PHILEO | Shirbert

Nine ~ Us Orphans

"ANNE! DIANA!" Ruby exclaimed running to them "You look so beautiful, both of you" she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Ruby. You look so pretty too" Anne nodded.

"Pink is certainly my color" she twirled to let her friends see her dress "and blue is most certainly yours, Anne" she grabbed her friend's arms.

"Thank you!" Diana exclaimed, "I've been telling her how beautiful she looks but she won't listen!"

"I bet Gilbert thinks the same" Ruby smirked, then turned her head to look at him who was in the other side of the room with Moody, but looking at the group of the three girls "He hasn't stopped looking at you since you came down the stairs"

"Not you too, Ruby!" Anne groaned "I thought you liked him!"

"I did, but I realized it was just a stupid and childish crush, I was being selfish too... I knew Gilbert liked you since he first saw you, it was pretty obvious may I add. I had the advantage, I had 'dibs' so even though you had feelings for him too -not since the beginning- you still wouldn't talk to him because of me. I waited for years for him to get over you and fell in love with me, but he wouldn't. He still likes you, and I think he likes you even more than before, maybe even love-"

"LOVE?!" Anne gasped "Are you out of your mind?!"

"I think he loves you too" Diana said.

"Too?" she said, "I don't love him" she lied -Anne did not know she loved him, but she did love him.

"I'm not saying that you love him, I'm saying that I also think he loves you" Diana explained.

"Who loves who?" said Josie, who had just approached them

"Nothing" Ruby said, "Hi, Josie"

"Hello, Ruby. Hi, Diana -Anne" you could hear the disgust in her tone when she said that last name.

"Josie" Anne and Diana nodded. Clearly none of them liked her anymore; to them, Josie Pye was a mean soulless bitch -not that any of them would say it out loud-.

"What were you guys talking about?" Josie asked.

"Nothing" Ruby repeated.

"Ah, don't lie. I heard something about 'he', whoever he is, loving her" she said pointing at Anne.

"Well, no offense, but that's none of your business" Diana replied.

Josie rolled her eyes, "Anyway" she started talking about the many boys that had invited her to dance already and how she declined every offer, she -apparently- was waiting to dance with a "certain boy" before she could dance with the others. Anne did not believe a single thing she was saying, clearly, no one had asked her to dance, and she was just making stuff up to sound important. After a few minutes, Ruby left to say hi to Jane and Tillie; leaving Anne and Diana alone with Josie.

"So, Diana would you like to dance with anyone in particular?" Josie asked.

"Not really, I'm not looking forward to dancing with anyone tonight. If someone asks me, I'll probably say 'yes' out of politeness" She answered truthfully.

"I'll ask you the same, Anne; but I don't think any boy would ask you to dance" Josie scoffed.

"Josie Pye you-" Diana started. Ruby came to them as soon as she heard Diana's loud voice when she tried to spit back at Josie everything she's said to her friend

"It's ok, Diana. I got this" Anne interrupted her friend "And why is that, huh?" she crossed her arms.

"No boy would want to dance with an ugly orphan" Josie spat.

"At least, I know that any of the boys want to dance with me" Anne started "I don't have to come up with lies so that everyone thinks that I've been asked to dance by many boys when in reality, no one asked me because I'm such a narcissistic bitch that no one likes" Anne exploded. Both Diana and Ruby smiled widely, proud of her friend.

"You know what, Anne Shirley?" Josie stepped closer "No one-"

"Anne," a boy said, stopping their argument. He was tall, with messy curly hair and green eyes with specks of brown -hazel eyes you could say, but that doesn't sound as romantic-; he was wearing a blue and white boutonniere. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Oh, how splendid! " Ruby smiled.

'Is this really happening or am I just imagining it again?' Anne thought. Gilbert Blythe just asked Anne to dance. He did. Incredible. This has to be a dream.

"Anne!" Diana nudged her friend.

"You want to dance with her?" Josie asked furrowing her brows.

"Yes, he does. Didn't you hear him?" said Ruby.

"I don't just want. I've been pacing around the other room trying to calm myself down so I could come to ask Anne to dance with me" he admitted. Diana and Ruby smiled knowingly.

"Why would you want to dance with... her?" she looked her up and down.

"I guess us orphans have to support each other because no one wants to dance with us" Gilbert smiled while answering, without looking away from Anne. "At least, that's what I heard you say, Josie" Gilbert looked at her "Didn't you say that?"

"Well- I-" she tried to say.

"It was a rhetorical question" He spat "The only question I want an answer to is the one I did to Anne" he looked back at Anne, feeling confident and said "So, what do you say, Carrots? Are you going to dance with me?" Diana gasped.

'He did not just call her that. Gilbert, you're fucked" she thought, but she was pleasantly surprised to hear that Anne only laughed at that and said-

"Yes"