AMYBELLA WITHDREW HER HAND again, burying it in the pocket of her wet coat. She looked to the side, away from the boys eyes that looked her up and down. She could hear him shift slightly as the leaves crunched under his boots.

"So.. don't you want to come and warm up, I live right back there." Gilbert said, pointing behind him at a couple of trees lining the end of the forest.

"I don't even know who you are." Amybella responded chuckling and looking at him doubtfully. The boy grinned at her.

"Yes you do. I told you I'm Gilbert. Gilbert Blythe!" he said, his voice light and joyful. She smiled at his manners and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Come on my father will kill me if I tell him that I let a girl ride home in the cold." he said now and the girl looked behind her.
He was right, she was wet and it was a long way home, she would get horribly sick if she didn't let her coat dry before the sun would have fully settled.
So she nodded and Gilbert took Abraxa's reins in his hands to lead the horse while walking beside her.

"What's your name?" he then asked looking at her from the side. The blonde girl looked at him for a moment, then she looked at her shoes again.

"Amybella. But most people just call me Bella," she responded and he gave her a nod.

"And where are you from?" He asked,

"England." Bella answered shortly. He looked at her surprised,

"Oh wow." He said, but didn't ask further. After they passed the little curve in the path of the forest, the girl looked ahead and spotted a small brown house in the middle of a big landscape surrounding it. It stood up the hill and past a couple of fields.

They put Ambraxas in the barn next to the house, before they went into Gilbert's home.
Amybella stood in front of the fireplace and a pleasant warmth ran through her body, which caused her to sigh happy.

"Wait, let me take your coat," Gilbert said and took her wet coat from her shoulders. He disappeared into the kitchen and Amybella turned back to the fireplace.

"Gilbert who have you brought home?" asked a deep but gentle voice. The girl turned around and an old man stood in the doorway. He looked ill, had thick circles under his eyes and a pale face. Nevertheless, a warm smile graced his lips when he spotted her in front of the oven.

"Amybella McCurthy, sir. Pleasure to meet you." She smiled at the man, who must have been Gilbert's father.

"The joy is all mine! Your hair. Are you the Gillis gal?" He asked smiling as he nodded at her blonde hair.

"No sir, who are the Gillis?" Amybella asked the old man didn't have time to answer when Gilbert came back.

"Dad what are you doing? You shouldn't be out of bed!" He asked, putting an arm around his father's shoulder.
His look was worried, as he brought him into the room from where he had come. The blonde girl stood still, not quite knowing what to do. After a short while, the brunette boy came out of the hallway again and approached her.

"Is he sick?" She asked quietly, afraid his father might hear. Gilbert nodded.

"He probably doesn't have long." he said, pressing his lips together.

"I'm sorry, that must be awful for you." She said, trying not to look at him with pity, because pity was probably the last thing he needed.
She knew all too well how it was to loose a father.

"It's okay. Uhm.." he said and Bella noticed how he didn't want to talk about it.

"Would you like some tea?" He asked and Bella nodded.

"Okay, just wait a sec." He said and hurried to go to the kitchen.
After a minute or two he came back with two cups.

"Here." He said and gave her the steaming drink.
They sat in silence for a while.

"How is the weather in Avonlea?" Bella asked and the boy looked up.

"Pardon?" He asked, drawing his brows together. Bella shrugged.

"You said I wouldn't know the weather in Avonlea so tell me about it." She said and he laughed.
But he was glad that she wasn't asking about his father anymore.

"Uhm.. the winters are extremely cold. And well these days are just wet but octobers really are beautiful here!" He said, shaking his head.
Bella nodded and took another sip from her cup.

"Do you go to school?" Gilbert asked,

"Of course." Bella said, a little offended by his obvious question.

"Our teacher Mr. Phillips is very strict, but you learn, so that's good. Did your whole family move here?" Gilbert asked and Bella felt her stomach turn.

"Me and my mother. She's the family I have left." She said quietly and then suddenly startled.
The moment he asked that, Amybella remembered dinner at home. She gasped.

