3 Chapter 3: His eyes overflowing with romance

That night was particularly clear, the moon was shining above their heads, despite all the torments the two teenagers were going through, this night had everything to be serene.

The laughter and the cries of their comrades were far away, we only heard the sound of crickets, Gilbert had guided Anne a few steps behind the ruins, out of sight, they had stopped in front of the trees that surrounded the place.

The young redhead simply had difficulty knowing if what was happening at the moment was real. He had just taken her hand? How had this happened? Why didn't he let go of it now? So many questions were racing through her head, only she was unable to react. She froze when the dark-haired boy decided they had to stop under an old oak tree.

Gilbert was now standing in front of the redhead, he looked her in the eye and tried to perceive what the young girl was feeling at that moment, her expression seemed so pensive, her mind seemed elsewhere, so he couldn't guess.

Then he looked down at his own hand, realising that he was still in contact with her skin, he was still holding her hand. Why had he done this? Was she going to hit him on the head for being so bold? It seemed so natural to him, as if it was instinctive, that he hadn't even asked himself a question before acting.

Even if it seemed spontaneous to him, to feel her hand in this way, to feel so close to her, it was a real first.

Of course, there had been dancing at school, he had been able to feel her hand more than once, her skin seemed so soft and delicate, he couldn't take his eyes off her during the whole dance, but how could he? She was so smiling, so cheerful, so graceful, so Anne.

In fact, it was only at the last note of music that he realised she was the only one at that moment. But at that point, the young man had not yet realised that there had been only her at all times and that it would always be her.

This evening, illuminated by the moonlight, Gilbert contemplated the young redhead, his eyes were so tender, and since he was unable to express it in words, he thought it was the only way to make her understand. So he still held the girl's hand, caressing her almost with his fingertips in his mind, but in reality he did not dare to make the slightest movement for fear of rushing her.

Suddenly Anne woke up from her almost vegetative state, she looked down, to see the hand of the dark-haired boy still in hers, was it real? This question was constantly in her mind. Gilbert really cared about her, but was it out of simple friendship? That must have been it. Gilbert couldn't... no, she couldn't even think about it, it was ridiculous and senseless. But he always held her hand so softly, how could she just not notice it? It didn't look like friendly behaviour, it was... it looked like... No, she couldn't believe it.

The girl then looked up to meet his eyes, she got lost again in his hazelnut eyes. It was like the other night at Miss Stacy's house, when Gilbert stared at her as if he was trying to read something in her eyes, as if he was trying to understand her thoughts, like real kindred spirits. This evening Anne had lost control of her eyes, they had deviated suddenly on the brown boy's lips, unconsciously.

And now this scene was being replayed again, what could she do this time to escape it, slap herself perhaps? It would probably be too much of a violent reaction, but she didn't want to be that kind of girl, that boy standing in front of her, had never been for her after all. And even Jerry's speech the day before hadn't been enough to convince her, anyway Gilbert had gone to Charlottetown despite what she might have said to him yesterday, so it did mean something.

When she realised that she was no longer looking the young man in the eye, but was now staring at his lips, she tried to pull herself together, it must have been the few side effects of the rum. What else could it be? She had to find a way to stop it at all costs, otherwise who knows what she would be able to do, if she just let her body do it for her.

So suddenly she let go of his hand. Clumsily, she began to speak in a series of nonsensical phrases, in front of the young man's totally perplexed eyes.

"Gilbert... I-I...You can't... I can't believe you have... And then the others, do you think about it? What are they doing... And Winifred... You really didn't have to... Yesterday was so... I don't know what it looked like, but I- "

She was interrupted this time not by herself, but by Gilbert, who in the space of a few seconds had simply placed his hands on the girl's cheeks. At the same moment he grabbed her lips with his own with such ardour, that Anne had not even had time to react, she simply stopped talking the second the young man kissed her.

Once again driven by the adrenaline of the moment, Gilbert couldn't help but act, for the second time in the same evening. It was also Anne's fault, as she was still starting to say incoherent things that only made sense to her. The young redhead looked both frightened and nervous, in her own way she was probably still trying to justify herself, he couldn't understand why she always did that.

She never managed to conclude a sentence, the young man had not even tried to decipher what she meant, and then for a moment his gaze wandered to the girl's lips. She was so touching, lovely. He hadn't even thought about whether it was the right moment, it was stronger than he could, no matter if he interrupted her, she was already doing it on her own anyway.

The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but the young redhead had had the feeling it had lasted much longer, she had almost felt her soul leave her body, so much had she thought she was dying in the moment. She didn't even know that she wanted it, despite the many earlier signs, looking at Gilbert's lips became almost second nature now, but she had never dared to admit what she had always desired in her heart, she wanted it to happen, she wanted to kiss Gilbert.

