wondrous • gilbert blythe

dibs

Adelaide stomped down the chipping white paint steps of her front porch with a frown on her face. School was much too early in the morning for her, especially since she had to wake up extra early to tend to the animals. She loved having horses, chickens, and others but they were a lot of work. Her mother didn't like them, so she got stuck doing everything.

"Au revoir, mon ami." She spoke to her horse and went back inside.

After repeating the same steps she did yesterday for getting ready, Adelaide put on a gray dress this time and was out the door. The walk was even colder today with winter approaching Avonlea.

As she neared the split in the trail, she could see vibrant red hair in the distance.

"Anne!" She yelled, but Anne walked faster, not turning around. Adelaide also sped up, wondering why her new friend was avoiding her.

Little did she know, Anne had just been hassled by a boy in their class.

As Adelaide arrived at the split, a figure got in her way and she walked right into the person, falling onto her bottom.

"I am sorry, miss. I was not looking where I was going." The boy said and offered out his hand. Adelaide grabbed it and pulled herself up off of the dirty ground.

"No, it was not your fault. I was trying to catch my friend." She said and pointed to where Anne had gone. Adelaide wiped off her dress and started walking towards the school. The boy faltered, but was quick to jog and catch up with the mysterious new girl.

"Um, miss, do I know you? I mean, are you new here?" He asked her as they walked in sync.

"Not new to Avonlea, no. Just to this school." Adelaide replied, walking faster, trying to catch up with Anne. She swerved through the trees, seeing the schoolhouse in the distance.

"What is your name?" He asked. She didn't answer the question, but smiled. For once, a boy had actually not teased her about her hair.

"What, you can't tell me your name?" He repeated himself.

"Nope." Adelaide popped the 'p' and jogged up the steps of the school.

"Let me get the door for you." He said, having somehow caught up with her, and reached for the door.

"I can very well open the door for myself." Adelaide replied and did just that. He smiled and went in after her. As soon as she made it to where Diana and Anne sat, the boy was swarmed with classmates.

"Gilbert! You're back!"

"How was your trip?"

"Is your dad feeling better?"

Anne took one look at the scene and went back outside. Adelaide decided she would follow her, to see what was wrong. Diana and the other girls followed too.

Before Adelaide could ask Anne what the matter was, Josie Pye interrupted.

"Adelaide, what were you doing walking with Gilbert?" She asked.

"I bumped into him on the way here." Adelaide shrugged.

"Well, Ruby has had dibs on him for three years, so you can't talk to him. You can't even look at him." Josie replied snottily.

"Well, Josie, dibs are stupid and I'll talk to whomever I want, not that I want to talk to Gilbert, anyway." Adelaide gave them a fake smile and pushed through them, going back into the school house. She couldn't wait to get away from those horrid girls.

•••

"Adelaide, come and spell ravishing on the board." Mr. Phillips demanded her, and she got up from her bench and walked to the front of the classroom. She heard commotion from behind her as she wrote the letters on the board, but didn't turn around.

As Adelaide wrote the g, she heard a large cracking noise, and turned to see Anne had hit Gilbert on the face with her chalk board. Adelaide covered her mouth in shock.

"Anne! Come up here this instant." Their teacher scolded. Adelaide stood off to the side, not knowing where to stand. As he wrote insults to Anne on the board, Anne simply walked down the aisle, giving up. She walked straight out of the school, even with Mr. Phillips yelling for her. The class was silent, and he looked to the board.

"Adelaide, I thought you knew nothing more than Moody, here, but I guess I was wrong. Good job." He said to her, and Adelaide fumed, but kept her cool.

"Well, Mr. Phillips, I thought you knew that having infatuations with a girl half your age was illegal, so it seems we were both wrong." Adelaide said sarcastically and gave him a smile before trotting down the isle as Anne had. He didn't call for her, though. He just erased her handwriting from the board and continued teaching, trying to get off the subject.

Gilbert watched her go, wondering where in the world such a wondrous girl could have come from.