Chapter Text
The sun rose over Avonlea on an early September morning, illuminating an old whitewashed farmhouse with painted green trimmings and windows, in a glow of orange sunshine. The sun glimmered through the lacy white curtains, warming a red headed girl, just as she rolled over to knock her alarm clock to indicate she wanted five more minutes before she had to get up. The house had already awoken, her adoptive mother, Marilla, rattling around the kitchen preparing breakfast, her hair fastened in a tight knot at the back of her head. Marilla’s brother, Matthew, had gotten up an hour previous to that, tinkering in the large shed at the back of the house that had once been a barn for a farm that had ceased operating just before the Cuthbert’s grandparents purchased the old house in the 30’s. He used the old shed as a garage now for the mechanic business he ran from home and the splutter of a long dormant engine gasping back to life was enough to awaken the girl in the upstairs bedroom from her lazy doze and finally drag herself up to meet the day.
As Anne rubbed sleep from her eyes and marvelled at the sun rising over the hills opposite her gabled room window and how the golden glow warmed the snow-white petals of the beautiful cherry blossom that stood proud just outside, she pondered her day. It was the 1st of September, a Friday, and it was her first day back to school, a trepidatious toe-dip into a pool before you take a leap. The beginning of the last year of her high school education. She was excited to have the gang all back together again. The summer was broken up by her friends holidaying abroad and it was difficult to see everyone together. She was especially excited to see Gilbert, one of her best friends (it was a toss-up between him and Diana, but she would swear blind to each of them that they were the favourite). He had holidayed with his guardian Bash’s family in Trinidad, a common occurrence during the summer ever since Gilbert’s father passed a few years ago, followed tragically by Bash’s wife, Mary. It was so Bash’s daughter, Dellie, a rambunctious three-year-old with sturdy, rolled legs, could see her grandmother, but Anne knew that they both enjoyed the escapism. The old Blythe house was fine when the two men in it were busy with school and work, but two months stretching out with not too much to do shrouded both in memories they would rather not confront. Instead, they basked in some Caribbean sun. Anne suffered for it though. She missed him terribly when he was gone and was looking forward to their walks to school again, him normally meeting her at Green Gables and them walking together, chatting freely about anything and everything.
She stretched out her pale, freckled arms before climbing out of her bed to get ready. After washing her face and teeth, selecting a 40’s style floral tea dress and her favourite scuffed combat boots to wear and choking down eggs, toast and tea, she hurriedly made her way to the door. She checked her appearance once again in the mirror over the dresser in the hall. She dabbed at her lips with a little gloss and patted some blusher into her cheeks before she turned her attention to her hair. It was long and red and thick and wavy and, ultimately, the bane of her life. She had never recovered her love for it after all the ‘gingers have no souls’ jokes she had to endure at the foster home she lived in before being adopted at 11. She combed it hurriedly, letting it fall in thick waves down her back. Glancing at the grandfather clock in the hall, she noted the time. She was 5 minutes late. She glanced at her reflection again, shouted a ‘goodbye’ over her shoulder to Marilla and grabbed her book from the unit top, tucking it into the crook of her arm as she swung her satchel over her shoulder and threw open the door. She could never be too far from a book and so a tome of classic literature was a constant companion wherever she went. Her current novel was Pride and Prejudice, a firm favourite and about a sixth reread for Anne, and she smiled at the memory of the story that was about to unfold when her eyes met the tall figure of a significantly sun-kissed Gilbert Blythe, leaning nonchalantly against the white picket fence that encircled Green Gables.
His face split into a brilliant grin as he observed her approach, and she took off at a run, throwing herself into his arms, winding him with the impact.
“I missed you!” she exclaimed voice muffled in the t-shirt she had her face buried in.
He laughed. “I missed you, too. So much.”
They broke apart, and he opened the gate, flourishing his arm for her to go before him. “After you.”
“Why, thank you,” she mocked. “So chivalrous.”
“I only aim to please.”
They ambled down the path together, Anne having remarked on his tan and him sharing all the wonderful experiences he had on his trip. Anne didn’t go on a trip. Matthew had had a heart complaint and the travel insurance would have been too expensive for them. She lived vicariously through Gilbert, hanging on his every word.
“So, you had fun, then?” she confirmed, when he finished his tale with a story of Bash on a jet ski that ended up with a trip to the hospital.
“Oh, so much,” he grinned down at her. “What about you? Get up to anything fun around here?”
