Revelations

Chapter 3: Surprise


Duke hastily retrieved his ball and ran up the hill, until he was out of eyesight of Viola. Truth was, he was surprised at himself. He wasn't generally one to flirt so openly with girls, let alone feel comfortable talking to them. He wondered what it was about this one that had him so mesmerized. Maybe it was her soccer skills, maybe it was her beauty, maybe it was her wit…he didn't know. All he knew was that she was different. He found he couldn't take his eyes off of her from where he was sitting. He just sat there watching her continue on by herself, and he even smiled when he saw her try and succeed at another bicycle kick or two. He knew it was probably bordering on very weird for him to just be staring at her kick the ball around, but then again, he felt she was worthy of his gazing. Then something happened in his brain, and he shook himself out of this odd reverie he was having. What was he doing? He wasn't one to do this! Yeah, he had thought he felt this way about Olivia (hell, he was still kind of enamored with her), but then again, he could hardly get a word out with her. Viola (his roommate's sister!), had definitely sent something unique through his mind, and while part of him wanted it to continue, his more rational part—yes, he did have a rational side—told him he was going crazy if he was thinking this about her. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, bounced his ball, and headed back to his dorm, where he hoped Sebastian had fallen asleep so he wouldn't see Duke's face and ask questions. After all, how would he explain this?


Viola was equally surprised with herself. She hadn't expected someone to come out to her midnight practice, and she thought she'd be pissed off that someone interrupted it, but, incredulously, she found she didn't mind Duke being that person. Honestly, she was pleased that he came to join her. Yes, she definitely loved taking a few hours to herself (especially in the midnight hours), but his competition presented to her made her enjoy it even more. He was a challenge, and being her, she loved a challenge. Even though she didn't express it, she had a hard time keeping up with his fast pace, and more than once she found herself stumbling after a particularly difficult kick he gave her. Granted, she hoped it wasn't too visible, her hesitations, but they were there nonetheless. And although she was elated at practicing with him, she was also getting more and more frustrated as time went by. As she told him, she was used to being just about the best person on her team—even better than some of the guys—but she finally had to admit to herself that he was without a doubt the superior player. His tricks that he added in finally pushed her over the top. She usually didn't get too angry with people unless she figured they truly deserved it, yet here she was getting annoyed at him for simply including some of his talents. He then astonished her more by being courteous and suggesting to play goalie, when she could tell he hated the position, and probably wasn't very excellent at playing it. Then furthermore by agreeing to teach her how to do one of his more fantastic tricks. The same it was surprising to him, it also surprised her that she learned it so quickly. Truthfully, she didn't think she was a very fast learner, but obviously in this instance she was proved wrong. It wasn't the first time tonight that had happened to her. All in all, she was confused. All these thoughts running through her head…they were meddling with each other, tying up her better judgments and making her suspicious of herself. She, of course, didn't realize Duke was also wondering the same things.

Finally fed up with herself, she kicked the ball with as much intensity and bottled up emotion that she could and hardly noticed it hit the bar instead of going in the goal. What was more annoyance anyway? She sighed, picked up her ball (reminiscent of Duke's behavior), and trudged up the steps, figuring she'd just walk home, even though it was an acceptingly long distance. She needed the time to clear her head, anyway.


When Sebastian woke up the next morning (well, rather, a few hours after Duke entered the room), he noticed his roommate was still sleeping. This funnily enough was interesting to him, as he pegged Duke to be the early riser, the one to take six A.M. jogs in the mornings. He shrugged, got dressed, grabbed his guitar, and walked out of the room. He wasn't completely insensitive; he wouldn't be so rude as to wake Duke up with his strumming. He'd just go find some place on campus to play.

As he was just entering the main part of the school, however, and was distracted by trying to fix the clip on his strap, he realized he bumped into someone. His head snapped up to see a blonde girl now on the ground. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry!" he said sincerely. She looked up and he was taken aback at her attractiveness. He held out a hand to help her up, and she took it gratefully.

"Don't worry, I wasn't watching where I was going. Thanks for the concern, but really it's fine." She said apologetically.

"It's purely my fault. I was distracted. I'm Sebastian Hastings. Might as well know the name of the guy who knocked you to the ground."

She smiled. "Olivia Lennox. Pleased to meet you."

They shook hands, and as they parted ways, after he helped her pick up her books, they both were thinking about who the other was exactly.


