"Incorrect! Sit down Moody, ugh." Mr. Philipps said distastefully. They were having yet another one of his famous spelling bees and at the moment, Anne was competing. But, this spelling bee was a bit different from what they've always had, because sitting nonchalantly beside the teacher is our very own Gilbert Blythe. Mr. Philipps had asked Gilbert to give the spelling words instead rather than competing because as Mr. Philipps had said, "Let's give the others a chance. If you compete, it'll surely be a clean sweep."
A remark which Anne was less than pleased to hear. This was pure prejudice! She had won as much spelling bees as Gilbert had and their academic records were perfectly toe to toe! Why can't she give the spelling words? Her voice projection and diction was just as, if not, clearer than Gilbert Blythe's, she thought to herself.
So there she stands, in front of the class with her hands at her back. She felt quite uncomfortable, what with all the eyes trailed on her but stood proudly nonetheless. It was the third round of the game and Moody Spurgeon had just misspelled the word audacity, leaving only Billy Andrews, Michael Jones and dearest Anne. She stood between the two boys who were both wearing smug smiles on their faces, but Anne kept a straight face. She was still not completely over the absolute injustice that Mr. Philipps has shown towards her. I am just as much of a top student as Gilbert Blythe is, why shouldn't I be the one giving the spelling words? Anne thought.
"Spell..." Gilbert started, his eyes wandering around the room which then settled on Anne. The second their gaze met, Anne averted and looked down at her old, ragged shoes.
"Enthralling." Gilbert finally said breaking the silence that settled. Unbeknownst to her control, Anne's eyes looked up, unexpectedly meeting Gilbert's. He had a sly, almost unnoticeable smirk which vanished almost as soon as it appeared, oh but it was there and Anne saw.
She immediately broke eye contact and looked else where, praying that the game would soon be over. She highly disliked being scrutinized.
"E-N-T-H-R-A..." Michael trailed off. "W?"
"Incorrect, Mr. Jones, take your seat." Mr. Philipps declared monotonously.
"Well, well. What a surprise Mr. Andrews. You've been doing academically well these days!" Mr. Philipps complemented.
"Thank you, Sir. I've been trying. " Billy proudly said and looked at Anne. "Good luck, Anne." He said, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
Anne bit the inside of her cheek, her hands turning into fists in annoyance. Billy Andrews had always been the school bully and his favorite subject would always be Anne. He picked on her to no end, calling her names and throwing things at her. Anne is at her wits end, but she calmed herself.
"Billy Andrews, please step forward." Gilbert formally said. "Spell..." He started, his eyes drifting to Anne once more, but instead of looking away, this time, she looked straight back.
"Iridescent." Gilbert finished, no trace of a smile on his face now. He looked at Anne sincerely, and Anne looked back. Her pale cheeks now warm and red but she tried to seem unwavered.
"I-R-I-D-E-S-C-E-N-T." Billy said in confidence.
"Correct." Gilbert declared, breaking his gaze with Anne. "Anne. Spelled with an 'e', please step forward." He wittily remarked, earning chuckles from the class, including Mr. Philipps.
Anne had always been known to inform people during introduction that her name is spelled with an 'e' since according to her, the name is plain enough as it is without it.
Anne, of course, did not find this funny. She kept her face expressionless and stepped forward.
"Spell...." He paused. "Oblivious." He said as he smiled warmly at her but his eyes held a different meaning; as if trying to tell her something. But Anne paid no mind to it and focused. "Oblivious. O-B-L-I-V-I-O-U-S." She firmly stated without a pause.
"That is correct, good job Anne." Gilbert smiled, which Anne only ignored.
"Billy, step forward please. Spell, Beauteous." Gilbert said, again giving Anne a quick glance, but she did not notice.
"B-E-...." Billy said trailing off. He pushed his loose, blonde hair back and thought for a second. "U..."
"I'm sorry, Billy but that's incorrect. Anne Shirley Cuthbert, you are the spelling bee champion. Congratulations." Gilbert smiled.
