kindred spirits || anne and gilbert

chapter twelve .

it's been three months since ruby has last spoken to anne. anne's had "excruciating heart break from the loss of her bosom friend", but has since learned to deal with the breakup.

now, she's sitting in diana's bed with cole, watching diana as she showcases the new outfits her father has bought her. diana twirls in the brown corduroy skirt and blue blouse, smiling. "what do you think?" she asks her friends.

"it's very cute," cole announces, looking up from his phone.

"agreed," anne comments, "you look splendid, di. you should wear that on your  next date with charlie."

diana's cheeks turn pink. "you could always borrow something for your dates with gilbert," she teases the redhead, who just smiles and shakes her head- no longer is she embarrassed of the boy, nor is she denying her feelings towards him. after months of the two confessing their love for each other, anne has learnt to ignore what others have to say about them, and to just be happy.

so, she just says, "thanks diana. maybe i will."

the girls both smile at each other, completely happy. although it's been difficult adjusting to a life spent without ruby, they're growing used to it. cole always says it's a cliche that diana and anne, best friends, ended up with charlie and gilbert, best friends. in return, diana says it's a cliche that a boy like cole, a sad artist, ended up with a boy like moody, who never seems to do anything right.

"ruby's sweet sixteenth is next week," cole says hesitantly, looking up at the girls. "we're going, right?"

anne's heart is struck with grief. of course, they didn't get a direct invite to the party, but anyone's invited. besides, ruby talked of them coming before all the drama. maybe she still wants them there. "we have to. she's still our friend." diana nods in agreement with her closest friend. "is there a theme?"

cole shrugs. "who knows. we could just dress nicely and go with the flow."

before anne knew it, it was the day of ruby's sweet sixteenth birthday party. gilbert, anne, diana, charlie, cole and moody decided to all go together as a big group. gilbert's wearing a long sleeved white shirt and tan khakis, hand in hand with anne wearing a yellow casual maxi dress. as the group of couples draws closer to the gillis household, anne's heart begins to race. gilbert notices and reassuringly squeezes her hand while passing her a smile. anne returns one.

diana, wearing a short light purple sundress, turns to the boys and anne. "who's going to knock?" charlie sloane, dresses similarly to gilbert, rapidly shakes his head.

gilbert huffs and takes a stride forward to the door. "i will," he says seconds before knocking three times. the group of couples wait in anticipation for what seems like an eternity for anne, but in reality, they wait less than a minute before the door swings open.

in front of them is standing none other than the birthday girl herself, ruby gillis, wearing a pink, velvet, bell sleeved shirt tucked into a white mini skirt. the newly sixteen year old's smile disappears when she sees who has arrived, specifically diana and anne. she averts her eyes from the two girls and smiles at the boys. "hi gilbert," she greets her long-time crush, "come in."

gilbert reaches back for anne and intertwines their fingers before stepping into the gillis home. the sight of, not only gilbert and anne being together, but all of them, happy and in love, made ruby's heart sink in jealousy and heartbreak. why can't she have that, she wonders. why can't she have someone love her like that? she exhales slowly before feeling someone tap her shoulder. she turns around, closing the door softly, and is greeted by a nervous anne.

"happy birthday!" she says, giving the girl a smile. she extends her arms to the girl, and in her hands is a light pink box with a white bow. "it's, uh, from jerry and i. jerry couldn't make it because of a family emergency, but he wanted me to tell you he wishes he could be here."

ruby smiles faintly. she reaches for the gift, excitement beginning to bubble in her heart. before she can take it from anne, josie pye is at her side.

"what the hell do you think you and your scummy friends think you're doing here?" she sneers at the redhead. "do you have a death wish?"

anne frowns, confused and angered. "we're here to celebrate a friends sweet sixteenth birthday."

josie scoffs at her enemy. "news flash; ruby gillis isn't your friend anymore. she stopped being your friend when you backstabbed her at a party." she looks down at the present in disgust. "and just so you're aware, we don't take gifts from slimy whores!" gilbert and anne's friends turn in shock after hearing this. josie whacks the birthday gift out of anne's hands, watching in silent satisfaction as it falls to the ground with a heart wrenching crash.

"josie!" diana scolds her. this gains the attention of everyone in the house.

as anne looks down at the gift, that is most definitely destroyed now, her bottom lip trembles as she struggles to fight back the tears in her eyes. gilbert begins to rush towards her, but she shoves past josie and ruby, dashing out of the home. gilbert, diana, and the rest of her friends file out of the house after her, giving josie nothing more than an angry glare, and a disappointed head-shake to ruby.

after the six leave, ruby gets on her knees in front of the gift and slowly unwraps the box, opening it carefully. a strong aroma fills her nostrils, and tears brim her eyelids as she realizes what the gift is. inside is her favorite perfume, broken and leaked onto everything else. there's an eyeshadow palette, as ruby has taken up makeup as a hobby, but the eyeshadows cracked and fell apart on the fall to the floor.

"everybody's watching you ruby," josie says lowly. "stop being weird and get up." louder, she says, "mrs. gillis, can you come sweep this up?"

outside of the party, anne is speed walking in the direction of her home, wiping tears from her freckled cheeks. that wicked josie doesn't know how much work it took to afford those things- her favorite perfume definitely isn't cheap. jerry worked extra hours, and anne sold some of her most valuable things.

gilbert and cole finally reach the girl, a few steps ahead of the rest of their friends. cole mackenzie wraps his arm around her, stopping her in her place. "josie pye is a wicked girl," he tells her. "don't listen to her."