Meanwhile, back at Viola and Sebastian's house, Viola was just waking up, arising later than usual, considering the lack of sleep she got. She groaned at her tiredness, but once she was up, she was not one to get back to sleep. She got out of bed, brushed her teeth and hair, and walked downstairs, not bothering to change out of her pajamas, or put on any makeup or fix her appearance at all. To Viola's irritation, her mother was standing at the bottom of the stairs, perfectly dressed in a matching outfit, a big smile on her face.

"Mother, how can you be so happy in the morning?" Viola asked, her voice still groggy. She yawned widely, not bothering to hide it.

Her mother ignored Viola's comment, and clasped her hands together. Viola thought she looked like a Maltese hyped up on caffeine. Not a good combination. "I have a present for you!"

Viola closed her eyes and sighed. She hated her mom's presents. Usually they consisted of something completely girly and not her whatsoever. "Aw, Mom, not again."

Daphne took Viola by the hands and led her into the living room of their house, which was also equally matching in color and style. Viola couldn't believe what she was seeing. Laying right before her lay no less than four dresses…all of them just as hideous as the first. They were all white, with poofy sleeves, sequins everywhere, and…ruffles. It looked like a fabric factory had blown up, and these were the results made by shrapnel and thread! She couldn't even come up with a store that could possibly sell these! Were they an April Fools' joke?

Viola made the most disgusting look on her face she could manage, trying to mimic the style of the dresses. "Ew, Mom, no. Just…no."

Daphne's huge smile faltered slightly, but she was still holding up the dresses in front of her, as if trying to see how they would look on Viola. "Oh, sweetie, please? You will look darling as a debutante! These are simply perfect! Will you at least go to the fundraiser next week? It'll be a carnival! I'm sure your brother will come as well if you tell him!"

Viola couldn't take any more of this. She finally gave in. A little. "FINE! I'll go to your ridiculous carnival! But I'm wearing my own dress and I'm bringing Sebastian!"

If it was possible, Daphne's smile widened to the point of it looking scary. "Oh, this will be wonderful! My darling daughter finally going to be a lady!"

Viola gave her mom a fakely excited half-smile. "Goodie." She said sarcastically. The next few days would be torture. What had she gotten herself into? Her only pleasure was that she would drag Sebastian with her and make him suffer as much as she had to.


After Sebastian decided he was finished playing his guitar—he couldn't concentrate after all…he kept thinking about Olivia—he walked back to his and Duke's room. He noticed Duke was reading a magazine, barely making reference to Sebastian's entrance. As Sebastian set his guitar back in its case, he noticed he had a message. He pressed the button to play the recordings, and noticed it came from the house phone. He hoped it wasn't his mother telling him something or other about Viola having to be a debutante. In that respect, he really felt for his sister.

"Hey, Sebastian. It's Viola. I guess I missed you. Anyway, I was just calling to tell you that Mom has decided to force me, dead or alive, to that ridiculous carnival fundraiser thing in a few days. It was that or wear dresses designed for a cow. But I'm still not happy about it. Point is, though, is that I have decided to bestow you the favor of joining me there. Aren't you glad? I've done it all in your best interest, of course. Well, maybe not all in your best interest, but yeah. So I'll see you there, okay, bro? If you don't come, after all, you know Mom will have a hissy fit and both of us will never see the end of it. I think I'm running out of time for my message to you, so I'll go away now. Love you!"

Sebastian groaned as soon as he heard what Viola was forcing on him. He heard stifled laughter coming from the corner of the room, and saw Duke was trying his hardest not to crack up. Sebastian picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "Shut up."

Duke finally let go and he busted out laughing, not able to contain it anymore. "Dude, you're in for hell."

"Yeah, how would you know?" Sebastian asked.

"I gotta go too. My mom's in Junior League as well. But at least I don't have to deal with being forced there. This'll be hilarious."

Sebastian had to agree with him. Except for the hilarious part. He, personally, did not find anything funny about it. And he did not believe for an instant Vi's concern for him. She was doing this purely to escape the full wrath of their mother. He finally decided to change the subject.

"So how'd you like my sister?" he questioned. He had no idea that Duke would have a problem answering the question.

"W-What do you mean?" Duke stuttered slightly, trying to hide a possible blush coming into his face.

Sebastian frowned at his roommate's behavior. He shrugged it off. "I mean, did you like her?"

