A/N- Hey, so I thought updates would be far between... guess I was wrong. Sudden inspiration has a way of making a liar of me. BTW, if you haven't you should check out the new stories 'She's the One' and 'The Whirligig of Time' on the She's the Man section... gotta luv em. This chap is a lil short, please forgive me. :)


Somehow Viola managed to make it through her remaining classes. After puking her guts out, she had trudged to Algebra II and zoned out to the monotonous droning of the teacher. At lunch she ate a meager meal of a cereal bar and half a can of Pepsi. During her last two classes, she tried desperately to become lost in the lecture, without success. Her mind just kept running in circles about her failure as a decent human being. After all, how many other girls manage to completely shatter the heart of a good friend, have her secret crush utterly despise her, and still know the worst is yet to come?

The last bell for her academic day rings and she hurries to the locker room for practice. Soccer has always been her release from the stress of life, and today she is determined to use it. As usual she changes quickly in a toilet stall and is first to the field. Outside she takes notice of the gray skies for the first time. Apparently, the weather has decided to match her less-than-fabulous mood. Gloomy and hanging rather low, there is no silver lining for these sunless clouds. Thunder ripples across the sky, promising stronger peals soon to come. The acrid smell of ozone, and the quickly approaching streaks of lightning all prelude to a fierce storm building.

'Sebastian's' obvious eagerness to work up a good sweat draws a few groans of annoyance from her teammates. Whenever someone does more than expected, Coach Dinklage expects the rest of them to follow suit. The twin starts the warm up laps at a vicious run, quickly outpacing the others. Besides trying to run away from 'his' problems, he doesn't want another confrontation with Duke. If 'he's' too busy working out and practicing, the soccer captain won't have a chance to talk to him. Halfway through the warmup, the skies let loose a great deluge. Within a few minutes everyone on the field is completely drenched. Several of the teens slacken their pace, hoping Coach will call an early end to practice.

Seeing his team hesitate, he roars at them above the pounding rain and deafening thunder. "What do you nancy-boys think you're doing? We don't stop for a little rain. Toughen up, we have a game to win on Friday. Get moving!"

After their laps, the team moves on to footwork training. The muddy field makes the work even more difficult, a few ending up face first in dark puddles. Coach calls for a practice game, the captain's side is shirts. Automatically on Duke's team, 'Sebastian' groans at the world's decision to make 'his' life miserable. An hour into the 'game', impatience with the horrid weather has peaked and tempers begin to flare. Duke's own anger clouding his judgement sees nothing wrong with his teammates being thrown bodily into cold mud, especially a certain Hastings.

'Sebastian' pounds 'his' fist into the ground, splattering 'his' already filthy face with more mud. Livid that Duke didn't call a foul on Toby, 'he' jumps right back into the fray, ready to give out a little punishment of 'his' own. A little bit of spilled blood and flying mud later, the ball makes it's way far out of bounds. 'Sebastian' pauses to catch his breath, 'his' eyes follow the path of the ball's retriever toward the school. Two figures under umbrellas talking to Headmaster Gold catch 'his' attention. When they turn and look pointedly in 'his' direction, 'he' tunnel-visions, completely oblivious when the ball flies past 'his' ear. The opposition scores a winning goal and Duke turns his venomous gaze to his roommate.

"What the hell, Sebastian?"

Oh, no.

"Somethin more important than practice catch your eye?"

"Uh, I had mud in my eye, man. I couldn't see." Don't look, Duke. You don't need to see Olivia up there. You'll just want to kill me, and frankly, I want to live. I'm not sure why, but I do.

Unfortunately, Duke is already peering through the rain. A heart beat later he turns back to 'Sebastian', impossibly angrier. He grabs the smaller boy by 'his' shirt, practically lifting 'him' from the ground.

"What the hell did you do to Liv? I saw the way she looked in Bio. She was ready to bust out in tears."

Duke's face mere inches from 'his' own, 'he' can see blood vessels pumping madly. "I didn't. . ."

"Don't fuckin lie to me anymore. What's goin on?" His snarl cuts through any excuses 'Sebastian' may have come up with.

"Fine. I'll tell you."

Taken back by the sudden compliance in 'Sebastian', Duke let's 'him' go.'Sebastian' takes a deep breath, feeling hot tears mingle in with the icy raindrops on 'his' skin. "Olivia found out what I was really lying about."

"Well?"

"I'm not Sebastian."