This first kiss was certainly unexpected, but so tender, Anne literally felt her breath being taken away. She had never imagined it would happen to her one day. In the past, how could she have dared to pretend any boy could take an interest in her in this way? But today, that a boy so passionate and ambitious as Gilbert could feel this way about her... when he could literally charm any girl, even the most perfect girls, Winifred was perfect. How could she have thought he wanted to kiss her?

It wasn't supposed to be real, so as if she woke up from a dream, she smiled slightly when the dark-haired boy detached his lips from hers. After all, it was all only meant to be a dream.

By the time Gilbert broke the kiss with softness and removed his hands from her face, he realised he had acted without thinking, without even asking permission.

Yet Winifred had spoken to him on several occasions about what was permissible and proper to do, and stealing a kiss was certainly not good behaviour. Especially if intentions had not been announced beforehand.

He knew perfectly that Anne was not the kind of girl to pay attention to propriety, he sensed that she was indifferent to all these rules. But he was still very afraid of her reaction, he would understand if she wanted to slap him or yell at him right away. On the other hand, he also thought it was worth it, he was ready to endure any consequences now.

When the young man returned to his initial posture, Anne reopened her eyes and stood still for a moment without knowing what to say or do, in fact, she was still wondering if this act had simply been a hallucination, a mirage, an illusion, a dream, or a fantasy?

Upon seeing the girl not reacting, Gilbert began to worry, he probably would have preferred her to yell at him or slap him. But she didn't do anything, she just looked him in the eye for several seconds. Then, to interrupt the deafening silence, he began to say in a very worried tone, "Anne...?"

The young redhead was still looking at him with a totally confuse expression on her face, she opened her mouth trying to say something, but no sound came out.

Suddenly without really thinking, she started talking, "This...this is...I-I...Why? And you... Me...", Then she frowned, "This is ridiculous, you can't-"

Laughs and cries interrupted her, and they heard voices shouting, "Anne, where are you?! We need you! We want to do our ritual!", Laughter and sneers were heard even louder, the girls were visibly more excited than ever. Then they heard Tillie exclaim with laughter, "Gilbert, you have to give us Anne back now!!", Then Jane took over with a giggle, "You've already got Winifred!". All the girls laughed at this remark and made outraged noises.

The two young people looked into each other's eyes totally confused by the situation. Although Gilbert had made the first move, he had never confessed to himself how he felt about Anne, so how could he find the right words at that moment. In retrospect, he began to regret his action, what if she finally had no feelings for him? What if he had misunderstood what she meant yesterday? No, it was impossible. The uncertainty of the moment made him doubt everything, but only she could reassure him.

Soon they would be interrupted again, and Anne would probably decide to join the girls, they couldn't leave each other like that, could they?

Suddenly the young redhead said, "I...I have to go. I guess you're not staying, so... good night.", It was too dark for the brown boy to notice, but she had bright eyes, tears just waiting to run down her cheeks, because she realised at the new mention of Winifred that she was in the exact situation she wanted to avoid. How could Gilbert have done this? She thought he was an honest, respectful boy.

The young man didn't know what to do to hold her back, he couldn't force her to stay by his side any longer. Did this situation make her uncomfortable because she hadn't desired that kiss? Yet it seemed to him that she had kissed him back, so why did she want to run away now?

As the young girl began to return to the ruins, Gilbert stopped her.

"Anne, I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if we..."

The girls' group surprised the two teenagers in the same moment, "Oh you are here!", exclaimed Ruby, "What were you two doing here?", Tillie asked with a sly smile, the other girls started laughing, "Why didn't you bring your fiancée Gilbert?", Josie asked him, her eyes full of mischief.

The dark-haired boy felt embarrassed by the situation, and did not want to tell the girls any more details, but he felt obliged to answer this question in Anne's presence, "Winifred, wasn't my fiancée.", he simply stated. When this sentence came out of his mouth, he wasn't looking at Josie or the other girls, but only at the young redhead, he was staring at her, as if to express something more, he wanted her to understand. She had to understand that it was her, the girl he cared about, the girl he thought about every day, sometimes without even realising it himself, the girl he looked at with tenderness, desire, and love... He wanted her to understand all this in one look, was it too demanding?

The moment Anne saw his gaze and heard this sentence, she couldn't help but falter. He spoke of Winifred in the past tense? So that meant... And then his eyes... the eyes he had when he looked at her, they were so soft and deep that she felt pierced when he stared at her.

As for the girls, they witnessed a strange scene, they didn't seem to understand everything, but it appeared that something was going on between them, it was becoming more and more obvious.

The dark-haired young man walked back to the ruins, looked at Anne again and said, "I...I'll join the others then."

