sunflower

thirty-one

and every table, i'll save you a seat, lover.

school started back up again after all of the christmas and new year festivities came to a close. anne was excited to go back to school, but it dawned on her that this was the year she went to college. she had sent in her applications months ago, but she was nervous. she wouldn't be with her friends, she wouldn't have diana. she wouldn't have gilbert.

anne stood by her locker with diana, there was still another twenty minutes until classes started. she noticed a girl sitting on the bench opposite the lockers, a girl she hadn't seen before. she had golden blonde hair that lay just below her shoulders, and bright blue eyes. she was reading the great gatsby, one of anne's favourite books.

(this is how i imagine her, aviva mongillo. if u don't know her u should totally check out her music! her older music is under the name aviva & her new stuff is carys)

"is she new?" asked anne, still looking at the unfamiliar girl.

"must be." said diana, looking over at her. "we should ask her if she wants to hang out. she looks a bit lonely."

diana walked over to the girl, taking a seat beside her.

"hey! my name is diana, this is my best friend anne. we couldn't help but notice you were sat here all alone, we were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us? you could come sit with us and our friends at lunch if you like." diana introduced with a friendly smile. the girl looked up from her book, and looked glad that someone had actually talked to her.

"that's so sweet! thank you guys so much. you're the first people to actually talk to me today. i'm emily, by the way." she said, smiling towards the two girls as she held her hand out to shake. like gilbert did on his first day. just as anne thought that, gilbert joined the three girls.

"morning. who's your new friend?" he asked, sitting beside anne. there wasn't much space left on the bench so he was sat awfully close to anne, not that she was complaining.

"this is emily. we invited her to hang out with us today." said diana. emily looked at gilbert, smiling widely. anne could tell immediately that she thought he was cute. who doesn't?

"hi, emily. it's nice to meet you. i'm gilbert." he said, holding his hand out for her to shake. she took his hand immediately, the smile never leaving her face.

"nice to meet you too." she said. anne bit her lip, noticing how the two held hands for a little bit too long. diana noticed too, but she didn't think that much of it once gilbert let go and his attention averted back to the redhead.

——

lunch time approached, and the group were about to meet emily. it turned out she was in both history and english with anne. she wasn't a bad girl, in fact she seemed really sweet, which is why anne was more nervous than most about her meeting her friends and getting close to them. specifically, gilbert blythe.

anne wandered over to their usual table with emily walking beside her, she brought a lot of attention. she was a beautiful girl, and she was new.

"guys, this is emily. she's new." anne introduced, sitting down beside diana and opposite gilbert. everyone introduced themselves to emily, and then began a conversation. she seemed to fit in perfectly.

anne watched as gilbert talked to emily as if they'd known each other forever. from what anne overheard, they both had a lot in common. the books they read, their music taste, the tv shows they watched, their favourite class, they even had the same favourite movie. there was a new feeling bubbling inside of anne, a feeling that made her paranoid, protective and uncomfortable. jealousy.

"you okay?" diana whispered to anne, noticing how quiet she was being. anne turned to her best friend and nodded her head, although diana knew that she wasn't okay.

maybe gilbert didn't actually like her back. he may have only known emily for half a day, but maybe he liked her. anne had never let herself get this messed up over a boy. this was new to her. she was usually headstrong and independent. now she was lovestruck and jealous.

maybe i need to get over gilbert. she thought in her head, trying to come up with ways she would be able to get over him.

gilbert had the same idea in his head. emily seemed like a nice girl, and they had a lot in common. maybe this was his chance to try and get over anne. he was sure anne couldn't possibly like him back, she didn't even mention their almost kiss on new year's eve after it happened. she may have kissed him on the cheek, but it was only a friendly kiss. it didn't actually mean anything. or so he thought.

as the day went on, anne noticed gilbert sat beside emily in yet another class they shared. they talked throughout the whole class, and anne tried her hardest not to watch them. but she couldn't help it, it only took two seconds for gilbert to completely forget about her and move onto someone new.

——

after school, anne walked alone due to diana having to go into town for her mom. following the usual trail, she was deep in thought. she wished to could get gilbert out of her head. he seemed to be the only thing she could think about lately, and it was rather annoying.

"anne! wait up!" said a male voice. she paused, hearing heavy footsteps coming up behind her. the boy looked at her, trying to catch his breath. "let me walk you home."

"i'm quite capable of walking myself home." said anne, turning away from gilbert. she didn't mean to say it quite that harshly, but she was mad at him. well, she was more mad at herself than him.

"we're walking the same way anyways. plus, we haven't really talked today." said gilbert, continuing to walk beside her. i wonder why. she thought.

"yeah. i just thought i'd leave you to it with your new friend." she responded, not looking at him. she wasn't trying to be rude, she didn't even mean to be rude. she figured it was the jealousy coming through.

"oh, emily? yeah she's pretty cool. but not as cool as you. i missed my curly shirley." he said, grinning at her, although she still wasn't looking at him. the way he said that made her stomach flutter with butterflies, and her palms sweat. there had definitely been a different sort of tension between them ever since their almost kiss in anne's bedroom only a week prior.

"she seems nice." was all anne said to that, although she really wanted to tell him just how much she missed him too.

"are you okay?" he asked her, noticing how off she seemed. no, i'm completely in love with you and you'll never know because you're too dumb to notice. plus, now i've lost my chance if i ever even had one because emily came along. so no, i am not okay. is what she wanted to say, but instead she said;

"yeah. just tired."

gilbert nodded his head at this, deciding it was best he didn't pry any further into her feelings. something felt awkward, though. it seemed like she was mad at him for being friends with emily, and that gave him a small piece of hope that maybe she did like him, and she was jealous.

if only he knew just how right he was about that.

———
A/N: we did it! we made it to 2k reads!! thank you all so much for your constant love n support !! i'll be posting another chapter straight after this one ! u get three in one day i'm so good to you guys i swear
also ..... do u hate me yet???? y'all thought u were getting shirbert after new years ... hehe just you wait !
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