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Viola felt like she was liable to vomit at any moment.
Her palms were sweaty. Her knees were weak and arms were heavy. She was incredibly glad she'd skipped spaghetti or any sort of food today. Her nerves had her running rap lyrics over and over in her mind as she paced outside the common room doors.
She was going to do this. She had to. The music had to be faced because the fat lady had sung. She was committed. She was resolved.
She had to get the hell out of here.
Viola backed away from the doors and willed them to stay shut so she could make her escape. So intent on her fervent prayer, she collided with another body and fell backwards. She landed hard and winced as her elbow make contact with something soft. “Crap! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching wh-”
“Ouch,” Viola heard somewhat muffled beneath her. Goddamn it. She closed her eyes. Of course it's her. “Sebastian, you're still on top of me.” Of course she was. Move, move, move, you idiot, she willed herself.
Viola scrambled to her feet and loomed over Olivia's prone form. “Olivia! Are you all right? Oh god. I didn't mean to squish you. Did I get your- uh, did I get you with my elbow? I'm sure I did. Did you hit your head, too? Crap.” She waggled four fingers up in front of Olivia's face. “How many fingers?” She did not just say that to her. A deep silent sigh. Of course she did.
Olivia blinked twice and stared up at the ceiling. “Ten.”
“Ten? What? No. I'm calling an ambulance. Don't move.” Viola grabbed her cell phone and started to dial. Olivia grabbed her wrist and shook her head.
“We're ten minutes late for this mysterious meeting you called. I'm fine, Sebastian. My right boob took all the damage.” Olivia smiled crookedly and sat up. “Your elbow took my breath away.”
Viola felt her face heat. “Smooth,” she murmured. She held her hands out for Olivia to take. “May I help you up?” Her breath hitched as she took Olivia's hands in her own.
“Fleeing the scene? You can't before you tell us your 'significant announcement'. There's wild speculation going around.”
“What kind of speculation?” Viola asked nervously.
“Cornwall's wooed you back for next season. Monique wooed you back as her boyfriend. Any number of equally worrisome possibilities,” Olivia joked but didn't quite meet Viola's eyes as she did.
Viola instinctively squeezed the hand in her own and then realized they were still holding hands and internally groaned. “Not a chance, Liv. Definitely a no on any nostalgia-fueled reunion. No way am I leaving.” You, her inner voice supplied helpfully. Not unless Olivia wanted her to after she shared what she'd been dreading.
“Then let's get to it? I'm absolutely starving because I skipped breakfast. Please feed me ASAP.” Olivia turned and started towards the doors.
Viola felt the full force of those pleading eyes and crooked grin. “OK,” she said weakly. Each step felt leaden as Olivia led her to a corner where Duke, Toby, and Andrew were gathered.
Olivia let go of her hand to sit in one of the arm chairs. The guys fist bumped her in greeting and all eyes turned expectantly on her.
“So what's going on, Sebastian? Just tell us you're not bailing and going back to Cornwall. You've got the whole team thinking the worst, dude,” Duke said.
“The whole team?” Viola squeaked. Her scalp itched and she resisted the urge to scratch the wig.
Toby added, “You've been walking around for the past week like you're going to hurl. You've won't hang before or after practice, and during practice you're playing like crap. Doesn't look so good, Sebastian,” he said warily.
“Not even thinking of voluntarily going back there, guys,” she assured. “I promise. It's something different.”
“A chick then? That girl from the restaurant, Mercedes. I could've sworn she picked you up after school yesterday,” Andrew said.
She noted Olivia's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward in her seat. “Who's Mercedes?” Olivia asked pointedly.
“Kia,” Viola automatically corrected.
Duke hooted, “She was all over him at Cesarios. It's like she was in the middle of the desert and Sebastian was the only drink of water in a hundred miles.”
“Oh?” Olivia arched an eyebrow. “Really.”
Andrew piped up, “A ten. Total hottie. I still can't believe it. You hooked back up with that? Dude.” He held up his hand for a high-five.
“No.” She shook her head. “Nope. Not even. Kia's a friend.”
“A friend?” Toby emphasized. “A special friend?”
Olivia pursed her lips.
Andrew shook his hand in the air. “Dude, don't leave me hanging.” Duke leaned in and high-fived him.
