Disclaimer : All characters belong to L M Montgomery. The italicized portions are parts from AoGG(mostly the chapter 'The Queens Class is Organized'), and used merely to highlight the story here.

There was open rivalry between Gilbert and Anne now. Previously the rivalry had been rather one-sided, but there was no longer any doubt that Gilbert was as determined to be first in class as Anne was. He was a foeman worthy of her steel. The other members of the class tacitly acknowledged their superiority, and never dreamed of trying to compete with them…

The Queen's class had its first lesson on a crisp, cold day in the first week of December, after the usual school day had ended. Miss Stacy, firmly believing in the proverb 'well begun is half done', started the lesson by asking the scholars to write a short composition on their purpose in taking up the Entrance, to be read once every day until the examination - "...so that our resolve would be strengthened each day, in case we get disheartened when we find the work too difficult", Anne related to Marilla and Matthew, when she got back home that evening.

Some ambitions were simple, others hopeful, but Anne listened to none with as much interest as she did to that of Gilbert Blythe, even though she pretended to be deeply absorbed in her French textbook when it was his turn to read out his composition, and didn't mention it to Marilla later, as you know.

Gilbert's present goal was the teacher's license, but he didn't know whether that would be the end of the journey. He wanted to contribute to the world some way or the other, and even though he was unsure if he would end up a soldier or a doctor, he expressed his hopes for the future in such frank, optimistic words that he won Miss Stacy's verbal(and Anne's secret) admiration.

The subjects for the Entrance were almost the same as what the other students would be learning, with one or two additions, but at a much more advanced and challenging level, and the Queen's students soon found that they had to pay a lot more attention in class than they were used to so far. No more chatting or idling about for them! Miss Stacy did not use harsh or strict methods of teaching, but she expected each and every one of them to put in their best effort, and they soon found themselves working hard to live up to her expectations. Anne and Gilbert were already at the head of the class, but the new lessons soon proved taxing even for them.

At the end of the first week, Anne dropped down onto Diana's bed - having headed over directly to her house after school - and groaned with heartfelt despair.

'Oh Diana, why didn't you try to persuade me not to take up these lessons when I first decided to join? I'm as 'dead tired as a horse that's run three races and failed to win even one', as Moody Spurgeon said the other day."

'You poor dear - is it really so very difficult?', asked the sympathetic bosom friend.

"No, it's not s-o-o very hard," said Anne, hesitantly. "I guess it's just the pace at which we're going that I'm not used to, yet. Miss Stacy never makes us cram facts, you know, and the lessons are vastly interesting, but she expects us to be perfectly thorough in everything that we have learnt. And we've covered so much in so little time that I've been sitting up late every night to revise and understand everything properly for fear I'll fall behind the next day."

What Anne omitted to tell Diana was why it was so important that she not fall behind in class, for the reason was not merely Miss Stacy's displeasure, as might be supposed - but the rivalry between her and Gilbert, which had reached its peak around this time.

If geometry was the bane of Anne's existence, Gilbert, too, had a stumbling block in algebra, which she was soon quick to notice. One cannot enter into battle without understanding the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, after all. In all the other subjects, they were almost equally matched; if French was being taught, each struggled to complete their exercises first; if history - to keep memory sharp and ready to spout out the correct date or fact; when sums were to be solved, it was the same race to the right answer.

"Twenty three!" announced Gilbert.

"Twenty four." declared Anne.

"Eleven?" asked Moody Spurgeon, venturing into the fray rather unexpectedly.

"That is correct, Moody, very good!" said Miss Stacy, to the surprise of all - but not greater than the amazement of the lucky answerer, who was astounded by his own daring in competing with the other two.

Anne turned , and her eyes met Gilbert's in shared surprise - for the shortest possible moment - but she whirled back immediately. It would never do to share a moment of camaraderie with a rival, even if one felt a sudden spurt of kinship!

Sadly for Moody Spurgeon, that was the only time he ever managed to get the better of both Anne and Gilbert.

And at least neither Gilbert nor anybody else, not even Diana, should ever suspect how sorry she was and how much she wished she hadn't been so proud and horrid! She determined to "shroud her feelings in deepest oblivion," and it may be stated here and now that she did it, so successfully that Gilbert, who possibly was not quite so indifferent as he seemed, could not console himself with any belief that Anne felt his retaliatory scorn. The only poor comfort he had was that she snubbed Charlie Sloane, unmercifully, continually, and undeservedly.

The rivalry between them being what it was, the remaining Queen's scholars oscillated between the two 'camps'. Charlie Sloane was always Anne's staunch supporter in every activity that required them to form teams, and Josie was just as devoted to Gilbert's cause, but Jane, Ruby and Moody were mostly on neutral ground. Anne did not mind Josie's allegiance, but she often wished that Charlie would change his.

Anne was listening with half an ear to Charlie - who was explaining, with unnecessary and uninteresting detail, the work he had put into his history composition - as she waited for Jane outside the schoolhouse after class had ended. Jane had left to get a book from home, after which she and Anne planned to study together at Green Gables - and Charlie had decided to give Anne company as she waited. Anne, well-accustomed to the thick-skinned stubbornness that was the intrinsic quality of all the Sloanes, had given up persuading him to leave her, and couldn't help observing, rather sadly, that it was impossible to daydream when Charlie Sloane's voice was grating in one's ear.