“Oh, you know, made a huge scientific discovery, won a Nobel Prize for it, stopped a bank robbery, delivered a baby and fought the patriarchy single-handedly. You know, normal summer stuff.”
He chuckled at her response. “So, you haven’t really been busy then?” he said, his voice light with humour.
She groaned at that. She hadn’t really been busy. With him away, Diana in Paris for a few weeks and Cole holidaying in Southern Italy with Josephine Barry, Diana’s elderly aunt who kindly took him in after he came out to his parents and they rejected him, she was decidedly extremely lonely. “I read a lot. There is a really pretty little spot by the brook at the back of my house, where the sun hits just right. Matthew made me a swing and hung it to the tree there, and that’s where I stayed, devouring books about people who were having a lot more fun than me.”
“What are you reading now?” he asked, grabbing at the book still tucked against her chest. “Pride and Prejudice again?”
He laughed, turning the book over in his hands.
“Laugh now, Mr Blythe, but it is a romantic classic for a reason. Maybe you should toss a biology textbook aside once in a while and read a little about love. God knows, you could just learn something.”
She was teasing him, but when she looked into his face, he wore such a strange expression that it made her flush a little, his eyes locked with hers and his mouth twisted into a queer half smile.
“I’ll have you know,” he said, voice low and warm hazel eyes never drifting from hers, “that I have been single for just as long as you have.”
“Well, so far it appears we’re both going to stay that way. Unless Mr Rochester wants to dump Jane, climb out of the book and take me as his own!” She huffed out a little laugh and dragged her eyes from him, his smile falling a little when she made her last proclamation. Anne knew why she was single; she was skinny and plain and freckled and too lost in her fantasy of the brooding, dark hero to let herself fall for anyone real, but she has no clue why Gilbert still was. He was so handsome; all toned muscle, long limbs and chocolate coloured curls. He had warm hazel eyes that lit up when he was happy and a mouth that twisted into the most charming smile. He wasn’t overly outgoing, but everyone at school adored him and she knew plenty of girls that would happily date him if he gave them any sign he was interested. One, for definite.
“Well if that’s the case,” Gilbert said, breaking their silence, “maybe I should be the one reading this instead of you, for the sixtieth time.”
“You exaggerate. It’s only the fifty ninth! And of course, you can take it now if you want.” She gestured to the book in his hand, an idea springing to her mind that made her face split into a grin. “In fact, why don’t we do a little bit of a book club? I could give you some romance books to read and you could give them back with your feedback.”
He groaned. “I was joking, Anne.”
“I know, but it could be fun. Expand your mind, broaden your imagination. Fall in love a little, you know?”
She smiled sheepishly up at him, and noticed he was watching her, that funny look painted on his face again. She pinkened under his gaze, shrinking into herself as his honey flecked eyes roamed over her face.
“Okay,” he said finally, and Anne beamed, prattling on about the next few books he could get when he finished that one. Gilbert smiled as he watched her, so full of enthusiasm. He had only agreed so he could have a little peek into her brilliant mind.
**********
Anne and Gilbert separated at school, him slinking off with his hands in his pockets to share summer pleasantries with Moody Spurgeon and Charlie Sloane. Anne cast a glance around, looking for the blue and black that indicated the presence of her bosom friend. She spotted her straight away standing with Cole McKenzie, sporting a pale blue slip dress layered over a cream t-shirt, her raven curls tied into a low ponytail fastened with a blue bow. Anne made her way over to her, slinking her arms around Diana’s waist and resting her chin on her shoulder.
“I missed you so,” Anne crooned, as she squeezed Diana tight. Diana laughed prettily, laying her hands over Anne’s and resting her head on top of her friends.
“And I you.”
Cole made an ‘I’m going to barf’ gesture, finger at his mouth, rolling his eyes. Anne giggled. “Did you think I forgot about you!” she cried, attacking him with little jabs of her finger and then pulling him in for a long hug. The trio linked arms, Anne in the middle, and made their way towards their homeroom.
“Have you heard the rumours spilling off the gossip mill today?” enquired Diana.
Both Anne and Cole shook their heads.
“Apparently,” Diana continued, “Billy and Josie are hitting the rocks.”
She was referring to Billy Andrews and Josie Pye, the Hollywood golden couple of their school, sharing perfect bodies, golden hair, over-inflated egos and a 3-year relationship.
