Young love (Gilbert Blythe)

❣︎𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆❣︎

CHAPTER SEVEN:

People need people

Chapter song: Train wreck (James Arthur)

I'm down on my knees and I need you to be my God
Be my help, be a savior who can
Unbreak the broken
Unsay these reckless words (find hope in the hopeless)
Pull me out of the train wreck
Unburn the ashes

Some time has passed since the incident with Ruby's house took place. The house was renovated with the help of the community, and after a week Ruby had a house to live in again. She was lucky. I know it sounds silly to say that, but she really was. Her house, even though it was in a fire, still stood, and her whole family was safe. Which is the most important thing.

Anne went back to school, now that she knows she has me and Diana, and was encouraged by Ruby, who stayed at her while her house was being repaired. I am happy to say that a beautiful friendship was formed between them.

As for Gilbert, it's a little more complicated. I was ashamed to come to him again for math lessons, knowing that I made a fool of myself in front of him at the fire. I lost control. I thought I could be near the fire without getting scared like a cat mouse, but I was wrong.

When I saw how the fire was growing, I got scared, and the fact that windows were exploding and a child was crying didn't help me.

I remember a woman trying to talk to me, and then everything was erased from my memory. All I know is that I woke up hugged by Gilbert. This makes me die of shame! Who knows what I said or did while I was not aware of what I was doing. I thanked him for taking care of me while I was panicking, or whatever I was having, of course. But I still can't look at him without feeling my cheeks on fire. He saw me in a vulnerable moment and made sure that I didn't suffer anything. And I remember very well that I felt safe in his arms. And that drives me crazy.

"Evelyn? Evelyn!" The voice of a certain blonde brings me back to earth.

"Yes Ruby?" I answer and look at her, removing a leaf from her hair that probably fell from a tree.

"Do you think Gilbert will come to school today?" She asks and makes her typical puppy dog eyes.

"Not likely, my mother told me that John wasn't feeling well the last time she visited."

John's condition worsened over time. The cough became more aggressive, his face paler and his hands tremble non-stop. Gilbert said he felt he needed to stay close, so he took a break from school. Okay, not a total break, the teacher made Anne bring him the lessons every day, even if she didn't agree. However, weeks passed without Gilbert at school, and Ruby made sure to ask me every morning if Gilbert was coming or not. I don't want to be mean, but she's already getting annoying. I mean, I know she's in love with him and all that, but sometimes she exaggerates.

"Are you going to visit him today?" She asks me again, and I refrain from rolling my eyes.

"I don't think so. Mother will visit them anyway. She offered to make them a pie."

"Why don't you go too? You could tell me how Gilbert is doing. I bet he's just as handsome."

I look at her annoyed. John could die at any moment, and she is concerned about how handsome Gilbert is.

"There's no point in me going if my mother is there."

I tell her and enter the school, holding the door so that she can enter after me.

The truth is, I really want to visit John, but that would mean seeing Gilbert too, and that would just lead to another awkward moment between the two of us.