▷ No surprises - Radiohead

«No alarms and no surprises, please»

___

[DON'T PLAY THE SONG YET!]

May 3rd

FRED WRIGHT's birthday comes with the arrival of spring. The gang has gathered to prepare his surprise party, hosted at Ruby's. Considering the girl enjoys hosting parties more than attending them, she's done a good job with the birthday-themed decoration.

As for Diana Barry, she's assigned different tasks to every single person in the house.

Anne and Diana are getting drinks and snacks ready, enjoying a comfortable silence in the kitchen, moving from one side to another, until Diana speaks.

"He doesn't ever stop looking at you" Diana says, looking over her shoulder at Gilbert, who is inflating some balloons in the living room with Jane. From the corner of his eye, catching only Diana's attention, he watches Anne putting chips on a bowl.

"I know" Anne says.

"You do?

"Of course I do, he's not any subtle about it" Anne sighs in faked exasperation, trying to convince Diana of the fact that she's annoyed at Gilbert's intense staring.

But the truth is she's not bothered at all. She secretly loves it, and she doesn't even notice half of the time — those hazel eyes barely leave her when she's in the same room as he is.

"He seems to be pretty fond of Jane now, don't you think?" Anne blurts out. She regrets her words instantly, because her voice sounds saltier than she'd like to admit.

"Do you like him?"

That question again.

"Di, do we seriously have to talk about this again? I already told you guys — I'm with Charlie" she says, closing her eyes in frustration. "Happily in love with Charlie"

"I know you're dating Charlie. But that's not what I asked" Diana stops what she's doing and walks over to Anne, around the center island. "I'm your best friend"

"I don't know"

"You don't know?"

Anne makes sure nobody's close enough to listen before answering Diana's question.

"I... he's just... he has everything I like in a person... and I got kinda jealous when Josie told me about him and Ella and I'm not... happy at the sight of him and Jane being so close out of the sudden, okay?" Anne's rambling now. Diana listens attentively as she speaks, raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest. Anne only rambles like this when she's nervous or concerned about something. "But I don't have the right to be jealous, he's not my boyfriend"

Jane. Anne stops to think for a second. Gilbert and Jane seem to be closer lately. She went unnoticed during the first part of this school year, but now she seems to be all over Gilbert. And he seems to be all over her as well. They talk more during lunch break and apparently they seem to be texting after school as well. Do they hang out outside school too? she wonders.

"Then what is he to you?" Diana asks. Her voice is as calm as usual, but there's a spark of curiosity there.

Good question.

"He's... my friend that I sometimes feel attracted to because he's hot, handsome and smart?"

Great answer, Shirley. She mentally slaps herself.

Diana sighs, rubbing her temple in frustration. She doesn't want to push her friend over the limit. Last time they talked about Gilbert, Anne begged her to stop and sworn that she didn't like him back.

That's why Diana told Fred the following day what Anne said at Tillie's party.

"I don't like Gilbert like that, he's just my friend and I'm so happy with Charlie to even think about Gilbert as something more than a friend".

The raven-haired girl understood that Gilbert needed to know that Anne didn't like him — or at least that she didn't want to like him. It would break him to believe that her had a chance with the redhead when he actually didn't.

Diana Barry wanted what was best for her friends. And that included Anne's foolish attempts of denying her attraction to Gilbert Blythe, if she insisted. But looking at her best friend now, so annoyed at Gilbert being with other girls, the raven-haired realizes something.

She's made a huge mistake.

Some feelings are undeniable, and Diana knows that now. However, not it's not the time to talk about it.

"Okay, sorry, Anne" She pats the girl's back in a friendly way, rubbing circles with her fingers. "There must be a logical reason for the jealousy thing. Maybe it's because he used to be all over you all the time and now-"

Anne looks back at Gilbert and Jane. They're taking a photo together and Gilbert's hand is on her back. Ugh. Jane's blue eyes never leave Gilbert.

"Now he's not" Anne suddenly says, sipping from a glass of water quietly. "It's okay. Can't we just talk about this in another moment?" she pleads.

Definitely, Diana thinks.

