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Later that day, the three girls headed towards the burnt Gillis house with a basket of scones held between Anne and Ruby's hands.

Many of Avonlea's men, of all ages, were working hard in the reconstruction of the house.

"Afternoon Minister. I'm learning to bake. Care for a scone?" Anne asked the Minister with a smile on her face. The Minister quickly took an offered scone. "Well, don't mind if I do." He replied with a chuckle.

They walked away from the man and quickly saw Hamilton walking around with a wooden plank in his arms. "Afternoon Hamilton."

Hamilton didn't look at his sister and instead gave her a groan and kept walking.

"I don't want to hear it, Vicky. I'm sweaty, sleep deprived and down right tortured. Nothing can make me feel better except being able to go home and take a kip. This is my nightmare, you hear- wait! Are those scones?"

Hamilton stopped in his tracks and smiled sweetly at his sister. "Oh sweet sister of mine whom I love more than the bloody world itself, can you please-"

"No."

"What?!"

"Serves you right for being a total wanker." Victoria shot back as she crossed her arms. Hamilton looked as if he was literally in the verge of tears. He sat the plank down, having it leaning securely against the table.

"Come on Vicky, that's just wonky." Hamilton replied with a full pout. Victoria smiled at him. "Listen, brother-" Hamilton hummed in response. "I was just messing around with you, of course you can have one."

Hamilton smiled and reached out for the basket after sending both Ruby and Anne a charming smile.

"Afternoon, Ruby, Anne. I'm sorry that you had to see me like this but I'm currently knackered." He apologized. Both of the other girls didn't seem to mind at all and instead just smiled back.

Hamilton turned back again to look at Victoria.

"Things are going horrible for me. It only took an hour for me to mess things up. I accidentally hit a man's finger with the hammer. Caused a five minute delay in things and he basically told me to get stuffed. But apart from that, everything has been smashing!"

Hamilton stopped to raise an eyebrow at her. "Did you sense the sarcasm in my voice?" Victoria nodded. "It would have been impossible not to."

"I better get going. I have work to do, unfortunately. See you tonight, plonker." Hamilton took another scone in his mouth and with a final wave at the three girls, he picked up the plank again.

"Stay safe, wanker!" Hamilton turned around slightly and winked at his sister.

"Your brother is hilarious." Anne stated as she looked dreamily at his retreating figure.

Victoria shook her head. "Can we stop talking about how great Hamilton is? Its getting weird. And didn't Ruby say how much she wanted to see Gilbert?"

"Yes, let's go." Ruby stated with an ever growing smile on her face at the mere mention of his name.

Anne and Ruby leaded the way to where Gilbert was as he worked on the roof. Unfortunately, Billy Andrews, the living plague, was there as well.

Victoria had to remind herself that the two actually called truce. But that didn't stop the indesirable urge to regurgitate.

Apparently, Ruby found Gilbert fixing the roof so entracing that she lost her balance and fell. "Oh god." Victoria stated as she kneeled down. Ruby started crying when she was laughed at by some people were working on the house.

"Are you alright Ruby? Come on, don't cry." Victoria stated as she tried to make her feel better. Compassion wasn't one of Victoria's strongest suits. She never has any idea what to do or say.

"Girls are so useless. Guess you should've stayed home in the kitchen, eh?!" Billy shouted which caused Victoria to roll her eyes.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" Victoria stated as she stood up and looked up at Billy who sneered in her direction.

"Go home and bake cookies!" Billy shouted back at her. "This is Ruby's property, or did you forget?!" Anne shot back.

"Why don't you shove off and leave the men to their work?"

"Why don't you give me that hammer and I'll finish the job myself, if you're too busy being a bully to get it done!!"

Victoria couldn't help but laugh slightly, but she quickly covered it with a fake cough. "I want to hit him so bad." Victoria murmured silently to Anne.

Anne looked at her from the side and nodded her head. "Trust me, you're not the only one with the overwhelming urge."

"Hey, here. You alright?" Both Anne and Victoria simultaneously turned around when they heard Gilbert's voice. He apparently climbed down in order to help Ruby up. Victoria kind of forgot that she was still on the ground.

"Thank you, Gilbert." Ruby stated as she stared at Gilbert with wide eyes, as if not believing that he was right in front of her.

"Yeah, of course. Thanks for, uh, coming by to help feed the beasts. Much obliged." Gilbert shot back as he tore his gaze away from the awkwardness between him and Ruby to turn and look at Victoria.

"You're welcome." Victoria stated as she as well felt weirded out by Ruby's reaction.