"Then who the hell are you supposed to be?"

'He' finally looks up into Duke's confused eyes. "I'm his twin sister, Viola."

The captain's eyes widen, he takes a step back. Disbelief takes precedence over his anger. "You can't be. I know Viola. I kissed Viola, I did not kiss you!"

"I am and you did." 'Sebastian' proceeds to peel 'his' sideburns off. Duke stands speechless, watching the transformation apprehensively.

"The girls' team at Cornwall got cut, just because we were short players." 'He' winces as a few attached hairs come off with 'his' eyebrows.

"The chauvinistic coach wouldn't let us try out for the boys team. So, I've been pretending to be Sebastian so I could make this team and beat Cornwall." 'He' glances in the direction of the school. Olivia's face is unreadable, being too far away. Headmaster Gold is now within hearing distance and his surprised face is quite evident. Looking back at Duke, his jaw is just hanging there, looking slightly unhinged.

"And along the way, I fell in love with you." 'He' grabs the wig, and pulls it from 'his' head.

Running her fingers through her sweat and rain soaked hair, Viola continues, her voice strained. "I never meant for you and Olivia to get hurt. I just wanted to prove I was good enough to play soccer with the guys." She shoves the wig into her hoodie pocket and looks up hopefully into Duke's face.

The tall teen blinks several times before any sound comes from his mouth. He stammers out, "L-look, just cuz y-you wearin a wig, d-doesn't prove you're r-really a g-g-girl."

Viola rolls her eyes. Her inhibitions blown away with her fake identity, she undoes her bindings and pulls her top up. Duke's eyebrows about jump off his face, his reaction mirrored by the rest of his hormone driven team. He finally wrenches his gaze back to Viola's face. "O-Okay. So you're really a girl." A thought seems to occur to him, he points a finger towards the school. "You really weren't trying to get with Olivia? I saw her kiss you, er, you as Sebastian."

"No! That was the real Sebastian. At first I tried to hook you two up. Then, I was just trying to be her friend, when you decided you couldn't trust me any more. All I'm asking for is a chance."

Duke shakes his head, this girl is just too much.

At this point, Horatio decides it is his turn to ask a few questions. "Just where is your brother, then?"

"London."

"Did he get confused? Why is he in another country?"

"His band made it into a music festival there. He'll be back Thursday night."

"Ah. Well, Coach if you don't mind. I believe Miss Hastings and I need to have a little chat in my office."

Viola hesitates, looking at Duke for some sign of forgiveness, hope, for something that says things between them will get better. His face is blank, he refuses to meet her eyes. Dejected, she wipes at her face with the back of a sleeve, not caring that her makeup comes off with the mud. Closing her eyes, she wishes for something to go right after all this. She hugs herself against the cold, and not just from the weather. Around her, the storm continues to rage on. A clap of thunder sounds directly overhead, the violence of it causing Viola to jump and open her eyes. Duke is no longer in front of her. Her eyes search for him, finding him halfway across the field, walking away. The rest of the team fidgets where they stand, the confrontation stunning them to silence. Coach takes his cap off and rubs his shaved head, looking up as if to ask for patience.

The principal's voice cuts through the quiet. "Come along, Viola. We'll have to ask your parents to join us as well."

The twin turns to follow him from the field. As she trudges up the hill, she notices Olivia has not moved since talking to Gold. Close enough now to see her companion, Julia gives her a sympathetic smile. Olivia's face still holds the same expression she kept throughout Biology. Viola's stomach gives a lurch. She doesn't deserve this, especially how great she was after she discovered my bruises. Memories flood her mind, Olivia's pained eyes, every argument with Duke, Monique's hysterics, her parents' anger, and then Justin.That asshole, this is all his fault. Thunder booms again, quickly followed by a blinding flash of lightening. She cringes, remembering the bright flash of light after her head crashed into the hard porcelain. Rain pouring down her face, like the blood from her forehead. The pain in her heart, like the misery she had endured afterward. She gives a little cry, the tears now flowing freely.

Horatio lays a gentle arm across her shoulders. "Buck up, kiddo. I'm sure it'll all turn out. How about some hot cocoa with marshmallows?"

Without responding, Viola leans into the warmth of his side. At this point, she could care less from whom the comfort comes. Even if it is the world's strangest man.


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Ah listen to the sweet sound of an electric guitar. Guitar Hero HAHAHA

Have a great Mardi Gras!