Gilbert Blythe was standing nearby with Ruby Gillis and making plans to coach her on some problems - in geometry. Anne wasn't listening to them - but she had heard enough to understand that much, and couldn't stop the spurt of irritation against Fate - wasn't it bad enough that she was a dunce at geometry - did he have to be exceptionally good at it, too? It was so unfair.

She was lost in musings of a rose-tinted , successful future where, through her hard work and persistence, she was being awarded for exceptional scholarly contributions to the field of geometry, when she suddenly realized that Charlie had gone silent, and was looking at her intently, as if expecting a reply. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gilbert turn a little towards them.

'I'm sorry, Charlie, I was thinking of something else - you were saying?'

'I have invites to the concert at White Sands this Sunday. Will you do me the honor of accompanying me, Anne?' Charlie's tone was more pompous than usual - he was, perhaps, irritated that Anne was not hanging onto his every word.

This was an unexpected attack, but Anne was nothing if not resourceful.

"Oh, I'm afraid Marilla will never let me go, Charlie. She doesn't approve of me staying out so late in the cold, you know. It just isn't possible. '

Jane, bless her heart, appeared just then, and Anne escaped before Charlie could begin to shower her with any more of his "attentions", as Diana called them. She couldn't help thinking, however, that life would be much more interesting if, among Gilbert and Charlie, she had the friendship of one and the indifference of the other, instead of the opposite case that existed at present!

..the Queen's class, left behind in school while the others scattered to green lanes and leafy wood cuts and meadow byways, looked wistfully out of the windows and discovered that Latin verbs and French exercises had somehow lost the tang and zest they had possessed in the crisp winter months. Even Anne and Gilbert lagged and grew indifferent.

Anne gazed out of the window at the Lake of Shining Waters in break and sighed, murmuring a little whimsically,

" How hard that, when I must study,
My mind longs so, to wander free,
And when studious duty must fill my mind,
Fantasy and stories fill it , I find."

She was alone inside the schoolhouse, revising for a test that was due that day for the Queen's scholars. Jane, Ruby and Josie had gone out with the others in break, lured by the warmth and greenery outside; and so had the boys - for what was the glory of a far- away, hazy ambition in front of the temptation of orchards to be raided?

Anne was sorely tempted, too - for Spring, that lovely harbinger of freshness and new life, seems even more beautiful after the cold austerity of her sister, Winter - but she 'steeled her mind and hardened her heart' against the beguiling view outside the window, and tried to concentrate on her Latin grammar.

The door opened, and Gilbert Blythe entered. He saw her and quickly looked away - just as Anne hastily glanced down and stared dutifully at her book. She heard him settle at his desk - he was evidently not going to let her gain any advantage over him in the test! Well, she wouldn't hold back either - she put all thoughts of spring and the glorious outdoors out of her head and started studying in earnest.

Ten minutes later, she was in a fix. She'd had a doubt in the third declension of some words that she had forgotten to get clarified - which she only now remembered as being important - and Miss Stacy had gone home for lunch. It was no use asking Jane - Latin was to her what geometry was to Anne, and there was no way Anne would stoop to asking Josie - she might know and might have explained, but she would henceforth hold it that whatever Anne knew of Latin was all because of her. For a moment, Anne looked at Gilbert, his head bent over his book - her mind whispering traitorously to ask him - and dismissed the thought promptly. No! Ruby was her only hope - and when the girls presently entered - Anne asked her for help.

Alas! Ruby didn't know, either - but she had no compunction in asking Gilbert, which she promptly did - much to Anne's mortification. Anne had her answer, but at what price! - for she now felt as if she owed Gilbert a debt for that piece of knowledge, and that was was not to be borne!

The test was written and passed, but Anne had no peace of mind. Her sense of fairness demanded that Gilbert be thanked, but her pride would never allow that. But a week later, she had her chance -Gilbert was facing difficulties in quadratic equations(it wasn't hard to find out, when Ruby related nearly all her conversations with any boy to them) - and she helped him out (albeit indirectly), by explaining it to Moody Spurgeon a little too loudly, in break, when she was sure he could hear her. Only then could she return to their rivalry with a clear conscience - such are the strange rules of ethics that we mortals bind ourselves with!

"Anne, you've passed," she cried, "passed the VERY FIRST—you and Gilbert both—you're ties—but your name is first. Oh, I'm so proud!"

Anne set out to meet the other Queen's scholars after relating the news to Matthew and Marilla, Diana by her side. They found most of their classmates gathered near the schoolhouse - evidently someone else had also got hold of the newspaper - with the Queen's students in the middle, their hands being shaken or backs being thumped in congratulation.

Anne was hailed with a cheer and promptly engulfed by the hugs of her friends. She emerged laughing, thanking all of them - and there was Gilbert right in front, similarly surrounded and jubilant - but in that moment, Anne didn't care that she shared her laurels with him - and for a moment, when their eyes met - she smiled at him with pure joy, unmarred by pride or resentment - which their hard work, success - and yes, even their fierce rivalry - deserved.

A/N: Why this theme? I don't know - I actually sort of like Anne and Gilbert's story even before they become friends - it's so great how they are so equally matched in their rivalry. What do you think? Please review and say!

The poem is more of me-passing-off-my-poetry-as-Anne's : how is it? Do you think she'd have hit or hugged me? ;)

For any math nerds out there who might be wondering at their answers : Anne and Gilbert both forgot to consider negative signs and their importance in arithmetic. Framing the problem is up to you. :p

Wish all of you a very successful, memorable and happy new year! :)

RandomPotterhead : Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :)