your will shall decide your destiny

the day she walked into his life

The first time he saw her was at the picnic. The tiniest homliest girl he had ever seen. Instantly he knew she was different than any girl in Avonlea. And that didn't sit well with him. Rumors were already spreading about the orphan. About how she had a bad temper. How she had yelled at Mrs. Lynde. And was forgiven.

"My, my. Looks like the Cuthbert's picked up a stray," he heard his father reproach. A stray? Funny. He could use that.

"A stray dog," he joked. He barked at her. She looked scared and to the point of tears as others around him began to talk about her and tease her.

But what did he care? She was a dog.
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The next time he sees her is at school. She walks in with stupid flowers in her hair and Diana introduced her to the other girls, his sister's friends. He walks up to them with his friends and barks at her.

She held her head up defiantly. "You're ridiculous."

"Hey look! It's a talking dog." Billy laughed with his friends. "Can you fetch too?"

"Billy, let her be," his sister reprimanded.

But he wasn't backing down easy. "Sit, stay, roll over." He could see her clench her jaw trying not to cry. But he didn't care. She was an ugly orphan anyway.

"Don't mind my brother," Jane apologized. "He's ridiculous!"

Billy couldn't help it. He looked at her between Tillie and Ruby and barked at her one last time. He spent the rest of the day bothering her, barking with his friends. He didn't know why he did it. He just knew it was funny.
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The third time wasn't so pretty. He waited for her in the woods he knew she walked through. He heard crunching leaves and revealed himself from his hiding spot.

"Anne of Green Gables," he said menacingly. Anne visibly paled and halted. "You and me, we're gonna talk. You said some pretty nasty stuff about my sister." He walked towards her and she backed away.

"Who's your sister?" Anne asked quietly, eyes wide with fear.

"Prissy Andrews, dummy."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't mean to be nasty."

Billy scoffed. This orphan girl had the audacity to deny that she said horrible things about his sister, making her cry.

"Is that why she was crying all night?" He continued to walk towards her. He could see the fear in her eyes. Good. He wanted to make sure she got the message. "My parents say that's slander. You want to get slandered?"

"Sorry. I truly meant no harm," Anne tried to apologize again. But Billy wasn't having any of it. He chuckled. She dropped her books, terrified. Billy almost felt sorry for the younger girl. Almost.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson, Fido." Back again with referring to her as a dog. He didn't know why he continued it, but he did. "You're a bad dog. Bad little dog."

He saw her gulp and almost accept her fate, whatever it may be. Billy wasn't entirely sure what it was going to be.

But then he heard Gilbert. Gilbert was back. Billy immediately backed down. This was between Anne and him. He didn't need Blythe coming around trying to be all chivalrous. He left the two and marched to school. He was still seething at the orphan. He was also mad at Gilbert. Gilbert just had to be the gentleman that he is and intervene. If he hadn't, Billy would've taught that ugly orphan a lesson about messing with his sisters. He over heard Gilbert talking to the other guys.

"I don't care where she's from, a cute girl is a cute girl," he overheard Gilbert say. Billy crinkled his nose in disgust. Gilbert thought the orphan was cute? Billy forced himself to look at her. If he looked really hard he could almost - nope, still ugly, red hair and all. Billy couldn't believe that Gilbert had eyes for - what was her name again? Anne. So it felt satisfying when he saw she rejected his apple and yelled at him. And very hilarious when she whacked him upside the head. He was sure the whole of Avonlea heard.  Everyone was shocked when she did that, including herself. It had startled Billy, he had no idea the young girl had that in her. He could respect that. But that would not sway his low opinion of her. And then she walked out. She held her head up high, eyes forward and just made a mad dash out of the door. Mr. Phillips was furious. No one had ever dared stand up to him like that. Billy smirked. This girl had guts. She may still be an ugly, orphan dog, but every dog has its bite.