Chapter 8

Two days have passed since Duke and Viorel had last spoken, the memory of him kissing Olivia made his blood boil. It was fun tackling Viorel in practice even though it cost him additional conditioning drills.

'How could he betray me like that?' He wondered 'He knew how much I liked her. Is that why he kept pushing his sister onto me? Who does that? I wonder if she was in on it too.. Olivia had been weird too, were they all playing with my feelings?' So many thoughts and questions were filling Duke's mind. Was Viorel this cruel, was he using his sister and Olivia to play a sick game on him.

They had an away game in a few days, the Cornwall game Viorel was so excited to play. Duke had helped get Vio up to first string and he did well in their last game. Coach might start him in the next game. Slowly Duke started thinking how he could get back at Viorel..

O-O-O

A few more days had passed and it felt impossible for Viorel to get a moment to talk to Duke. Duke had basically swapped rooms with Toby. Toby had been nice about the whole situation and Viorel had explained his part of the story to him. It has been difficult to sleep, Vio was considering getting ear plugs to muffle out Toby's snoring. He had been keeping his distance from Olivia, he didn't want to piss Duke off more if he was out in public with her. Everyone on campus knew some distorted version of what happened at Maria's party.

Practice was the only place he had some contact with Duke, but it wasn't more than a glance or glare depending how you looked at it. Duke never passed the ball to Vio, if anything he would go out of his way to prevent Vio from having the ball even when they played on the same side. He felt some of the other guys were siding with Duke and joining in. The team overall was suffering and coach Dinklage was furious. Tomorrow is the Cornwall game, it's going to be weird, Vio thought. He hadn't seen anyone from Cornwall since he left aside from Justin at the carnival.

The week went by in a blurr and it was now Saturday. The team had arrived at Cornwall and were heading to the field. Viorel saw the bleachers slowly starting to fill up. Sabrina and her friends weren't decked out in Cornwall colors or school merch like the rest of the crowd. Olivia came dressed in all red and white.

Unfortunately Viorel wasn't starting this game as he hoped, he was on the bench. His performance at practice didn't convince Drinkladge to start him for this game. Duke and his friends definitely made it difficult for him that week. The first half went by with little action, Cornwall's defense were blocking every pass and play Illyria tried. Cornwall came close twice to scoring a goal. Coach Dinklage gave the boys an earful. The second half began worse with Illyria conceding a penalty to Cornwall. Cornwall's star striker sunk the ball to the bottom left corner of the net, the goalkeeper was way off jumping the opposite way. Dinklage figured they needed to change it up and called Viorel to warm up.

Viorel subbed in for the left winger. The game slowly started moving its way up with Viorel taking it forward for a cross to Duke who headed it in. Finally a goal! The stands went wild even Sabrina and her friends cheered contrary to all her classmates surrounding them. Time flew and with three minutes of play left, Viorel again with the ball lobbed it over to Toby who quickly passed it to Duke positioned toward the box. Duke dribbled past a defender and took a shot... the goalkeeper caught it.

"Ha! You thought you'd get that one didn't you Duke?" Justin mocked

That was their last attempt, they couldn't create another chance. The whistle eventually blew and the game ended tied. No one was happy, but it was better than losing. They knew they would hear it from their coach as soon as they got on the bus. It was a bad game overall, the only improvement was in the last 20 minutes after Viorel entered.

Sabrina quickly came down to congratulate her brother. She ran over and caught him in a big hug "Vio! You did amazing, you really turned the game around!" She let go of him and got a better look of his face. "What happened!?"

"Ah nothing to worry about, just a little scuffle" Vio tried brushing it off. The swelling was gone, but he still had some bruising on the left side of his face.

"Little? I don't think so.."

"Alright, I'll call you and fill you in tonight. I don't want to talk about it here"

"Fine" she knew there's something more to this incident

Viorel caught a glimpse of Olivia walking away from the field. He smiled and waved to her. Sabrina caught sight of who he was looking at.

"And who is that?"

"A friend, she's my lab partner from school."

"Mhmm, you don't say.." she looked over to the rest of the team and recognized Duke looking in their direction. She had given him a kiss back in the carnival, that kiss ended up being more than the usual peak most people give at a kissing booth. Even now she still felt the heat from that kiss as she saw him. He looked kind of mad, she couldn't tell if it was directed at her or her brother.

"What's his problem? Looks pissed at one of us" Vio turned to who she was referring to.

