Avonlea High

Chapter 23

Gilbert
I left Anne and Matthew alone to talk. I went to the cafeteria to find something for Matthew to consume. I found chocolate pudding and jell-o. I grabbed an extra set in case Anne was hungry. As I rounded the corner to Matthew's room I heard a heavy door slam. I assumed it was some doctor taking the stairs or something. But when I got inside the room, Anne was gone. I looked around and behind me. She wasn't here. Matthew looked distressed. I went to him with some water and the pudding.
"Where's Anne?" I asked softly.
"She ran."
"I should go find her-"
"Wait," Mathhew said hoarsely.
His hand had grabbed my wrist tightly. He coaxed me to sit right beside him. I stared into the quiet man's eyes. They were growing heavier, it was becoming a struggle for him. I knew he wasn't going to have much time. My heart just knew it. Matthew explained. I nodded and almost got up. He said he had one more thing to say.
I settled back into the seat. He reached for my hand. Pressing my fingers open. He pulled at his hand taking something off. He looked over to his belongings he no longer had on him. I stood as he asked for his pants. He dug deeply into the pocket. I watched steadily. Tring to make the workload less on him. Even if it was just holding the fabric up so it weighed slightly less. His eyes lit up when he found it. He pulled it out and I set his clothes back in the seat where they previously resided. Matthew sat himself up without me noticing his struggle. He patted the space on the bed by his legs. I sat partially on it waiting for his words.
"I know how you feel about my Anne," he began.
"Mr.Cuthbert-"
"Please, call me Matthew son."
I was silenced. He was treating me like I was his own. It reminded me of the talks I had had with my father. Before he ultimately passed. Matthew & Coach Dean kept me afloat. They made sure I still got to be a kid. A son.
"Gilbert, my Anne, she is happiest when she is with you, and you are happiest when with her. We helped raise you with your father. You remember this. We are already family because of that history son. But I know with my condition, this is probably a lot to ask of a man as young as yourself," he paused collecting himself from rambling. "Anne does not open up to many people. Thought, she opens up to you and trusts you. And I trust you with our Anne," he presented what he had gone through the trouble to dig up.
I looked at my hand as he dropped the two pieces of bent metal into my palm. I looked up to the elderly man in confusion. What was this? What did it mean?
"Take good care of her for me will you Gilbert?"
"Of course," I nodded. "Always."
His hand lifted and set on my shoulder. He patted it softly leaning back in pain.
"Good man," he said softly as his eyes fell heavy.
My chest shuddered as I got my bearings. I looked at the objects in my palms again. We hadn't even hit our senior year. We were just finishing Junior year. Summer was around the corner. What was I to do with the two little circles in my fist. I rushed down the hall and burst through the same door that slammed earlier. It had to be Anne before. To her the elevator would be too slow. I skipped every other stair as I descended down them. Pushing the double doors outwards as I made it to the bottom floor. I saw the cars all lined up in the lot.
A white paper was slapped on my windshield. I rushed to my car grabbing the paper and peeling it open from its folded state. It was Anne's handwriting.

IM SORRY

It was sloppy and in all caps. I looked around. She wasn't anywhere near here. I thought of where she would go. Where would she run off to. It was nowhere close. But that was just it. She wouldn't want to be anywhere near here. She would run away as far as she could. And she could do it. I swear that girl could run for miles if it meant she didn't have to be wherever she was running from. I checked nearby places first. Even though I doubted that was where she would go. The story club hideout, Diana's, Green Gables, and even the barn. I sat in my running car. It had been four hours since she left. Well, since I left. The sun was going to set soon. And I thought of it. Where was the safest she had ever felt? Where was her safe place?
Just a week ago we were there. The Beach. It's where she loved. And now, it's where she needed to be. I shifted my car out of it's parked state and began the journey to the beach. I pulled over and parked. I went to my trunk where I kept a box. A blanket rolled up and tucked in the back of it. Taking off my shoes, I tucked the rolled blanket under my arm and locked my car up heading to the sand. I stood over the view. The beach just below me. I breathed it in. The faint smell of salt and fresh air infuriated my lungs happily. I looked down seeing the redhead standing at the ocean's edge. The water reeling in to rush over her feet and up her ankles.
I didn't rush to get down there. She needed her time. I waited until she changed. Her arms moving from hugging her elbows, to reaching out to either side of her. Spreading her wingspan and just feeling the space around her. I could see her really taking it in. Letting the wind blow against the loose fabric on her body. Letting her hair whip around and escape from the braids it was previously in. I slowly climbed down as waves crashing into the nearby rocks got louder.
Slipping down a rock or two I somehow landed on my own two feet. I was near expecting a crash landing. Anne was staring at the ocean again. But this time I heard her laughing.