoms meet, they exchange their energy and make..."
Everyone watched curiously as she continued to wrap the wire.
"Light!" Both Aurelie and Gilbert exclaimed once more. Aurelie clenched her jaw, staring ahead this time, though she could feel Gilbert's stare linger for a moment.
"So, here in Avonlea, with a little ingenuity and some Prince Edward Island potatoes..." Chuckled Miss Stacy.
"...we have..." She trailed off, turning a light bulb into place. Suddenly, it lit up. "...electricity." She beamed. The class clapped in excitement. Interrupting their celebration, Mrs. Lynde cleared her throat.
"Why, hello!" Exclaimed Miss Stacy, taking notice of the Progressive Mothers gathered by the entrance. Aurelie spotted her mother standing shyly in back of the mothers. Miss Stacy pursed her lips. "Good timing. We were just brightening our day." She joked. "Won't you join us?"
Miss Stacy made her way forward towards the women, allowing Moody, to reach out to the potato. "Does it taste like chocolate?" He wondered as he held it up. He stuck out his tongue to taste the wire.
"Moody, no!" Screamed Aurelie. It was too late, as Moody's tongue had already grazed the wire, which created a slight spark. In panic, he dropped the potato, bringing down the entire set up, and shattering the light bulb on the floor. Everyone gasped. Moody fanned his tongue worriedly with his hands.
"Moody!" Worried his mother.
"Everyone stand still right where you are." Instructed Miss Stacy.
"My child, my child!" Cried out Mrs. Spurgeon.
"Please stay back." Requested Miss Stacy, looking to the woman. "Thank you."
She sighed. "Let's keep our heads. Logic dictates there are no shards under your feet, and I'd like to keep it that way. I'll fetch a broom." She stated, stepping away.
Due to the incident, most of the mothers pulled their son or daughter immediately out of the class. Aurelie leaned up against the wall by the exit, waiting for her mother to finish checking if there were any shards left and help put the desks back in place.
Gilbert stood on the other side of the door, though neither one of them had said anything to the other. It was odd how they went from speaking to each other with ease, to silence and annoyance in just a matter of days.
"Let's get you away from here. What if that glass had cut your face?" Urged Mrs. Pye as she held Josie by the arm.
"Mother, please, it was my fault!" Moody pleaded as his mother dragged him away. He glanced at Aurelie on his way out. With a sympathetic expression she waved him goodbye.
"You should've been sitting, safe and sound, at a desk!" Scolded the woman.
"We expect this classroom to be orderly and calm, and we expect you to conform to the curriculum." Mrs. Andrews explained sternly to Miss Stacy.
"Science is a part of the course of study." Defended the young teacher.
"That wasn't science, that was prestidigitation." Countered Mrs. Lynde.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." Began Marilla in defense. "It was an excellent lesson." She assured. Mrs. Lynde looked at her friend questionably. Aurelie noticed her mother step up beside Marilla, though remaining silent as she usually did.
"We want our child to learn, safely, what is required to prepare them for higher education." Mrs. Andrews informed calmly.
"Not the circus." Added Mrs. Lynde. Aurelie heard Gilbert move from his spot, causing her eyes to follow him.
"Pardon me. Miss Stacy is a dedicated, capable teacher." He defended.
"I hope to be exactly like her someday." Spoke Anne. "She is a smart, lovely career woman who is a superior educator despite overcoming a tragical romance." Miss Stacy smiled, though her smile fell on the last part.
"Good thing you'll be writing that essay on gossip again." Muttered the woman through gritted teeth.
"The Progressive Mothers lobbied hard for the first female teacher in Avonlea. Please don't squander the opportunity." Sighed Mrs. Andrews.
***
"For progressive mothers, they are hardly progressive, I can tell you that. First, they wish for a female teacher, which is lovely, but then if she decides to take teaching to a different level, that's where the line is crossed." Rambled Alice as she and Aurelie made their way home through the field.
Aurelie hummed in response. Her mind was preoccupied. She had only heard a few words from the woman. "And...And Miss Stacy seems quite lovely. I don't see the issue, is all. I think that they should be more...open-minded." Concluded the blonde with a sigh. "How was the lesson? You were there for the entire time." She turned to her daughter.
