Chapter 04

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The Blythe Boy

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"How was school today?"

Florence walked through the door of her house, hoping to have some dinner and then surrender to her bedroom for the day. However, as luck would have it, she was bombarded with questions as soon as she entered.

She mustered up a tired smile, slipped off her coat and hat. "It was . . . interesting," she confessed truthfully and her grandmother Elizabeth just about beamed with excitement.

"That's great, dear," the woman said and ushered her granddaughter to the kitchen. "Get freshened up and join your grandfather and I for dinner."

Florence nodded tiredly and made her way up the stairs to her room. For a good ten minutes, she just settled down onto her bed with her eyes shut. It had been a busy day ⸺ although it had only been her first day of school, her teacher has assigned the class so many different assignments in the second half of the day which was, unfortunately, to be completed in class.

She wasn't sure when she'd dozed off, but her eyes shot open at the call of her name. She straightened her posture and noticed that her Grandfather was at the door with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe.

"It's been a while and you haven't come down yet," he said, staring at me curiously. "Are you tired, or?"

"Just tired," Florence answered, and a yawn escaped her mouth. "It's been a long day."

"On your first day?" He looked surprised for a moment but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came. "That's understandable. School makes everyone tired. Trust me, I'd know."

Edgar's face remained calm to the point that he was touching on a serious subject, and Florence didn't know how to respond. However, his eyes twinkled from afar and he gave out a hearty laugh. That was all it took for Florence to begin laughing too, though she wasn't sure why; he hadn't said anything remotely funny, but perhaps it was his cheerfulness that was just so contagious.

"No, no, but really," he said in between laughter, attempting to calm down. "Come down for dinner, let's go together."

And the two of them made their way downstairs to the dining table together. While Elizabeth and Florence sat across from each other, Edgar sat in the chair between them. Elizabeth didn't question Florence as to why she took so long to come down, but after one glance at her husband ⸺ something like an understanding passed between the two, and that was all the explanation that she needed.

***

The next day at school, Florence spotted Anne on the corner of the classroom with the group of girls from yesterday. She heard a comment about a boy named "Gilbert" but she didn't pay enough attention to hear the entire conversation. The only thing on her mind was how the girls looked like they were positively pestering Anne on the spot.

"I didn't know you were walking with Gilbert Blythe."

Anne attempted to respond but was cut off by an annoyed Tillie. "You can't talk to Gilbert Blythe. You can't even look at him."

Without bothering for formalities, Florence got straight to the point, "Girls, what are you talking about?"

"Well, see for yourself: Ruby has liked him for three years, so she has automatic dibs," Tillie explained and Florence nodded, partly confused. Her first question was who is him? And what did she mean by dibs?

"That's Gilbert, right there." Ruby discreetly pointed to a raven-haired boy who was currently conversing with a group of boys on the other side of the classroom.

"But Ruby already has dibs on him, so none of us can speak to or like Gilbert other than her," another one said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to walk with him. It just happened," Anne said apologetically, looking at all the girls with an attempt to read their expressions.

"Don't apologize," Florence told the girl and the others glanced between themselves with surprise. She put a gentle hand on the redhead's shoulder and told the others ⸺ Ruby, mainly ⸺ as calmly as possible, "You're calling dibs on a person? As in, you're claiming him?"

"Yes?" Ruby explained unsurely. "What's wrong with that?"

"My, my, Ruby," the Robinson girl said almost pitifully. "That's like me saying that I call dibs on Nikola Tesla just because I like him, but he doesn't even know I exist⸺"

"But Gilbert knows I exist⸺"

"Calling dibs on a person just doesn't make sense. If you aren't going to even attempt to talk to him, then what's the point of claiming him when he's probably unaware of your feelings in the first place?" Florence pointed out, leaving no room for further argument.

"My, my, Robinson," Josie mimicked with a scoff. Diana put a hand on her shoulder as if silently warning the girl, but she didn't seem to care. "Seems to me that someone here is jealous."

Florence shrugged. "If you really believe that, then yes, I'm jealous. I would love to perceive the world as simply as you do. Sadly, I can't."

Josie looked furious, but Florence knew that the girl wouldn't say anything more or raise her voice because, after all, she had an image to protect. Anne smiled to herself and locked her arm around Florence's happily, and the two girls made their way over to their desk.

Anne whispered loud enough for her best friend to hear, "Should I be speaking to Gilbert Blythe?"

"Only if you want to, Anne."

Despite Florence's calming words, Anne still looked unsure. She glanced behind her to see the group of girls straight out glaring at her, and the young girl gulped nervously. She wouldn't tell Florence, but she had a feeling that she should listen to the girls back there. Anyway, the others had been here for much longer than she was, so they had to know what was best for her . . . right?

***

Following lunchtime, Prissy Andrews had invited Florence to sit beside her for the remainder of the school day. Anne was okay with the girl leaving to sit with someone else because she was making plans to sit with Diana herself. It was a win-win situation for both sides.

Although she was busy solving math problems on her chalkboard, Florence's gaze momentarily shifted beside her to the other side of the classroom where that same blonde boy who was named Billy had bumped into her the day before was sitting. He yawned into his hand and lazily moved his eyes until they caught Florence's. He stared at her with confusion for a moment before realization hit his features and his eyes narrowed. Florence scrunched her nose and the boy rolled his eyes when her attention averted back to the front of the room where her name was heard by the self-conscious girls in the middle.

Florence couldn't hear them clearly, but she only assumed that they were probably saying something mean about her. She sighed. Bullies would always be bullies⸺

"I'm not talking to you!" Anne shouted from her seat, and everyone's attention shot up to the noise. Florence was afraid of what actually went down, but she assumed the worst when she saw Anne's slate held tightly in her hands as Gilbert Blythe held his face.

"You just did," Gilbert commented and she was surprised at how held together he looked despite being hit by something as hard as a slate, and the fact that everyone in the class had begun to laugh around them.

"Shirley! Get up here now! What a vicious display, is that what they taught you in the orphanage?" Mr Phillips demanded from the front and the students continued to laugh mercilessly. Well, that was yet another unnecessary side comment; and from who again? The teacher himself. Wasn't he supposed to be a good example for the kids?

"Oh, Anne . . ." Florence muttered to herself and watched sadly as Anne was humiliated in front of the entire class to the point that the girl ran out of the classroom from sheer embarrassment. She glanced at Gilbert who rubbed the back of his neck, watching the redhead flee the room, while the laughter of the students was quickly drowned out by Mr Phillips' temper.

Gilbert met Florence's eyes unintentionally, and he was surprised at how disappointed the unknown girl looked. He cleared his throat and went back to his seat without another word. 

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