accepted | anne with an e

05

chapter five

it was another cold, grey day in avonlea. just as usual, as gilbert was off at school, lucy stayed home with bash as he worked the land. lucy saw bash struggling with the fence outside and decided she'd help. she grabbed a coat to prepare for the cold with boots that were far too big for her and walked outside to him.

"hi bash. i'm here to help." she smiled. bash looked up and smiled.

"thank you kindly, lucy. just help me keep this up?" she nodded and held the wood bar.

most days were spent like this. lucy would help as much as she could while the two talked eachothers ears off.

one night, gilbert thought of an idea. the new teacher miss.stacey was very forward thinking and open minded. he had talked to her about furthering his studies and even letting lucy attend the school. of course, she agreed. gilbert walked to lucy's room to see her just starting to get under the covers.

"lucy?" he said and she looked up.

"gilbert, what is it?" she asked.

"well, you know how our old teacher left?" she nodded. "the new teacher is a very good replacement. her name's miss.stacey and i talked to her. if you're up to it, she's ok with you attending school?" he smiled and lucy's jaw dropped.

"s-school? as in tomorrow?" she was so excited. gilbert nodded.

"i'd love to!" she practically yelled causing gilbert to laugh.

"goodnight." he said as he left.

lucy was left with her thoughts. she was excited but now she felt more nervous. she wondered what the other's reactions would be. she had gilbert and anne, but the class is much bigger than that. what if she didn't understand what they were learning? her thoughts ran wild.

꧁꧂

bash was sitting at the table drinking some tea and lucy sat next to him, reading a book she found, or attempting to. she was all ready to go. gilbert walked in and bash looked up.

"i could use some help with the fence this morning before you go." he said.

"i can't, miss.stacey's expecting me early and i'm taking lucy with. i can't believe i could actually be in college next year." gilbert got his stuff together.

"wait, what do you mean, next year?" this was news to bash.

"well, i told you last night, i'm accelerating my studies." gilbert reminded him.

"yeah, but leaving next year? that was never the plan." bash stood up.

"i have a chance, finally, to get something that i want. why wouldn't i take it?" bash followed gilbert as he talked.

as they argued, lucy was busy panicking. she stood up and put on her coat and shoes but the same thoughts from last night lingered. she was incredibly nervous for how the day would go.

"i gotta go!" gilbert yelled at bash. "come on lucy" he said and walked out.

"bye bash." lucy said before following gilbert outside.

the two walked in silence. lucy walked slowly behind gilbert, looking at the ground attempting to calm herself. gilbert turned around to her.

"lucy, don't worry too much." he put his hand on her shoulder as they continued. "if anyone says anything wrong to you, tell me. i'll deal with them." lucy nodded.

"and if you feel uncomfortable or don't think you should continue going, it's ok." he said and lucy looked at him with a smile.

"thank you, gilbert. i think i'll try sticking with anne." she replied. gilbert nodded in agreement.