AMYBELLA WITHDREW HER HAND again, burying it in the pocket of her wet coat.

"So.. don't you want to come and warm up, I live right back there." Gilbert said, pointing behind him.

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

"Yes you do. I told you I'm Gilbert. Gilbert Blythe!" he grinned. She smiled at his manner.

"Come on my father will kill me if he hears, 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.
So she nodded and Gilbert took Abraxa's reins to lead him beside her.

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

"Amybella. But most people just call me Bella," he nodded. The girl looked ahead and spotted a house.
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.

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

"The joy is all mine! Your hair. It's like that from an angel, say are you related to the Gillis?" He asked smiling.

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

"Dad what are you doing? You shouldn't be out of the bed!" He asked, putting an arm around his father's shoulder.
His look was worried, as he brought him into the room from whence he must have come. The blonde girl stood still, not quite knowing what to do. After a short while, the brunette came out 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 about that." She said, trying not to look at him with pity, because pity was probably the last thing he needed.

"Would you like some tea?" The moment he asked that, Amybella remembered dinner at home.

"Oh no, I forgot the time! I'm expected at home. I'm sorry!" she declared, grabbing her coat and quickly running out to the stables. As she made her way home from her stallion, she saw Gilbert behind her, looking after the blonde girl.

—
Amybella had spent the previous days helping her mother prepare for the coffee that was soon to be held at their home. However, something new began that day.

The blonde girl grabbed her coat off the hook and took the basket of food 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.
No one called the girl Amy.
He came up beside her. Amybella, however, continued to walk stubbornly.

"Not so chatty today, are we?" he grinned

"I'm nervous." She mumbled and wondered if the brunette boy had even heard.

"Do you even know how to get to school?" he asked when they had been walking side by side in silence for a while.
She looked at him indignantly.

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

"Which way do we have to go, smart girl?" He asked when they reached a fork in the road.

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

"No it's right." He laughed.

"I meant that."

They walked along a frozen field 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."

"We'll introduce you to the others." Diana took her hand and pulled her towards a group of girls.

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

"Isn't it too cold for an afternoon coffee?" asked Josie Pye.

"Well.. yes, but we just got here-.." Amybella tried to explain, but she was immediately interrupted.

"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?"
Josie's look turned serious, then she clicked her tongue, turned and left.
The other girls looked a little shocked, eyeing Amybella and glancing at each other.

"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.

"Your milk." Anne said and with that, changed the topic. 

"You need to put it outside in the water to keep it cold." Diana then said and they walked out together.

"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, but sometimes Jane sits with her big sister Prissy.  Anne always sits next to me, Tillie sits on the other side of Josie. You could probably sit next to Anne," Diana gushed.

"Oh, It would be marvelous if we sat together!" said Anne enthusiastically.
Bella was puzzled by her manner. She always pronounced words so stiltedly.

"But you have to learn to assess the situation, because we always sit in the same place. We'll show each other our snack and then share it with the others!"

"Yes. I know, I thought it would be different here." Amybella sighed and Diana seemed unsure.

"Different?" she asked.

"Not important. Will you tell me about the classes?" the 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. Diana shifted in front of her vision.

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

"What did you bring Bella?" Anne brought the blonde back to reality.

„What?" she asked, irritated.

"Well, for lunch!" Diana said now.

"I don't know," Bella responded.
The girls ran back into the classroom and Bella sat down next to Ruby Gillis. She was perhaps 11 years old and therefore much younger than the other girls.

"You know Gilbert?" she asked Amybella, who looked at her in confusion.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Gilbert Blythe. You came in together earlier," she said.

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

"He's a dream, isn't he?" She asked and Amybella looked at her with even more irritation.

"Well.. he-"

"He's so kind and grown-up. Completely different from the other boys. I've been madly in love with him for three years," she enthused.

"Congratulations?" Ruby grinned past Amybella, who followed her gaze. Gilbert was sitting with another boy, talking.

A man with a moustache entered the room. He was wearing a plain professor's suit, with a stern and strict look on his face.

"Quiet! Sit down." He called out and the rest of the students took their seats.

"You. You're new. Get up!" He said to Amybella. The girl didn't like his harsh tone, but did as he said and stood up from her bench.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Amybella McCurthy." She answered and looked at him waiting.

"And?" he asked.

"And?" she repeated his question, unsure of what else to say.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"From England, sir. Whitby." he nodded.

"A small town." He looked at her.

"Sit down." She did as he said.

"Come forward." The blonde girl looked at him, confused. A feeling of distaste for him gathered in her stomach.
She rose from her seat again and stepped out of her pew. She stood forward in front of the board.

"The Atlantean provinces." He said tapping with his stick in the table.
Amybella opened her mouth to reply.

"Count them up!" he said, interrupting her.

"New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island-."

"These are the Maritime Provinces." he interrupted her.

"..That's what you asked for, Sir." Bella replied. Mr. Phillips had walked to the window and now turned around on the point.

"There are.. still some missing." The blonde girl was getting annoyed.

"Yes. Labrador and Newfoundland." she added.

"Are you doing the lessons?" he asked, pointing his stick at her.

"No?" Mr. Phillips ran up to her.

"Turn to page 34 in your books!" He then called out.

"You can sit down." He looked over his shoulder.
The rest of the school day didn't go much better. Mr. Phillips annoyed her, calling her out incessantly, and her dislike for him grew.

—
"Mr. Phillips just wanted to test you. He wanted to know where your horizon was," Anne said as Amybella put on her coat, a little too annoyed.

"I don't know what preconceptions he has that all people from England are highly educated," she said, then ran out and made her way home.

"I hope you know the way home, do you?" a familiar voice called out.

"I guess I'll never get rid of you." She quickened her steps. Gilbert caught up to her.

"So for the coffee at yours this afternoon.. do you need help? My father won't be able to make it, but I can come and help you with the preparations," Gilbert suggested.

"No, thank you, we're doing very well on our own."

"Is it because of me or what's your problem with a kind gesture?" Gilbert asked and Amybella looked at him in surprise.

"In case you've forgotten, I was lying in the snow when we first met. " She turned off towards her home and thought she heard him giggling.

"See you this afternoon then!" he waved to her and turned off in the direction of his house.

—

—
1932 words