"Yeah we kind of had issues lately"

"Was he the one that did this?" She asked

"Yeah, but I deserved it. I'll explain it to you later" He gave her kiss on the cheek goodbye and left

O-O-O

Couple more days went by and Viorel couldn't wait anymore. One night after dinner he went over to Andrew and Toby's dorm and knocked on the door. Duke answered and closed it almost immediately. Viorel wedged his foot in time and pushed his way in.

"Duke, I don't want to fight. I feel we need to talk it out, I have to explain to you what happened"

"I know what happened, I was there. You were my friend and you were supposed to help me, but instead you lied to me, betrayed, and used me for your own gain!"

"I never wanted Olivia. I meant it when I promised to help you. I only started to have feeling for her much after and even then I still helped get you that date even though I was filled with jealousy that whole night at Cesario's"

"Then why did you kiss her the next day!?"

"I didn't mean to. Sh-she pulled me into that room. I was confused"

"You didn't seem confused to me"

"Honestly, I was coming back with drinks, she pulled me in and we were just talking. She was upset about me kissing Maria"

"Oh really now" Duke said sarcastically

"Yes, she was jealous. She liked me! She kissed me!"

"But you didn't seem to be shutting it down. You were all over her when I found you. Someone told me they saw you go into another room. I wanted to prank you and opened the door to scare you. I didn't expect you to be on top of the girl I have liked for years"

"What was I supposed to do? Push her off? I'm sorry I lost myself, I shouldn't have kissed her back or continued it to where we were. I should have talked to you before. What do you want me to do? I want us to be friends again"

"The only way we can be friends again is if you stop seeing her. That's the only way I know you mean it"

"Olivia is my lab partner, how am I supposed to avoid her?"

"Switch partners, you can put in a request"

"Duke, are you serious?"

"Yes, I can't be friends with someone who stole my girl. We had just started dating, who's to say it wouldn't have led to something more meaningful if you didn't get in the way. Maybe she was just confused that night, why would she ask me out only to go after another guy the following day?"

"I don't know.."

"We'll it's up to you. That's my condition"

O-O-O

After much debate Viorel still didn't know what to do. He barely slept last night and he had biology that morning. Part of him wanted to skip class and stay in bed. He eventually did go, he felt so guilty sitting next to Olivia, he hadn't made a choice yet, but the fact he was debating it made him feel he was betraying Olivia.

She smiled at him, she had such a beautiful smile. She kept trying to have a conversation with him, but Viorel kept his responses short. Olivia knew something was off. He was normally silly and joked around, but now he was very quiet and reserved. Class ended and he just gave a short goodbye and quickly left class.

Olivia was concerned and she noticed Duke looking at her, he was still at his desk. She had a feeling there was something more and Duke was somehow involved.

O-O-O

"Sabrina, I need to talk to you. I am not having a good day" Viorel had called up his sister in hopes of her telling him what to do

"What's up?"

"I finally spoke to Duke last night about the incident the other week with Olivia"

"How did it go?"

"Not so good.. he gave me an ultimatum. If we were to be roommates and friends again I had to stay away from Olivia. He feels that's the only way he could trust me again"

"Vio that's crazy! A real friend wouldn't do that to you"

"But I hurt him, maybe I can do it. Olivia can find another guy, she has a long list of suitors"

"But she wants you Vio, does that not mean anything to you? It takes guts for a girl to be so upfront like she was. How can you choose a dumb jock over someone you might love?"

"Might is key. I don't know if I do or if I would. I just know I like her a lot. Duke helped me get to where I am in soccer and I know if we can get back to our old rhythm we can beat Cornwall in the next game when it's at home"

"Are you choosing Duke then? Or should I say soccer.. what's more important? And it's okay if you choose the sport, but I think there's better ways to go about it. Duke might get over it and he just needs more time. Your happiness shouldn't depend on someone else's, especially for someone who is purposely making you suffer in the process"

"I know, but it's hard. Life was easier and better before I caught feelings for Olivia. I think it'd be easier to go back to how things were when she wasn't part of my plan. We might get some college scouts at our games if we do well and can make it to state"

"If that's what you feel is best then there's your answer. Only you truly know"

"Thanks.. for listening. I think I know what I should do"

"Okay love you, take care of yourself"

"Thanks love ya too, bye" Vio hung up the phone and proceeded to look out the window. Below he saw Duke walking towards the building. The answer looked clearer to him now.