Anne settles down to school, and she travels back to Avonlea and Green Gables every weekend, which helps to cure her homesickness. All the students from Avonlea leave campus on Fridays so they can spend two days at home. They will be able to do this by train until the winter sets in.

They travel together each Friday. When they get off at the train station, they walk as a group to their homes. Anne notices that Gilbert always walks alongside Ruby Gillis, who has undoubtedly become one of the prettiest girls on campus. Gilbert even carries Ruby’s satchel for her. One night as they are walking home, Jane whispers to Anne that she does not think of Ruby as being Gilbert’s type. Anne has to agree with her; Ruby is not the sort of girl who likes to talk about big ideas or her studies or ambitions.

Anne thinks of Gilbert, as well as all other boys, not as potential lovers (as Ruby does) but rather as friends. She would like to have the chance to have discussions with Gilbert because she knows he is her intellectual equal. He has ambition, like she does. She knows enough about him to sense that he and she could have very interesting and stimulating conversations. Gilbert knows how to get the best out of life and put his best into it, like she does. However, she has told him in anger that she does not want to be his friend, and she does not know how to amend that statement. In contrast, Ruby has said that she does not understand most of what Gilbert talks to her about. Ruby has also described Gilbert as being very much like Anne.

When she is at school, Anne’s thoughts are less focused on Gilbert and more on her studies and the new friends who are gathering around her. These include Stella Maynard, who is very thoughtful and imaginative, and Priscilla Grant, who is full of fun and mischief. As winter bears down, making travel back home more difficult, Anne begins to spend more of her spare time with Aunt Josephine. She often eats dinner with her and accompanies her to church. Aunt Josephine appreciates Anne’s youthful outlook and straight-forward honesty, even though Anne is not as amusing as she was when she was a child. However, there is something about Anne that makes Aunt Josephine love her.

When spring arrives, it takes Anne by surprise. Time has gone by so quickly. While talking with Jane, Ruby, and Josie one day, Anne admits that with spring there with all its new blossoms, she is having difficulty remembering how important the upcoming exams are. The other girls are not so taken with spring. They are more concerned with what is happening in the classroom. Jane is losing weight because she is so worried about her grades. They all think Anne feels less concern for final exams because she does so well in class and does not have to worry about failing. Anne responds that she might worry later, but right then she cannot help but stare out the windows and dream of what Avonlea must look like with the fruit trees in bloom. These thoughts lead her to dream about possible plans for her future.