“I don’t think they're hitting the rocks as much as Josie has just realised Billy is a rock,” quipped Cole, with a mischievous smile.
“Cole!” the girls scolded.
“Poor Josie,” Diana said, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “They’re meant to have fought because he was playing away, if you know what I mean. Her parents are super conservative and Josie wants to wait to do that until they are married.”
Anne’s mouth formed a little ‘O’. She wasn’t a huge Josie Pye fan, tolerating her for the sake of their friends and brushing off any backhanded compliments that came hurtling her way, but the entitlement of Billy Andrews struck her.
“They’ve been together for three years,” she said, indignantly. “Surely, he should respect her enough to not push the issue. They must have talked about this before and he must have been fine with it. She shouldn’t have to do what she doesn’t want to!”
Diana and Cole nodded, but knowing Anne’s temper had flared, decided to drop the subject.
“In other news,” Cole continued, “has anyone seen Ruby Gillis yet?”
Anne and Diana shook their heads.
“Well then, you’re in for a surprise.” He held the door open for his two friends as they entered homeroom.
The day had passed quickly, anecdotes shared between school chums about how they spent the long summer peppering the gaps in between lessons, and soon enough it was lunchtime. The gang would be back together.
Anne, Cole and Diana chose a large table in the canteen, a circle surrounded by a low bench. They slipped into their seats before being joined by Tillie Boulter and Jane Andrews. Tillie was a plump, brown haired beauty; all soft curves, full lips, and fluttery eyelashes. She was the envy of all the girls in school, her confidence in her looks and her collection of 60’s swing dresses to offset her figure making her a magnet for the male population. Her current predicament was a love triangle between herself and Paul and Paul, both vying for her attention. She grinned as she sat down.
“Just wait until you see Ruby,” she squealed at the others.
Jane nodded in agreement, her long slim legs, dressed in flared jeans and Doc Martens, swinging over the bench to face them. Jane was Billy Andrews twin sister, and what he had in athletic ability, she had in academic brilliance, sarcastic wit and an ability to out-smoke a steam engine. She was a lithe figure, her tanned skin contrasting with dark caramel curls that were cut long with bangs framing her face.
They were soon joined by Josie, smiling acidly as she sat down, flicking her expensively bleached hair over her shoulder.
“How was your summer, Josie?” Diana asked politely, but Anne knew she was fishing for information on Billy. And as if he sensed it, Billy appeared. Her leant down to Josie, whispering “Hey, babe”, lips capturing hers in a long kiss, before his teeth nipped at her bottom lip.
Anne’s face contorted in disgust.
“Some people are eating,” Tillie giggled.
“So are they,” Cole shot back, earning a laugh from the group, but a look of distaste from the couple. They must have decided to put on a united front, knowing how quickly gossip spreads in school.
Josie turned her attention back to the table. “So, as per tradition, we are all going to the ruins by the pier today to celebrate being back together?” she confirmed. Despite it being early Autumn, there was still heat in the sun and the gang all got together to play silly games and pier jump, shrieking as they splashed down into the cold water below. It was a party to celebrate their youth and the end of the summer. The others all agreed, discussing their excitement for this long-held tradition.
As they did so, Gilbert came up behind them. He normally sat with the boys at lunch, with Anne not seeing him again until their walk home. He laid his hand lightly on her back as he sat down beside her, the unexpected contact making Anne sit stiff. As if sensing this, his hand quickly withdrew but they looked at each other and smiled. When she turned back to the group, Anne noticed Diana watching them, eyes wide with a small smile tugging at her lips. Anne flushed and looked at her hands, trying to think of something to say to turn the attention off her when Ruby Gillis came into view. Collectively, the gang inhaled a quick, sharp breath.
“Ain’t she a beauty,” Anne heard Cole say.
Ruby was extremely different from the girl they left in June. Then, she was the baby of their group, innocent and sweet, clad in saccharine pink smock dresses with ringlet curls in her hair. Now she came towards them, positively mature looking, her honey hair shimmering with highlights, a smoked brown eyeshadow emphasising her round blue eyes and a short pink skirt and top emphasising her curves.
“Twit twoo,” Cole whistled as she sat.
“Oh, Ruby, you’re beautiful,” Diana gushed.
“Yes, it’s amazing what some highlights, a push up bra and a trip to Charlotte Tilbury can do,” Josie sneered, but then finished with a smile that wrinkled her nose to act the innocent compliment giver. Anne noticed Billy’s eyes roam over Ruby like a hungry dog waiting for dinner. She imagined Josie probably did too.
