She flung herself into her studies heart and soul , determined not to be outdone in any class by Gilbert Blythe . The rivalry between them was soon apparent ; it was entirely good natured on Gilbert 's side ; but it is much to be feared that the same thing can not be said of Anne , who had certainly an unpraiseworthy tenacity for holding grudges . She was as intense in her hatreds as in her loves . She would not stoop to admit that she meant to rival Gilbert in schoolwork , because that would have been to acknowledge his existence which Anne persistently ignored ; but the rivalry was there and honors fluctuated between them . Now Gilbert was head of the spelling class ; now Anne , with a toss of her long red braids , spelled him down . One morning Gilbert had all his sums done correctly and had his name written on the blackboard on the roll of honor ; the next morning Anne , having wrestled wildly with decimals the entire evening before , would be first . One awful day they were ties and their names were written up together . It was almost as bad as a take-notice and Anne 's mortification was as evident as Gilbert 's satisfaction . When the written examinations at the end of each month were held the suspense was terrible . The first month Gilbert came out three marks ahead . The second Anne beat him by five . But her triumph was marred by the fact that Gilbert congratulated her heartily before the whole school . It would have been ever so much sweeter to her if he had felt the sting of his defeat . Mr. Phillips might not be a very good teacher ; but a pupil so inflexibly determined on learning as Anne was could hardly escape making progress under any kind of teacher . By the end of the term Anne and Gilbert were both promoted into the fifth class and allowed to begin studying the elements of `` the branches '' -- by which Latin , geometry , French , and algebra were meant . In geometry Anne met her Waterloo . `` It 's perfectly awful stuff , Marilla , '' she groaned . `` I 'm sure I 'll never be able to make head or tail of it . There is no scope for imagination in it at all . Mr. Phillips says I 'm the worst dunce he ever saw at it .
And Gil -- I mean some XXXXX the others are so smart at it .
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