Idiosyncratic {Gilbert Blythe}

Chapter 12

Caspienne stiffly shuffled in the bed she was lying in, her arm was tremendously sore and tender. Every time she moved her left arm it felt like being prodded with a hot iron. Nevertheless, she hoisted herself out of bed and walked to the door. Her arm was in some sort of a sling and heavily bandaged, with a little bit of red peeking out of the gauze. She was somewhat disoriented, but she grabbed onto the knob of a withered door and poked her head out into the hall, it seems she is in Green Gables, as she recognized the worn-down wood floor.  
"Cas! Oh my goodness, you were in such a horrible state last night, it shook me to my core," Anne popped into the hallway out of her room, her eyes held concern and relief, "how are you feeling? Oh! and your arm? does it hurt?"
"To be honest, I'm just horribly tired" Caspienne sighed, she felt heavy, as if gravity had increased on her tenfold. 
"I'm also hungry..." Cas shyly trailed off, she didn't want to be rude, but she was in need of a meal. 

Anne and Caspienne sat down for breakfast and ate their meals, Marilla had ever so kindly offered to make something for Cas, seeing as though she would struggle with her arm in the condition it was in. Their meals consisted of toast, eggs, and sausage, all of it cooked to perfection. As Cas finished up, she decided she ought to head back to her home and, somehow, attend to her chores. She knew it would be difficult and she would need to cut corners, but something needed to be done. 

------------------

Gilbert was on his way home, Bash, along with his inner turmoil, had convinced him to get back to Avonlea, to the possible gold, to Caspienne... The comments Bash had been making about the girl writing to him had made him think, did he like her? And what made him like her? Maybe her elegant personality, the way she was so calm and collected, but still had a way with words; her deep black hair, porcelain skin, bright star-blue eyes, even her freckles. Oh god, he did like her, a lot. He wondered what she was up to, how everything was doing, what did she think of him? She could like him... but what if he was overthinking? What if she was just being nice? Of course she was being nice... she is kind and tender to everyone. I need to distract myself, I'm working myself up too much he thought to himself, and he went on shoveling coal.

-----------------

"Curse this arm and curse these vexatious bandages!" Caspienne shrieked to herself as she tried to make her own dinner, which was apparently impossible to do with one arm. Just a single bump or moving her arm the wrong way would make the wound twinge. From what the doctor (he had come overnight) told Marilla, the bullet went all the way through the bone and the wound itself would take months to heal. Christmas was nearing, and Cas was unsure of what she was going to do. she needed to write to her parents, there was no way she would get through the winter months with her arm in this condition. Just then she heard a knock at her door, it was Marilla, who was alone
"Marilla! would you like to come in?" Cas offered
"oh, I will only be a moment, I was just here to ask if you would like to join us Cuthberts for Christmas eve soon? I'm sure the company would be nice for you." she inquired
"I'd love to! My folks won't be home for Christmas, and I would rather spend it with friends" Cas replied, and with that, Marilla was on her way home. 

A few days later, Caspienne prepared to head to school, as she laced up her boots and got her old hat on since her brand new beret had been covered in blood, she wondered what the day would bring. She trudged through the tall snow, at this time of year it was nearly at her knees, and made her way down the trail to the schoolhouse. The sky was overcast with clouds and you could see the coldness in the air, it nipped at uncovered ears and noses and sank into your clothes. When she opened the schoolhouse door and knocked the snow off her boots, she looked up to see Anne, who's hair was cut all the way past her ears. It seemed Diana had tied a bow around her head, and they were mid-conversation when Anne noticed Caspienne,
"Caspienne! You shouldn't even look at me, my horrible state will tarnish you" she dramatically lamented,
"Anne, you know I don't care what the other girls think, I don't even talk to them" Cas calmed her down, and Anne begrudgingly turned around and made off toward her seat, as everyone turned and looked at her. Some giggled, others just stared, or people like Cas or Cole simply didn't care. As Caspienne followed behind her, she watched as people parted to let her through as they gawked, but eventually, someone was revealed to be in the middle of the crowd. Caspienne's stomach erupted with butterflies as there stood Gilbert, who looked to Anne, then to Caspienne, then back to Anne. 
He greeted her, and she blurted out "there's no gold", paying no mind to his greeting. 
"I know, I heard, that's not why I am here," he said hesitantly, glancing back at Cas. 
Caspienne walked up to Anne's other side and looked up at Gilbert, 
"You're back" she smiled, "I assume that means you got my letter" 
"I did, it's good to see you." he had a small smile, his tone was welcoming and relieved, until he saw her arm, "What happened?" he frowned, concerned.
"It's a very long story, I would have to tell you later, but I'm okay," she reassured him. 
Mr. Phillips interrupted as he walked in, stating "open your readers to 120" as everyone took their seats. Noticing Anne's new hair, he mockingly said to her "It appears we have a new boy in class, are you sure you are sitting in the right place young man?" 
People around the room giggled, but Caspienne would not take something like that, not from a grown man, "What a despicable thing to say to a young girl, I expected more from an adult, how immature!" she spat, she wasn't going to hold her tongue at such cruelty
"Watch your tongue! you are a child, you wouldn't know of things such as maturity" Mr. Phillips snapped. Caspienne only scowled and pulled out her book, It was going to be another very long day.

.

.

AN: sorry I took a while to post again! I wasn't sure what to start the next chapter with after the last one, I hope this one didn't seem too rushed. Also, I'm happy to finally start writing about Gilbert's romantic feelings toward Caspienne. I will be writing about her arm realistically, too many stories have their characters heal way too fast, Caspienne's injury is a perforated bullet wound, meaning it went all the way through both sides of her arm, AND it went through the bone. Wounds like that take months to heal, and weeks just to stop hurting, I will be writing about her wound like it is real.