This earned dissatisfied groans from the boys and excited 'yes-es' from the girls.
Anne grinned proudly and was about to return to her seat when Billy took her hand and shook it.
"Congratulations, Anne. Well done." He said and immediately walked back to his seat. Anne stood there, quite surprised for a while then returned to her seat with her friends. She found it extremely odd that Billy had congratulated her . She was expecting a more violent reaction but paid no mind to it. Maybe he's having a good day? She thought to herself.
****
No matter how much Anne enjoyed getting her education, lunch break will always be her favorite subject. She and her friends, Jane Andrews, Tillie Boulter, Ruby Gillis, Josie Pye and her dearest Diana Barry had made a fort in the corner of the classroom out of picnic cloths and chairs and are joyously sharing snacks and stories. The six girls sat laughing on the wooden floor surrounded by blankets and lunch baskets.
"I hear," Tillie started, taking a big bite of her apple before continuing. "That Fred Myers is asking Lily James to tomorrow night's ball!"
This got collective giggles from the girls. "Ooh, I'm so nervous! What if I dislike the boy that asks me? Do I say no then? What if I say no and no one else asks me? Oh, there are so many joys to being a woman but, surely this is not one of them." Diana said, her voice becoming higher in pitch with each word.
"Or worse, what if no one at all asks me?" Diana asked to no one in particular, her eyes wide and staring into the distance.
"We've been over this, Diana." Anne calmly said, placing a hand on her friend's back. "There will be lots of boys waiting to ask you. And if ever the slightest chance of no one asking you occurs, you can always go with me!" Anne smiled, making Diana laugh in relief.
"Ooh, I sure hope Gilbert asks me!" Ruby Gillis excitedly squealed. Anne tensed at the mention of his name, and she didn't know why.
"It would be a dream to dance with Gilbert Blythe! I can only imagine; our fingers, gently entertwined, oh! I would surely fall unconscious." Ruby dreamily said.
The girls all laughed, except Josie Pye who seemed ludicrously bored.
"Josie, you seem awfully calm about this whole ordeal. What's wrong?" Jane Andrews asked concerned.
"Nothing. In fact, I've nothing to woe me quite further."
"Why is that?" Diana asked.
"Michael Jones already asked me so I don't have to worry anymore." She replied nonchalantly as if it was not a big deal.
"What?!" All the girls happily exclaimed, asking their questions all at once .
"All right all right, girls. Calm yourselves. I'll satisfy your queries one by one." Josie proudly smiled, rolling her eyes.
"When did he ask you?" Tillie asked, grinning ear to ear as if she were the one with the beau.
"Two days ago."
"How did he ask you?" Ruby implored.
"Was it romantic? Did he ask you timid yet charmingly in the effervescent moonlight? Did you dance to nothing but the musical rhythm of your synchronized heartbeats and lovely, cool night breeze, gently brushing past your skin? That would be the highest of ideals, don't you think?" Anne asked, getting lost in her daydreams once more. Suddenly, the scene she painted herself reminded her of the night Gilbert escorted her home from the lake. She hastily pushed the thought aside, feeling foolish of even thinking about him. She was growing increasingly confused with the amount of times Gilbert has popped in her mind but paid no mind to it.
Josie Pye rolled her bored, blue eyes. "Trust Anne Shirley to use the entire thesaurus in one sentence."
This remark made the girls giggle, including Anne. "Oh, I'm sorry Josie. I've been dreaming in broad daylight again."
"Clearly." Josie raised her brow. "He asked me normally. He said, would you like to go to the ball with me and me being as merciful as I am, obliged, with the hopes of avoiding having to break another heart." She boasted, tucking her long, blonde hair behind her ear. Josie Pye was what you would call traditionally beautiful with her flowing blonde locks and sparkling blue eyes. It's such a shame that her attitude speaks otherwise.
"Oh, I do hope Gilbert asks me! If not, I'd rather not attend at all!" Ruby piped dramatically.
