mon chouchou . jb

004

forest walks and crunchy leaves

in a blink of an eye, it was already afternoon in the little town called green gables. who knew flower picking and organising had this many rules? aurelia certainly did not, until anne shirley showed her the ropes.

thus, a beautiful assortment of flowers were nicely presented in a handmade vase anne created herself using clay - for her dearest marilla and matthew, of course.

while tying a lace ribbon around the curve of the vase, aurelia noticed a few leftover flowers on the table. "anne, are you going to use these?" she said, picking up the flowers and walking towards anne's window. "if not, then i'll just throw them out the window."

somehow, the word 'throw' caused anne to quickly run aurelia's way - preferably to stop her from doing so. "no! as anne shirley you must never throw away the wonders of nature. they will be upset!" anne placed a finger on her chin, thinking on ways they can recycle the picked flowers.

"oh! you can make a nosegay bouquet!" anne exclaimed in the most excited tone ever. just when aurelia thought she couldn't be more cheery, anne never ceases to prove her wrong.

"a what?" aurelia asked, letting anne drag her back to the crafting table.

"a nosegay bouquet! you know those small flower bouquets they use for wedding ceremonies? that's what they are!" anne explained, standing back up to get more supplies. "you wait here, i'll get some more things to pretty the bouquet up."

waiting for anne to come back, aurelia picked up the flowers and bundled them up in her hand. not long after, anne came back with a variety of ribbons and a few plucks of baby's breath.

"where'd you get these?" aurelia gasped, looking at the wonderful bunch of baby's breath in anne's grasp.

"mrs. lynde gave them to me a while back, not too long ago for them to dry out." anne said, placing them on the table for aurelia to start making the bouquet.

after an hour of arranging, snipping, and testing out different coloured ribbons, aurelia could finally be proud to say that she had finally done her first flower bouquet! with help from anne, of course. her guidance doesn't go unnoticed.

"now, who are you going to give it to?" anne said, itching to know if aurelia had a certain someone in mind. "a special boy perhaps?"

aurelia laughed, intrigued by the thought of her having a significant other. "dear anne, no! i don't have a special boy." she said, air quoting to show how silly the idea is. "i think i'll just give it to my mother, she loves flowers."

"awe, that's just as special as a charming prince. i'm sure your mother will love it!" anne smiled. "in the meantime, you can put them next to the vase. surely you wouldn't forget that way."

aurelia obliged, gently placing the bouquet on the table, next to the vase.

"what next, anne?" aurelia asked. "so far i'm having the most fun! being you is really filling my day - usually, i'd be reading the same book right now, for the umpteenth time."

"i'm glad it is," anne giggled, putting on her coat and straw hat. "because we're going for a walk in the forest!"

hearing that, aurelia speedily put on her own coat and hat, before heading out to the forest of green gables.

on their way to the gate, aurelia caught a glimpse of jerry talking to someone. it couldn't be mr. cuthbert, he was way too short to be him.

as aurelia was analysing the figure, anne suddenly pulled her hand to fasten the pace. aurelia was confused by this, until she recognised who the person was.

"anne, as fast as we go, we still have to walk past them, you know?" aurelia snickered, which anne just replied with a scoff. "it won't hurt to say hello, right?" aurelia enjoyed teasing anne. she knew well of the feelings the red-haired girl had for gilbert blythe - everyone seemed to notice but the red-haired girl herself.

"goodness, aurelia, fine!" anne grunted, taking a slight turn to the barn. aurelia just laughed silently, knowing anne was actually thrilled to see the boy.

though, she can't help but feel excited to see the boy gilbert was talking to. their short meetings before this managed to form a bond between aurelia and jerry.

aurelia shrugged it off, thinking it was just the rush of happiness to see her friends.

"hello gilbert, hello jerry," aurelia grinned. "nice weather we have today. don't we, anne?" she slightly elbowed anne's side, a sign for her to give a reply.

"indeed we do, aurelia." anne forced a smile. "good afternoon to you, jerry." she said, in an agreeable tone before turning to the other. "you too, blythe."

in the midst of tension, jerry just tipped his hat to acknowledge the girls' greetings. in some way, jerry knew that this was all aurelia's planning.

this has happened before, gilbert coming over to help matthew with the barn. although, anne would usually just walk past gilbert like the wind. for this, jerry gave a small grin to aurelia.

even he thought anne was being too arrogant, especially to the boy she likes! it's good for her to be pushed sometimes.

"good afternoon, girls." gilbert replied, not minding anne's obvious favouritism towards jerry. "where are you two headed off to?"

"and why would you care?" anne sneered, letting go of aurelia's arms to cross hers.

"it's just a question, anne." jerry laughed, no wonder there was no progress between these two. if anne continues to act like this, gilbert could already be getting the wrong ideas - and far worse, he can like someone else! indeed, that is not wanted.

"well, we're going for a lovely walk in the forest." anne replied with a scoff, taking hold of aurelia's hand to drag them away from this situation she considered a mess. "you two should go back to whatever it is that was so important. have fun!" with that, anne marched away with aurelia tailing behind.

aurelia turned her head towards the boys, mouthing 'sorry!' and waving her hand to bid adieu - in which they both returned gleefully.

"anne, with a temper like that, gilbert would've thought you wanted him dead instead of you liking him." she giggled, locking her arm with anne's. her face almost matched her hair from how angry she seemed to be.

"i do not like him! what a horrendous idea!" anne sighed, kicking the pebbles on the ground grumpily.

"you don't have to be ashamed, anne." aurelia said. "gilbert blythe is a lovely boy."

anne grunted. "as lovely as you ought him to be, i won't be caught dead having feelings for him! besides, ruby already has her eyes on him. i would be a mean friend if i still pursued him knowing that." she explained.

"well, ruby seems to be more smitten with moody nowadays, don't you think?" aurelia suggested. "i think they are way more suitable for each other than gilbert and her could ever be."

"oh whatever, all i know is whoever it is ruby chooses - i would never fall for gilbert blythe. never ever in a million moons!" anne said, her voice arrogant as she was.

trying to change the topic, anne asked, "enough about me, aurelia. do you have anyone you have set eyes on?" she smiled. "i know for sure billy has his eyes on you."

"are you crazy? billy andrews? he hates me to his guts." aurelia laughed. "there's been a number of times where i told miss stacy about his antics, remember? he got tons of punishments just for my complaints alone."

"well, he always stares at you during class." anne giggled. "that has got to be something!"

"i sit right in front of him, anne. he might just want to get a better look at the board." aurelia explained, before coming to a halt. "why'd we stop, anne?"

"look down!" aurelia looked to her feet, where a small bunch of dried leaves were laying on the ground. "i just know those leaves are very crunchy. go on, take a step! it's what anne shirley cuthbert would do."

without a say, aurelia jumped onto the pile of leaves - hearing the most satisfying crunch. continuing the walk, they stop for every leaf they thought would be crispy - and a laughing fit would occur after every single one.