"Yeah, Fred should be here anytime soon"

And with that, Diana and her make a few last arrangements in both the kitchen and the living room before turning the lights off. Billy and Moody are the ones who were supposed to pick up Fred and bring him to Ruby's. Now it's just a matter of time to wait and give the boy the surprise party he deserves.

It's the first time he celebrates his birthday, after all. And he doesn't even have a clue about it.

___

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dibarry happy 18 birthday to this dork

___

The surprise was successful. When Fred walked in, everybody shouted a "SURPRISE!" that he wasn't expecting at all.  Ruby and Gilbert stood close to the door, ready to launch confetti cannons as soon as he walked in.

The boy tried his best to fight back the tears that were about to form in his eyes when he saw all of his new friends there. Diana also managed to get his band mates to come and he truly believes he's the luckiest guy on Earth.

Ruby's living room was decorated with a colorful mess of balloons all over the floor and streamers hanging from the the walls. Music was blasting through the speakers — Ruby insisted on playing Taylor Swift's new album, but her friends stopped her from doing so. "It's my house, let me play my music!" she pouted like a little girl. Jerry was the only one that supported her suggestion, but it was not enough, so they ended up playing a Party Hits playlist from Spotify.

Now a bunch of teenagers are gathered in a circle, sitting on the floor. Apparently, Josie Pye has a certain adoration for these kind of games. When they said truth or dare was "way too childish", the blond girl grabbed a bottle of vodka from Ruby's parents minibar. "Let's play 'Never have I ever', if we're feeling mature here" she said.

After a round of questions, it was Fred's turn. He locked eyes with Diana without anyone noticing. His girlfriend nodded.

"Never have I ever..." Fred says. "liked someone that's in this room right now"

Gilbert could have literally murdered Fred Wright right that second. But he drinks. So do Diana and Fred himself, toasting their glasses together; Josie and Billy; Ruby and Jerry, and Jane.

Anne watches Gilbert cautiously as he drinks the liquid. Then her eyes travel to Jane. Oh, Anne thinks. She's drinking too. Okay, I get it. They like each other.

The party goes on after that game and Anne confirms that her supposition was correct. Gilbert and Jane are dancing to the rhythm of an upbeat, popular song. It's annoying her — more concretely, it's making her blood boil.

"I wasn't expecting the Gilbert and Jane thing! He seems to be all over her!" Tillie says, snapping Anne out of her thoughts.

"I know right? Especially when we all thought he was heads over heels for Anne!" Josie says.

That's all it takes for Anne to explode.

"You need to stop whatever this is" Anne hisses. "Gilbert and I are just friends. I love Charlie, you have to respect that"

"You're right, Anne, I'm sorry" Josie apologizes as she pours herself a drink.

"Besides, Gilbert doesn't like me" Anne crosses her arms over her chest, raising her chin with both pride and annoyance.

"You bet!" Tillie says, mouth full of Cheetos as she points to something happening behind Anne. The redhead's jaw almost falls open.

Gilbert and Jane are kissing. His hands are on her waist, her hands around his neck that tangle around his dark curls every once in a while. As he deepens the kiss, most of their friends raise their eyebrows and laugh quietly as they point at them, not fully believing what's going on.

Anne is horrified at the scene.

And she feels something sinking down in her stomach, but she doesn't know how to name it or how to describe it. She's never felt like this before. It makes her sick.

Now that everybody's focusing all their attention on Gilbert and Jane's making-out spectacle, she takes her chance to leave the house, lighting a cigar as she makes her way out to Ruby's garden.

She sits on the grass for five minutes when she feels footsteps approaching.

"Fire?"

Fred.

"Here"

The tall boy sits next to her before she lits his cigar, almost as a parallelism to the day they first met.

"It's your birthday party" she says, matter-or-factly. "You should go back inside"

"It's not a party without you" Fred chuckles between smokes, looking up at the moon. "What's wrong?"

He knows what's wrong. Diana might have told him otherwise, but he knows that even Anne knows what she's been trying to deny even to herself lately.

