Disclaimer: I do not own Anne of Green Gables or any of L.M. Montgomery's work.

Summary: Anne Shirley is an aspiring writer and senior at Avonlea High School in the small town of Avonlea, South Carolina, U.S.A. Gilbert Blythe is an aspiring medical student in his senior year that transfers from Redmond Academy in Canada to Avonlea High School after his parents are killed in a tragic car accident that leaves him with only one relative willing to take him in while he finishes high school, his aunt Sarah Blythe. When Anne and Gilbert's paths cross, Gilbert is quickly smitten by the hot tempered but sensitive Anne. But will Anne's stubborn attitude convince her that Gilbert is not for her because he does not embody her ideal of a man? Will she meet someone who does and fall for him instead, leaving Gilbert heartbroken? This story is set in modern day. Rated T for now, will change if needed.

A Different World

Chapter 1

Anne Shirley wasn't paying a bit of attention to her creative writing professor, Dr. Kingsley. Her big gray-green eyes were glazed over and her delicate white hand supported her slender chin as she gazed out of the window. She was dreaming of laying in the soft wild grass on her family's land, watching the clouds drift lazily by with a good book at her side. Dr. Kingsley's monotone voice was a dim buzz in her ears compared to the imaginary roar of the brook by her house that filled her ears. She sighed dreamily and smiled, her eyes drifting to the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes left in class. Her notes were already done and today's homework halfway finished as well. Dr. Kingsley was telling one of his boring stories and Anne really couldn't care any less.

She was pulled out of her reverie by her vibrating cell phone. After glancing up to make sure the professor wasn't looking, she pulled it out of her skirt's pocket. The text message on the screen was from her closest friend, Diana Barry.

'Come straight to my house after your class. I have interesting news that is too big to text.'

Anne's eyes widened. 'Too big to text. What could it be?'

The class seemed to drag on from that moment. 'Come on.' Anne thought with agitation. Finally the bell rang and Anne gathered up her books and flew out the door before anyone else had even gotten out of their seat. Anne dumped her books into the sturdy basket on the front of her bike and unchained it from the bike rack. She jumped on and pedaled off of the campus of Avonlea College, where she took a class, and onto the main road that led towards Orchard Slope, the farm where Diana and her family lived. Anne's home, Green Gables, lay just down the hill.

Soon, Anne began to sweat. She mentally cursed the heavy humidity of Avonlea, the small South Carolina town where she lived. Even in September, the weather was still suffocating. She breathed a sigh of relief when the main road forked to the right, and dirt road began that led to Orchard Slope and Green Gables.

Diana was sitting on the veranda when Anne cycled up the dirt driveway and dumped her bike, spilling her textbooks onto the grass. She sighed heavily and began to stuff them back into the basket while Diana looked on, laughing. Anne secured the latch on the basket with a huff and fixed Diana with a dismal glare as she ascended the steps. Just as Anne sat in the

chair opposite Diana, Mrs. Barry, Diana's mother, came out with two glasses of lemonade.

"I thought I heard your bicycle, Anne Shirley. Oh goodness! You did not ride all the way over here in a skirt! Why, I can't believe Marilla and Matthew would even allow such a thing. Don't you think it's high time they bought you a car? " Mrs. Barry fussed, handing the girls their cold beverages.

Anne worked to stifle a grin. Mrs. Barry was a very proper and respectable woman, and raised Diana to be every bit the Southern Belle that their ancestors had been. "Yes, Mrs. Barry, I would love a car. Marilla said it won't be long before they'll be able to buy me a used one. But until then, it's the bike for me. I just love this skirt, and figured it'd be a waste for me not to wear it just because I have to ride my bike."

Mrs. Barry sniffed imperiously. "Well I'd never let my Diana do such a thing."

Diana sighed and blushed. "Mama, thanks for the lemonade. If you'll excuse us, Anne and I have a lot to discuss."

"Oh, I understand. Holler if you need anything." Mrs. Barry offered hospitably.

"Thank you, Mrs. Barry." Anne said politely.

"Spill it." She demanded as soon as Diana's mother had disappeared inside the house.

A dimpled smile spread across Diana's face and her already naturally rosy cheeks practically burst into flame. "Guess." She demanded.

Anne sighed with impatience. "Your father is buying you the new laptop you've been wanting." she guessed.

"Nope." Diana replied, her dark eyes flickering like a candle in the afternoon sunlight. She was enjoying herself immensely. Oh, Anne would never guess!

"Josie Pye really is pregnant?!" Anne exclaimed, her hand flying up to her mouth in horror.

"Shhh! No!" Diana snapped.

"Just tell me Diana." Anne pleaded.

Diana picked up her glass of lemonade and took a long, dainty sip. Anne seethed. She was doing this on purpose. Anne's face was red with irritation and impatience.

"Okay okay!" Diana laughed as she registered her friend's sour expression. "There's a new boy in town. And he goes to the high school."

"Avonlea High School?"

"Anne Shirley, do you know of any other high schools in this fish bowl of a town?" Diana said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh hush and keep talking."

"Well they say his name is Gilbert Blythe and he's from Canada."

Anne's eyes widened. Avonlea rarely had newcomers and never had foreigners. The minority population in the town was so small it was hardly big enough to count in the census.

"I heard he was 19, three years older than us. He's come here to live with his aunt, Sarah Blythe. They say his parents died in a car accident about a month ago."

Anne felt her heart swell with sympathy for this strange boy. Her own parents had died in a house fire only three months after her birth. He must be feeling much worse than she had ever felt, for she had never known her parents which lessened the pain, and he had lost his after 19 years of knowing and loving them.

"That's horrible." Anne commented softly.

"Isn't it?" Diana frowned. "They say he's awful handsome and really smart."

"What does he look like?" Anne asked.

"Well I heard all of this from Josie Pye and her sisters and all they said was that he was tall and handsome. And everyone else that has seen him really only says as much. I suppose we'll see him eventually at school. You'll probably have a better chance since you got to jump a grade." Anne had skipped from 4th grade to 6th grade and was now a senior although she was only 16.

A picture of Gilbert was already painting itself in her imaginative brain. She pictured him as having melancholy eyes that tilted slightly down at the corners. He would be tan and dark haired and have big calloused hands and a somber expression about a studious mouth. The tall, dark, and handsome stranger was definitely Anne's ideal and Gilbert's ambiguity was perfect for imagining. Diana had said he was smart. Was he well read? Did he enjoy Shakespeare and Tennyson as much as she did? Did he find poetry in the way the limbs of the trees stretched to the sky, and in the way the waters of the brook seemed to be laughing and sharing stories with the trees bordering it?

"Anne! Anne Shirley, would you kindly come down to earth?" Diana snapped, startling Anne out of her daydream.

"Sorry, Di. I didn't mean to daydream." Anne said with a sigh.

"Oh, no need to apologize. No matter how hard you try Anne Shirley , you will never be able to keep your head out of the clouds." Diana smiled ruefully at her friend.

Anne smiled in return and noticed that the sun was not far from setting. "Well, I suppose I'd better get home. Marilla will have a nice hot supper ready by now." She said, picking up her glass and downing the sweet and refreshing lemonade.

"Don't let Mama catch you drinking like that. She'll throw a fit." Diana laughed. Anne laughed in response and laughed to herself all the way down the hill to Green Gables.

Thanks for reading! I really hope you all enjoyed that. Let me know what you think by leaving a review! I'd love to hear from you all. Thanks again!

- Charlotte Miles