Ruby blushed. “Thank you,” she said sweetly. “It was a treat from my sister for being her bridesmaid over the summer,” she explained, hands playing with her hair. Although she spoke to the group, her eyes were attached to Gilbert, who was eating quietly, not paying too much attention to the transformation in front of him. Anne kicked him sharply under the table, frustrated with his obliviousness to Ruby’s long-suffering crush.
His eyes snapped to Anne’s, hers boring into his and flicking towards Ruby. Clearing his throat and noticing that all eyes were now on him, he smiled. “You look really nice, Ruby.”
Ruby’s eyes went wide. “Thank you, Gilbert.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, smiling tightly before returning to his lunch.
“Ruby, you were beautiful before, and you’re beautiful now,” Anne smiled, taking Ruby’s hand in hers and squeezing it lightly.
“Thank you, Anne. The attention is going to be something to get used to, however”, Ruby whispered, just as Moody Spurgeon passed, cheerfully saying hello to them all, while his eyes rested tenderly on Ruby.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully: science lessons, where Anne was partnered with Tillie and Diana with Fred Wright, English, where Anne and Gilbert argued heatedly over a dystopian novel assigned as a reading project by Miss Stacy, and then Mathematics, where Anne tried her hardest but was not always successful.
She walked home with Gilbert, their argument in class long-forgotten, as was the nature of their relationship ever since his profound apology after the ‘book incident’ of their past; when he tugged Anne’s hair, calling her ‘carrots’ on her first day of school, and she cracked her hard back copy of The Railway Children against his temple in response. When Anne asked a few years later why he did it, he responded, puzzled, “I just wanted to speak to you.” To this day, Anne still didn’t know why.
They separated at the gate of Green Gables, reconfirming that they would see each other at the pier later, before Anne pushed open the gate and rounded the house to Matthew’s garage. When she peeped her head in, she couldn’t see any sign of Matthew, but was instead greeted by Jerry Baynard, Matthew’s apprentice.
“Jerry,” Anne greeted. “I didn’t see you at school today?”
“No.” Jerry straightened from behind the car hood he had raised. “I’ve decided not to go back this year. Diana didn’t say? Matthew told me he’s making enough to pay me a wage, and this is what I’d rather be doing anyway, so here I am.”
Anne’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why would Diana have told me?” she questioned.
“Oh.” Jerry’s face fell. “I just, um, met her over the summer in town and she had asked about me so I told her.”
Anne nodded, satisfied with the response, but a little wary of the sadness that flitted over Jerry’s brown eyes momentarily.
“Well, we’re going to the ruins by the pier today. You can join us if you like.” She smiled as he thanked her. He would love to. Anne waved goodbye, before returning to the house, finding Matthew and Marilla both in the kitchen.
“Hello, you lovely dears!” She sing-songed, planting a kiss on both their faces.
“Hello to you,” Marilla chirped back. “How was school?”
“Great. I’m glad to back into the routine of it all, and obviously have Diana, Cole and Gilbert again.”
“How was the boys’ trip?” Marilla asked, pouring tea from a ceramic teapot into a chintzy cup for Anne. The Cuthberts had become closer to the Blythe-Lacroix family after Mary’s death, Marilla and Bash striking up an unlikely friendship that involved cooking lessons, tutorials on hand-knitting cardigans and marvelling over how big and clever Dellie was becoming.
Anne sipped her tea gratefully whilst sharing some highlights of Bash and Gilbert’s trip. “I think he’s glad to be back.”
“I’m sure he is,” Marilla said, sharing a knowing look with Matthew, who smiled softly at his daughter. Anne’s brow furrowed at the gesture and she finished her tea listening to them chatter about the garage.
**********
At 7 o’ clock, just as the sun began to paint the sky with strips of pink and orange to signal her slow descent, Anne and her friends met at the pier. It was a lush, green part of Avonlea - a stone boatyard that had long ago crumbled and was now the home of a thicket of trees and shrubs that emanated a heady scent in the heat of the evening. There was an old wooden pier that jutted out from the land and the cool water of the lake twinkled like a Tiffany’s ring as it rippled in the glow of the sun.
