▷ Shut up - Greyson Chance

«You give me much to say»

___

[PLAY THE SONG!]

October 15th

MR. PHILLIPS is a pain in the ass. And everyone at school knows that. He harassed Prissy Andrews until the point she had to transfer to another school. What a fucking asshole, Anne thinks, as she watches the slim figure of the man moving from one place to the class room to another. Apparently, he is handing in what Anne guesses must be last week's geometry test.

It's been three weeks since the beggining of senior year and Anne's already done with everyone. Gilbert Blythe has managed to steal everyone's heart in Avonlea High – both Ruby Gillis and Jane Andrews included are drooling over him.

It didn't take Anne more than two days to realize that Gilbert Blythe is simply one of those guys.

He's not the most handsome boy she's ever seen. His teeth are bit crooked, one of his hazel eyes looks slightly smaller than the other whenever he flashes a smile at someone and he doesn't even have an athletic build. But still, there's something about him that just makes him attractive. It might be the fact that he seems like quite the people pleaser, the kind of guy that instantly becomes close to your parents whenever you invite him home; the kind of guy that has 2/6 of your group of friends wrapped around his little finger.

She wonders if he knows he has that effect on people.

She studies him, he's sitting right next to her (it's the spot he's been asigned since he first got here anyway) – dark curls are falling over his forehead as he scrolls down his phone, typing every now and then whilst he hums the lyrics of some song unknown to her. Some shy rays of sunlight appear between the grey clouds of October, pass through the window and reflect in his dark hair, making it shinier than ever.

He probably does.

They haven't really talked lately, Gilbert and her. He hangs out with her and the girls sometimes so she has no choice but to tolerate him since her friends seem to adore him so much. She can't blame them, though. The boy's got some looks.

«Some looks». Huh. She keeps watching him. Yeah, he still isn't the most handsome boy she's ever seen (much to Ruby's disagreement). In fact, he was pretty irritating. The fact that they're in the middle of a classroom and he's simply banging his head to some random tune doesn't sit right with Anne.

And when your eyes catch mine
I know I talk to much

She shots him a glare. She wants to hit him and scream "We're in the middle of a classroom, fucking behave and stop singing", but instead she just says "Shut up".

"Really, you like it?" there is a wide grin plastered on his face when he looks up to her. Now the sun rays go directly into his eyes, making them a bit greener than they are. "So give me your two lips and maybe I'll shut up" he sings quietly, making sure nobody but her can hear him.

"What?"

"Shut up? That's like, the title of the song" he looks at her with the usual confused smile that he always wore for the redhead, considering that, most of the time, he didn't know how to approach her.

"Oh" she just says.

Gilbert Blythe has tried everything. He has tried to be nice, charming, polite, flirty, shy, cocky and many other things, probably — but none of them worked. This girl is quite a mystery for him, and he can't simply find the way to get her attention.

At least he his lucky that he can sit next to her in most of the classes they have together. It's the only time they share, but Gilbert is more or less content with that. She barely talks to him, just things like "What are you staring at?" or "Could you please move aside?". This time she's decided to innovate with a sharp "Shut up" that Gilbert has decided to take as an invitation to start a conversation. Kinda.

"Oh, so you were asking me to actually shut up"

"Exactly"

"Okay" he says, but his stupid grin doesn't leave his face. "You should listen to it, though"

He doesn't bring his Walkman today. Just his phone and earphones. He makes sure that Mr. Phillips is busy lecturing some random student before offering the right earphone to her. "Here" he whispers, giving her a nod.

She should tell him to shove that earphone up his ass, but, surprisingly, she takes it. Her fingers brush with his and she feels a strange feeling running down her body. Electricity.

She listens. And she likes it. The rythym of the song is upbeat and the lyrics are catchy. She smiles. It's a small, tiny smile, but she does smile. And Gilbert notices it. Finally, some development, he thinks.

Maybe music can be the way to get to her.

Mr. Phillips's voice brings them back to earth. "A+, Mr. Blythe" Oh, yes. Even Mr. Phillips seems to be one of Gilbert Blythe's fans.

As for Anne, she is definitely not a Gilbert Blythe fan. They might just have shared what Ruby Gillis would have called "a moment" but truth is, she merely tolerated Gilbert for the gang's sake. She has no interest in him or his friendship.

"Another C-, Miss Shirley" the man says, giving her a stern look that makes her turn her face and roll her eyes in annoyance. "Geometry is definetely not your thing"

"Teaching is definetely not your thing" she scoffs, looking out of the window, unbothered. Gilbert moves awkwardly in his seat. Savage.

Anne was not always this hostile, she would usually just ignore the teacher's comments. But she is done with him and she is done with everyone. It's just a bad day.

"What did you just say?" Mr. Phillips places both his hands on her desk, looking at her with a threatening look that only made Anne laugh from where she was sitting.

"I said" she pauses for a second "that teaching is not your thing. Maybe you should try out for child molester" she says now, loud enough for the rest of the class to hear.

Silence.

"Out!"

___

"Anne, are you insane?!" A voice screams as soon as Anne Shirley-Cuthbert is spotted walking through the school halls after leaving the Principal's office. Diana Barry is, once again, the voice of reason. "You're lucky the principal didn't take further action and just called Marilla!"

