xiii.

The rumbling sound of an engine made Eleanor jump slightly, Gilbert laughed before turning to look at where her eyes were glued too.

"What is that?" Anne asked.

"I haven't a clue, but it smells of gas." Eleanor coughed and waved her hand infront of her face.

The little motorized vehicle grew closer and the children could see that it was a bicycle, with a motor attached to it!

"Woah..it's like a motorbike! They had a few in New York, but they were very rare." Eleanor grinned.

The person riding the bike had a small but built figure, they were wearing a pair of pantaloons and a loose pirate white button up shirt. Eleanor watched in awe as the woman hopped off the bike and rested it against the school house before grabbing her bag.

"Hello children!" the woman beamed before trudging over to them, her boots sinking slightly in the mud.

"Hello there! I'm Anne Shirley Cutherbert of Green Gables, these are my best friends." Anne beamed.

"What a lively young girl." the woman smiled.

"You don't know the half of it." Moody grumbled slightly before heading into the school, the rest of the group laughed but soon followed him inside as well.

Eleanor shared a shrug with Gilbert before the two linked hands and walked towards the schoolhouse.

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After all the students were seated and wondering who this woman was, she cleared her throat.

The thunk of a world globe made a few people let out a squeak, the large globe rolled across the floor and landed at Billy Andrew's feet.

"I've just placed the world at your feet." the lady chuckled.

Billy Andrews raised an eyebrow before picking the globe up and handing it to her, as she turned around the boy turned to his friends and whispered something, making them laugh.

"Well then...let's get started shall we?" the lady clapped.

She motioned for everyone to stand up, they hesitantly obliged.

"Let's get these stuffy desks and chairs out of the way, let's push them to the corners of the room. Everyone get their own table and help others if they need!" she yelled and clapped a few times.

Anne and Eleanor glanced at each other and shrugged before shoving their desks out of the way. They walked over to the middle of the room with the rest of the students, all awkwardly standing as they wait for the teacher to say something.

"Here, let me help you." Gilbert whispered as he placed his jacket on the ground before reaching his hand out.

"Why thank you." Eleanor blushed slightly before she gently dropped to her knees and flattened her dress out before scooting over slightly.

She patted the other half of the jacket, Gilbert grinned and flopped down beside her. The two instantly linked fingers.

"As you all may not know, I'm Mrs. Stacey, your new teacher! How about we get to know each other a little better?" Stacey asked.

"This is going to be fun." Anne giggled from across the circle, she was sitting with the girls while Eleanor was on the opposite side with most of the boys.

"I see we have a full house, how about we go around in a circle and tell our name, and an adverb to describe us that matches the letter of our first name? I'll go first, Mature Muriel." Mrs Stacey smiled and motioned to a boy sitting beside her.

"Uh...Dependable Dawson?" The boy shrugged.

"Delightful use of the word "Dependable" Dawson!" Stacey grinned.

"You also could've used the word direct, or possibly decorous." Anne chimed.

Mrs Stacey glanced towards her before nodding and turning back to motion for the next kid to go.

"Proper Prissy." Prissy Andrews grinned and nudged Eleanor.

"THat's Prissy Andrews, she was engaged to the old teacher Mr Phillipps, but she left him at the alter. That's why we have you now! Because the man ran away." Anne whispered.

Prissy scoffed and glared in Anne's direction, Eleanor gently patted Prissy's shoulder as she shot Anne a raised eyebrow.

"Enough miss! We do not share gossip in this schoolhouse, gossip could be harmful to others." Mrs Stacey stated.

Eleanor and Prissy's eyes both widened as they stared at Anne, she was sitting with wide eyes as she blinked a few times.

"But miss, it's not gossip if it's true-" Anne tried to defend herself, but Mrs Stacey shook her head.

"Gossip is a conversation that is about another person that may or may not be true, but I do not wish to hear any of it in my classroom! Understood?"

"I-I was just trying to keep you up with the news-"

"I said, understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Anne nodded before bowing her head and fiddling with her thumbs.

Diana was rubbing the girls shoulder and whispering a few things to her, Mrs Stacey sighed before rubbing her hands together. She turned and stared straight at Eleanor, making the girl sit up a little straighter.

"You may go now." she stated.

"Uh...efficient Eleanor?" the girl shrugged.

"Fantastic." Mrs Stacey gave her a tight lipped smile before nodding towards Gilbert.

"Would it be alright if I gave Eleanor a better idea for a word to describe her?" he asked.

"Of course! That would be delightful, just make sure to give us yours!" Mrs Stacey beamed.

"Generous Gilbert, and for Eleanor, Enchanted Eleanor." Gilbert winked.

