Chapter Text
Chapter 1
As she unpacked her bag to start on her homework, Anne was already dreading the daily task. It wasn't that she couldn't understand or complete the extra work. The girl merely hated the waste of precious time that could be spent on better things.
To make the tedious work easier to get through, Anne liked to sing. She sang whatever song she was feeling at that moment. One day she wanted to write her own songs. The redhead already wrote poetry, which she knew could just be altered a little and set to a tune to produce the stuff of her dreams.
Anne took her math workbook out of her bag and flipped to the pages Mr. Phillips had assigned. This year she had him for Algebra II. Just my luck, Anne thought. Of course I get stuck with the one teacher that gives homework on the first day of school.
As if high school wasn't enough already, Anne was taking advanced Math and ELA. Marilla had said, "you need some challenge in your work to keep you busy child."
The only reason Anne was against the decision was that she would have less time with Diana, her kindred spirit and best friend. Diana was in advanced ELA with Anne, but the only other class they had together was PE. Thank God they had the same lunch period though.
After getting her supplies settled, Anne took out her phone and started playing Envy Green by The Arcadian Wild. She loved the Summer meets Fall feel of the song and felt it suited the start of the school year.
"Envy green, growin' ivy vines that hold me…"
She started on the simple math problems and her brain divided in two. Half focused on the mundane equations and the other half putting effort into her voice and the song she sang out her window.
Her consciousness was already divided in two, so she didn't notice the boy that was walking up the road to his house. But man, he sure noticed her.
Just as she was getting to the best part of the song, something hit Anne in the forehead. She looked down and saw a rock. Did someone just throw a rock at me?
Anne leaned out the window to see who had thrown the stone, expecting Billy to have been the culprit. She had been made fun of for her hair and upbringing all of the past year. When she instead saw a cute boy smiling up at her, she was surprised and annoyed that he had the audacity to throw something at a stranger for seemingly no reason.
She would have asked his name if she weren't already pissed at the boy. "What do you think gives you the right to throw stones at me through the window?" Anne yelled.
"I wanted to know who was singing so beautifully, I didn't mean to hit you miss!" The boy was being really polite, but he sounded like a nineteenth century flirt.
"My name is Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, I spell it with an 'e'. Now what gave you the idea of throwing a rock, if not at me, at my house?"
Anne noticed the boy contemplating before he responded, "My name is Gilbert, and I guess I wasn't really thinking when I threw the rock." As he said this, he scratched the back of his neck. Anne noticed that Gilbert's shirt dragged up a bit and showed his toned lower stomach.
“Okay Gilbert, I hope you have a nice day, but I have homework,” Anne stated, snapping her eyes back from his stomach to make eye contact.
“I thought I only missed the first day of school!” Gilbert exclaimed.
“If you’re going to Avonlea High, then yes. But I have the unfortunate luck of getting the one math teacher who gives homework on the first day.”
“I am going to Avonlea High, maybe we’ll have classes together, Anne with an ‘e’,” Gilbert said, wiggling his eyebrows.
Anne rolled her eyes at him and replied, “Maybe we will, goodbye Gilbert.” She shut the window to end the somewhat bothersome conversation.
Anne tried to begin her homework again, but her mind remained on Gilbert and his flirting personality. She wondered if he would be in any of her classes. Anne found herself imagining a scenario where the painfully empty seat next to her in Algebra was taken by the cute boy from earlier. Her music and homework lay forgotten on her desk as she went downstairs, letting her mind wander.
She thought about the next day, and the fact that a cute boy just walked up to her house and started talking to her, even showing an interest! I'll have to tell Diana. Anne pulled out her phone and sat at the dining room table to text her Bosom friend.
Anne
Diana guess what
Diana
what Anne
Anne
This really cute boy just came up to my window and said that I sang beautifully and that he missed the first day of school and that he hopes we have classes together!
Diana
Oh?
do i smell a …. r e l a t i o n s h i p?
Anne
no
not yet at least
We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
Diana
Ok, I have to go eat
See you and mystery boy tomorrow!
Anne
Bye Diana!
Anne didn’t share Gilbert’s name with Diana because she would know the next day. And for now, she wanted that bit of information to be her little secret because she felt like sharing it would make the moment so much more … public.
After her conversation with Diana, Anne started on dinner with Marilla. They were talking about her first day of school while they made pulled pork and grilled potatoes.
“How on earth did you end up with homework on the first day of school?” Marilla asked as she took the pork out of the oven.
“Well Marilla, it was my Math teacher that gave me the homework. You know, the class you made me take because I ‘needed the challenge’”. Anne smirked. The conversation lulled after that; the mother and daughter working on the assigned dinner duties. Just as Anne was setting the table, Matthew got back in from work.
Anne immediately stopped what she was doing to give him a hug. “Anne-girl, how was your first day?” Matthew asked softly. Anne’s father was a soft-spoken man. It’s part of the reason why they just clicked that first day she came home with him from the orphanage. Her tendency to ramble and love of words made it so that she almost never stopped talking. Matthew enjoyed this because then he didn’t have to contribute much more than a yes or no to the conversation.
