I do n't believe it was any such thing . It was Providence , because the Almighty saw we needed her , I reckon . '' The day finally came when Anne must go to town . She and Matthew drove in one fine September morning , after a tearful parting with Diana and an untearful practical one -- on Marilla 's side at least -- with Marilla . But when Anne had gone Diana dried her tears and went to a beach picnic at White Sands with some of her Carmody cousins , where she contrived to enjoy herself tolerably well ; while Marilla plunged fiercely into unnecessary work and kept at it all day long with the bitterest kind of heartache -- the ache that burns and gnaws and can not wash itself away in ready tears . But that night , when Marilla went to bed , acutely and miserably conscious that the little gable room at the end of the hall was untenanted by any vivid young life and unstirred by any soft breathing , she buried her face in her pillow , and wept for her girl in a passion of sobs that appalled her when she grew calm enough to reflect how very wicked it must be to take on so about a sinful fellow creature . Anne and the rest of the Avonlea scholars reached town just in time to hurry off to the Academy . That first day passed pleasantly enough in a whirl of excitement , meeting all the new students , learning to know the professors by sight and being assorted and organized into classes . Anne intended taking up the Second Year work being advised to do so by Miss Stacy ; Gilbert Blythe elected to do the same . This meant getting a First Class teacher 's license in one year instead of two , if they were successful ; but it also meant much more and harder work . Jane , Ruby , Josie , Charlie , and Moody Spurgeon , not being troubled with the stirrings of ambition , were content to take up the Second Class work . Anne was conscious of a pang of loneliness when she found herself in a room with fifty other students , not one of whom she knew , except the tall , brown-haired boy across the room ; and knowing him in the fashion she did , did not help her much , as she reflected pessimistically . Yet she was undeniably glad that they were in the same class ; the old rivalry could still be carried on , and Anne would hardly have known what to do if it had been lacking . `` I would n't feel comfortable without it , '' she thought . `` Gilbert looks awfully determined . I suppose he 's making up his mind , here and now , to win the medal . What a splendid chin he has ! I never noticed it before . I do wish Jane and Ruby had gone in for First Class , too . I suppose I wo n't feel so much like a cat in a strange garret when I get acquainted , though .
I wonder which XXXXX the girls here are going to be my friends .
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