"He didn't do anything because he doesn't want the police to know" Anne says as her friends walk up to her. "He's lucky Jane's parents didn't call the police after what he did to Prissy!"

"I can't believe you called him a child molester" Tillie says, still surprised at the fact that Anne did, well, that. "In front of the whole class!"

"Me neither!" she says. It may be the adrenaline, but she feels ecstatic. Someone needed to put Mr. Phillips in place. She never thought if would be her, though.

"By the way, my brother is throwing a party tonight" Jane says, trying to change the topic. She doesn't like to talk about her family. Apparently, Billy Andrews throws the best parties in all Avonlea. Anne couldn't care less, though. "At my house, obviously"

"Will Marilla let you go after what happened with Mr. Phillips?" Diana asks.

"No" she says, and she doesn't really want to go, so this thing with Mr. Phillips could be the perfect excuse. But all her friends are looking at her expecting something else. "But... I can always sneak out, right?" she says with a mischievous smile.

"Sneak out?" a voice says, making all girls turn around. "Wow, Rapunzel's leaving the tower?"

"Shut up, asshole"

Apparently, Gilbert Blythe loves making an entrance. He's wearing that stupid smirk of his, the one that has made everyone in school to fall in love with him.

"I see you liked my song" he says, moving to stand right next to Anne.

"What is he talking about?" Josie asks, clearly amused by the situation that's been going on between Gilbert and Anne ever since the boy moved to Avonlea. The boy clearly has a special liking for her, and Josie can tell. He's not very subtle about it.

"Nothing, just ignore him and he'll go away" Anne says, trying to seem unbothered by the boy's presence, although truth is he's making her nervous.

"You're hurting me" Gilbert says, hitting her arm lightly.

"You haven't even heard the best of me" She says, moving away from him.

"Oh, haven't I?"

"If you don't shut up I"

Ruby interrupts Anne before she can regret her words. "Gilbert, Billy's throwing a party this Friday" she says, a wide smile on her face. "Wanna come?"

"Oh, sure" he replies, although his gaze is directed to Anne. "So you're escaping the tower to go to this party I suppose?"

"First of all, I don't live in a tower" Anne replies. He just laughs. "Second, yes, I might go"

"Why don't you tell Jerry to come too?"

"Jerry?" Anne frowns. "He barely leaves the house"

"Maybe because you're never told him to?"

Anne just looks at him. "Stop telling me what to do!"

"I'm just suggesting, maybe if he comes with you, your mom will let you go for sure"

"That's extremely sexist" she rolls her eyes. If Gilbert Blythe thinks that she, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, needs a man to attend any kind of event... he's terribly wrong.

"It is, but what I'm saying is true" he says "You can tell her I'm going as well, she told me I was a very good looking and polite young man" he says, emphasizing the words "good looking".

"She thinks you're polite?" Anne scoffs "You have the politeness of a Middle Earth orc!"

"Spending too much time with your brother, I assume?"

She remains silent not knowing what to answer and realizes then that the girls have gone home already and have left them alone, probably tired of their stupid and pointless argument.

"Look, Rapunzel" he says, taking a step closer towards her.

"Don't call me that"

"Okay, Shirley"

"Why don't you just call me Anne like the rest of people do?"

"That would be too boring" he says. "Anyway, Shirley, I just want to be your friend"

"You can't always get what you want, you know" she scoffs.

"Are you quoting The Rolling Stones?" he laughs lightly at his own remark. "Guess I'm not the only old soul around here"

Gilbert could swear he's just seen her smile. At least a little. It vanished quickly, but he noticed.

He's just made cool-girl, Miss Shirley, smile.

That's what I call progress, Gilbert thinks whilst he keeps staring at her, as if he could decipher her somehow. He tries to think of his next move, not wanting to ruin the current situation, when her voice startled him.

"What are you staring at?"

"Uh, nothing" he says, furrowing his eyebrows. "Anyway, I should get going" he starts walking towards the school doors. "See you tonight!"

She watches him leave as she stands still on the school corridor. Everybody's left by now, except from her.

Tonight. She still has to figure out a plan for tonight. Crap.

"Yeah, see you tonight" she whispers, although he can't possibly hear her now.

___

Anyone could agree of the fact that this is a classic October day. Sunlight is nowhere to be seen, and now the sky is covered in a gray mess of clouds — it rains every now and then, now enough to carry an umbrella, though.

Avonlea High's parking lot is almost empty now. Only a few students smoking something that's definitely not legal by the brick wall and Anne, who is already waiting in the car for Jerry to arrive. It's 3.20 p.m. and he's still not there! Just then, she spots the figure of her brother walking down the parking lot. She tries not to be mad at him but he's always late! Every fucking single day!

It doesn't take much time until he gets to the car and hops on the passenger's seat. She's ready to lecture him about being puntual, especially when she's the one driving them back home, but then he mouths his usual "Hey, sis", making her forget about it all.

"Hi" she smiles as she turns the engine on. "How was your day?"