She runs her free hand through her hair. The other one holds the cigar. It's been a while since she last smoke but she needs it now. "Nothing, Fred"

"You know" he says. "I know I'm not a raven-haired princess or a walking disaster with golden locks" he chuckles. "But you trusted me once and I don't see why you can't trust me now"

She doesn't answer. Instead, she keeps her eyes on the front; her expression inalterable.

"Your secret is still safe with me, if that's what you've been wondering this whole time"

Wide eyed, she looks at him. Words from her first conversation with Fred Wright echo in her head.

"I have a boyfriend and I kinda... feel attracted to this guy? I haven't stopped thinking about him ever since we met. He's like my dream guy but I love my boyfriend so it's never gonna happen... It's like some kind of tension between us whenever we're together"

"Thank you for not telling him"

He smiles, taking a last smoke off his cigar.

"Anyway, tiger-Anne" he drops his cigar to the ground. "Stop feeling guilty about whatever you're feeling and come inside whenever you're ready, okay?"

He ruffles her hair and kisses her cheek before leaving her all alone under the dark night. I guess she needs time to think, Fred thinks as he goes back inside. The girl smiles to herself after he's gone. She's lucky to have a friend like Fred Wright.

She finishes her cigar but stays there anyway, enjoying the silence and trying to decipher her own feelings as moonlight illuminates her face in the dark night. She enjoys the feeling of the damp grass brushing her skin as she sits down cross-legged. The girl closes her eyes for a few seconds, trying to think rationally about Gilbert, Jane, Charlie, and all this mess she's made out of her own life.

That's when she hears footsteps approaching again.

"Fred, I told you, I'm fine!" she says without turning around, playing with the grass before her.

"It's me"

Gilbert.

She doesn't have to turn around to know what he looks like. She knows. He's standing right behind her, towering over her sitting position with that stupid habit of his of shoving his hands into his pockets and his head tilted to a side, as if this position helped him think harder.

She says nothing.

"I saw you and Fred from inside" he says calmly. "What's wrong?"

Everything's wrong.

"Nothing"

"You told Fred but you can't tell me?"

"It's nothing, Gilbert"

"Yeah, sure" his voice sounds annoyed. "You know I'll eventually find out, right?"

She doesn't answer, which makes him even more annoyed.

"God, how is it possible for someone to be this stubborn?"

She knows what he's doing. He's trying to annoy her too — he's done this before to get her attention or to get her into doing what he wants. It won't work this time.

"Anyway, Diana said you need to come back inside" he says, acting all nonchalantly. He hasn't moved ever since he arrived. Anne can sense him behind her back. "She said you promised to play something with your ukelele, so..."

She stands up. "Okay"

"Shirley, wait!" he says, taking a hold of her arm and making her turn around and face him under the moonlight. It's the first time she's looked at him tonight, and the fact of seeing him this close, with moonlight stroking his face with its light and his hazel eyes locked with hers makes her dizzy. "Do you want me to drive you home later so that we can talk?"

Anne blinks twice, thinking of the contact of his hand wrapped against her arm.

"I said I'm fine, Gilbert" she says, letting go off his grip. "Diana will take me home anyway"

Gilbert watches her go back inside. He clenches his jaw, not knowing what's gotten into her. It does cross his mind that maybe she's mad at him because of the Jane thing. But no. The reason of her irritation can't possibly be him. Fred made it pretty clear — she doesn't like me that way.

___

"Okay, you losers" Anne says into the microphone. Ruby's prepared a little stage on her living room. I'm so extra, Ruby herself thinks as she pleasantly watches Anne from down the stage. "You're about to experience the worst ukelele-playing and singing in the world. Prepare your asses"

[PLAY THE SONG]

Anne starts playing the chords to a song that sounds like a lullaby. It's slower than the original and Anne's voice gives it a tone of melancholy that goes deeper into the song.

Diana made her promise that she'd play something for Fred's birthday, and this is the only song that she's fully learnt to play. A bit scared of the embarrassment that'll come after, she starts to sing.

Gilbert recognizes the song instantly, butterflies flying all around his chest when he does.