Anne and Cole busied themselves stretching out a tartan blanket Anne took from home, as Gilbert stocked the cooler that Jane Andrews brought with their drinks. She lay back, basking in the heat and the happiness of friendship, when a dark shadow descended on her. Her eyes blinked open, and there, before her, stood Mr Rochester himself. Anne bolted upright, her eyes passing between this new stranger and Diana who was beside him.
“Gang, this is my cousin, Royal Gardner.” She gestured around her. “Roy, this is the gang.”
Roy lifted his hand in a gesture of acknowledgment, eyes falling on the blanket where Anne and Cole sat, as Diana explained to the group about how he was from London, England, got kicked out of his school because of setting off some fireworks and his parents thinking it fitting that he spends time with Diana, “a good and steady influence,” she concluded with a roll of her eyes.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you.” Cole shook his hand. “I’m Cole.”
“Cole,” Roy repeated, before turning to Anne, who realised it was a little rude she didn’t stand up to greet him. He hunkered beside her instead. “And you?” he asked, his hand outstretched to her.
“I’m Anne.” Anne’s hand brushed his, startled at the coolness of his palm against hers. She surveyed their hands joined and then his roguish face.
“A pleasure,” he said, as their hands shook. There was something almost reminiscent of Cole about him. A tall, thin frame, with finely toned muscle and tendons and smooth pale skin, but they were opposite in colouring. Where Cole’s hair was brilliantly blonde with kind, pale blue eyes, Roy’s hair was as black as midnight, cut to the length of his sharp jaw and tucked behind his ears. His eyes were brooding, dark and serious and his cheekbones high and sharp enough to cut glass, hollows in his cheeks. Anne felt herself flush, skin pinkening from her collar bones and spreading up over her elegant neck. Realising her eyes probably lingered on him longer than what was socially acceptable, she quickly lowered her gaze and dropped his hand. He lowered himself beside her and Cole sat again too, Diana disappearing quickly when Jerry arrived. Anne ran her eyes around the group, realising she couldn’t see him anymore either.
“So, what’re your interests, Roy?” Cole asked, lounging lazily on the tartan blanket.
“I’m into literature,” he shrugged. Anne’s ears pricked at this. Literature. He was into literature, just like her. It was as if it was written in the stars.
“Really? So is our Anne, here. She’s a literary genius in the making.” Cole grinned at her and she shrugged modestly under Roy’s intense gaze.
“What do you read?” he asked her, stretching onto his back, the hem of his black t-shirt rising as he placed his hands behind his head, exposing a tantalising glimpse of pale skin and smooth muscle speckled with dark hair.
Anne gulped back. “Oh, you know, this and that. I love the classics, but I would read anything. The back of a cereal box if I had nothing else to hand.”
A laugh gurgled from his throat, a deep baritone that rasped like a smoker. Anne found herself wondering if he did smoke, if he tasted like cigarettes.
As they became acquainted, Diana reappeared, her dress already removed revealing a blue gingham bikini speckled in painted roses.
“Let’s cool off,” she exclaimed, grabbing Anne by the hand and dragging her to her feet as Jane, Josie, Ruby and Tillie jumped of the pier, squealing as they splashed into the cool depths below them.
Anne moved to her bag, propped under a tree and began removing her clothes.
“She’s beguiling,” Roy said plainly to Cole, watching the light dance off her red hair as it fell over her shoulder.
“Yes. She’s very special.” Cole smiled at Roy, but his eyes roamed across the people scattered on the grass, looking for a handsome face, thick chocolate curls and a pair of warm hazel eyes that he knew would be trained on Anne too. There he was, Gilbert Blythe, sitting cross-legged with Charlie and Moody, feigning interest in a conversation but his mind on a completely different topic. His eyes roamed over Anne’s hair, her pale freckled limbs, now exposed in a green two piece, and his chest heaved as if he forgot to breath. Poor Gilbert, Cole thought. He has been enchanted by her since her book met the side of his head.
Anne and Diana ambled to the pier, Anne self-consciously throwing a glance over her shoulder to see if Roy watched her. A pang of disappointment struck her chest as she noticed him chatting to Cole, a cigarette dangling between two long digits. Instead, she was shocked to see Gilbert stare at them, eyes drowning in kindness and something else that made her lower belly flutter. She flushed, head snapping towards the water again quickly. Why was he looking at them like that?
