I'll Be Happy For The Both Of You

chapter 8: gilbert and ruby?

"Ruby, may we talk?"

My heart was beating so fast. Did Gilbert just... Did he really just ask her?

I couldn't breathe.

Why did I care? Why is my heart reacting like this? Why do I feel my cheeks burning? Why, why, why?

"Of course!" Ruby screamed out with excitement, blushing as she stood up and followed him outside through the curtain.

Jane and Tillie both pointed their fingers to their lips, gesturing for us not to speak a word as they wanted to hear Gilbert and Ruby from behind the curtains. Not that I could talk now, anyway.

"Hi." I heard Gilbert say nervously. My heart was breaking and I didn't know why. He used to be nervous about me. Just about me. What, Anne?! Why are you thinking like that?

I don't care! I'm glad he's asking Ruby, right? What's going on with me?

"Hi." Ruby replied shyly. I could imagine the way she was looking at him now, her eyes full of love and joy.

"So... would you like to go with me? To the dance, I mean. Um, I..."

"Yes!" Ruby said right away, not even waiting for him to finish. "I'd love to go with you!"

Ouch. Another pang in my heart.

What's going on? But most importantly, why does it make me feel so... so... Angry? Jealous? No, no, no. Definitely, angry.

He's surely just doing this to make me mad, right? That has to be it! I can't give him that satisfaction.

Ruby ran back through the curtains, her face blushing more than I've ever seen it before. A crazy smile on her face, as if she'd just recieved the best news possible. She probably has.

"I... he..." she fell onto the ground, looking dizzy.

"Yes, we heard!" Jane said teasingly, her eyes pierced on Ruby.

"Finally! I knew the two of you were going to end up together." Josie-Pye giggled, her usually harsh, mean voice softened a bit.

My heart was doing weird things and I couldn't make sense of it.

Gilbert and Ruby? I don't think so. But why do I care? I should just be happy for my best friend, I should be happy for the both of them.

Instead, I was feeling emotions I didn't recognise.

I was only sure about one thing regarding my emotional state - I wasn't feeling happy. And I couldn't understand why.
________________________________

Hello, everyone,
so I finally updated! This is a really short chapter, and it's been a while since I was here, so it probably should have been longer, but this seemed right and I hope you like it. Please let me know what you think and whether you're still enjoying this story. Thank you ;)

-K