“Does Kia have a hot friend? Sister? Cousin?” Toby asked.
“Snap, brilliant idea.” Andrew offered a high-five to Toby. “Kia's so damn fine.”
Olivia looked like she could have been sucking an extremely sour Warhead.
“Yeah, Sebastian. You can't hoard all the hot girls. Share the wealth, bro.”
“The crazy but gorgeous ex-girlfriend. It's been months since you split. That's kosher, right? You still got her number, Sebastian?”
“Sebastian?” “Sebastian!” “Earth to Sebastian.”
The room felt incredibly hot.
“I'm not! I'm not, I'm not Sebastian!” Viola shouted at them. “I'm not who you think I am!”
They looked at her nonplussed.
She must have looked more out of sorts than she felt because Duke had stood to put a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed it comfortingly. “What are you talking about?”
She shrugged him off and dropped heavily into a chair. Viola didn't dare look in Olivia's direction. “I'm not my brother. Sebastian's in London for a few weeks before he was supposed to come here.” She stripped off her sideburns and pulled at her fake eyebrow. “I've been pretending to be him this whole time so that I could play soccer here. I'm Viola.” She pulled her wig off and shook her hair loose.
Duke cleared his throat. “Uhm, wow. We totally didn't know that...” he trailed off unconvincingly.
Viola just stared at him and then at the others.
Olivia still looked tense and opened and closed her mouth. She finally asked annoyed, “So are you with Kia or not?”
Viola was incredibly lost. “I never was. She's my oldest friend.”
“Oh ok,” Olivia shrugged. “Can we move this to Cesarios? I'm still starving and you promised to feed me.”
The boys looked excited at the prospect of food. They rumbled to their feet.
“I'm lost here.” Viola stayed seated. “You knew I was me the whole time?”
Duke seemed confused by her confusion. “I know you're you...”
“Viola,” she pointed to herself.
“Duke,” he pointed to himself. “Toby, Andrew, Olivia.” He pointed to each one in turn.
Olivia gestured to herself emphatically. “Hungry.”
“I fooled you all for two weeks. You thought I was Sebastian.” She nodded at the boys. “I lived with you guys so that I could be on your team. I got you to stuff tampons up your nose.”
Duke still looked puzzled. “They worked way better than bandages. And we knew. You left the toilet seat down. But what does it matter if a dude has a dude's junk or not. Armstrong won the Tour de Lance with one ball. Doesn't make you any less of a dude. Though It's OK if you're not a dude, dude.” He amended, “Viola.”
Before she could help herself, she asked Duke in a rush, “I'm mad for Olivia. I know you're crazy about her, too. I haven't been on a real date with her, but I want to. So much. Are we cool?” She braced herself for impact.
“I'm not completely oblivious. I don't think she knows anyone else exists since you got here...” Duke waved a hand in the air. “It's pretty clear. Would help my ego a bit if you could give me Kia's number.”
Toby and Andrew protested loudly and elbowed Duke.
Viola felt like pinching herself. This conversation was not going how she thought it would. She turned to look at Olivia. “I've been flirting with you like mad all under false pretenses. I haven't met a more gorgeous girl in my life. I think you're amazing, and smart and so, so funny. I feel like I could die happy if the last thing I did was kiss you. Aren't you furious?”
Olivia suddenly looked concerned. “Did you mean it? Flirting with me... Viola?”
“Of course,” she said immediately.
Olivia relaxed. “Then what's the problem?”
“I'm not a guy.” She squeezed her chest. “Boobs. Lady parts.”
Olivia shrugged. “I knew you were biologically a woman. I figured you identified on the masculine side of things. I'm pan. Sebastian or Viola, I want to date you. Short hair or long. Sideburns or not. However you want to express yourself. Except for wanting to wear Cornwall colors. That's just a huge no-no.” She added, “If I die of starvation, we can't date and that would be tragic.”
“Do you want to join the LGBTQIA-Straight alliance campus group? I'm an ally and we need help organizing the next dance.” Andrew looked cheered at the thought.
Toby asked, “I guess I do need a little clarification. What are your preferred pronouns?”
Duke whined, “Can we get some food now? Olivia's infected me with her hangries.”
Viola stared at them and blinked a few times. She gave in and stood up. “I'm buying us some pies at Cesarios. Who's driving?”