A Glance Means More Than A Word

Part 2 - Her frightened eyes

Anne arrived at Green Gables both angry at herself and at a certain young man, she had simply told him that she had been heartbroken. But that meant nothing more? It wasn't a confession, was it?

In truth, she didn't know what to think, the ideas that the fortune-teller had put in her head, were revealed to be completely false. Gilbert was not the right fish? No, this metaphor meant nothing to her. 

And above all, what importance could all this have, if the latter loved someone else? Love? What meaning could this word have, and what if love was a completely random thing? This girl, or woman, had come out of nowhere, and supposing Gilbert had been courting her for weeks or even months. But how could she know, since he hadn't even bothered to tell anyone, not even her.

Yet she thought after all these years they had become friends. But apparently he didn't even consider her in that way, otherwise she wouldn't have discovered the existence of this lovely young woman at the same time as all the residents of Avonlea. Wasn't that the most hurtful thing in the end?

Still lost in thought and upset by what had just happened, she continued her walk to the porch of the house, when she was alerted by sniffles and sobs. She turned her head to see where the noise was coming from, none other than Jerry, who was sitting on the floor in the barn with his head down and his face between his hands. Anne momentarily forgot her problems and went to meet him.

"Je-Jerry?! What's wrong?!", she asked worriedly.

The latter did not answer, he simply raised his head and looked at Anne, his eyes filled with tears. The young redheaded girl then understood what was the cause of the sorrow of the young farmer, Diana.

She had been on the outs with her friend since the day before, and apparently for Jerry his relationship with the young brunette had also broken down.

She then sat down next to the young boy and put her hand on his, "I'm so sorry Jerry, it seems that at Green Gables we are all cursed with love stories. First Marilla, Matthew, and then you... and me. But I'm sure you'll be able to break that curse."

Jerry looked up at the girl, "I loved Diana, I loved her very much.", he said, his voice still cluttered with tears.

She looked him in the eyes, "I know.", she replied with a faint smile.

"If it makes you feel better, a fortune-teller told me a story about fish, and apparently I wouldn't have found the right fish, you think it's a ridiculous metaphor too, don't you?", she laughs at her own anecdote, as if she was trying to put a smile back on the dark-haired boy's face.

Jerry still manages to smirk slightly and disapproved, "Not as much as to consult a fortune-teller."

"Don't laugh at me! I had big personal dilemmas, and I was mostly... foolish. But today I realise I wasn't the only one with dilemmas that day. I feel sorry for you Jerry."

"So you and... a boy?", he asked her, teasing her, while his eyes were still a bit red from crying.

"I feel stupid talking about my problems when you... but... I-I just sort of confessed something to this boy, while he is courting a young debutante, I feel so miserable. I know my problem is ridiculous compared to yours."

Jerry wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his shirt and stood up, "Gilbert, huh?"

"Ho-how do you...?!!"

"Since the county fair, everyone in Avonlea knows about it, and even me, in case you forgot, I was there. I had seen him."

Anne closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that the thing that had just happened hadn't happened, Jerry was now not going to miss a single opportunity to remind her of it.