₁.₀ SUPERCUT; gilbert blythe ✔

015.

"Boo! Too easy! Too easy!"

Watching the spelling bee competition from her seat, Marianne is surprised by how many emotions the contest seem to have awoken in all the students. They are all shouting and cheering, as though all that noise could be of any use to the remaining contestants; it's a real hustle and bustle here and, for once, Mr. Phillips does nothing to silence them.

Marianne, having no experience with school from her earlier years, has never taken part in a competition of that kind before either, but it's not the reason she has just been expelled to it now. No, the Belware girl was just very, very much distracted, she still is; Gilbert Blythe being the said reason.

"Spell 'amorous'."

She's not proud of it, not at all, and if it was left in her will, she would choose not to think about the boy, ever. Yet it's all she's been doing for the past couple days, with the school being out of session. Though she still had her chores at Green Gables - among them many demanding full concentration, which she failed to give - Marianne just couldn't get Gilbert Blythe out of her head.

"Amorous. A-M-O-R... U-"

"Wrong. Sit down."

And it annoyes her to no point. To this day, she's had, like, two or three proper conversations with the boy! After spending so little time in his company, how could it be possible to think about him that much? Yes, he seems much different from all the boys in Avonlea, but, other than that, Marianne really cannot see any sensible reason why.

As Tillie walks back to her seat beside Marianne, the Belware girl whispers 'congratulations' while trying her best not to look to the board, all in vain. Gilbert Blythe is like a magnet, her eyes returning to him every few seconds, much to her irritation.

She truly is quite fed up with his sight at the moment; the drawing she made of him stuffed deep into one of her drawers.

"Spell 'gorgeous'."

"G-O-R-G-I-"

"Ugh!" Mr. Phillips groans from the back of the classroom as Moody makes a mistake. "Sit down, you butcher of beauty."

The class erupts in yet another part of cheers as the only one's left now are Anne and Gilbert; Marianne quietly mutters words of encouragement to the redhead girl.

"'Ostracize'?"

"O-S-T-R-A-C-I-Z-E."

"That would seem to be correct." Mr. Phillips seems reluctant to admit it. "'Haughty'."

A few words come next, all spelled without a single mistake. As Anne finishes on of them, Marianne notices the girl wrapping her arms around her middle. Poor girl, she really must care a lot about succeeding in winning the spelling bee.

"'Intentions'."

"I-N-T-E-N-T-I-O-N-S."

"'Persevere'."

"P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-E."

The noise is heard again and there's a moment of silence, before Mr. Phillips says, "'Engagement'."

"E-N-G-A-G... M-"

"That is incorrect." If Marianne thought the atmosphere was quite crazy before, it's even worse now as cheers fill the classroom after the teacher's words. "The spelling, not the sentiment."

Diana's voice breaks through the sound of clapping, "Anne, you won!"

"Congratulations, Anne," Gilbert approaches the girl before she has a chance to return to her seat. The sound of his voice - with no sign of disappointment from his loss - inevitably makes Marianne rise her gaze and, for a brief moment, their eyes meet. He smiles and she blinks it away quickly, focusing on Anne instead. "I should have added the 'E'."