Broken (Gilbert Blythe)

chapter 14

The next day, the girls from school decided to make a shepherd's pie for Gilbert. All the girls were laughing and gossiping. "If the key to a man's heart is through his stomach..." Ruby says, carrying some carrots to a bowl.

"Which it is." Mary Jo, The Barry's helper, agreed with a smile.

"Then we have to make sure that this is the best shepherd's pie that Gilbert has ever tasted." Ruby finished her thought, smiling.

Nova was beside Diana, cutting up potatoes to mash them up. "Being a good cook shouldn't be very high on the list of romantic attributes, if you ask me." Anne said, going on one of her rants. Nova listening to her best friend, makes her smile because she's just being herself.

"If one was interested in romance, which I'm not, I'd like to be noticed for me, not my dinner." The girls start chuckling at the red-head. Nova looked up at them, considering that Anne's thought is exactly what she wants. She wants to be liked for being herself, not for being a house-wife.

"You're so funny, Anne." Diana says, thinking she's joking. Anne looks at the girls, "I wasn't meaning to be funny." She says, looking down at the food. Nova looks up at the girls beside her then to Anne. "What on the list, Anne?"

Anne looks up at Nova, "My brain, my personality. As in, who I am. I like to believe that's what truly matters. If romance matters at all. Which it doesn't." Anne says, looking back at the girls. Nova was about to say something when Ruby beats her too it. 

"Yes, it does!" The girls laugh. "I agree with you, Anne. A boy should like you for your brain and personality, not for your cooking or your looks." Nova speaks up, sounding a little nervous. The girls smile at Nova.

"Don't you think Gilbert looks even more handsome now that he's sad?" Nova looks up suddenly, getting a look from Anne. "I didn't notice." Anne says while smirking at Nova. Nova shakes her head, "I didn't either." She sees Anne smirking at her and she looks down, blushing. Nova couldn't say anything about her feelings for Gilbert, the girls would take it out of proportion, especially Ruby. She would have a conniption if she found out. Diana smiles at Ruby, "He does." Ruby smiles back, "I know!" The girls giggle at each other. Minnie May starts singing, "Ruby and Gilbert sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-"

Diana looks up to her little sister, "Minnie May, we're trying to work."

Her little sister shrugs her shoulders, "I'm cooking." Diana rolls her eyes, "You're watching. I told you the only way you get to be here with us is if you're quiet." Diana points at her. "Don't interrupt, or you'll have to go sit with Great-Aunt Josephine."

Nova looks up from the mashed potatoes. Minnie May huffs, "No!" The blonde sees Aunt Josephine walk into the room, she smiles at the older lady. Minnie May looks to her great-aunt and speaks up, "I'm being quiet." Josephine looks to the young girl then the teenagers, "Then you're the only one. Cackling hens. Lord help me." Nova and the girls giggled at her comment. "Take the boy the godforsaken pie before I suffer a mental collapse."

This time Nova had to hold in her laughter. "Sorry, Aunt Josephine." Diana apologized. Nova continued mashing the potatoes to put on top of the shepherd's pie. "You girls have been prattling on for hours about nothing. A parlor should be a quiet haven. Instead, it's unbearable." Josephine says with a stern voice. Anne looks up to the older woman, "It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear." Anne quoted Jane Eyre. Nova looked up at the red-head with wide eyes, nervous to hear Aunt Josephine's response. 

"I beg your pardon?" Josephine was shocked by Anne's words. Anne pointed at the book, "Jane Eyre. Don't you just love it?" Nova looked to the woman and saw the book in her hands, letting out a sigh of relief. It seemed like Josephine was relieved too,