june 17th, 2019
"Anne, honest to God, I truly think you did the right thing," Diana said, smoothing her hair as the girl cried into her hands.
"His face though! I swear I'll never forget it, it was so awful. He looked so sad. And so angry, like I had been leading him on all this time." Anne stopped and sniffled a bit. "And I did! I feel so heartless."
"You're not heartless, Anne. You're sobbing and you weren't even the one who was dumped!" Ruby said, laying a hand on Anne's shoulder.
"I just feel like I should have waited. Summer is literally right about to start and now, if what he said is any indication, I've ruined at least his first few weeks," Anne said, wiping at her eyes.
"Roy will just have to get over it. It was good to tell him now, and not drag it out," Diana said. "And you didn't really lead him on. You liked him, didn't you?" Anne nodded.
"I just- I was tired of keeping secrets just to keep him. I was sick of lying to Marilla about where I was going because he never wanted to do normal teenage things. I was tired of lying to myself, forcing myself to see things that just weren't fucking there!" Anne huffs. "That has to be valid. I didn't just break up with him for the hell of it."
"Let's clean you up then. We can only stay in the bathroom for so long before Mr. Gallagher sends out a search party," Ruby said, and the three girls giggled.
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Anne felt much better after the talk in the bathroom, and was able to contain her tears until she could cry into her pillow at home. She played Kahoot in class with the same amount of competitiveness as usual, if not more.
As bad as she felt admitting it, breaking up with Roy had lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. She felt like she could spend time with her friends this summer and not feel guilty for not spending every waking moment with him.
The last class of her junior year went surprisingly fast, but Anne couldn't deny that it was partially because it was her favorite class, AP English. The class was filled with talking, a bit of trivia, and when the final bell of the school year went off, Anne couldn't help the bittersweet feeling in her heart as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.
This summer was going to be different than any summer she had experienced before. It was her last summer of truly being a kid. Next summer she would be packing for college, and stepping into adulthood. But this summer still gave her the opportunity to be a child.
She walked to her car and waited for her brother to get there too. "God Jerry, pick up the pace," she muttered as she saw him slowly walking out of the building to the parking lot. She turned her head a bit, annoyed, and caught eyes with someone.
Gilbert Blythe.
Staring at her.
Again.
God, is my hair that frizzy? she thought, curious as to why, yet again, she had found Gilbert looking at her. They were no longer enemies, and they hadn't been in years, but their relationship couldn't quite be defined as friends. He smiled at her, and it was all Anne could do to control her face from turning a deep pink as she managed a small smile back. What is wrong with me? she asked herself before turning back to Jerry, who was now within earshot.
"Could you walk any slower?" Anne yelled, and Jerry laughed as he rolled his eyes.
"Some people aren't always in a rush and like to enjoy things," Jerry said as they got into their car. "Why don't I drive? I hate when you drive."
"Too bad. Never gonna get better if you keep hogging the wheel," Anne said as she turned on the car. Jerry just let out a huff and fell back into his seat.
Summer of all summers, Anne thought to herself, feeling optimistic about the months to come. She pulled out of the school parking lot, and in the process accidentally caught a glance of Gilbert getting into his own car in her rearview mirror. Shaking her head, she turned the radio up louder in attempt to drown out Jerry's singing.
What a summer it would be.