A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal
You look so tired, unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us

"Wow" Ruby whispers. "It's beautiful"

"It is" Gilbert whispers back in awe — his eyes flicker from Anne's fingers stroking the instrument's strings to Anne's face. She looks concentrated. "Beautiful"

"I play the ukelele too!" Jane says, standing next to Gilbert.

"Yeah, I know"

With no alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
Silent, silent

Anne's fingers play the ukelele effortlessly — she's perfectioned the art of playing this song. Ever since Gilbert included it in that mixtape he gave her for her birthday, she's been playing it every night to fall asleep. She learnt how to played it about two weeks ago.

She locks eyes with Gilbert for a moment.

Gilbert.

Whenever they locked eyes — something quite frequent — one of them would usually smile first, causing the other one to smile back. But not this time. Gilbert just stares at her with a mix of amazement and something else.

Gilbert.

As she plays, she wonders if Gilbert remembers that he put this song into the mixtape. He probably doesn't — he's probably on the course of making a mixtape for Jane now. That's what he does with girls anyway, right? He talks to them, flirts with them and make them like him. He's impossible not to like.

And here I am — I fell for Gilbert Blythe's stupid charms and now I'm having second thoughts when it comes to my relationship, all because of a guy that only wants to make out with random girls. That's what I am to him, right? Just a random girl. Just like that Ella from other school and now Jane. He got tired of playing with me, and he left me like this — confused as fuck.

And to think that I even considered breaking up with Charlie for him. I've been such a fool. He's turned me into a fucking mess — I've never been like this. I've always had everything so planned and so clear and he's turned me into this sick hormonal mess in which I can't stop thinking about him.

I don't even know what I'm feeling anymore. It's been a long time since I was in control of my feelings and Gilbert Blythe is the one to blame.

That's when she loses it. She manages to finish the song, but ends up tearing up towards the end. Gilbert notices how her voice cracks during the last verses — his eyes filled with worry as she watches her face shift from concentration to pain.

I blame you, Gilbert Blythe. That's what she thinks as she gets off the stage and hurries up to get to Ruby's kitchen.

___

Anne hides in the kitchen. She really can't face Gilbert right now — or anyone. She just hopes nobody comes in the look for her — she wouldn't bare it if someone saw her like this.

"What was that?" Jerry walks into the kitchen and sees her sister leaning her back against the counter.

"What was what?"

"You seemed... affected, when you were singing" Jerry takes his spot right beside her. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"Because there's nothing going on"

"You used to share everything with me. I'm your brother, you can trust me"

"You're going to judge me" she says, lowering her gaze to the floor.

She's ashamed. She doesn't know when exactly she did lose control of her life. She used to be so sure of everything and now everything seems confusing and disconcerting. There was a moment in her life when everything felt in place, but this past year's been a rollercoaster of emotions.

I can't handle it anymore, she thinks. Matthew. Charlie. Matthew. Gilbert.

She can't put herself through such an emotional trauma again. And that's what Gilbert's doing to her. She had everything perfectly planned until he arrived and now she's just confused.

"Me? Never" Jerry says.

She jumps into his brother's arms, wrapping hers around his neck. "I just don't know what I'm feeling anymore and I'm scared, I'm so scared, Jerry"

She cries against Jerry's chest. His brother caresses her hair softly as she lets out muffled sobs, probably ruining his t-shirt.

"It's Gilbert, isn't it?" He whispers, before kissing the top of her head.

She nods repeatedly, her sobs getting louder.

"Hey, sis, it's okay" Jerry whispers. "It's going to be okay, don't worry"

"What's going on here?" A voice says.

Anne and Jerry separate from their hug. Gilbert walks into the kitchen. With a move of his head, he asks Jerry to please leave. Jerry does as Gilbert say, knowing that they have to share a much-needed talk. The tension between these two has gone way too far, he thinks after closing the kitchen's door behind him.

"Shirley? Are you crying?" He approaches her and gets closer to her in a instant. He tries to take her hands, which are covering her face, but she turns her back to him.

"I'm fine" she mumbles under her breath.

"What's wrong?"

