Dukes POV-
"Duke, buddy, where have you been?" Andrew asked throwing his arm over my shoulder; I shrugged him off and continued my brisk pace.
"My man what's up?" Toby echoed falling into step beside Andrew.
"Someone having an off day?" Andrew asked nudging me with his elbow.
"Awful night, awful day but what's it matter." I stated,
"So this is gonna sound too girly for me but spill." Toby stated.
He was unashamed and I often wished I had a fraction of his confidence, he made everything funny.
"Or we could start guessing." Andrew offered.
"Vie kissed me." I stated, running a hand through my hair.
"Really? Man you work fast." Toby chuckled.
"Shut up Toby." I hissed; forget what I said about him making things funny. This was not a laughing matter.
"Fine, we'll be serious, what's got your boxers in a knot?" Andrew asked in a goofy tone and Toby chuckled.
"I just told you stupid." I stated, punching Andrews shoulder roughly, I hate being patronized.
"I don't see a problem isn't this exactly what we wanted?" Toby asked.
"She dumped Drayton last night." I informed with a sigh.
"Ah." Andrew sighed, as if having just solved elaborate schematics behind the theory of relativity.
"I still don't see a problem." Toby offered.
"Then you're blind." Andrew spat.
"Look, he is obviously feeling a little confused because, he thinks the game is over but he doesn't want to lose his excuse to spend every spare minute with Viola." Andrew stated.
"It wasn't an excuse." I spat.
"Oh, yeah, how bout that time, you blew me off at soccer to be partners with her?" Toby asked.
"Hey you did that to me too." Andrew stated.
"Or missing dinner at my mom's to 'fake date' her." Toby said using finger quotations.
"Hey, you guys were the ones encouraging me." I snapped.
"No, that was what you thought; at first you need a push in the right direction." Andrew stated.
"A motivator, so to speak." Toby offered.
"Then you'd get passed the motivation tool and set your own objectives." Andrew continued.
"I'm confused." I stated, what on earth were they babbling about?
"Man, if we wanted to get back at Drayton we'd beat his ass old school!" Toby laughed boxing the air with a jab and then a strong left hook.
"Yeah, on and off the field." Andrew added.
"And that doesn't mean we won't still do it." Toby interjected.
"Is there a point to this speech or are you just trying to mess with my head?" I asked, slightly impatient.
"She is personable, nice, extremely hot, sweet and a decent soccer player" Andrew stated. "Did I say hot?" He asked
"Yeah but she's so fine, you can say it again." Toby smirked.
"She's hot." Andrew smirked.
"Will you guys just get to the point?" I inquired, glaring at them. I didn't like being manipulated.
"So the first thing we thought is that as much as we'd want her, she'd be perfect for you." Toby stated.
"And you thought that why?" I asked, man they were getting on my nerves, I didn't want to believe that my friends went behind my back and duped me.
"But then there was your problem with the ladies." Andrew sighed dramatically. "So we decided to rally up some competitive spirit by throwing in an objective." Andrew continued.
"And we're sorry man, but you've got to admit it worked." Toby stated. "Nothing like a little competition to fire up Duke Orsino."
"You guys played me? This whole time, it was about me?" I asked, "I like Olivia!" I stressed firmly.
"But you don't love her." Toby interjected.
"You guys are both psychotic." I replied "I don't love Vie" I stated, they had to know, I had known her less then two weeks.
"But you will." Andrew offered.
"Yeah, well as soon as she finds out I decked her brother, she isn't going to want to be near me" I told them.
"You punched her brother" Toby exclaimed.
"Not that hard" I defended.
"Shit! Why?" Andrew asked.
"He wouldn't let me follow her, he was saying about how he knows her better and I should just leave her be" I stated. "And he might be her brother and he might know her better but I know better then to let her be alone when she needs someone" I stated.
"And you say you don't luv her!" Toby chuckled shoving me playfully.
"What makes you think I'm not mad at you?" I asked with a glare.
"You'll get over it and when you do you'll be singing our praises." Toby stated as I walked away.
III
Viola's POV
"Viola…" Olivia shouted from across the field, practice had ended and Duke hadn't even looked my way. I felt stupid for imposing myself on his vulnerability the other night. He had just been ignored at night by his date and consequently the girl of his dreams and whamo he gets a free kiss from his 'just friends' roommate.
"Hi." I said as she came up to me. She was in her cheer outfit. "I'm so sorry for last night." I said.
"Oh, don't be sorry." She said softly.
"Did you get a ride back here alright?" I inquired.
"Yeah, your brother was a real gentlemen; he even drove me back with a bloody nose he." She giggled.
"A what? How'd that happen?" I asked.
"Right, you missed that part." She exclaimed. "Well right after you left, Duke said that Sebastian should go after you." Olivia informed. "Sebastian said that he knew that you'd want your space. Duke said that if your brother was too interested in me, that he would go check on you." Olivia added.
She looked flattered as she said it.
"So, Duke got up right and he is about to leave when Sebastian grabs his shirt, Sebastian was angry because Duke insinuated that your brother didn't care about you." She continued.
"Sebastian said that he knew what you needed and that Duke should just sit down; because you didn't need your roommates help." I sighed as she said it, it didn't sound like Sebastian.
Normally I would have liked my space too but I didn't feel sad about the end of my relationship with Justin.
"So, Duke got mad and before any of us knew what happened, Duke was leaving and your brother was holding his nose." She said.
She giggled then.
:"Sorry, it was pretty funny though and your brother was a good sport about it." She stated, before giggling again.
"Sebastian isn't angry?" I asked, I was more than a little irked that Duke would punch my brother, how could Sebby not be pissed off?
"Well, he wasn't happy but he said that he wasn't going to deal with it last night." She said.
"Oh practice is starting." She stated, with an apologetic look.
"Well thanks for letting me know." I said.
Why hadn't Duke mentioned it?
I dialed my brother, even thought he had a different lunch hour and 'should' be in class, I knew that there was a good chance that he wasn't anywhere near a textbook or within a 5 mile radius of Cornwall for that matter.
"Hey?" He asked, after I waited for a few rings.
"Should I be upset?" I asked into my phone.
"'bout last night?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said with a nod.
"Well depending on how you look at it." He offered, "Yes and no."
"Wow that really answers my question." I remarked sarcastically.
"Well my nose isn't broken and I did get fawned over by a very gorgeous girl." He said slyly.
"For that last time, Monique is not gorgeous." I hissed.
"Yeah, I really couldn't help but notice that when she was making out with your ex after you left." He agreed.
I seethed, it was just too sleazy for me to feel good about it, with Monique no less, gross. Justin was a disgusting cretin of a man and I'd feel so good scoring on him.