₁.₀ SUPERCUT; gilbert blythe ✔

043.

The dance practice is a torture.

It would be far from exaggeration to say that Marianne detests it. She wasn't at all thrilled when Ruby told them that Miss Stacy scheduled it for that day and the feeling only ended up growing. She's not keen on dancing (or any other physical activity, if she were to be honest), but having to do it in fron of all her classmates is a different case altogether. Marianne supposes it may make her seem vain, for who would take their time to watch her so closely, yet the thought of being watched while she struggles to remember the right steps terrifies her to the core.

It's that fear that makes her attempts even more pathetic. Despite the fact that she can see all the other students feeling nervous and unsure of what to do as well, Marianne's self-confidence only sinks lower and lower.

When Mrs. Lynde calls for a break, she cannot help a relieved sigh leave her lips. Marianne would preferably say that she shall not dance at all... She's sure Mrs. Lynde wouldn't mind it that much, actually, since the woman seems amazed by how awful the first try turned out to be. She must have known that it won't be easy to teach the young to dance The Dashing White Sergeant, or whatever the dance is called, but surely she didn't expect it to be that bad...

When Ruby storms off into the cloak room, Marianne decides to follow the girl. Perhaps her reason for doing so isn't exactly right, for she sees this more like a distraction for that burning embarrassment, yet she couldn't really care less now. "What's the matter, Ruby?" she asks, kneeling close to the bench the blonde occupies. A frown appears on her face when she notices how pale Ruby's face has become, the way she twists her fingers nervously.

"Are you feeling faint again?"

"She's shaking," Jane points out.

"You can tell us."

"I... What if I'm pregnant?!" Ruby exclaims suddenly, obviously terrified. Her question and the tone of it cause all the girls to look at her with wide eyes, each of them unsure of what to say and left with their mouth open. "My mother said if I so much as go near a boy, I might get pregnant, and if a boy touches me, I'll certainly get pregnant! So I must be. You all could be!"

Panic arises in an instant. It takes mere seconds for all the girls to start talking simultaneously, their voices becoming more pitched as they think about Ruby's words and the vision they carried with them.

"Especially you, Marianne," adds the seated girl now. "You and Gilbert hold hands all the time!"

The surprise written over Marianne's face only deepens. "Wh- No, that's not how..." she trails off, not knowing whether she should explain that holding hands is no way to conceive a baby.

Next to her, Tillie looks at her hands, horrified. "But who's the father?

The girls turn around to face Miss Stacy who must have heard the whole conversation. Josie's face is red from emotions as she shrieks, "How could you let this happen?!"

"Girls, girls, please calm yourselves. I can assure you, no one will become pregnant from dancing." Miss Stacy seems just as uncomfortable as Marianne feels, though it's worst for her. After all, she's the teacher, she's the one who has no choice but to deal with the situation somehow... especially since she has to choose her words really, really carefully, because there certainly would be some parents discontent should she truly enlighten the girls.

"But there was so much touching!"

"That's not how it works. It's not... uh... topical."

Good God. Suddenly the dance practice seems like a much more interesting thing to do than having to endure this... conversation, if one can even call it that. It causes Mariane to feel so much more grateful towards her mother. Had it not been for Martha Belware, who decided to unveil the mystery of pregnancy to her daughter as soon as the girl bled for the first time, she would be just as clueless as the rest now. It's somehow unfair, she thinks now, that girls are kept in the dark for such a long time. How can it be that society expects them to get engaged and become wives at such a young age while allowing them to enter marriage with no knowledge about... well, about this. Now that she is aware, Marianne cannot imagine only finding out about the way children come to be on her wedding night.