He places a hand on her back and she shivers at the contact of him against her. But she can't help but think that those hands have been gripping Jane's waist not long ago.

"I said I'm fine"

"You're clearly not — please, let me help"

His hand moves then to her shoulder, making her turn around.

"You can't"

"Let me try" both his eyes and his voice soften, seeing her like this. Her eyes are puffy and red from crying and her voice sounds so broken. He wonders what got her into this state.

"Just leave me alone, please" she removes his hand from her body.

"Anne" he calls her by her name and that makes her weak. "Remember the first time I saw you cry? We talked. And we became friends then. I thought I made it clear back then — you can trust me"

"Hey, I'm not the best at making friends either"

"Sure thing"

"Look, we could be the best of friends. Why waste so much potential? So let's just... be friends, mm? Hi, I'm Gilbert, Gilbert Blythe"

"Hi, I'm Anne Shirley-Cuthbert"

Her mind goes back to the present. What a mistake, she thinks. What a big mistake I made that day — I should've known that he'd bring nothing but trouble with that smug smile, thick and shiny curls and his stupid Walkman.

Why did I ever do this to myself?

"Gilbert, just leave"

Leave? Gilbert's eyebrows furrow into an unnerved and confused frown. Does she really think that I could possibly leave her?

"I'd never leave you — especially not like this" he whispers as he takes a step closer to her.

"Gilbert, please, there's nothing you can do" she pleads, taking a step backwards and pushing him back with her hands against his chest. Please, just go. I can't even look at you now.

"Why not?" he tilts his head.

Because you're the one that's gotten me into this state. Because you don't know how confusing it is for me to look at you right now.

"Because- because you wouldn't understand"

"I would!" he cries out, his voice getting louder and louder every time he speaks. "Don't you really see how much you mean to me? How much I really care about you? Anne, I-"

"Shut up!" Now her voice is loud as well. "Just- cut the crap, you obviously don't care"

She doesn't want to talk to him like this. But maybe this will make him away. The boy just gives her a confused look.

"I don't care about what exactly?!"

"About anything!"

"Of course I do! I clearly do!" he cries out. "Would you please let me take care of you?"

She clenches both her fists before saying something that she'll regret instantly just because of the look on the boy's face after she says those words.

"You're not my boyfriend!"

Gilbert Blythe knew that a heart couldn't possibly break into million pieces — that was just a metaphor — but her words broke him. Completely.

He tries to recover from the impact of the pain she's caused him. The boy clears his throat and speaks, in such a calm voice that scares Anne.

"I know I'm not your boyfriend" he says. "But I'm your friend and I care about you... I care about you so much, Shirley, and it's breaking me to see you like this so please, just please, tell me what's going on — tell me how to fix this"

Before she can even think of an answer, Jane walks in, along with Diana and Ruby. They must have probably hear all the shouting coming from the kitchen.

"What's going on? Anne? Are you okay?"

Anne's eyes are still fixed on Gilbert — she wipes a few wild tears away with the back of her hand before leaving the kitchen.

"Anne! Wait!" Diana's voice is the last thing she can hear before storming out of Ruby's house.

___

"Someone has to go look for her" Diana says after twenty minutes minutes. Anne hasn't come back yet and everybody's look for her around Ruby's house. But she's gone. "She didn't bring her car and-"

"I'll go" three voices say at the same time.

Gilbert, Fred and Jerry.

The rest have continued with the party. Now it's just Fred, Gilbert, Jerry and Ruby, separates from the rest and gathered up in the kitchen.

Diana analyses the situation. "Okay, this is what we're going to do" she says. "Gilbert, you drive Jerry home. Fred and I will take my car and we'll look for her"

"What?" Gilbert complains. "No- I'm coming as well"

"Gil, trust me. I'm her best friend, I know her-"

"Well, I know her too! And I'm just as worried for her as you are. Why doesn't anyone let me help? I want to help"

Diana takes a deep breath, trying to think.

"She's calling me" Jerry suddenly blurts out, holding up his phone in the air. It's ringing and it has Anne's photo and contact name on the screen.

"Pick up!" Ruby says way too loud. Gilbert moves and gets as close to Jerry as possible.

