Honesty is the Best Policy – Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

I am not really a sports person so please forgive any mistake I make concerning soccer. Also, let's just pretend that a) the Coach hadn't decided who was first or second string yet and b) Viola was just really tired and stressed and not playing her best in the movie and c) Andrew is a halfback and Toby is a fullback.

(Line Break Malfunction)

Coach Dinklage stalked out onto the field. His team was assembled ready to start practice. "I want everybody except Orsino, Belch, and Aguecheek in the weight room for the next two hours. I shall know if you decide to skip out early, so I suggest you do not. Now go!" Most of the team jogged off like they were told. The coach was left facing the three young men he would consider the best players on his team. They had been on Varsity since they were freshmen and Duke Orsino had been Capitan since he was a sophomore. "Follow me, boys." Back in his office, he explained what they were going to be doing.

The expression on the boys' faces changed often as the story unfolded. They started off confused, thinking "why is he telling us about the Cornwall girls team," followed by shock that a coach could be so sexist, and, by the end, they were nodding along with their coach's decision to allow the girls a tryout. They all walked out to the field to start. They were shocked to see the girls sitting on the field, warming up and chatting quietly.

Viola was saying, "Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and switch." All three moved their arms to grab their right foot instead of their left. They were running through the usual pre-practice warm-ups. Viola was leading like she used to when she was captain at Cornwall. They stood when they were finished. "Do you want to start running or just wait?" She then noticed Coach Dinklage and the boys. "Oh! Hi! We're warmed up and ready to go!"

Coach Dinklage nodded and said, "What positions do you play?"

Viola smiled, "Center forward."

Kia said, "Halfback."

Yvonne followed with, "Fullback."

The three boys burst out laughing. The girls crossed their arms and shared a glance as if

to say "Not again." Viola was looking at the guy in the middle thinking Kia was right.

These guys were amazing to look at but she definitely did not appreciate them laughing.

"Typical. Just like a jock," Viola murmured to Kia and Yvonne. "Can't believe a girl

could do the same things as them. Maybe this was a bad idea."

The guy in the middle spoke up. Out of the three Viola liked him best. He was tall but

didn't tower over her. He was probably about 5'11" and had muscles all over the place.

"No…I mean…you see…it's not…you're…we're…well…yeah."

Kia had a good question. "Huh?"

The guy with spiky hair answered her, "What I think Duke was trying to say was that we

weren't laughing at you. It was just funny that we play the same positions as you. I'm

Andrew, by the way." He gave Kia a really big smile, which she returned.

"Alright, that's enough chit-chat. Three-on-three scrimmage. Let's go!"

An hour later, the guys were shocked. The girls were running circles around them. Literally. One of them would be running with the ball, and a few seconds later, they would have lost the ball and it would be sitting in the goal. It seemed like the girls could tell what each other was thinking. It was the only way they could possibly play that well together. Finally, the coach blew his whistle. Duke hadn't been keeping score, but he knew the girls won. He had barely gotten the ball and had eventually moved to Andrew's position so that Andrew could help Toby. He sincerely hoped Dinklage was about to give all three girls starting positions. If the Cornwall boys played near as well as the girls, they would be much harder to beat.

"Congratulations ladies. First string, all of you. Hastings, Orsino, I'd like to see you in my office." With that, he walked off.

Viola reached out and grabbed her two best friends into a giant hug. "We did it! Why don't you wait for me in Sebastian's room? It's 232." When Viola turned around, only one guy was left standing on the field. "Hi. It's Duke, right?" He nodded. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Viola." He nodded. "Are you alright?"

"It's just…I'm not… I can't… I'm just not very good at talking to girls." Duke felt like hitting himself over the head. "Brilliant move, how stupid can I be? If she didn't think you were a freak earlier, she certainly does now. Am I ever going to live this down?"

By this time they had reached Dinklage's office. Duke knocked and walked in. The coach was sitting behind his desk. "Don't bother sitting. I don't have much to say. You both are amazing players and both have previous experience as a captain. I want one of you or both of you as captain of this team. Decide between yourselves and let me know tomorrow. Miss Hastings, I will speak to Principal Gold about your transfers. Good day." Following his obvious dismissal, Duke and Viola walked out to the field.

Duke was looking at Viola. "So, what do you want to do?"

She looked at him. "Isn't it obvious?" Duke sighed, "I should have known she would want it." "You should have it."

Duke nodded, "Of course, Wait! What? Don't you want it?"

"I don't think it would be fair for me to take it. You were captain before and it is bad enough that we are taking three of your first string positions; I couldn't possibly take your captaincy too."

"Weren't you captain at Cornwall?"

"Yeah, but-"

Duke interrupted her, "It's not fair for you to lose that because your coach was sexist. We should share it at least. Besides, we could use your help. The three of you move together perfectly. It was almost as if you could tell where the ball was going before anyone kicked it."

Viola smiled. "Kia, Yvonne, and I met at soccer camp the summer before second grade. We've played together every year since then. Ten years worth of being teammates means we can sort of read each other. If you really want to share being captain, then alright."

"I do think it's best for us to split. By the way, congratulations on making the team."

Viola smiled, thinking "Maybe I was wrong. Not all jocks are like Justin. Duke seems really nice and doesn't think I'm worth less as a player because I'm a girl."