circles 𖧷 gilbert blythe

4th chapter „my first real friend"

We were walking along the long forest path when Anne started to ask me questions

„How do you like it here in Avonlea so far?", she asked me and I didn't really knew how to respond since I don't know her so well. „I really like it here.. Avonlea offers really beautiful landscapes, it quite amazes me", I replied while staring at the trees we passed, so I would remember the way back home better. „I love Avonlea too, it's a great home and has a lot to offer. This is where my new life began..", she said happily. „Have you moved here with your family too?", I asked her when she suddenly became serious. „No.. or yes? I am an orphan.. and live here with two people, who are very nice and own a small land here. They gave me a good chance here after everything went quite wrong..", she said and stopped.

„Oh I'm sorry I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. I've had too much experience with that, myself", I replied and she looked at me suprised. „Are you and Blayke orphans too?", she asked me and I looked away. That question wasn't as easy as I would have thought.. „Somehow yes.. we've been living with our grandparents since our parents died", I answered and she looked at me shocked. „Oh I'm.. I really didn't wanted to bring such a hard topic up to you.. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry with all of my heart", she apologized to me, stopped and held both of my hands in hers. „I often say the wrong things at the wrong times, even if I don't really want to. So I apologize to you once again for bringing up this subject about your parents. I'm sorry.. I really mean it", she said, looking at me worriedly.

I stared at her and felt kind of bad. I must have
made her feel really bad with my answer..

That wasn't right. „No problem, let's go", Blayke said suddenly and walked past Anne and me. Anne and I looked after him and decided to walk further too. Blayke hadn't said anything, the whole way. I think it was because of Anne. He doesn't like meeting new people any more than I do, except that I'm a little bit more open to it than he is. Anne was still looking at her feet and hadn't said anything since. I put my hand on her shoulder and said: „It's okay, it's not a big deal. I don't blame you, okay?", she looked at me for a while as she smiled again, nodded and started talking about her arrival in Avonlea. „..this was all about two years ago", she ended her story. Two years ago, Anne arrived here in Avonlea.

I thought about her story and then asked her a question without thinking much, which I immediately regretted. „Do you know a boy called Gilbert Blythe?", I asked her and she looked at me suprised. „Gilbert Blythe? uh yes I know him, everyone here knows him. He's a real idiot but a very good friend of mine, I would say. He goes to school here too, how do you know him?", she asked me interested. „He was at our house yesterday and gave me and my family a welcome present. I just wanted to ask you, if you know him, as my grandmother wanted to give him back a present as a thank you for yesterday", I explained to her how I knew Gilbert. „A welcome present? Kind of him", she replied, looking thoughtfully into the distance, when suddenly a loud bell could be heard in the distance.

„The school Bell..", Anne said. „We're late.. great, sorry", she add, pulling me and Blayke after herself. We ran and ran until we finally arrived at the school from where the bell ringing came. It was a small, elongated building with a small tower on top, from where probably the bell rang. The school looked very simple, but did their work. „I didn't think a school would look like this, kind of unspectacular", Blayke said to Anne and me. „Ah what? I think it's great.. small but simple", Anne answered and pulled us towards the big, brown entrance door. Immediately I became nervous and my heart began to beat faster.

Now it was time for my first school day and I wasn't that sure anymore, if I really wanted to attend it.

Next to the school was a river, as I saw standing in front of the entrance door. Why were milk bottles laying in the river? I thought.. I've never seen that before, was that usual? Just as Anne put her hand on the door knob, she suddenly took a step back and said: „Our milk bottles. We have to put them into the river to keep them cold for lunch break later". We confusedly followed her to the river and gave her our milk bottles. She took them and carefully placed them into the river, next to the other milk bottles. „But now we really have to go to class", Anne said and walked back to the entrance door, together with us. She slowly opened the door as the voices from inside, which we just had been hearing, fell silent and we entered the quite classroom.

Everyone was staring at us and Blayke and I didn't know what to do, so we stood quietly behind Anne. Suddenly we heard loud footsteps coming towards us and stopped in front of Anne. The teacher with brown, short hair and a weird looking moustache was standing in front of us. He held a stick in his hand and waved it around the air. Whereupon Blayke and I took a step back and Anne said: „Mr. Phillips, we're very sorry we are late, but since they were lost and didn't knew the way, I had to help them find the way to school..". „Anne.. Shirley Cuthbert sit down at once.", he ordered in a stern tone, and Anne, who turned around to us for a moment, walked to her seat with compassion. „Your names?", Mr. Phillips asked us and I answered for both of us.

„Jules Loralei Rae River and this is Blayke Jaydan Rae River", I said and he looked at me with a serious look on his face. „The Rae River twins? What a miracle. Who would have thought that you two would turn everything upside down after our orange haired girl Anne Cuthbert always did, right?", he said and looked at Anne for a moment. „Sit down", he commanded us, but we didn't move from the place, as we didn't know where to sit. „Can you hear me?!", he yelled at us and was about to hit me with the stick, when a hand came between us, Gilbert? „Excuse me sir, but I don't think the two of them can follow your instructions, as they are new here and don't even know where to sit", Gilbert said, pushing himself in front of us.

„Sit down, Blythe", Mr. Phillips said and Gilbert sighed just before he slowly moved back to his seat. „Blythe is right.. Blayke, you sit over there, next to Moody and you.. Jules, you are suppose to sit there with the girls, but as you can see there is no room left for you. You sit down next to Gilbert Blythe, your savior in need, right?", he said and I moved to my seat. My savior in need? Gilbert had clearly helped me here, but why? He could've stayed out of it like everybody else. Then Mr. Phillips wouldn't be made at him too, but standing up for me as a protection, was a really brave thing to do, which I expected from nobody here since nobody cares about me here and I own nobody anything here. I'm just an orphan, who moved with her twin brother and her grandparents to Avonlea.

No one here cares, so why did he stand up for me? Maybe because we are friends? Are friends doing that? Does that make a good friend? I didn't know , so when I sat down next to him, I said quietly: „Thank you" and he smiled and nodded at me. „No problem", he whispered back and looked forward again.

Gilbert Blythe is my first friend here, I believe..