"It was fine" he replies. It seems like a better answer than "I swear Ruby Gillis looked a me today and I think I'm even more in love with her". "Sorry I'm late again, by the way. Mr. Harrington's been helping me with chemistry"

"It's alright"

She keeps her eyes on the road. Some raindrops are falling against the windshield. Then, she suddenly remembers Gilbert's advice. "So, listen, I'm going to a party tonight" Anne says as she lowers the volume of the music. She has been listening to the song Gilbert showed him earlier.

"After calling Mr. Phillips a child molester?" Jerry says. "Yeah, you wish" he laughs, looking out of the window. "I guess you'll be stuck with me and the Star Wars saga the whole weekend"

"That's where you're wrong" Anne say with a smirk. "You're coming with me"

___

"So you want to go to this party"

Marilla, Anne and Jerry are discussing that night's plans over some cookies Marilla baked that same morning.

"Precisely" Anne says. She doesn't really know why she wants to go so much — she doesn't usually enjoy parties.

For a split second, her mind drifts to Gilbert Blythe.

But no, he can't possibly be the reason why she's so determined in going to Billy's party.

"And you're going with her" Marilla says, pointing to Jerry, who is stuffing his mouth with cookies. "Yes, that's it!" Jerry smiles in excitement. Of course he's excited. He might see Ruby tonight.

"After you" Marilla turns her head back to Anne "got your teacher fired today"

"It's what he deserves!" Anne says with a louder voice than usual. Her fists are clenched under the kitchen's table.

Marilla just sips her tea quietly.

"Marilla, I'm so sorry" Anne sighs, burying her face in her hands. "I understand if you don't want to let me go"

"You may go" the woman says calmly.

"What?" Anne says. Is really

"YES" Jerry basically jumps from his chair and walks to Marilla, giving her a hug that almost makes her fall off her own chair. "THANK YOU, MARILLA" he yells before running up to his room.

"Why is he so excited about this?" Marilla asks.

"I have no clue" Anne says, getting up from her chair. She's already making her way to her room when Marilla's voice calls her.

"Anne"

"Yes?" She turns around.

"You and I still need to talk. Tomorrow" she says. She's not angry, or so Anne thinks. She doesn't looks disappointed, either.

"Tomorrow" she says before leaving the kitchen.

___

It's 7 p.m. when Charlie hangs up. They've been FaceTiming for about 45 minutes. He has showed her around his dorm in campus and he seems so happy. Anne is glad, but she can't help to feel a bit jealous. She is okay here, in Avonlea. But she feels stuck. As if things were paralyzed.

She blocks her phone and just a few seconds after that, the screen shows a notification:

gilblythe has changed his username to drblythe

Gilbert. Gilbert. Gilbert is going to the party.

She gets up from her bed and walks up to her closet. She could swear that nearly an hour has passed by and she has tried every possible outfit combination. She decides to text Diana, she'll be helpful.

Anne
what u wearing??? send help

Diana
backless white top and high waisted jeans

Anne
can i wear sneakers

Diana
you're going to do it anyway so: yes
wear that black top with your black leather skirt + leather jacket
killer outfit ;););)

Anne
lifesaver, ily

___

Jerry
I HOPE YOURE GOING TO ANDREW'S TONIGHT

Gilbert Blythe
i am, did your sister tell you?

Jerry
yeah man, THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH

Gilbert Blythe
it's alright  :)
do you guys need a ride?

Please, please, say you need a ride. He really wants to "improve" things with the redhead. She doesn't seem so hostile, or at least she didn't today. He hopes he can make a smart move today. Maybe if he could drive her and Jerry to the party, he could show her some new music. Music could be the way to her friendship.

Jerry B
thanks but we're going with Diana
ILL BE IN THE SAME CAR AS RUBY GILLIS
I'll see you there tho ????

Gilbert Blythe
see you there

He checks Instagram before hopping into the shower. Damn. He stops scrolling when his eyes find Anne's recent post. "Fuck, she's so pretty".

liked by dibarry, sloaneboi and 134 others
itscxrdelia not in the mood for a party but ok

sloaneboi wow my girl is gorgeous
ukelelegirl ^ goals
dibarry ^^^^

His thumb lingers over the phone screen for a few seconds before he double taps.

___

It's 9.45 p.m. when Anne hears Diana's car parking on Green Gables' driveway. She grabs her purse and her cigars and he leaves her bedroom.

She runs down the stars to find Jerry already waiting in the hall. He's drying the sweat from his hands in his jeans.

"What's wrong?"

"NOTHING" he yells. "Let's just go"

Anne rolls her eyes in response and opens the door. Just as she closes the door, her phone buzzes.

drblythe liked your post

___

A/N

Hi!!!! That was chapter 3 (: I hope you're enjoying this story as much as you enjoyed OCEANS.

What do you think of the story so far? It's a bit different from what I've written before — it's not that descriptive and it has more dialogue. What do you think about this "change"?

The first three chapters were kind of an introduction, but my personal favourites so far are 4 and 5!!!! Can't wait for you guys to read them.

Please, don't forget to vote and comment!!! I love love LOVE reading feedback, so feel free to comment on anything

ily 💘⚡️