"Come a little closer, then you'll see, things aren't always what they seem to be" 

A CRACK IN THE GLASS | a Josie Pye short story

***

The sounds of grasshoppers and wind rustling through leaves painted in red, orange and yellow were the only sounds heard near a small white church in the middle of a cornfield. The church, with its tall spire, stood out from the spacious even meadows surrounding the small building. Inside the church, the atmosphere was chaotic, a fire was crackling loudly in the fire stove, the girls were chatting and squealing loudly on the left side of the room. On the other side, the boys were laughing at something a bulky boy had just said. The teacher was crouched near the last desk making doe eyes and flirting with an older student. He was at ease with the girl, even so, that he didn't mind the evergrowing chaos that took place in the small classroom.

Josie Pye had a news to tell her friend, one that was of the utmost importance. She had heard from Tiana that heard from Lewis that heard from Jackson that Victor had a crush on her. As she told her closest friends about Victor, she remained passive, indifferent. She was flustered at first when she heard it but now that she thought of it, Victor wasn't the first one to have a crush on her. Even though she was young, she had had a fair amount of possible suitors. She was about to tell the girls of what she thought of Victor when Diana turned around, completely ignoring her story, to walk to the school's entrance where a skinny looking girl with orange hair stood lost. 

The girl had covered her straw hat with multiple flowers, her dress was outdated and probably smelled like dust. Josie couldn't understand why that girl would wear such a horrid dress, she much like preferred her light blue dress with a neat white overdress apron. And Josie didn't even want to think about the bugs that would soon be present on the girl's scrawny hat. Her friends, beside her, had also stopped listening to Josie's story and stared at the new girl talking with Diana. 

Sooner than Josie anticipated, Diana approached her and the girls, followed by the ginger girl. Diana presented the girl with worn out clothes to four girls standing, aligned in a perfect line.

Anne was her name. Josie already didn't like her appearance and thought that the name Anne was rather boring and simple, but she at least had to give her the benefit of the doubt. Anne could be nice and could become part of Josie's group of friend. She would only need to change her appearance if she wanted to fit in with the rest of the girls. 

Josie stared at Anne has her friends politely greeted her. Anne answered back, incomprehensible words poured out of her mouth. Josie was dumbfounded, she had never misunderstood so many words in a sentence before. She didn't like feeling inferior to anyone. She quickly asked Diana if her new friend was going to use big words in every sentence she made. Anne became flustered but quickly regained her composure. 

Diana tried to defend Anne but it was a lost cause. Josie had heard from her mother who heard it in the village that Anne was an orphan. She brought it up and mocked the ginger girl. She saw tears appear in her eyes and so did Diana who walked the girl back to her seat in the back of the room. The teacher was starting the lecture and Josie felt pride knowing she just showed the new girl, who was in charge.

***

A week had passed since the new girl, Anne had arrived. The leaves were now on the ground, piled in giant mountains for the kids to play in it. The wind was chillier, stronger, and autumn had definitively arrived. 

Josie Pye still didn't like Anne, especially after she told them shocking stories of her youth. She told her mother about the new girl and how she despises her, her mother told her to stay her friend and practice being patient. Every school days, Anne tagged along with the five girls but she stood out like a sore thumb. This morning, the teacher picked out random pupils and asked them to read out loud. 

It was Diana's turn but she was having problems pronouncing a complex word. Anne whispered the word Diana was having trouble saying. The teacher heard it and instantly scolded her. It wasn't the first time Anne was butting in somebody else's problem and the teacher was growing relentless.  

The teacher inquired Anne to read a poem. She abruptly stood up and started reciting the poem while moving her arms in different directions. Josie started to giggle, Anne was making a fool of herself by being this outrageous. Soon, laughter filled the whole class and Anne sat down. 

It was Josie's turn and she read her poem as passively as she could. Although Josie was delighted by Anne's discomposure, she didn't like the fact that the ginger had an effect on people.

Anne oddly bore a resemblance to fire. She had red hair, ashes as freckles, she was fiery, untamable, hot-headed. Not only did she had a spark in her eyes each time she talked about something she liked, but she also illuminated the whole room just by her simple presence, and Josie hated it. She thought of herself more like an ice queen. She had piercing blue eyes, a pale skin, long silky blonde hair. Every boy liked her from afar, she was untouchable, the one they desired but never approached. She was raised by her mother to be simple, passive, calm, indifferent, these traits were attractive according to her mother. 

She saw in Anne freedom, she saw what she couldn't have, and she hated her with every once of her body. Josie had a lot of things going in her favor but she lacked in one place: school. Reading and writing just wasn't her forte. She was able to read, but there were some words that she just couldn't understand. As for writing, it was steep and full of mistakes. With her bad grades in school, going to University wasn't an option for Josie. The only other way to secure her future was to marry a handsome young man and carry his children.

So she started to care less and less about school. She saw it has a place to show off her beauty and grace, so she could find a suitable suitor. At home, her mother taught her how to sew, bake, clean the house, care for children and how to act like the perfect housewife. Josie didn't really mind, she knew she wasn't good at school. Besides, she preferred thinking of boys rather than reading books. 

She had been gifted a perfect face and striking eyes. Josie was the prettiest girl in the classroom and she was proud of it. It was only fair to the whole class of pupils that she showed her beauty. She wanted everyone in the class to what she looked like and who she was, maybe they had handsome relatives. She had to be prettiest, the only girl people talked about but lately, since Anne's arrival, it seemed like the new girl was often on her classmates' minds. She had to do something to bring the new girl down and boost herself up again. 

And so Josie Pye began plotting to make Anne Shirley-Cuthbert's life miserable...