wind walkers ➸ gilbert blythe

𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍

꧁5. First Day of School꧂

I T  W A S Monday, the twenty-first of March. For anyone else a normal day, but not for Annabeth. She awoke early at five in the morning. Finding sleep was troublesome for her due the nervousness. Just thinking about the word 'school' made her whole body tingle. Beth couldn't remember one moment in her life, where she had been that tense. On the outside of her warm home, trees bowed in the strong wind. Before her mother even called for her, to help her out of bed, she had already cooked, straightened her dress and cleaned her shoes. Well, they probably wouldn't stay clean long but she did it anyway. Wanting to look finest on her first day. Anne and Diana had often told her, that she had to make the perfect first impression. And that it was the best to be nice to Josie Pye. She had no idea who that was, so she just always nodded along.

Clearly remembering everything they had advised her to and not to do; don't talk to boys. Don't look at boys. Don't say anything against Josie. Don't wear anything brown or grey. And don't mention Gilbert Blythe around Ruby, she will start to cry.

So Annabeth did as she was told, wearing an apple-green dress. Ana would have worn the dress anyway. When she dressed, she didn't do it for anyone else. Looking into the mirror, she wanted to feel good for herself. That's why she usually wore skirts. Never looking into the mirror and wondering what others were thinking of her. Even though Anne dramatically said it didn't matter a bit what she wore, she could go in a potato sack in still be beautiful and that she wished she could look only a bit more like her and Diana.

Nonsense, Annabeth had stated. And explained why her friend was pretty in every way possible. Anne thought she was lying to make her feel less miserable, but she wasn't. In Annabeth's opinion Anne's orange her was lovely unique and her freckled face so sweet, that one day a boy would come along, and would want to count every single one of them. After telling her this, Anne had asked her, if she had hit her head. She felt bad for Anne. Clearly understanding why she thought so poorly about herself. Anne had let her know about the situations back in Nova Scotia, where she had lived in an orphanage her whole life. Those cruel girls had taken all the self-assurance away and replaced it partly with self-hatred. Presumably the reason why she wished to be her imagined character Princess Cordelia.

When it was time, she helped her mother out of bed. Beatrice wasn't supposed to leave it but way to stubborn to stay put. And Beth would rather have her mother save on the sofa than trying to wander around on her own and hurting herself somehow. Her father had talked to Mrs. Kincannon and came to an agreement with her, so none of them had to worry about Beatrice while they were gone. Not long after Ana and her mother had eaten breakfast together, Anne knocked.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Whitney!" The younger girl exclaimed and gave Annabeth some crayons for her slate, because Richard had forgotten to get her some from Charlottetown.

"Good Morning, Anne," Beatrice spoke, as the strawberry blonde sat a glass of water and medicine in front of her mother. "Thank you, darling."

"Mrs. Kincannon will be here soon, okay? She is better company than Mrs. Lynde, so you should be fine." She kissed her mother on the head and double checked if she needed anything else. To be honest, although Annabeth knew it was Mrs. Kincannon's job to care of ill people, she couldn't help but worry. Anne pretty much pulled her out of the door, making her sigh.