Aurelie didn't respond, still distracted.
"Aura?" Repeated the woman. Aurelie snapped out of her state of mind, nodding quickly. "Right. Sorry. The lesson was rather interesting. She created light from a few potatoes, nails, and wire. It was extraordinary." Aurelie informed.
"That does sound extraordinary. If I would have known we could put potatoes around our home for electricity, I wouldn't have implored your father to spend all that money on one from Charlottetown." Joked the woman. Aurelie chuckled.
"I just hope nothing else goes wrong. Miss Stacy would not be able to survive another incident. Not with those mothers." Alice remarked.
"If you dislike them so much, why are you still part of the group?" Questioned the young girl.
"Well, they need to have at least one extra progressive mother, don't they?" The woman stifled a laugh.
"Not if that mother stays silent in the shadows." Aurelie raised her eyebrows.
"I speak when necessary." Alice defended.
"A wise old woman once told me that lying down on grass and watching water slowly slip off of the flowers is far from hard work." Aurelie grinned foolishly to the blonde, who playfully rolled her eyes.
"Old?" Alice scoffed.
They were right that Miss Stacy's teaching was in danger, as the next day, Cole burst into the class in rage, tackling Billy down just as she was off in the back. Billy's ear ended up being burned by the stove. Of course, this was not Miss Stacy's fault, but that was the end of her teaching regardless.
***
Aurelie had been troubled for a few days. She hadn't spoken to Gilbert, and he hadn't even tried to speak to her, which was certainly unusual. She convinced herself to ignore it for a while, but it became too difficult due to school not being in session in wait for another teacher. Aurelie had no way to distract herself.
It was quite a chilly morning, so she made sure to wear her coat. She walked her way to the Blythe farm, and was now arriving. However, she noticed Gilbert sat outside by the graveyard. She watched from afar, not wanting to intrude, though she could still hear him.
"I don't know what I'm doing here anymore, Dad." Gilbert spoke tearfully. "What am I supposed to want?" He continued on, taking a pause. "I wish you were here." He sniffled. Aurelie couldn't see his face, though she could imagine it. She knew the feeling all too well.
"How am I supposed to do all this by myself?!" He questioned. He bent down, crying towards the slightly snowy ground.
"You're not." Aurelie called out. Alarmed, he spun around.
Aurelie froze at his silence. "I-I'm sorry to intrude." She sighed. "I just..." She looked off to the side anxiously. She still kept her distance from him. "I..." She thought she would be prepared to speak to him, and she was, but his sad expression made it all the more difficult.
"I'm sorry." She exhaled.
"Yeah. I hear that a lot." Gilbert responded.
"I know...I know you do." Aurelie stared down at her shoes, then at her hands, which were red from the cold.
"But, uh, I think it's time someone tells you this." Aurelie began. "The world doesn't--It doesn't revolve around you. I...I had to learn that too. And I don't mean to be so insensitive. I'm being honest." She stated.
"You have people here trying to help you. You just have to let them. My mother always tells me not to spend my time watching water slip off of flowers, and to actually take action." She continued. "In your case, the water is...well-- the reason you're here..." She pursed her lips. His silence made her anxious. She noticed a tear roll down his cheek.
"And...And you just have to..." Once again, she was at a loss for words. "Your heart bleeds when you lose someone, and the bad news is that you never really recover. However, this isn't all awful. They'll merely live on in your damaged heart, which will never heal like it once did. And you live through it. It's like having a broken leg that never completely heals—it still hurts in the cold, but you learn to live with the limp." Aurelie spoke breathily.
Gilbert's lips parted slightly as he listened to the girl.
"You are not no one without him. You are someone who is extremely strong for being able to travel the world after such a loss, make friends, and return to school along with extra studies. That's besides the fact that you are working a farm at the same time." Aurelie sniffled. She, too, felt the need to cry. "And I know we don't always get along, however I don't really know why. I think it's just--."
Aurelie looked back to the side. "Well, uh...I better...be on my way home." She chuckled sadly. "Sorry if I just made everything worse." She nodded, then was off, leaving Gilbert with words he wouldn't forget.