"Oh no, I forgot the time! My goodness! I'm sorry, I'm expected at home!" she declared, grabbing her coat that hang in front of the oven to dry and quickly ran out to the stables. As she made her way home on her stallion, she saw Gilbert behind her, standing at his door, looking after the blonde girl.

•

The days after that, Amybella had spent most of the time helping her mother prepare for the coffee that was soon to be held at their home. However, on this day, something new began for the girl.

The blonde grabbed her coat off the hook and took the basket with a small lunch from her mother, then made her way to school.
She pulled her coat tighter as it snowed heavily. Shivering, she quickened her steps.

"Amy!" she heard someone call behind her. She turned around and recognized Gilbert walking towards her. She turned back around drawing her eyebrows together slightly as she heard his nickname for her.
No one had ever called her Amy.
The boy came up beside her. Amybella, however, continued to walk with her face straight forward, stubbornly.

"Not so chatty today, are we?" he grinned, his hand holding his bag as he looked at her from the side. Amybella heard as their steps started synchronizing.

"I'm nervous." She mumbled and wondered if the brunette boy had even heard what she said. She heard him jump over a branch that was in his way.
They walked in silence for a little while and all Bella could hear were their steps in the still frozen ground.

"Do you even know how to get to school?" he then asked and Bella snapped her head towards him, she looked at him indignantly.

"Of course." She then replied and Gilbert grinned.

"Which way do we have to go, smart girl?" He asked when they reached the point where the path split in two.

"Left." she said and was about to start walking.

"No it's right." Gilbert laughed and mocked the girl.

"I meant that." She said stubbornly, walking past him.
They soon got out of the forest and walked along a few fields before they turned to the right and arrived at a white school building, in front of which other children were running around happily. Amybella climbed the few steps to the door and was about to open it, but Gilbert beat her to it.

"My lady." He said with a grin and held the door open for her. The girl rolled her eyes but had to grin, which she didn't let him see. Two girls came up to her as she took off her cap and coat to hang them on the coat rack.

"You must be Amybella. I'm Diana." The black-haired girl had a warm smile.

"Most people just call me Bella." Amybella smiled and then looked at the other girl with two red pigtails.

"I'm Anne, it's great to make your acquaintance." The blonde girl nodded.

"Nice to meet you." She said in a kind tone and gave them her best smile.
Amybella hated first days. She hated the concept of appearing perfect to people when she knew that that image was gonna fall the moment someone tempted her.

"We'll introduce you to the others." Diana took her hand and pulled her towards a group of girls. Bella noticed that every girl wore another color, as if they had it organized this way. Their eyes scanned over her figure and Bella was glad that she put effort into her hair and into her looks. She fore her hair in gentle waves, putting a part of it back with a needle but still leaving a few strands out so that it wouldn't look too strict.
She smiled at the girls as Diana introduced them.

"This is Jane Andrews, Josie Pye, Ruby Gillis and Tillie Boulter. Girls this is Amybella, Bella for short." Anne said, her voice sounding excited.

"Isn't it too cold for an afternoon coffee?" asked Josie Pye as her eyes looked Bella up and downy

"Well.. yes, but because we just got here-.." Amybella tried to explain, but she was immediately interrupted by the blonde girl.

"I think it's a bit intrusive, don't you think it's intrusive?" She asked, addressing her friends.

"I think coffee afternoons are great!" said the girl, who was introduced as Tillie Boulter, happily and received a venomous look from Josie.

"B-but not in winter." Tilly quickly bowed her head. Amybella forced herself to breathe in calmly and swallowed her anger.

"It's not intrusive, it's kindness, something you don't know much about, do you?"

And there it was. Not even 5 minutes into meeting her new friends and Bella had already managed to loose her manners.
Awesome. She thought and scolded herself for not holding her tongue.

