IT WAS QUIET IN THE CLASSROOM.
The only thing that could be heard was the chalk writing on the small tables.
Anne sat on a bench in front of Amybella and suddenly flinched. She got the McCurthy-girl's attention, who eyed her critically as another chalk was thrown next to the redhead. Anne raised her head again.
Bella frowned and looked behind her just to see
Gilbert now standing up.
Bella looked at him in irritation as he slowly approached the redheaded girl and placed his apple on her table.

"Oops!" he whispered and crouched down. Amybella looked at Ruby, who was watching him the same way.

"Hey." he tried to get Anne's attention but she ignored him. He reached for her red braid and pulled on it.

"Carrots!"
The next moment, Anne had already stood up with a jerk, grabbed her table and was now hitting Gilbert in the face with it.

"I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!" she shouted and everyone in the room turned to look at her. Now there was no more scratching of chalk and it was eerily quiet in the room. Amybella felt like she could literally touch the tension in the air and an explosion would occur as everyone looked around in horror between Gilbert and Anne.
Gilbert held his cheek and Anne looked at her now broken tablet in amazement.

"You just did." Gilbert then said and went back to his seat.

"SHIRLEY!!" shouted Mr. Phillips.

"Get up here. NOW!" Anne slowly climbed over her bench and walked towards the lectern.

"What a vicious display!" Mr. Phillips wiped the previous bill off the board.

"Is this, what they taught you in that orphanage?!" He began to write 'Anne Sherly' on the blackboard and gestured Anne to turn around.
Bella was surprised when she heard the word orphanage. She didn't know that Anne was an orphan.
Of course she had heard about a girl that also recently came to Avonlea but she had no clue it was Anne.
From her looks one could guess that it was Anne but she seemed so.. educated and she could read. Amybella always thought, orphan kids weren't good at reading.
She looked at Gilbert, who looked guilty towards Anne. He then locked eyes with Bella and if looks could kill, he would have been six feet under the ground by now.

"Anne Sherly has a very bad temper." Mr. Phillips pronounced the words he wrote on the board.

"You'll stay here and stay put. And the rest of you pipe down!" Amybella felt nothing but pity and empathy for Anne. She could imagine how the redhead felt now. She killed Ruby with her gaze as the girl started giggling again.

"Let this serve as a lesson to you, that we do not  tolerate such displays of temper here in a civilized society."

Civilized society? This was a joke.

"It was my fault." Gilbert had stood up and finally spoke up.

"Sir! I teased her," he said with a quick glance at Anne.

"Quiet Blythe! That's hardly an excuse." Said the teacher, waving his hand.

"It's not her fault he was bothering her." Amybella stood up.

"Sit down McCurthy, or you'll be next in line!"
Her classmates giggled and Gilbert sat down. He looked up at the blonde girl, who hadn't moved.

"Alright." she heard herself say and the next moment she wanted to slap herself in the face. The others, who had already turned back to their lesson, looked at Amybella in shock.
Mr. Phillips was quiet now too.
The girl felt her body lift her legs completely against her will, as she climbed over the bench. She didn't miss Ruby's look, which threatened to make her eyes bug out.

Amybella ran forward, not knowing whether it was really that quiet or whether her ears were no longer working. She stood next to Anne, who continued to stare straight ahead.
Then the redhead suddenly stepped forward.

"Where do you think, you're going?" asked Mr. Phillips, but she continued walking unhindered.

"Get back here." Mr. Phillips was talking to her, but Anne didn't even seem to be thinking about it. Her gaze was straight ahead and she kept walking. All eyes were on her.

"Shirley. Come back here!" Anne grabbed her hat, opened the door and ran out. Amybella now stood alone at the front. Heads turned towards her.

"Anne." she breathed so that hardly anyone could hear, then ran after her. Bella felt a hand grasp hers. Gilbert had gotten up and stopped her. He shook his head.
Inwardly, the blonde girl cursed and tore her hand away from him. She gave him a venomous look and went back to her seat.

She thought about Anne for the rest of the school day and decided to visit her immediately after school.
As soon as class was over, she ran out, ignoring Gilbert's shouts behind her.

"Amy, wait!" Bella turned to him angrily.

"You're an idiot and a bully!" She hissed as he reached her, but she wanted to keep running.

"How could I know she'd snap like that?" Gilbert said defensively.