"I don't know, dude, I only met her for a couple minutes." This was a lie, of course, as he had spent a few hours with her and had grown quite captivated by her. "Anyway, how am I supposed to answer that? She's your sister."

"That she is." Sebastian had the sense that Duke wasn't telling him everything, but he decided to lay off. For now.

"And how about you? You meet anyone interesting?"

It was Sebastian's turn to be sheepish. "Well…sort of. I kind of hit her hard and she fell. But I guess you could say I met her."

"Oh, really. What's her name?" Duke asked, not particularly interested, but playing it off as such.

Sebastian smiled despite himself. "Olivia Lennox."

Duke snapped his head over to look at Sebastian. "Olivia?" Duke said disbelievingly.

"You know her?"

"You could say that. She's in my lab class." Duke replied. He didn't mention the fact that he had liked her for three years. "But she's being stalked by this guy, Malcolm. No one likes him. It's actually rather scary watching him. He's a creepy guy."

Sebastian took that into account. "I see. Well, not too much of a problem, eh?"

"What, you're going to stalk her, too?" Even though Duke had more than taken a liking to Sebastian's sister, he wasn't exactly going to get over the crush he had with Olivia overnight.

"No, I'm not going to stalk her! But I'm not saying I wouldn't like to meet her again, either."

Duke shook his head, and turned back to his magazine without saying anything. He wasn't sure what to think of his roommate.


Viola woke up the day of the carnival, not happy at all for the day to come. She spent an extra ten minutes or so simply covering her head in her pillow, dreading however much time she'd have to be there. She really hoped Sebastian got her message and would show. If he didn't, she would be so mad at him he'd cower. Finally, she decided that if she didn't get up herself, her mother would have to wake her up, and she definitely did not want that to happen. Dragging herself out of bed, she put the red dress that Kia had let her borrow, put on some makeup and mascara, brushed her teeth and hair, and carried the shoes she was going to wear down the stairs. Much as she hated wearing them, she still wouldn't make her mother pissed by making marks on the hardwood floor. Daphne was waiting for her (déjà vu for Viola), yet again at the bottom, simply ecstatic at Viola's appearance. Viola sighed and joined her mom in the car.

When they arrived there, her mom immediately went off into some tent, probably expecting Viola to follow her, but Viola took to looking for Sebastian. After a few minutes of waiting, she finally spotted him and ran over to her brother. She gave him a huge fake smile, mimicking her mother. He seemed to notice the similarity.

"Vi, I hope you know, I am not pleased to be here." He said dully.

"Oh, I know, but you love me so much you decided to appease me, right?" she said in a baby voice.

"Sure. Anyway, you know Duke, right? These are his friends, Andrew and Toby." Sebastian introduced, gesturing to the three people he just listed.

"Yeah, we've all met. Well, met being a relative term. Andrew and Toby didn't exactly acknowledge me." She said, trying to get them to this time.

It seemed to work, as they stared at her like she was the first girl they had ever seen. Andrew's mouth was open, much like it was just moments earlier when he was so excited about seeing all the things at the carnival. Toby's eyes were widened at her, and she gave a hesitant smile at them. She wasn't sure what her thoughts were of his friends. Of course, she hadn't talked to them before, but they weren't exactly giving her a good first impression. She turned to Duke, and actually smiled for real this time. He appeared slightly dumbstruck that she was here. She knew she looked better now that she was all showered and dressed up, but she didn't think she'd create such a perception to them.

"Hey." She said to Duke.

"H-Hey." He replied. She stifled a laugh at his behavior.

"Well, shall we?" Viola suggested to her brother.

It was then that Sebastian happened to lay his gaze on the kissing booth, where he saw Olivia. "Y-Yeah…"


This was, I think, a bit longer for you guys? I'm sorry for the shortness of these ones, though, I usually write more! I hope this one was slightly better, though. Next chapter will be more of the carnival scene, as I hope was implicated. Anyway, a million thanks to:

litprincess, forgottenMisfit (thanks so much! But I seriously think the movie is not comparable to anything), WishingStar436 (I tried to include a little Andrew and Toby in this one…there'll be more to come), Fairysky (Nah, you're not a stalker…love you!), John cena punk princes, BrookieCookie490, princesscatie21, JaysHeartsDesire, Dhr-Angel, jean, lovestoread, iloveduke435, -xAxsxHxlxExyx, ShyofLife, sam, and everyone else who read!