The boy swipes to answer the phone, holding it carefully and putting it on speaker. Her sister's voice talks from the other side.

"Tell Diana not to form a searching party. I got home safe and sound and I'm going to bed"

Then she hangs up, leaving her friends, her brother and a boy who's completely heads over heels for her, standing in a circle of complete worry.

___

Gilbert Blythe
are you okay???

Gilbert Blythe
anne please

Gilbert Blythe
can I help?

Anne sits in bed as she watches her phone screen light up at the arrival of upcoming notifications.

But she won't answer them.

___

Gilbert drives Jerry home, just as Diana said. They spend most of the drive silently, both thinking of the same thing: Anne.

He watches Jerry walk into the house, waving goodbye from the porch before closing the door after him. Gilbert stays in his car, eyes fixed on Anne's window. The lights are on and he can see that Beatles' poster on the main wall from where he's parked.

The light coming out of her room reminds him of The Great Gatsby, green lights and the project they still need to finish.

He takes a deep breath before typing one last text.

___

Anne hears how a car pulls over her driveway. Someone must've driven Jerry home after the party.

It's 3:12 a.m. and she still feels like pure shit.

Not only did I ruin one of my best friend's birthday party, but I also felt jealous of someone who's clearly not my boyfriend. My boyfriend is miles away from here, not knowing a single thing about how attracted I am to that messy curly head.

I'm the worst.

Her phone beeps.

Gilbert Blythe
i'm parked down here if you want to talk

She fantasizes about waving at him from the window before running down the stairs and meeting him in the porch. They'd talk just like they did after Billy Andrews's party. They could even listen to some music together, she could lean her head on his shoulder and maybe the spring breeze would stroke their skin.

Everything would be just as it was before tonight.

But that's just a fantasy, full of could's and would's.

In real life, she stays in bed. After fifteen minutes, the lights from Gilbert's car flash against her window. He's leaving.

The green light, she thinks.

Just like Gatsby and Daisy.

___

It's Saturday evening now. Neither Anne nor Gilbert have recovered from last night's events. Anne's spent most of the day in her room, and she's thankful that Jerry's been understanding enough not to bother her today.

She's lying in bed, nose stuck on a novel, when her phone beeps. It's probably Diana again, she thinks as she lazily stands up to grab her phone from her desk.

Gilbert Blythe
i finished our essay
i shared it on our drive folder
feel free to edit whatever you consider

Oh. She'd completely forgotten about the project until now. She though about The Great Gatsby yesterday, as a pathetic parallel of Gilbert as her. But she'd forgotten that they still needed to finish their essay for Miss Stacey's class. Apparently, he took the freedom to finish it.

Anne grabs her laptop and sits in bed with it on her lap, opening their shared folder for their English project. Although she's not exactly overjoyed lately, she can't help but smile at how they named the document before all of this happened.

shirley_u_suck.doc

She opens it and scrolls down the last part.

«We can therefore, conclude, that what made The Great Gatsby a classic that we still read nowadays is its timelessness and the universality of its themes. Times change but feelings do not — Carraway's judgement, Gatsby's ambition and eternal hope and Daisy's eternal promise of love, etc.

There are still personifications of Gatsby and Daisy out there, holding on to find each other again, despite their choices, watching the green light from across a metaphorical deck.»

Anne reads it carefully. Then again. And again — as if she was trying to crack some kind of code. After reading the page one more, she types back an answer.

AnnE
I like it the way it is

Gilbert Blythe
good
are you okay?

AnnE
yeah I'm fine

Gilbert Blythe
wanna talk??? coffee???

AnnE
kinda busy rn

He doesn't reply. And part of her is relieved by that. The other part is kind of disappointed.

___

A/N

WOW, that was such a long chapter (almost 5000 words), I'm sorry!
This is one of my least favorite chapters because I feel the writing here is terrible, haha. I've edited this a hundred times, but still, I hope you like it.

What do you think about what's happened? Do you understand Anne? Do you think that Gilbert did anything wrong? Tell me!

I'll see you for chapter 16 💘