The next morning, Anne sees Diana signaling for her to come outside. Anne rushes to her friend’s side only to learn that Diana’s mother has forbidden her to speak to Anne. Diana tells Anne that no matter how much she protested and cried, her mother would not relent. In Anne’s dramatic fashion, she begins poetically of how much she loves her friend. She asks for a lock of Diana’s hair before they part. When Anne returns to her house, she tells Marilla that she knows she will never have another friend. Even if she does manage to find a new friend, it will not be the same thing as her relationship with Diana. She then announces that she does not think she will live much longer—and she hopes that when Diana’s mother sees her cold corpse, she will regret having kept her apart from Diana. Marilla can take no more of Anne’s lamenting and tells her she sees little chance that Anne will die of grief as long as she keeps talking like she does.

The next morning, Marilla is surprised to find Anne dressed and ready for school. Anne has determined that if she can no longer enjoy her friendship with Diana, she will focus all her energies on her education. She will try to become a model student, Anne tells Marilla, although she suspects there will be little fun in this endeavor. She remembers her teacher pointing out that Minnie Andrews, a fellow classmate, was an example of a model student, although Anne found Minnie to be very unimaginative and boring.

However, when Anne arrives at school, she is surprised that most of her classmates are very excited to see her. They have missed her, they tell her, especially her imaginative games at recess, her singing voice, and her dramatic ability when reading a book aloud in front of the class. Other girls in her class are eager to share special treats with Anne at lunch. They offer her gifts of empty perfume bottles and other pretty items from home. After school, Anne tells Marilla that even though she is still sad by the loss of Diana, it was nice to be so appreciated.

Anne studies so diligently that she is soon tied with Gilbert Blythe for having the best grades in the class. Both Anne and Gilbert are promoted to a higher level of studies. This impresses Anne, but it also brings challenges. Anne believes geometry is the greatest hurdle she has ever faced. She tells Marilla there is nothing imaginative about geometry and even Diana’s grades surpass hers in this subject.

Anne feels hurt by Diana’s obvious refusal to be friends with her even while they are in school. One day, however, Anne receives a note from Diana, telling her that her mother has refused to allow her to speak to Anne at any time of the day. She has been told to ignore Anne in every way possible. To demonstrate her defiance as well as her continuing friendship, though, Diana includes a small gift in the note—a red bookmark. Diane writes that every time Anne looks at the bookmark, she is to remember her one true friend.