𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 (𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞)

xxi.

"Eleanor? Are you almost ready to go?" Alvin asked as he grabbed a slice of bacon from her plate. 

She nodded slowly before placing her fork down from pushing her breakfast potatoes around on her plate. Her brother stared at her with worry as she scraped her food off into the compost pile and sat her plate in the sink. 

"You can do those dishes when you arrive back home." Laura stated as she gently wiped Harvey's mouth, Eleanor simple nodded. 

Laura sighed before standing up and bringing her daughter in for a hug, Eleanor closed her eyes and tried to blink away the tears that were brimming her eyes. 

"I know it's hard without him Eleanor but you have to move on, he hurt you didn't he?" Laura asked as she gently smoothed down her daughters hair. 

"Yes...he really hurt me. But maybe I should of let him explain-" 

"No! He went out to tea with that girl without asking if it was okay with you, he knew you wouldn't have approved so he hid it from you. Anything you have to hide from your partner is considered cheating." Laura stated as she pulled away from the hug. 

"She's right you know." Alvin sighed from the doorway he was leaning on. 

"He went to tea with another girl, I don't know the whole story and nor do I care...but even I know that's a bad idea." Alvin shrugged. 

"I suppose your both right...I'll try to move on." Eleanor sighed and grabbed her books from the table. 

"Good girl, now off you go!" Laura smiled and sent both of her children off with a smile. 

Alvin smiled before grabbing Eleanor's jacket and tossing it towards her, she caught it with a grumble before slipping it on. 

The two headed towards the school house in silence before Eleanor spoke up. 

"I still can't believe you haven't left for college yet." the corner of her lips upturned slightly. 

"Yeah well...I wanted to take a year off to just relax while I'm still young." Alvin shrugged. 

"Yeah I understand...schools kind of boring. But have you already decided what colleges your going to be looking for? I'll be leaving for college this year as well." Eleanor grinned as Alvin rolled his eyes. 

"I haven't yet no...I'm pretty happy just being Miss Stacey's partner." Alvin smirked. 

"Ew! When you say it like that...it makes it sound like you two are dating." Eleanor giggled. 

"Gross Elle! She's like 40!" Alving gagged, making Eleanor burst into a fit of laughter. 

(Time skip:20 minutes) 

"Eleanor! Over here!" Anne waved the girl over. 

Eleanor turned and handed her brother her jar of juice to put in the river before running over to her friends. 

"Hello." she greeted her friends as they all said hi back. 

The group walked into the school house together and got ready for a fresh day of learning. 

As much as Eleanor hated to admit it, she glanced around the room and was surprised to see Gilbert no where in sight. 

"If your looking for Gilbert, he won't be here today." Anne sighed. 

"Why not? Not that I care or anything..." Eleanor pouted. 

"Haven't you heard? Mary came down with an awful case of Sepsis." Anne sniffled slightly.