Shirbert in the Modern Era

Chapter Two: Partners

The class filed into Miss Stacey's room for history class. Today they were getting partners for a big project, so of course everyone was a little nervous.

None more nervous than Anne.

Anne scanned around the room for possible partners, evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of each of her classmates.

Tillie was in this class, which would be good considering they were friends, however Tillie was not exactly thriving in history in terms of grades.

Charlie would be ok. He seemed pretty nice, and from what Anne could surmise, was getting good grades.

Diana. Anne's ideal partner. Her best friend for eternity, and a great student. Anne knew the odds of them being partners weren't great though.

Gilbert Blythe. Well, he was, admittedly, incredibly smart. He and Anne where always vying to beat each other academically. Personality-wise, however, he had the capacity to be positively insufferable. Still, he wouldn't be a terrible partner.

.....

Across the room, Gilbert was watching Anne. Again. He justified it to himself on the basis that she had her hair down today, which was unusual, and thus, eye-catching.

He liked how her hair looked down, how it moved as she talked. It was just as lively and animated as her.

"Earth to Gilbert?"

Gilbert tore his eyes away from Anne at the sound of Charlie's voice.

"What's up Charlie?" Gilbert asked, trying to pretend he had not just been staring at Anne.

"Ok first of all, stop staring at Anne. I know you're in love, but c'mon man, it's getting creepy,"

Gilbert scoffed at the accusation.

"Charlie I am not-"

Charlie plowed on, undeterred by Gilbert's protests.

"While you were ignoring me, I was asking if you were free after school on Friday to work the library with me?"

Gilbert raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Why are you working the library? You don't read".

Charlie grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I may or may not have knocked over two shelves yesterday, and this may or may not be my punishment."

Gilbert laughed at Charlie's misfortune, but nevertheless, agreed to work the library with him.

"You're lucky I happen to like the library Charlie".

"Why do you like it so much? 'Cause Anne hangs out there a lot?" Charlie suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

Before Gilbert could respond, Miss Stacey bursting the door.

"Hello class! Sorry I'm late, I was having trouble with the printer and-"

As if on cue, the large stack of papers in her arms fell to the floor in sharp spirals, prompting hushed giggles from the class. Immediately, Anne was crouching on the floor, helping Miss Stacey retrieve her escaped documents.

Quickly, Gilbert did the same, nearly jumping out of his chair to join Anne on the floor. Not because of her, obviously. Because he wanted to be helpful to Miss Stacey.

But while he was here, he may as well have a little fun.

"Trying to get in Miss Stacey's good graces to get good grades, Anne? That's low" he murmured, grinning and casting his eyes up towards her.

Anne huffed, picking up papers even more rapidly.

"Maybe that's what you're doing Blythe, but I'm just being a good person".

Gilbert smirked. "Blythe? I'm not even on first name basis?"

"No, but you'll get there someday", Anne said without looking up.

Unexpectedly, Gilbert chuckled at this.

The small sound reverberated through Anne's body. It was a really nice sound. Anne was pleased that she had brought it out of him.

Why was she pleased? It's not like they were really friends. Sure they talked sometimes, but they were mostly academic rivals. Not truly friends, or more than friends, as Cole and others often suggested.

Anne quickly handed her stack to Miss Stacey and sat back down. Gilbert did the same, shooting one last glance her way before sitting.

"Thank you Anne and Gilbert. Sometimes I think I'd drop my head if it wasn't attached to my body."

The class let out a meager laugh at her attempt at comedy. They really just wanted her to reveal the partnerships.

"Well, anyways, as you all know, we are doing a three week project on The Odyssey."

Everyone remained on the edges of their seats, waiting for the good part.

"These assignment sheets have all the details, but essentially you and your partner will be giving a presentation on one character in the poem besides Odysseus, and explaining how they are a hero in their own right."

She paused.

"I can tell you're all anxious to get started, so I'll wait no further. Please, read through the sheet FIRST, then flip to the partnerships, which are on the back."

As Miss Stacey, handed out sheets, one by one, students disobeyed her instructions, flipping over the paper immediately. Anne watched in silence at this process, secretly thinking about how it look like a wave. Her mind drifted to the foamy surf of the beach, and she began imagining herself as a mermaid.

She was so lost in her fantasy, that she almost didn't notice Miss Stacey placing a paper on her desk.

Anne considered following the instructions, but her curiosity got the better of her.

She looked at the table with the partnerships, scanning for her own name.

Tillie and James.

Prissy and Fred.

Anne and Charlie.

"Charlie!" Anne thought, "Well that's not so bad."

She looked up from her paper to his table, and gave him a little wave, which he quickly reciprocated.

Anne couldn't help but notice something steely in Gilbert's eyes when she had waved at Charlie, his desk mate.

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A/N
So... what do you guys think? Please be honest. Give me any questions/comments/suggestions/criticisms you want. I've never written fanfic before, so if you have any comments about pacing/clunky dialogue, or anything rlly, pls tell me.

Also, thank you to my 5 readers! That might sound small to some of you, but honestly it has me shook, so... thanks❤️💖😊💗💖