Chapter 2 Lunch With Kindred Spirits

The school day wasn't all that exciting as the spelling bee in the morning. The bell rang at the perfect time for lunch and Anne, surprisingly, couldn't have been more excited. She quickly grabbed her lunch pail and made her way over to the girls, who were sitting in their fort in the back corner of the schoolhouse, where that always eat their lunch. She was about to sit down when Josie looked up, with a disgusted face, and spoke first.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" Josie said, putting emphasis on the 'you.'

"I'm sitting down to eat lunch, same as you are." Anne answered calmly.

Josie, of course decided to continue and make the red head feel bad. "Well we don't want you to sit here. After what you had said to me, I have never been more embarrassed. Go sit somewhere else. Your not welcome here and we won't sit next to dirty trash" Josie harshly said.

Anne felt tears come to her eyes, but would not let Josie see that she hurt her. She slowly turned away and walked out of the school house.

Diana immediately rose from sitting down and ran out of the school house to find Anne. She saw she was on the side of the school, sitting on a rock, next to the creek, alone. Diana ran up to her.

"Anne! Anne!" Diana said while running. Anne looked up, lightly teary eyed, to see her truest friend running up to her.

"Diana? What are you doing here?" Anne asked, while wiping off small tears from her eyes.

Diana looked confused. "To see if you're ok and eat lunch with you of course," she said like it was obvious. "I'd much rather sit with you than with Josie Pye and all her bullying," Diana said, truthfully.

Anne was happy she had a bosom friend like Diana, so she simply smiled in appreciation. Diana came and sat next to Anne and had a goal to inquire about what happened this morning.

"Anne, how come you blushed slightly when Gilbert looked at you during the spelling bee?" Diana asked with a knowing smile.

Anne flushed a light pink color, and was about to answer but then turned around when they heard someone calling their names.

"Anne! Diana!" It was Gilbert Blythe. He was running up to where they were sitting with Moody and Charlie behind him.

"Oh hello Gilbert, Moody, and Charlie," Anne replied softly. The boys smiled, but were confused as to why Anne wasn't acting like her usual bubbly, happy self. Diana saw this and stood up and pulled the boys to the side. Gilbert had a concerned look on his face. This wasn't how his Anne acted.

"It was Josie Pye," she told the three boys. "She starting making fun of Anne" Diana said sadly.
Gilbert clenched his jaw in anger. 'Why would anyone want to be mean to such a sweet and caring girl?' Gilbert thought sadly. Charlie and Moody looked sympathetic for the poor red head sitting down next to them. They thought it best to not mention the incident, so Gilbert thought of something else.

"Well if it's alright with you, and Anne of course, may we sit down and join you both for lunch, so you both have some company?" Gilbert asked Diana cautiously, hoping that he could have lunch with Anne.

Anne looked up surprised but happy. She didn't mind the company. She and Diana nodded their heads with a smile and the boys joined them for lunch by the creek.

It was a fun lunch break and a great way to start the weekend. They all told jokes and were very content in each other's presence. Diana and Charlie were sitting next to each other, holding hands, and Moody sat on the other side of Diana. Gilbert and Anne sat across from them. While they were eating, Gilbert would often take quick glances at Anne. Even though they were all in conversations, they all noticed it, including Anne. She surprisingly didn't mind. She just ignored it and continued talking to everyone.

The bell rang signaling the end of the lunch break and all the students who were outside picked up their stuff and cleaned up. Gilbert saw that Anne needed some help cleaning up, and even though he knew she was going to refuse his help, he still offered.

"Here, allow me" he politely said. Anne surprisingly just smiled and gave him the bag to hold for her.

"I'll have you know, Gilbert Blythe, I am fully capable of throwing my lunch away on my own. I just gave it to you to be polite," Anne said, her head upturned.

Gilbert smiled. "Of course Anne."

He threw all the garbage away and walked into the school house with Anne. They quickly glanced at one another, not thinking they would do it at the same time, and looked away embarrassed, but lightly blushing. They then walked back to their seats to continue the rest of their day.

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Hi! So I haven't listened to Taylor Swift in like over a year, but I've always loved this song from her Lover album. I have just started re-listening to her music and the nostalgia is coming back. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it's so short, but I didn't have much time to write lol.
-A💛