Lavender - {G.B}

vingt-trois

"Hey, Gilbert," Alice chirped with a smile on her face. She placed two loaves of bread on his table.

"Not now, Alice," Gilbert said, not even taking a look at her.

"Gil?"

"Go home."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand why you've been acting so moody lately. You know, studying isn't everything," Alice said with a small smile. He just rolled his eyes and her smile faltered. "Can't believe Bash has to live with this."

"Well, Bash isn't here right now," he said, hearing her muttered words. "So you can go home and go frolic in the meadow with your family."

Alice scoffed in disbelief. She didn't understand how Gilbert could be this way towards her or anyone for that particular matter. "We don't frolic. And I don't want to distract your studies so you can forget about having a girlfriend. Once you stop being such a cold-hearted jerk, come find me. Otherwise, have a pleasant day."

Alice stormed out of his house to the woods, leaving the two loaves of bread in the basket, which also held a gift for Gilbert to mark the date Alice met him for the first time. She was really young and her father was still alive then.

There was another picnic and their parents greeted each other. Alice was shy then and hid behind her mother. Gilbert, on the other hand, had a smile upon his face when he met the Miller family. A few hours later, she was down at the riverbank with her favorite book in her hand.

The young Gilbert took an interest in her and sat down next to her. She didn't want to be near him (or anyone new) so she stood up to get away from him. In the process, she slipped, almost falling into the water, until Gilbert caught her, calling out Allie which became his nickname for her.

Alice couldn't breathe. Her mind forgot how to breathe for a moment. She was in shock. First, she had the fight with Gilbert, now this.

The night prior, as Billy, Moody, and Charlie were out hunting for the fox they've been talking about for days, they came upon their little shack where inspiration struck the girl's and Cole's imagination.

Alice already had tears going down her cheeks and in frustration and anger at who did this made it worse.

Papers were torn out of their notebooks and the shack was completely broken down. All of Cole's art pieces were broken destroyed and on the ground.

"You sold me out!" Alice heard Cole's rather deep voice. She could tell he was in the same state as she was in. Sad and upset. Alice walked around the shack slowly and walked up from behind Cole. "I trusted you!"

"What are you talking about?" Anne asked. She was also crying. It was clear that she was from her red eyes that were watering and the way she held herself.

"You brought the teacher here!"

"You what?" Alice exclaimed.

"You told her about me!" Cole said over Alice. "Are you that desperate to be liked?! She told my parents I'm not in school!"

"I was trying to help."

"Well, you ruined my life!" Cole walked up to her. "They'll never let me leave the farm now, not even for school. It's over! I have nothing!"

"Cole..." Alice tried calming him down.

Too much heartbreak in one morning. Anne was hurt by Cole's words and by the fact her guardians still let the contraptions go that would harm her little fox friend. Cole was outraged that he lost Anne's trust.

Alice, her heart broke when the one person that comforted her, went through hell together cared more about his vocation than her. Alice understood that the future is important, but no one should go to that extent where they lose sight of what is really important. Friends and family. Alice thought she and Gilbert were both of those, but she was wrong. She hated the idea of leaving him, but she also knew that if he was like this, she wouldn't want to stick around.

"Who would do this?" Cole questioned, looking back at Alice. "Do you know who did this?"

"No," Anne sobbed.

"Who else did you show?" Cole asked. "Did you tell anyone?" He looked back at Alice, anger clear upon his face.

"No one," Alice answered. The only ones who knew about this place were the three standing there now, Diana, Ruby, and apparently Ms. Stacy.

Cole looked down to a pile of rocks with a stack of books on top of it. He picked up a familiar green scarf and his expression turned hostile.

Alice and Anne shared a concerned expression. Cole turned and pushed past Alice who tried to stop him as Anne called for him.

"Where is he going?" Anne asked to herself.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" I told her. "He's going to get revenge and the person is at the school. Come on, Anne."

A few seconds after Alice left to catch up to Cole before he got to the school, Anne followed. Alice's thoughts ran wild. What would happen if Cole did manage to get to Billy? Someone would definitely get hurt. Slowly, her thoughts went back to Gilbert. She didn't want to see him now, but she had to.

Erasing all thoughts from her mind, she saw Cole opening the door to the school. She was almost to the open door. Through it, she could see Cole and Billy wrestling on the ground. She panted heavily, getting her final chance to rest after the run.

She made eye contact with Gilbert. Gilbert wanted to apologize, but he wanted to settle things with Bash first. He needed his guidance on how to get Alice's heart back.

As Anne appeared through the door, Cole had pushed Billy into the steaming hot fireplace and it began sizzling. Everyone screamed in terror, but Alice could hear Billy's the most. His screams were painful to hear.

Hesitating for a moment, she rushed to Billy to get him to try to calm down, even though she knew he couldn't. She placed his head in her lap, checking his injury cautiously.

Prissy and Jane had rushed over immediately after, kneeling down to their brother in extreme pain.

Ms. Stacy came out from the door into her own office area to find the catastrophe. She looked worried but didn't know what to do.

"Cole...it wasn't - it wasn't your fault," I told him as he walked past.

Thanks to Gilbert's passion for being a doctor, he was the one to help with this situation. Diana got a cloth to hold to his ear and I held it to his ear.

"Everyone? Students, gather your things and be on your way," Ms. Stacy ordered so the class would be less crowded. "Class is dismissed for today."

"I need you to stay still, okay?" Gilbert said.

"You're going to be okay, Billy," Alice said in a low voice. "He's going to be okay." Alice looked at her left to Prissy and Jane.