┍━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┑

chapter forty two

|i like you|

┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙

mother was talking to missus pye and she said the pmsc felt that miss stacy is probably unsuitable," diana barry informed to the cuthbert sisters, anne and millie.

they were walking through the schoolhouse. there was some gossip that the new teacher, miss stacy was unsuitable. not that millie mind, she just wants a new teacher after that terrible mister phillips.

"but she rides a motorbike!" anne exclaimed, "miss stack seems modern and thrilling!" added anne.

"she seems so! we saw her yesterday and i feel like she's going to be our best teacher," millie said as she, anne, and diana come inside of the schoolhouse.

"i heard she's a spinster," tillie said.

"i heard she's from the mainland," ruby joined in.

"why would an unmarried woman from the big city come here?" josie asked, "there's a scandal somewhere, you'll see."

millie narrowed her eyes to the rude girl, "the scandal here is your attitude, josie pye."

josie ignores millie's statement as she continued to talk, "mother hated miss stacy on sight."

"so did mine," prissy added, "here's a recipe for disaster: show up an hour late..."

"dressed like a man..." jane piped in.

"to tea with the progressive mothers," prissy finished, "she may as well hung a noose around her neck."

"guys, guys, give miss stacy a chance. first impressions can be nasty sometimes. it's not right to judge a book by its cover, right?" millie commented.

"i think she sounds spectacular," anne said, "i'm going to help pave the way for miss stacy. i know just how it is to be new and judged harshly."

"oh, anne, that's very kind of you," millie told her sister.

they conversation is interrupted by billy andrews saying, "that fox is gonna be dead meat."

anne turned to face billy andrews, "fox? what fox?" the redhead asked billy andrews loudly.

"the one with the dark tail that's been stealing chickens," moody kindly answered to anne.

"well, there's no fox here, so how's about you put the gun away. i'd like to live to meet the new teacher," gilbert said as the door opens, revealing the new teacher, miss stacy.

miss stacy stumbled through the doorway, dropping a globe out of her bag as it fell on billy andrews' feet.

"i just laid the world in your feet, didn't i?" miss stacy joked as millie and the others in the class slightly laughed.

"good morning, everyone," miss stacy cheerfully greeted as she walk around.

"good morning," the class greeted back. millie thinks that their new teacher is quite nice.

"here you go, little lady," billy said as he put the globe back in miss stacy's bag.

"my name is miss stacy. please take that gun outside, the classroom is no place for weapon," miss stacy said, making millie smirked.

"sure. i was... just about to do that," billy awkwardly said as he oblige miss stacy's request.

"billy seems fancy someone," millie whispered to jane as they both giggled lightly.

"what a pretty room! so many windows. i love to see green!" miss stacy exclaimed as she smiled and made her way in front of the class.

"alright, let's get to know each other. please stand up," miss stacy said as everyone stood up.

"she's not wearing a corset," millie heard josie pye whispered to ruby as miss stacy took off her coat.

"shut up, josie pye. no one cares about your corset thing," millie hastily whispered as prissy smirked at her.

"now, please move all the desks to the side and take a seat on the floor," miss stacy requested as everyone seems to froze on their positions.

"the floor?!" josie rudely asked from the back.

"we're going to form a circle and make introductions, " miss stacy said as everyone did what miss stacy asked and sit on the floor. millie sat between jane and prissy.

"prissy, your bow..." millie said as she fixes prissy's bow to it's a natural state.

"oh, thank you, millie," prissy said to her.

"love the kindness we're all sharing today," miss stacy said as she smiled at the two, who smiled back to her.

"you'll say two words that represent you using the first letters of your given name and surname," miss stacy said as she looked around then at anne, who smiled widely to her.

"i'll start," miss stacy announced as she stood up, "muriel stacy. mischevious. scholastic," miss stacy said, earning a laugh for a few students.

"those would be my descriptors if we had the same initials," anne said in awe as miss stacy simply sat back down and looked at the list.

"let's start with---" miss stacy began but was cut off by anne.

"it's like we were separated at birth," anne stated as miss stacy cleared her throat.

"ruby gillis."

ruby stood up, "romantic... girl?" she said as she looked at gilbert while she said the last word, "ruby gillis."

"well done," miss stacy smiled as millie signed at thumps up at ruby.

"ruby has a crush on---" anne began but was cut off.

"gilbert blythe."

"oh, um-- global--" gilbert started but was cut off by anne.

"he traveled the world for a year," anne quickly said, informing the teacher.

"and bookish, " gilbert finished as he nods and sat down.

"everyone thinks he's the smartest student---"

"benjamin blythe," miss stacy called as ben stood up.

"bibliophile," ben started.

"ben is kind and nice," anne complimented.

"brisk?" ben finished.

"and i'm certain that he fancy my sister," anne added, making millie, ben, and the eyes of the others widen. millie looked down as she was clearly embarrassed.

"mildred turner-cuthbert," miss stacy called to millie, completely ignoring anne's statement.

millie stood up as she began to speak, "m-magnanimous."

"she's my sister and she's very exquisite," anne said.

"thoughtful and c-carefree," millie finished.

"but she was abused by her previous household she'd been served," anne said and everyone fell silent, including millie, who was shocked by what her sister said.

millie could feel the tears coming out of her eyes as she looked at miss stacy for permission to excuse herself. miss stacy nodded at her as millie quickly ran off the schoolhouse.

"millie!" a voice called her. it was a familiar voice, the voice of benjamin blythe.

millie stopped as she turned around to looked at ben, who was running after her.

"what are you d-doing?" millie asked, her voice breaking.

"are you alright?" ben asked her, clearly concerned.

"why do you care?" millie suddenly snapped.

ben looked at her in confusion, "w-what?"

"you. you're always so kind to me. and i'm attached very easily. you've been so kind to me, you always says something nice to me. why?" millie said as her tears streaming down to her face.

"belle... i don't---" ben couldn't finish his words as millie cuts her off.

"no! don't call me that! you're making me feel like... i'm someone that... you like but... you're... you're just doing that out of pity to me!" millie nearly shouts.

"i-i don't... i like you, mildred!" ben cried out.

"stop! stop saying that! please stop making me feel like that! stop it! just stop it! please!" millie yelled as she ran away, leaving ben alone.