“You ready?” queried Diana, her hand entwined in Anne’s, her face glorious in anticipation of the cool water. And then it struck Anne. Diana was so beautiful, absolutely effervescent. It would be ridiculous to assume that Gilbert didn’t notice. Anne nodded, a little dumbstruck at this revelation, but before she had time to process it further, Diana began to run, dragging Anne with her. She cackled as they neared the end of the pier, both so full of life and freedom, before launching themselves into the air, hands clasped. They hit the water feet first, heads thrown back laughing and gasping as the chilled water encircled them, droplets sprinkling down onto their exposed faces and shoulders, glistening on their ivory skin like morning dew.
A few hours later, the temperature and daylight had dropped enough to draw everyone out of the water and back into their clothes, now layered in woollen cardigans and sweatshirts, blankets draped over any exposed legs. They sat around a campfire that Moody had set but failed to ignite, Cole’s hands being the only pair with the dexterity to angle the flint properly. “The benefits of being an artist,” he boasted, to the cheers of the others.
Anne was sandwiched between Gilbert and Roy, revelling in their body heat and the musky scent of masculinity. Her skin tingled as her arm grazed Roy’s. She was lost in a daydream of him appearing like this; the brooding hero of her every fantasy, who swept her into a passionate romance, ending tragically with his departure back to London, them tearfully vowing undying love in a busy departure lounge, when a deep rumble cut across her thoughts, drawing her back to reality.
“What was that?” she asked Gilbert brightly, afraid suddenly that he could read her mind.
“Have you had fun?” he repeated, smiling down at her, the pads of his fingers brushing her arm and goose-pimpling her skin.
“Yes,” she croaked, her breath catching in her throat.
“Good.”
His attention returned to the group when Josie Pye suggested a game of Truth or Dare. There was a collective groan, the majority of them knowing this was just her way of goading them into doing something humiliating that she could use as fodder for her future insults, but as she was a hard woman to argue with, they agreed.
“Fabulous,” she chirped, kicking of the game with a dare for Jerry to jump into the water in only his underwear, a challenge as the temperature of the water must have dropped close to freezing in the night air. He obliged, Diana clapping as he re-emerged, water running in rivulets down his toned tummy and absorbing into his waistband.
Moody was next in completing a dare, followed with a truth from Jane, who was feeling just too done in to move anymore. Then came Tillie, dared to give a lap-dance to her favourite Paul. She was thankful they sat together, draping her body across both of them and writhing with laughter rather than seduction. Next was Gilbert, who endured these games for the sake of the others but was generally uninterested in any scandals they raised.
“Right then…Gilbert, let me think,” Josie chided, drumming her fingers along her lips in what she hoped was a tempting gesture. Despite being with Billy, even Josie wasn’t immune to Gilbert’s charm. And then her face lit up like a light bulb, her features arranged into a ‘eureka!’ look of wide-eyed surprise. She smiled coyly, eyes flitting between Ruby and him, before settling on their target.
“Do you have a crush on anyone?” she drawled, propping herself onto her chin in a conspiratorial, tell-me-your-secrets-and-I-promise-to keep-them manner.
Everyone turned towards him now, eyes wide with anticipation of the answer.
Gilbert shot a hasty look towards Anne under his lashes, automatically regretting it in case the others noticed and pieced two and two together.
“Um…”
“Only the truth! You promised,” pouted Josie. Ruby watched him, starry-eyed, Moody watching her more or less the same.
Then, after sucking in the chilled air, Gilbert breathed out, “Yes.”
“Ooh, do tell!” encouraged Tillie.
“Is she here?” asked Jane.
“Hey, he didn’t say it was a she,” corrected Cole, his voice honeyed with humour. “It could be me.”
Gilbert was blushing. Anne could see the spots of crimson high on his cheekbones.
“Well, who is it?” Josie pried.
“I don’t have to say. I’ve given my truth,” he smirked. “She may be here, she may not. And, unfortunately, she is a she, Cole. If not, you would be the top of my list, buddy.”
The game ended abruptly after that, everyone in whispering speculation of who Gilbert was talking about. Anne sat in silence, not wanting to add fuel to the gossip, but hurt that he had never shared this with her before sharing with the group. She eyed the enthusiastic faces of her friends, all peeping his way in whispering trepidation, before her eyes settled on Diana, the corners of her perfect mouth curving into a slow smile, eyes heavy with emotion.
Anne drew her eyes to her hands, fidgeting restlessly on her knees. She gulped, swallowing back the panicked feeling of her life being on the precipice of changing forever.