"Oh my lord." Eleanor grumbled as she hurried her face in her hands to stop herself from laughing and blushing.

"Oh how sweet! Are you two together?" Mrs Stacey asked.

"Yep! We have been for almost a year now." Gilbert grinned and squeezed Eleanor's hand a little.

"Everyday is an adventure when you have someone you love beside you, don't you agree?" Mrs Stacey sighed.

"Oh yes, it's lovely to have a loved one." Ruby sighed dreamily as she stared at Gilbert.

"Yes Ruby, I agree too." Eleanor said through gritted teeth as she wrapped her arm around Gilbert's bicep.

Mrs Stacey glanced back and forth between the three as Ruby glared at Eleanor, and she glared back with the might of a might wolf.

"Alright then! Let's keep going shall we?" Mrs Stacey coughed slightly.

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"Oh she hates me! Absolutely hates me!" Anne whined as she flopped down beside Eleanor.

Eleanor glanced down at the sulking girl then glanced back up at Gilbert, he was mid bite as he shrugged.

"Uh...it's alright Anne. I'm sure she doesn't hate you, just really dislike." Eleanor patted the girls shoulder awkwardly.

"Elle! That's not helping me feel better!" Anne wailed.

"You know she's not very good with pep talks Anne." Diana giggled as she sat down beside Anne.

"So I guess this is just intrude on Gilbert and Eleanor's date day?" Gilbert chuckled as Prissy walked over and sat down with them.

Prissy scoffed as she stared at Anne, the redhead was glancing another way then where the teen was looking at her.

"I am not sitting here if you two are just going to eye fight the entire time, you all aren't even supposed to be here right now." Eleanor grumbled as she shoved both Prissy and Anne's face away from each other.

"Hey!" both girls whined as they clutched their nose.

"Are you two supposed to be on a date or something?" Diana asked.

"We were, but now it's more of a group activity." Gilbert grumbled as Prissy grabbed one of the sandwiches he had packed for the "date".

"Oh quite your whining, you and Eleanor were two moments away from sucking face for the rest of lunch any who." Prissy smirked as she tossed the crust of a piece of bread at him.

He chuckled and tossed the crust to the side as the others laughed, they all sat around the large oak tree upon the top of the hill behind the school. They shared lunches, stories, and even some new hair braiding tips.

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"Well...class dismissed!" Mrs Stacey beamed as she packed her own belongings.

Eleanor quickly tightened the strap around her books before hopping out of her seat, her brother Alvin was making his way towards him.

"Sis, c'mere." he hissed.

She quickly moved beside him as he checked around him to make sure no one was listening he bent down and whispered quickly into her ear.

"Father wants to meet Gilbert, he's calling him your suitor." Alvin whispered.

"What? When?" Eleanor yelled.

Alvin grumbled and smacked his hand over the girls mouth, she licked his hand as he gagged and retracted that.

"Ew! Your disgusting! Ahem...as I was saying before I was licked! Father wants to meet Gilbert, make sure he's a "good fit" for you." Alvin stated.

"But why? Father hasn't cared a bit about me since I ran off, I've been staying with Gilbert for two weeks almost."

"I know...I haven't a clue why he wants to do this now but he wants to do it now. He's leaving for New York again tomorrow early morning, and I guess he wants to make sure you're happy. He said...if Gilbert isn't a good match he'll take you back to New York." Alvin sighed as he grabbed her books and slung them over his shoulders.

"I'll talk to Gilbert about it...see you." she shuttered and turned around, only to smack right into Gilbert.

"Hello there, what did you need to talk to me about?" Gilbert chuckled as he slowly pushed her away from his chest.

Eleanor bit her fingernail gently as she stared at the ground, trying to find the words to fit into a sentence. She let out a small sigh before grabbing his hand.

"My father wants to meet you, he wishes to make sure you can provide for me in the future." she said all at once, a bit too loud.

"Like a suitor?" Gilbert coughed out.

"Y-Yeah...like a suitor." she sighed and looked back to the ground.

"It'll be alright...I'm sure he just wants to make sure your happy." Gilbert nodded and started dragging her towards the door.

"Gilbert...my father is not a nice man-"

"I know that Elle! He kicked you out for gods sake, that's why we have to look well put together for tonight. I can't have him taking you away from me."

"Thats just the thing Gilbert, he will literally take me away."

"What?" Gilbert stopped in his tracks before spinning around on his heels.

"Alvin said father will take me back to New York if this dinner doesn't work out." she sniffled softly.

"Oh my love, do not cry. Tonight will go wonderful, I promise I won't let anything let it be otherwise." he cooed as he gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Promise?" she smiled slightly and held her pinky finger up.

"Promise." he grinned and tightly wrapped his finger around hers.

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