“It was great to see everyone again, I only really hung out with Diana this summer. I feel like a lot of people have grown up so much since last year. I find it peculiar how much can change the summer before high school. On another note, I had homework on the first day of school! How unlucky is that?”
“Very,” Matthew remarked.
After their conversation, everyone sat down and said grace. Then Marilla served the three of them their portion of the meat and potatoes. As she chewed, in typical Anne fashion, she dove into great detail about her interactions with her friends and teachers. Everything was positive except for her narrative about Algebra and how Mr. Phillips is not a good teacher, she can already tell.
“Well, who gives homework on the first day, number one. Also number two, he talked about how we should always be studying, and that memorizing is the key to learning. However, if someone doesn’t understand an equation, how on earth is memorization of something seeming completely senseless going to make them suddenly understand? That's what the teacher is for, the book is only supposed to be a guide on what to teach!” Anne finished her rant and shoveled the rest of her food in her mouth. She excused herself to finish her homework.
After she was finally finished with her worksheet, she went through her nighttime routine, put on some music and went to sleep.
—
The next day, Anne almost snoozes her alarm forgetting for a minute that she had school. She dragged herself out of bed, played some music and got dressed. She decided to wear some black shorts with a graphic tank top and a flannel on top so she wouldn’t get dress coded. After getting dressed, she applied some eyeliner and highlighter. She didn’t like makeup very much; it was a hassle to get off at night. After searching for a bit, Anne got on her stomach to fish her converse out from under her bed. Once she laced them up, she grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs for breakfast.
“Good morning Anne, how did you sleep?” Marilla asked.
“Good morning, I slept very well because I was already tired from my homework.”
Marilla huffed after hearing this and handed Anne a plate of eggs and bacon. Anne expressed her hopes for the coming day to Matthew and Marilla while they all ate. “I really hope that the rest of my teachers decide not to give so much tedious busywork like Mr. Phillips,” She mumbled through a mouthful of eggs.
“Well, I think the most you’ll have from your other classes is a project or two,” Marilla assured her while Matthew nodded his agreement. “Besides Anne, I’m sure it’s nothing you can't handle.” She added.
“I agree. But the reason I don’t wish to work so hard on studying this year is because I want to focus on my relationships and be a little bit more social. Sometimes I feel like people only tolerate me, but I want to change that.”
“If you say so…” Marilla replied.
Anne finished her food and slammed her fork down as if to punctuate the end of her meal. “Well, I’ll be off! See you after school, I love you both.” She hurried to put her dishes away, then grabbed her bag and rushed out the door. Anne saw her raven haired best friend waiting for her at the end of her driveway.
“Splendid morning, Diana!” She said while they hugged.
“It really is,” Diana said while she admired the pleasant weather.”
They began walking and Anne started ranting about how much she loved the weather at the beginning of the school year. After they were walking for a bit, Diana decided to bring up the boy that came to Anne’s house last night.
“So Anne, are you excited to see mystery boy today?” She cooed.
“Admittedly a bit more than I should be, I only met him yesterday. But he was the picture of a nineteenth century gentleman. He called me Miss! He was also flirting with me a bit, and I’m afraid I scared him off because I was mad at him for accidentally hitting me with a rock when he was just trying to get my attention.” Anne kept on rambling for a bit, not noticing that there was someone else behind her and Diana.
“What are you two talking about?” Gilbert asked from behind.
Anne and Diana whirled around, and Diana immediately screamed, “Gilbert! You’re back!” Anne looked between the two of them as they bear-hugged.
“You two know each other?” she asked, confused.
“Yeah, Gilly boy over here moved away a year before the Cuthberts adopted you.”
Gilbert smiled a bit before asking, “Can I walk the rest of the way with you two?”
“Of course! I’m sure everyone will be very excited to see you.” Diana said, grabbing Anne's elbow and starting off again.
Gilbert moved to the other side of Anne and asked, “So what were you two talking about before I interrupted to make your day with the news of my gallant return?”
Anne flushed while Diana explained to Gilbert how a really cute boy had come by Anne’s house yesterday and complemented her singing. She didn’t notice how stiff Anne had become beside her as she continued to tell him about how the mystery boy had acted like a “nineteenth century gentleman” and how he had flirted with Anne a little.
At this point Anne was beet red and Gilbert was smirking to himself while Diana repeated the gossip to him.
“Well I hope that you and this mystery guy have some classes together so that you can get to know him better, he seems like boyfriend material.” Gilbert said with a wink as they approached the school.
Diana agreed and Gilbert left saying that he needed to get to the office early for his schedule. As soon as he had jogged out of earshot Anne could contain herself no longer. “Diana, that was the mystery guy!” She yelled.
Diana finally looked at her bosom-friend and noticed the severe blush all over her face. “Oh my goodness Anne, I’m so sorry!” They both just stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Diana said, “Ruby liked him for years before he moved away, but I’m sure she’s over him after not seeing him for such a long time.”
Anne's spirits withered as she groaned and exclaimed, “Why can’t I have anything go right?” Diana hugged her best friend and advised her to ask for Ruby’s blessing before she does anything with Gilbert.