"But surely, you'd regret not going to the most prestigious event in Avonlea that happens only once every ten years, don't you think?" Anne asked, trying to think sensibly.
"I don't care. It won't be worthwhile if I don't have my Gilbert by my side." Ruby pouted. She seemed to be the most childish out of the group that's why Josie had always been very protective of her.
"Stop putting down her spirits, Anne." Josie scolded.
"But I wasn't-"
"There, there Ruby. I'm sure Gilbert will ask you. He's just waiting for the right moment. Don't listen to the mean orphan girl."
"Josie!" Diana said, her eyes widening at Josie's remark, which Josie only ignored.
"It's fine, Diana." Anne smiled.
"Um, hello ladies." Charlie Sloane, a tall, brunette boy, timidly stood outside their blanket fort as he greeted them.
"M-may I talk to Diana for a moment please?" He said shyly.
"Oh, whatever it is Charlie, I'm sure the girls won't mind hearing, right?" Diana said, oblivious to the fact that Charlie's hinting for them to be alone.
The girls nodded, small smirks growing on their naive faces.
"Please," Diana said, egging Charlie on to speak.
"Um...would you like to go to the Winter's Ball with me tomorrow night? I'll walk you home safely and I guarantee you'll have a good time." He asked looking down at his feet.
Diana warmly smiled at him. "Oh I would love to go with you, Charlie! Thank you for asking me!" She said.
Charlie looked up, his eyes wide. It was obvious he thought she would not oblige to his request but her answer has taken him by surprise.
"R-really? Thank you! I promise, you won't regret it!" Charlie said, running off whispering a small 'yes!'
"Oooh, how romantic!" Tillie gushed enviously.
"He's so timidly charming!" Diana replied.
"Oh, shush shush! Gilbert is coming this way! Act normal!" Ruby hastily squeaked.
"Hello girls." Gilbert smiled at the girls seated in a circle on the floor. Everyone was looking up at him except Anne who had her back facing him.
"I just wanted to bring this apple to um..." He paused contemplating whether he should continue. "Anne." He finally said. He thought it to be awfully rude not to bring all the girls one but he had originally planned to give it to only Anne. He was silently cursing himself for not thinking this through.
There was a silence that settled upon the group and strangely enough, only Diana was smiling.
Anne, tensed, still did not turn to face Gilbert. She found it to be cruel beyond words for her to accept the apple right in front of Ruby who has been infatuated with Gilbert for years.
"Anne?" Gilbert said expectantly.
It's an awful thing to betray your friends, especially when you've worked so hard to get close to them and now this happens. She would not be put in this situation if it weren't for Gilbert Blythe going around giving random people apples, she thought to herself.
To end the scene, she just quickly took the apple from Gilbert's hand, a little too forcefully than she'd intended, then turned her back again.
"Um, well. I'll be going now. See you girls later." Gilbert bid confused of what just happened.
Anne had her head down, silently cursing Gilbert Blythe. Not long after, Ruby's sniffles were heard. Her big, brown eyes now welled up with tears.
"Come on, Ruby. The world is massively filled with traitors," Josie emphasized, helping Ruby get up. "You'll just have to learn to live with them." She finished and escorted Ruby away, Tillie and Jane hesitantly following them.
Anne, feeling awfully evil, still had her head down.
She felt Diana's hand at her back. "There, there Anne. You've done nothing wrong."
But not even the comforting words of her bosom friend can lift her downtrodden spirits up.
"All right everyone take your seats, we will now be resuming our lesson on the Maritimes." Mr. Philipps said boredom lacing his tone as he approached the teacher's table.
Diana and Anne quickly took down the fort and went back to their seats.
But when Anne got to her desk, she saw a tiny piece of note on top of it.
As the teacher discussed, she slowly opened it. It was a torn piece of paper and in it was written:
Anne Shirley Cuthbert, if you would grant me the honor being my pair to the ball, I would be beyond grateful. Meet me behind The Grand Rushdon where the ball is being held. I'll be waiting.
Sincerely,
Your secret admirer.