Lavender - {G.B}

quatorze

"Alice, dear!" Angelica called. "Some handsome young gentleman is here for you!"

Alice finished brushing through her hair. She clipped her pendant around her neck and walked out of her room and traveled down the stairs in a rush. She hugged Angelica, grabbing a piece of toast on a plate and began walking out the door with Gilbert.

"I'll introduce you officially when school's over, I promise!" Alice called as she ran out the door with Angelica slowly walking out after, shaking her head.

"Oh, you should have been there. Billy's being an even bigger bully than before, especially after I rejected him and Cole is being 'weirder', which he isn't."

Gilbert looked down at her, slipping his hands in hers protectively. Alice took note of this and giggled lightly. It was sweet of him to be like that.

Gilbert ran up to the steps, opening the door for her, and bowed slightly like the day Gilbert came back from Alberta. Alice curtseyed, laughing and walked in. The two took off their scarfs, coats, and hats and their hands found their way back to each other.

"No way," Moody muttered, looking at Gilbert, then at his hand in Alice's and a smile spread across his face. "Hey, Billy! Guys, look who's back!"

Everyone turned at Gilbert and Alice as they stood next to each other at the doorway. Alice slipped her hand out of Gilbert's grip, a blush creeping onto her face.

The boys walked up to him and dragged them along towards the blackboard, but this time, Moody grabbed her hand lightly, pulling her along.

"So...are you two like...together now?" Moody asked, his eyes wide in searching for an answer.

Alice smiled sheepishly and looked up at Gilbert. "Our relationship would best be kept a secret. I imagine Billy would get riled up." Gilbert took Alice's hand in his again, hiding it into the folds of Alice's dress.

Moody chuckled and Charlie patted him on the back. "Don't catch Billy seeing you two. He'd for sure blow-up."

Charlie looked to his right and his smile faded slightly. I turned my head at Anne who had Diana's blue ribbon in her hair. Her red hair was cut short and Gilbert turned to speak with her. Anne's eyes widened at the sight of him.

"Anne." He smiled. Alice couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy, but to calm herself, she knew they had been friends and hadn't seen each other for a long time, like everyone else.

"You're back."

"Yes. Hi," he greeted.

"What's up with her hair?" Alice turned her head at Charlie and he put his hands up in surrender.

"Alice told me. That's not why I'm here." Gilbert's eyes gazed down at Alice. "It's good to see you."

Everyone heard the door creak open at the front and close. Mr. Phillips walked in. "Open your readers to page twenty." Alice sat down in her seat, Gilbert taking his seat across from her. "It appears we have a new boy in class today." The class began to laugh. "Are you sure you're sitting in the right place, young man?"

"Will you teach us about diversity or will you bring your hatred upon the class, perhaps for being different as well?" Alice asked Mr. Phillips, her voice sounding a lot harsher than she meant to.

"Ms. Miller-"

"Johnson-Miller," Alice muttered.

"Ms. Johnson-Miller," Mr. Phillips corrected himself. "One more time you speak out of turn, you will see some punishment."

"See, you've said that a million times while you punish Cole for something that Billy Andrews did...or Anne for helping a student learn the correct way how to spell 'dreadful' right after it happens," Alice spoke up again.

Mr. Phillips straightened his posture and walked to the blackboard, beginning to write in cursive. "Write this phrase: I will not speak unless spoken to, fifty...sixty times. I suggest writing small."

Alice stood up, still proud that she said something for the first time. She glanced over at Gilbert, giving him a smile to tell him it was all right. She grabbed the chalk in his hand and began writing as Mr. Phillips continued with the lesson.

-

"What were you thinking?" Gilbert asked. "You shouldn't have said anything."

"No one was going to say something. He's being harsh on Cole for a reason and then he had him sit with the girls for using his artistic qualities, doing Anne's hair. And then just today when he called Anne a boy," Alice ranted.

"Well, please save your rants for after I officially meet your mother and for you to meet Bash," Gilbert said as they approached Alice's home.

"Angelica!" Alice called for Angelica.

"In here, Alice!" Angelica called back.

Alice brought Gilbert to a room which had books upon books on shelves. She read the spines of the books, reading the titles. Books of nonfiction on one side and books of fiction on the other.

"You must be Gilbert Blythe. Alice spoke a lot about you. I'm Angelica. I came from Virginia." Angelica smiled sweetly, shaking Gilbert's hand.

"It's very nice to meet you. Thank you for taking Alice in." Gilbert smiled.

"So, how do you like it? I hope you don't mind. I took the storage room into a library. Books of all sort that I could find that might interest me and you both."

"It looks wonderful." Alice looked back at Angelica. "You wouldn't mind if I stay at Gilbert's for a while do you?"

Angelica was confused but soon caught on, nodding her head. "Of course, go ahead. I expect you back for dinner. "