Secret Sweetheart - A Shirbert Fanfiction (DISCONTINUED)

In which Anne receives a letter

Weeks were passing, and Anne was settling in to Queen's like she'd lived there her whole life. She'd memorised the layout of the sprawling gardens of both the Academy and her boarding house, spending hours exploring the nature.

When she wasn't climbing trees and chatting to insects, Anne was studying hard. College life was much harder and much more competitive than she'd ever imagined.

 Every sunny day, when she would much rather be outside enjoying the pure nature, she was forced to stay inside working on assignments. Imagine her chagrin when the one day she had no work, it was raining!

She wouldn't leave Queen's for anything, though. It was like home to her, much more than the asylum had ever been. She knew every twist and turn of its corridors, every classroom and staircase. She loved its grandiose foyer and beautiful library. The Academy was enough to keep even Anne's busy mind occupied. 

In short, she was infatuated.

However, she was getting quite annoyed; as her friends would not leave her alone, begging every minute for information on her 'secret sweetheart' as they liked to call him. Anne was tempted to just tell them, so that they'd give up.

The first interesting thing was, of course, her friends noticing her letter, and her frequent absent looks, daydreaming about Gilbert every spare moment.

It was on a Saturday, a rare free day, that the second interesting development happened. She received her own letter.

The postman came on the weekends, you where given any letters that had been sent to you and would give letters back to him. And it was this day when Anne was given a letter. 

She'd posted her letter off weeks ago, finishing it in quiet, away from prying eyes. 

But that was ages ago, and the time it takes for a letter to travel from Queen's all the way to Toronto would be up by now. 

However, Anne was not quite aware of the possibility her letter had already gotten to Gilbert, and even so, she was not at all expecting him to send one in return. 

But, the postman arrived, right on schedule. Anne and her friends where sitting outdoors on the grass, talking about whatever young girls like, when the postman walked through the gate. Used to his methodic arrival by now, the girls grinned and called hello's in greeting.

To their surprise, instead of carrying on to the boarding home like he would normally, he strode over to the tree where they were sitting. 

"Anne," he called, holding out an envelope. She could just see the logo for the University of Toronto peeking out behind his fingers and her heart did a flip inside her chest. She reached out and took the letter, feeling the curious eyes of the girls on her as she did so. "Thanks," she said, and the postman nodded and continued up to the house. 

As soon as he was gone the girls made a grab for the letter. Anne's arm quickly withdrew into her cloak as she stowed the letter away there. 

"Who's it from?" Tillie asked. Ruby interrupted:

"That's obvious, her secret sweetheart!" Anne rolled her eyes at the sentence, the words sickly sweet. "Did any of you see the sender's name on it?" Jane asked eagerly. "Well," Ruby said, "I thought I might have seen the letters R and Y. And some sort of logo. Definitely a logo." 

This of course set them off again, theorising about the letter's sender. 

It was at this moment Anne made eye contact with Diana, who tilted her head in question. Anne nodded in response.

Unaware of this exchange, the girls sighed. "Anne has a secret sweetheart." Tillie smiled. "Whoever would have guessed!"

"Hey!" Anne interjected as everyone burst into laughter. "Well if you don't mind, I'm going to read my letter in private," she added that last bit in a strong tone. She didn't miss her friends faces falling.

----------------------<3

Up in the dorm, Anne slid her letter opener under the envelope, and reached inside to take out the letter.

Dear Anne,  (it read)

You could not imagine my surprise when I read your letter.                                                                              I am ever so happy for you, that you have at last discovered something about your past. 

I could feel the difference in your words. You are much happier now.

Well, in response to your questions; UOT is definitely the right choice for me career-wise, I think it suits me much better than any other school would have. 

I love the classes here, although I am still not over my fear of needles and blood! That's been quite prominent in the last month; the boys all tease me so much for it.

The teachers and students are all crazy, there is a boy in one of my classes who always shows up to class wearing a bright red bowtie*, no matter the occasion.

You sound like you're having a lot of fun at your school. How is it? Any cute boys?

Anyway, I have to go now,  I must finish my many assignments! College life sure is exhausting.

Love, 

Gilbert. 

PS.  *I do think bowties are cool.