"You pulled her hair and called her 'carrots'! If you want to get a girl's attention, don't do it by humiliating her!" Bella scolded him before she turned around and left for good.
Gilbert stopped and looked after her, feeling guilty.

•

"Hello Mrs. Cuthbert, can I see Anne?" Amybella asked the elderly lady as she opened the door.

"Who are you?" She asked confused.

"Oh I'm Amybella McCurthy! I go to school with Anne!" She introduced herself and Marilla nodded.

"Well then, I think she's in the barn. She is very upset about what happened in school." Marilla answered and nodded towards the old building.
So Bella ran over to the barn and found Anne in the hayloft.

"You left me standing there by myself," Bella giggled and stood in front of her. Anne was laying in the hay and looked dreamily at the ceiling. She didn't answer her, so Amybella continued talking.

"I don't know what Gilbert was thinking!" She sat down beside the redhead.

"But I scolded him after school! He learned his lesson, I made sure of that don't worry!" Bella said and felt the rough hay on her skin.

"It's not just that." Anne sighed, biting her bottom lip. She looked at Amybella thoughtfully and then back at her shoes.

"I told things about Prissy and Mr. Phillips that spread all over town and now I'm an abomination!" she said. The girl had squinted her eyes as if something had caught her eye.

"Prissy?" Bella asked.

"Jane and Billy's sister." Anne answered.

"Oh. What happened?" Amybella asked confused.

"Diana and I saw them holding hands." The redhead said.

"That.. is.." the blonde started, but couldn't find the right words.

"Gross?" Anne asked.

"I'd rather marry Gilbert Blythe than have anything to do with Mr. Phillips!" Bella then said and giggled. Anne joined in her laughter and Bella decided to lay down next to her. A comfortable silence hung in the air.

"I'm never going back to school." Anne's face turned serious.

"What? But then you'll leave me alone with these idiots." Bella's mouth was open and she looked at Anne desperately. The redhead laughed.

"You have Diana." She shrugged and avoided the blonde's gaze.

"But Diana doesn't loathe Gilbert like we do!" Anne laughed heartily. Amybella sighed.

"You should re-think that decision Anne. I'd be really sad not seeing you at school." she said and then sat up.

"I have to go home! My mum is surely worried." Bella said, although she didn't think her mom would care if she never came home.
She turned her head to Anne and eyed the girl. Her eyes were really bright and now pleading at Bella.

"Don't leave me." Anne said, pulling her mouth into a thin line. Bella's lips formed a smile.

"I'll never leave you." she then said and truly meant it. She reached for Anne's hand and the red-haired girl looked at her in astonishment.

She then sat up abruptly and Bella wondered for a moment if she had said something wrong, but then she felt the delicate arms of Anne around her and the red hair tickling her cheek. Bella smiled and returned the embrace.

"Child, where have you been?" she heard her mother's voice just after she came in through the door. Marissa didn't expect an answer from her daughter, when she came running out of the kitchen.

"I want you to meet someone." Her mother stepped behind her and took off the girl's coat and hat. Then she pushed the girl around the corner to the dining table, where she saw a man sitting.
He had neatly cut brown hair and was wearing a suit that didn't look cheap.

"Amybella say hello to your future stepfather."

•

"I heard it myself! She's here to get married again!" Rachel said as she sat at Marilla's table and drank a tea.
Marilla sat down opposite her.

"My Goodness." she said, staring at the table in front of her.

"And then, out of the blue, he runs into my husband, Thomas! A fine gentleman with a brisk walk." Rachel said, hysterically as she fiddled with the cup. She leaned forward.

"Marilla. THAT explains how she got herself this trip here and the house of old Manson! She may rest in peace." Rachel threw her arms up in the air and looked up dramatically.

"Thomas asked him if he was lost, you only see these men in the cities! But no, he says he's walking to see the country!" Rachel shook her head wildly. Marilla shook her head.

"That poor girl, she can hardly have it easy." said Marilla, taking another sip, while thinking about Amybella.

"I immediately wondered what a mother and her child from England were doing here in Avonlea, but now it all clears up." Rachel said and held a hand to her collarbone. She then pressed her index finger onto the wood of the table.

"The child needs a father."

Author's note:
We love our gossip aunt Rachel!
Tell me what you think so far!

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