One bright school morning, Anne and Diana, in yet another of their perfect friendship moments, wistfully view the path to school with stars in their eyes. Lover’s Lane, Anne’s name for the road below Green Gables, meanders next to the brook that runs behind Diana’s house, and the pair walk along it this morning until the Lane meets the Birch Path, which is brimming with new life. Marilla initially worried about Anne’s likeability amongst the judgmental Avonlea crowd, but she needn’t have worried—Anne is well-liked by everyone, except for the schoolmaster, who is partial to one of the older students in the class. Though Anne is a year behind in her schooling, she works very hard to catch up to the other girls.

Three weeks into the start of school, Diana notifies Anne one morning of the return of Gilbert Blythe, a handsome young student with a reputation for “teas[ing] the girls something terrible” (130). His name is often paired with other girls in the class as a potential suitor, and from Diana’s description, it is clear that Gilbert is a boy that most of the girls love to be around. Diana warns Anne that Gilbert is quite smart and may take the role of top fourth-year student away from Anne.