Home to Avonlea

3. the fire

As usual, there was a lot on Gilbert's mind.

He had started school again, but only part time as he looked for a new job on the docks in town. He needed money.

Mrs Grey was an old friend of his father's and had been keeping his house since Gilbert went away and she had been looking after him all week. Gilbert knew she was doing it out of the kindness of her heart and a loyalty to his late father but he still felt that he better give her something towards the upkeep.

Gil still hadn't seen Anne, despite being home in Avonlea a week. Every time he thought of going to the library and seeing her, something made him hesitate. The confidence he'd felt initially had gone and he was shy again.

Anne was the only person who made him shy.

On Gilbert's first day back at school, he felt optimistic for the first time in a while. He was good at school, and he used to have a lot of friends. He was a little behind in class but he was smart, so he'd soon catch up.

Gilbert ascended the steps to the school building and took a breath. He put a pleasant smile on his face and opened the door. He scanned the pews. Nearly everyone he remembered was here, he saw a lot of familiar faces and a few new ones.

He expected a cry of "Gilbert!" like there used to be when he'd return home from a trip. Instead, he was greeted by idle chatter. Nobody noticed him.

Gilbert frowned, taking off his scarf and hat off and placing it on his old peg. He found a hat and scarf already there. Gilbert shrugged it off and found a spare hook to place his things.

Gilbert walked slowly into the main room and looked around. The teacher was new - a tall, stocky man in his fifties, writing the lesson out on the board. Gilbert saw Diana, Anne's best friend. She was sitting near the back.

Gilbert noticed all of his old friends, most of which he'd fallen out with around the time his father died. They were gathered around the desk of a new boy. The new boy had a head of golden curls like an angel. The crowd seemed besotted with him, roaring with laughter at everything he said and listening to his every word raptly.

Gilbert thought fleetingly that this was how they used to be with him at school.

Gilbert wasn't jealous, he was more mature than he used to be and he never even put much stock in popularity in the first place. There were more important things, he'd learned.

Gilbert walked up the aisle to the teacher and spoke with him. The teacher was expecting him, as Mrs Grey had arranged Gilbert's return to school. The teacher gave Gilbert a book to help him with the new lessons that he'd not learnt and told him to sit at the back.

Gilbert heard students whispering about him now that they'd noticed him. Gilbert's back. Look, it's Gilbert. He's really back! Everybody was whispering, but nobody was greeting him.

Gil suddenly felt a rush of empathy for Anne that day he had humiliated her in front of everybody by pulling her hair and he thought again, how dreadful it was when everyone was laughing about you or talking about you.

He shrugged it off best he could and made his way down the pews towards the back, his mouth feeling dry. He wasn't used to being the odd one out.

As he was walking, girl stood up on his right and he glanced up. It was Ruby Gillis, a quiet, sweet girl who used to be friends with Anne and Diana. She always seemed nice, a bit hysterical sometimes, but Gilbert always put it down to her being one of the youngest.

"Gilbert! Welcome home." She said in a rush. She blushed and smiled, looking pleased and embarrassed at the same time.

Gilbert smiled at her, gratitude lifting his heavy heart. Somebody finally acknowledged him like a human being, not whispering behind his back!