So he was just going to join the others? What was he playing at? Would he celebrate the end of the exams after all? Or was he expecting something else from her?

A few moments later, Anne and the girls had returned around the bonfire, each of them exchanging glances and low masses about what had just happened. Of course the young redhead was not in confidence.

She could see further back, Gilbert was with Moody and Diana, he seemed to be discussing with them, although they were obviously too drunk to have a serious discussion. Suddenly she saw the other boys huddle around the dark-haired boy, one of the Pauls seemed to be questioning him. Anne couldn't hear anything, but she imagined that everyone had already been talking about them in their absence.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by Tillie, who was staring at her, "So, Anne... What's going on with Gilbert?".

Ruby also jumped at the opportunity to question her, "Is that true?! I can't believe Gilbert said that about Winifred. Do you know more about it?! Yet yesterday he didn't contradict it."

"Ruby... it's obvious she knows. Because she's the cause of it.", Jane retorted, rolling her eyes.

Anne began to panic, " How-how does that...? Not at all, I never wanted to... And why should I be the cause?!"

Jane approached the young redhead and put a hand on her shoulder, which surprised the young girl who glanced at her hand, "Anne... I know how much you enjoyed dancing with Gilbert the other day at school. You should at least be honest with us. And what can I say about him, who kept devouring you with his eyes. It was indecent.", She ended her sentence with a chuckle.

The young girl couldn't answer this, then Jane added with a smile on her face, "And I'm sure when that very moment he's staring at you in the distance."

"He does it!", exclaimed Ruby as she glanced at the young man.

At the same moment, Anne turned around, and she saw Gilbert looking at her at the other end of the ruins, and he shyly smiled at her when he noticed her looking at him.

"How could I not have noticed that?", asked Josie, who was disappointed with herself.

"Probably because you are too self-centred...", Retorted Jane sarcastically.

"Well, let's get into a circle, girls?", Tillie became impatient, With these words they did so.

Once they were all in place, the girls were now waiting for Anne to start reciting her text, but she seemed to be somewhere else, still confused because he had just happened with Gilbert, and she didn't have the notes of her speech with her. Alcohol didn't help to clear up her mind, so she remained silent, and this was exceptional for her.

"Anne, we're waiting for you to start?", intervened Josie, who couldn't wait any longer.

"Uh... it's because I don't have my text, I've forgotten everything," says the young redhead who is not very proud to admit it, "Someone else should do it.", she ends up admitting. At that moment she couldn't stop looking at Gilbert, and she realised that she would have to do this ritual in front of him, as if the situation couldn't be more embarrassing.

But suddenly, as if caught in a sudden revival, she reached out her hand in front of her, towards the fire, and began to recite her text without even needing notes, apparently everything was in her head.

Those at the other end of the ruins were as if alerted by her aura and turned around.

"Goddess of Beltane, Sacred Mother, Queen of May, Wild Lady of the Woods, Guardian of Love and Life, welcome to our circle."

Gilbert was particularly attentive to the words of the pretty redhead, while the other boys seemed to be laughing, he couldn't help but have his eyes filled with a certain admiration. How did she do it? It was like just now, when he watched her dancing alone perched on the small boat, he couldn't help but admire her. And seeing this scene now confirmed everything he had felt before.

And there, all the girls recited in unison, while brandishing a wooden branch, which they had picked up earlier.

"We women, powerful and sacred, declare upon this Hallowed Night... Our heavenly bodies belong solely to us. We shall choose whom to love and with whom to share trust. We shall walk upon this earth with grace and respect. We'll always take pride in our great intellect. We'll honour our emotions so our spirits may soar! And should any man belittles us... we'll show him the door! Our spirits are unbreakable, our imaginations free! Walk with us, Goddess, so blessed are we!"

On these words they each threw a pebble into the bonfire, and began to dance around it, laughing and cheering. It was much less graceful and organised than the other time, but nevertheless they were able to recite their text without error.

For a moment Anne had been able to forget that a young brown boy was staring at her in the distance. But when she stopped dancing, she came back to reality at once.

What should she do now? Was he waiting for her?

Some time later, some of them began to want to go home, the Pauls had decided to escort Tillie home, and she was the first to leave. Then Moody walked over to Ruby, timidly asking her if he could give her a ride.

Josie, Jane and Diana decided to go home together, Anne had thought about accompanying them, but Diana's presence had dissuaded her.

As for Gilbert, he was about to leave on his own, he had picked up his oil lamp, and had glanced at Anne one last time. He thought he had perhaps monopolised her too much tonight, as she had tried to escape from him for the rest of the evening. So the idea of escorting her home had not even crossed his mind.

Only, as he was leaving the ruins, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him from afar.

"Gilbert!"

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