Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Twelfth Night, or Whatever

Chapter Three

Monday morning, Viola self-consciously pulled her left sleeve down as she walked to her science class with Olivia. She hoped nobody would question her too much for wearing her uniform jacket in this weather. If they did, she'd just have to come up with some cover story. The bruise on her arm was very black and very noticeably hand-shaped. How was she supposed to explain that?

'Better yet, how am I supposed to get out of this relationship?' she asked herself as she walked into the classroom and waved absentmindedly to her brother, who was sitting with Duke and his friends. Justin obviously wasn't going to just let her break up with him, hence the bruise, but she couldn't stay with him, not if this was who he really was. But what could she do? What if he did much worse than grab her by the arm? She prided herself on being able to take care of herself, but she was also very realistic. She was about 5' 5" and weighed 113 lbs. Whereas Justin was 6' 1" and weighed about 212.

'He only lashed out when I said I was breaking up with him. So if I stay with him, and tread carefully, maybe he won't hurt me again…'

It didn't exactly solve the problem, but it did stall it a little. However, the bruise could not be hidden forever, especially since she could not practice in long-sleeves, and she had practice after school.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard her name called.

OoooOoooOoooO

"The person whose name you have will be your lab partner for the duration of this class. Please read the name aloud and move to sit next to your partner."

Sebastian opened his sheet of paper. "Olivia Lennox."

Olivia smiled and waved at him.

"Dude, how do you know her?" Andrew asked. "She's the hottest girl in school. Duke has been crushing on her forever."

"I have not, and I am not, and she is not," Duke upheld, looking very indignant.

"She's my sister's roommate," Sebastian answered before moving away so he could sit with Olivia.

Duke then proceeded to open his slip of paper, and couldn't believe his luck. "Viola Hastings."

Viola looked up, obviously not knowing what was going on. "Huh?"

Duke gathered his stuff and went over to where she was sitting. "Looks like I'm your lab partner."

"Oh," she said, embarrassed to find herself caught not paying attention. "Well, I hope you're good at this stuff, cause let me tell ya, not so great myself," she said cheerfully, trying to hide her troubled thoughts from him. "I especially hope you don't mind handling the dissecting part."

"No problem," he replied, thinking something was off with her. The spark was missing from her eyes. He wondered what was wrong.

'You really don't have the right to know, do you?' a little voice sneered in the back of his head. Which was true, he didn't have any right. That didn't stop him from hoping she was alright.

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Sebastian was enjoying getting to know Olivia. She was a really sweet girl, nothing at all like Monique. Uh, Monique. He really needed to break up with her. And every minute he spent talking to Monique proved that.

"Hey, what's this?" she asked, picking up a yellow sheet of notebook paper. "A poem?"

"Ah, actually, lyrics, for my band."

"These are beautiful! They're so open and…"

"I know, I know, my sister keeps telling me that they're not very masculine."

"They're perfect!" she declared.

"So are you," he said before he could think. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Why not?" she asked, a little hurt that he would take it back.

"It's not that you aren't, I mean, I think you are, I mean… The conversation was not supposed to take this kind of a turn."

She smiled at his flustered attitude. "How about we just change the subject and move on?"

"That would be great," he smiled, relieved.

"Duke and Viola seem to be getting along well," she remarked, looking over at the two.

"Yeah, I think they'd pretty much be perfect for one another, as soon as she breaks up with that jerk Justin," he replied darkly. "Speaking of Viola, she hasn't talked to me since Saturday morning. That's not like her. Is something up?"

Olivia shrugged. "I don't really know her as well as you do. I wouldn't really know."

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Viola dressed quickly for practice and then pulled out her makeup and got to work. It took her the better part of fifteen minutes, but she finally managed to cover the bruise so that it wasn't noticeable at first glance. If someone looked close enough, they could see the outline of it, but why would anyone being looking at her arm that intently?

She just hoped that the makeup wouldn't get sweated off, but it probably would. Oh well, all she had to do was not linger on the field at the end of it. As long as she was careful, it wouldn't be noticed.

She sighed as she thought of her plan for dealing with Justin. She would be trapped in a relationship with him just when she was really starting to fall hard for a guy. She had spent much of the day with Duke, whether alone or with Sebastian and the other guys or with Olivia. Once he got past his general awkwardness with the fairer sex, he was really a great guy.

Not that it mattered. It wasn't like she could ever have him, not as long as Justin wouldn't let her go. And why would he want her when she was letting some low-life like Justin control her.

She desperately suppressed her tears of pain and degradation. She had to go to practice now. If she were going to play on the guys' team, she couldn't do something as girly as show up crying, now could she?

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Practice had gone fairly well, aside from the time Coach got on to him for not concentrating. He deserved it really. He just couldn't get his mind off Viola, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her.

He walked over to her and noticed Sebastian doing the same thing from the sidelines. They both reached her at the same time, with Toby, Andrew, and Olivia not far behind.

"What's up, Vi? You're not really acting like yourself," Sebastian said worriedly.

"It's nothing, I got to go," she said, trying to excuse herself.

"What's that on your arm?" Duke asked, spotting something black on her left forearm.

"Nothing," she replied hastily. "I really got to— " But it was too late. Duke gently grabbed her hand and lifted her arm up, displaying her bruise.

"What happened?" Sebastian asked angrily.

"It's soccer, Sebastian. It gets a little rough," Viola said sarcastically, pulling her hand back.

"That was a handprint," Duke pointed out.

"You don't get those in soccer," Toby stated. Andrew nodded.

"Vi?" Olivia said in askance.

"Would you all just please let it go?" Viola cried, running off the field.

Tbc…

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