cruel summer

one

what doesn't kill me makes me want you more.

anne shirley lay on her stomach on her bed, her english literature books sprawled out in front of her as she tried to jot down as many notes as possible. tomorrow was her last exam before completing her first year of college. which meant she would be going back to avonlea for three months, which meant she would probably have to see gilbert blythe again. not a day had gone by where she hadn't thought about him, and her roommate had noticed.

bea palmer was anne's roommate. she was a beautiful, bubbly girl who lived life to the fullest. she was always out, making new friends, new memories. anne got along with her well, and due to one of their two am deep talks, bea knew all about gilbert blythe and everything that had happened the previous year.

anne was snapped out of her study session when her phone began to ring. every time it rang, she hoped it was gilbert. that maybe he had rethought his decision to leave, and that he was going to tell her he missed her and that he was coming home. but it was never him.

"hey, di." anne greeted as she answered the facetime call, smiling as her best friend appeared on the screen.

"hey! oh my god so i just got out of my last exam, i think it went really well!" said diana. it was then that anne noticed she was outside, walking down the streets of vancouver. diana loved the city she was living in, and her relationship with jerry remained strong. they visited each other once a month, which anne envied but also found adorable.

"congrats! i'm studying for my english lit exam tomorrow, it's my last one." anne explained. diana's face beamed, her smiled wider than before.

"good luck! you're gonna do amazing! when do you come home?!" she asked, probably looking crazy to people who were passing her in the street.

"next week!" said anne, smiling widely. the two hadn't seen each other in almost two months, so they were excited to reunite for the whole summer.

"i can't wait to see you! i miss you so much, a." said diana. anne knew what she was thinking though. she was thinking about gilbert, and how anne was dreading seeing him again. "he texted me again today."

"who?" asked anne, pretending to act oblivious. she knew exactly who had texted diana.

"anne, you know who i'm talking about. he wants me to tell you he misses you." diana said, a weak smile on her face. she knew how sensitive this was for anne, but she also knew there was a solution to stop the pain.

"he could just text me and tell me that himself." said anne with a shrug of her shoulders, although her stomach exploded with butterflies over the fact gilbert missed her.

"he has! you never respond to his texts!" diana said, shaking her head. she wasn't wrong.

"he left me!" anne retorted, close to tears.

"you broke up with him!" said diana. they weren't arguing, but this is how a lot of their conversations had gone when talking about gilbert blythe. "look, you know i love you and i know that you're hurting. i so desperately wish i could take away your pain. but all year you've been desperate for him to contact you, but whenever he does, you don't reply."

anne looked at her friend on the screen, knowing perfectly well she was right. she was scared of opening up to him again, considering how easily he left her last summer. and she didn't want to get attached to him again, she couldn't.

"i know." anne whispered, biting her lower lip. "i'm just scared, di. he left me. and i know i broke up with him, but he didn't even fight for me. he just left."

"i know, a. i know." diana said soothingly, a sympathetic smile on her face. they left the gilbert conversation at that, and began talking about summer and what they were going to do while they were home.

——

after an hour on facetime to diana, anne finally said her goodbyes and hung up. it was good timing as bea walked through the door the minute anne put her phone down onto her bed.

"good evening, red." said bea as she sat herself down on her bed opposite anne's. red was anne's nickname that bea had given her, and even though anne hated her red hair, she actually didn't mind this nickname so much.

"evening, button." said anne with a giggle. button was bea's name anne had given her due to bea having the cutest button nose.

"how's studying coming along?" she asked, opening a bar of chocolate and almost swallowing it whole. anne laughed at the sight, shaking her head.

"it was going great, and then diana called and i accidentally ended up on facetime to her for over an hour." anne admitted. bea tutted, shaking her head.

"naughty red." she said, then began to laugh. "that could be your porn name."

"shut up! you're so weird." anne said as she laughed loudly. she was grateful for how well she seemed to connect with bea, she felt like she had found another true kindred spirit. "what are you doing for summer?"

"uh, probably staying here. my parents are going through a divorce right now and the whole situation is messy and they're arguing all of the time and i really don't want to be in the middle of that." she said. bea had told anne all of her home life problems, how her parents had been constantly arguing for the last four years before finally deciding to get a divorce. bea rarely went home, mostly because it was more like a war zone than a home.

anne felt bad that bea would be here all by herself, it was summer for god sake. she should be out having fun!

"hey, why don't you come back to avonlea with me? there's plenty of room at green gables, and i'm sure matthew and marilla won't mind." anne offered with her warm, welcoming smile. bea was honestly shocked anne had asked her that, she had never even met anne's family before and already she was being invited to spend three whole months with them.

"that's so sweet, red. but i wouldn't want to intrude." bea said, smiling softly.

"don't be silly! you're more than welcome to stay with us. you're basically part of my family now anyways. plus, you could meet all of my friends. i'm sure they would love you." anne said, using her persuading tone. she knew she had won her over when bea smiled widely.

"okay, that sounds fun. thanks, red. you're the best." said bea, getting up from her bed and running over to anne's and jumping down beside her, pulling her into a hug while anne laughed loud enough for the people in the dorm beside them to hear.

———
hi again!!!! soooo, y'all really thought i'd leave sunflower just like that?! hell no!
i hope u like the opening chapter n i hope u like bea! i quite like bea, she's nice n i think she's good for anne!
so anyways, i hope you enjoy this story!
don't forget to comment & vote :)