Gilbert took one of the scones and awkwardly bit into one. "These are very good. What's in them?"

Victoria shrugged. "A secret ingredient." Gilbert grinned. "Is it love?"

Victoria scoffed. "Why does everyone keep thinking that its love?" She asked as she glanced sideways at Ruby. She quickly turned away when she saw that Ruby was still staring at Gilbert.

"Its double the amount of sugar, and an extra pound of butter. Be careful how many you take in a row. Thinking about it, its not the ideal thing for good health."

Gilbert's grin never left his face. "Its safe to say that they're sweet... just like you."

Victoria couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "You're using the one from last time. What? You couldn't think of anything better?"

Gilbert crossed his arms and tried to feign hurt. "Well, this would be the last time that I try complimenting you."

"Maybe its better for us to go." Anne stated from the side.

Victoria nodded in agreement and handed Anne the basket and she placed it on the table. "Come on Ruby, lets go." Victoria said as she tried to snap the girl out of her trance.

When Victoria saw that Ruby was still mesmerised by Gilbert, she grabbed her gently by her arm and pulled her with her. Ruby finally was aware of the surroundings and the trio walked away from the house.

"You were right, Minister, honesty is the best policy. And it's also very satisfying." Anne stated with a laugh as she passed the Minister.

The Minister started stammering uncontrollably which caused Victoria and Anne to burst into fits of giggles.

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"The inaugural meeting of the Avonlea Story Club is now in session." Anne stated.

Anne, Diana, Ruby and Victoria were all seated in the secret hiding place. All of the girls were wearing crowns of flowers that Ruby and Victoria had made.

"Oh, Anne, this is so so-" Diana faltered as she struggled to continue the sentence. "Deliciously secret and scrumptiously exciting?" Anne continued for her.

"You have such a way with words!"

"I hardly know what you're saying half the time. Although, you're not as bad as Victoria." Ruby continued.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Victoria asked although a smile was still evident on her features.

"Its just that you use words that no one even heard of before." Ruby continued.

Victoria thought about it. "Do I really use so many abnormal words?" Diana nodded. "Trust me you do. This past hour you said 'codswallop' and 'Bob's your uncle'. It's not a bad thing, it's always fun to see what you come up with."

"You need to teach me some of the words and phrases." Anne stated as she looked at Victoria.

"And don't get me started on your accent. It would make me sound like royalty. Anyway before we begin cultivating our imaginations, each of us should pick our nom de plume." Anne stated.

Victoria nodded in understanding while the others looked confused.

"See? It's happened again." Ruby stated.

"A nom de plume is a pen name for purposes of anonymity. I shall be writing under the name of Rosamond Montmorency."

Victoria wooed at the name. "Oh, that gives me such a thrill." Diana said as they all nodded in agreement.

"Once a week, we'll read our completed stories aloud to each other and talk them over thoughtfully."

The four girls looked at the empty page of the book and before Victoria even started to write, Ruby interrupted her.

"I can't think of anything!"

"Oh, I've got heaps of ideas if you need a little prompting to start. How about A Tale of Romance Most Divine and Tragical?"

Victoria turned back at the book in her hands and smiled. Guess she did have some friends after all.

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"Now, THIS is codswallop." Victoria stated as she had her head buried in her arms. The week they had off of school because of the fire was over and now Victoria felt more depressed than before.

She turned around from her desk and leaned onto Diana and Ruby's. Diana rubbed her back. "Has anyone ever told you how dramatic you are?"

"It runs in the family." Victoria stated, somehow proudly.

"Settle down. Don't make me ask you again. Open your readers to chapter 12. When I turn around, you best have your readers open." Mister Phillips said which made Victoria want to groan.

She removed her head from her arms and before she was going to turn back, she noticed Anne just entering the classroom.

"It's Anne! She's here!" Victoria stated with a wide smile which caused everyone else to turn and look.

Victoria alongside Diana and Ruby all stood up and walked over to her.

Victoria was the first one to arrive to her and she wasted no time in pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here." She stated after she pulled away. She linked her arm with Anne's while Diana did the same thing at the other side.

"We missed you so much." Diana said and Ruby nodded in agreement.

They ignored the looks they received from Mister Phillips himself, Billy Andrews and Josie Pye, and instead walked together arm in arm towards the desk.

Anne took the free seat beside Victoria just as Mister Phillips continued to yell. Both girls opened their books and just as the teacher turned away Anne leaned closer to her.

"This is going to be great!" She whispered. Victoria nodded and once again, gave Anne a side hug.

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