Lavender - {G.B}

six

Alice jolted awake, her stomach feeling like it had been just a month ago. It was that time if year. She pinned cotton to her undergarments and changed into a purple dress, the original lavender being burned in the fire. She pulled her beige coat on her shoulders and buttoned it up to keep herself warm. She wrapped a plaid scarf around her neck.

Alice grabbed her lunch of bread, an apple, and milk. In this cold climate, she didn't worry about it getting warm. She opened the door, feeling the icy air on her face. The chilling wind blew her hair in her face as she walked. Alice had difficulties keeping it out of her face, wishing she put it in a braid instead.

Alice opened the school door and shut the door quickly before letting any cold air inside. She took her scarf and coat off, putting it on a hook. They had a heater inside the classroom so it wasn't as cold as it would be. She tied her hair in a loose braid over her shoulder.

-

"I got mine three months ago, and I feel extremely mature," Josie said, leaning in to tell us. It just so happens Anne had started. Alice didn't go up to her tree since the weather was too cold, for her to handle at least.

"You seem mature," Diana told her.

"You do," Tillie agreed with a smile.

"I think the boys take me more seriously, too," she added.

"But they can't tell. Can they tell?" Anne asked worriedly. "That would be awful."

"Not tell, per se, but I'm not a little girl anymore and I believe that's noticeable. My bosoms are growing."

Anne looked down at her chest. "Yet another reason why this is inexplicable."

"I got mine last year," Diana said.

"Me, too."

"My father has started opening the door for me. It's sweet." She smiled, probably thinking about her father.

"I can't wait until I can wear my hair up."

Ruby's eyes began to tear up, her eyes getting red. Alice raised her eyebrows, wondering why she was depressed. "She was cheerful just a second ago. Why the sudden mood change," Alice thought.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked Ruby.

"I'm not a woman. Why don't I have it?" she cried.

"Trust me, if I could give you mine, I would," Anne told her, disgusted with what she had. "This is so inconvenient," she said in a louder voice.

"Hush, Anne," Alice warned her,

"Keep you voice down," Josie told her.

"No one's supposed to know. A woman's cycle is a shameful thing," Tillie told her

"Why?"

"It's unmentionable," Diana explained. "That's why."

"That's not a reason," Anne argued.

"Why don't you ever understand anything?" Josie asked.

"Marilla says it's God's plan, so doesn't that make it good?" Anne questioned. "I mean, we can make a whole person. Where's the shame in that?"

"Am I the only one who thinks she's out of her mind?"

Alice moved the conversation from Josie's rude comment. "God hasn't been with me for the last two years. I don't think God has a plan." Everyone looked at her, them wondering why she thought that. "t's a secret, Anne. That's just the way it is."

"Do boys have to contend to anything like this?" Anne asked.

"Boys have their own problems," Diana answered her.

Ruby began to sit up. She looked out the window with a curious, confused expression. Alice sat up, following her gaze, looking through the window seeing Billy hitting a tree stump outside in the snow. "Why are they doing that?" Everyone stood up to look.

"There's a question for the ages." Josie shook her head and they sat back down.

"When I get mine, I stay home from school, because I don't want to have an accident," Tillie said slowly reminding Alice of that time a few years ago.

"There was a girl a few years ago," Ruby started to explain. "...who bled through right the back of her dress."

"Oh, I would die of mortification," Tillie said.

"The teacher called her up to the blackboard, and everybody saw."

"I would just die."

-

Alice leaned her head on her palm, tapping her fingers on the desk. She gazed outside as it began snowing, adding more to the snow. The snow beginning to pile up on tree branches. Winter, another one of her favorite seasons as she admired the meaning behind it. Everything dies, but she already knew that it's not dead forever. Everything blooms again, there's hope.

Over the girl's earlier conversation, Alice was a bit nervous. She hadn't thought about that girl in a long time until Tillie and Ruby brought the story again. She sat on her leg, making her leg feel a bit numb. The class was doing Geography, not something Alice enjoyed to learn a lot in school. Perhaps it was just that Mr. Phillips was teaching the subject that bored her.

"The Atlantic Maritimes!" Alice lifted her head at Mr. Phillips loud voice. "Miller?!"

Anne slowly sat back down in her seat. Alice stayed where she was, tapping her pencil on the desk. "I'm sorry. I don't know what it is."

"You better start paying attention, young lady. I will not have it next time," Mr. Phillips said sternly. Alice nodded, taking note of what he said. "See me after school."

-

Alice walked into Mr. Phillip's office. He walked in, taking his jacket off and setting it on the desk. He looked at her with a small smirk.

"You need to start paying attention to your teacher in class," he told her.

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"I will not tolerate it any longer. Next time, you will be severely punished." He sighed. "You are dismissed."

Alice walked towards her belongings. "Nice boys never say people eat insects." Alice pulled over her coat, looking up at the arrogant boy.

"I beg your pardon?" Diana questioned, turning to him.

"It's a mnemonic device," Gilbert explained, pulling on his red coat. "It helps you remember things, right? That's, uh, the Maritimes. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI. "Nice boys-"

"Diana, could you please tell Gilbert Blythe that I don't need his help?" Anne snapped turning to Diana.

"Why don't you just tell me yourself?" Gilbert asked. "I'm right here."

"I suppose I just did." Anne turned away from him.

"Mnemonic is spelled with an 'M'. Not that you need my help anyway. Have a good weekend." Gilbert chuckled.

"You, too!" Diana beamed, smiling as he left.

Alice looked at Diana with a slight scowl across her face. Anne had the same look. Diana looked at the two, realizing why the two girls looked at her like that.

"Sorry."