Josie's look turned into a surprised expression. She then drew her brows together and looked quite serious as she let her eyes scan Amybella's figure. Her blue eyes then snapped up into Bella's again and she looked as if she wanted to insult everything that Amybella offered her to see. But she chose to do otherwise and clicked her tongue, before she turned and left.
The other girls looked a little shocked, eyeing Amybella warily before glancing at each other and choosing to follow Josie.

"That was quick." the Bella muttered as she realized she had made her first enemies.

"They're not always like that, you know." Diana said, smiling sincerely. She truly seemed like a nice girl that could be trusted, Amybella thought. Still, she had to be careful with everyone in this town.

"Oh! Your milk." Anne spoke up and with that, changed the topic. Bella noticed her red hair once more and eyed the many freckles on her face. Bella had never quite seen a person with so many little dots in one place.

"You need to put it outside in the water to keep it cold." She said and took Amybella's arm to drag her out of the classroom. Diana followed them as they walked outside and past a few boys playing ball. Bella saw little girls running around as they reached a little brook. Anne took her milk and placed it into the water.

"I'll explain everything you need to know about lunch. All the girls in our clique sit together. We form a kind of club where boys are not allowed. I usually sit next to Jane and Anne always sits next to me. You could probably sit next to Anne as long as Tilly doesn't have a problem with it. She seemed to like you." Diana gushed and Amybella suppressed the urge to sigh.

"Oh, It would be marvelous if we sat together!" Anne expressed enthusiastically.
Bella looked archer a bit puzzled. She always pronounced her big words so theatrically.

"Marvelous?" Amybella asked.

"It's just such a beautiful and big word, I've been waiting to use it!" Anne laughed.

"We show each other our snacks and then share it! You have to learn to assess the situation!" Diana explained.

"Yes. I know it all from my old school." Amybella sighed.

"I just thought it would be different here." She exclaimed and Diana seemed unsure for a moment.

"Different?" she asked.

"Not important. Will you tell me about the classes?" The blonde girl replied and the brunette smiled again. She began to talk about the teacher, Mr. Phillips.

Amybella wasn't really listening to her though, she was looking at a window in the classroom. Gilbert was sitting on the windowsill, eating an apple and watching her. When their eyes met, he waved. Anne shifted in front of her vision.

"Believe me, you don't want to get a penalty from him." Bella looked at the window again, but instead of Gilbert, a blond boy was sitting there. He grinned stupidly which annoyed her.

"What did you bring Bella?" Anne brought the blonde back to reality. The girl looked to Anne feeling caught.

"What?" she asked, irritated.

"Well, for lunch!" Diana said now.

"Oh.. I don't know," Bella responded.

"It's okay. Let's get inside it's cold." Anne said, seeing that the girl was absent with her thoughts.
The girls ran back into the classroom and Bella walked towards and empty space.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked and the little girl that was introduced to her as Ruby Gillis shook her head, which was her sign to sit down next to her. Bella guessed the girl was perhaps 11 years old and therefore much younger than the other girls in class.

"Thank you." She said and sat down. She took out her board and placed it before her, scanning the room and the other students around her.

"You know Gilbert?" She then heard the blonde girl ask and turned her head to look at her in confusion.

"Excuse me?" she asked, as she looked into the girls wide blue eyes. Ruby stared at her and then smiled slightly.

"Gilbert Blythe. You came in through together earlier," she said and nodded towards the entrance. Bella shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh.. well-.." before she could say anything, the blonde interrupted her already.

"Isn't he dreamy?" She asked and Amybella looked at her with even more irritation.
Dreamy was certainly not the first word that came to her mind when she thought about Gilbert.

"Well.. he-" She said, stumbling over her words, not knowing what to say. But apparently she didn't even have to say something because Ruby interrupted her again.

"He's so kind and grown-up. He's totally different from the other boys. I've been in love with him for three years!" she blabbered and Bella's eyes turned wide with every word the girl said about the boy.

"Congratulations?" She asked and Ruby grinned past Amybella, who followed her gaze. Gilbert was sitting with another boy, opposite of them, talking.

Oh goodness, she chose the wrong place to sit.

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