I've Just Seen a Face ((Sebastian))

[vinnie]

Vinnie had to find Sebastian. He had no idea where the kid lived, but he knew he might still be at the school because of soccer practice. Vinnie wasn't the type to kiss and tell, but he had to thank Sebastian for his advice because it paid off; he'd actually had an emotional connection with and he didn't know if he would have had the balls to do it if it wasn't for Sebastian.

The parking lot was mostly empty. That meant that most, if not all, of the team had left already. Vinnie just hoped that Sebastian might still be here. Now he just had to get inside the school. Getting inside the school after hours was always a bit tricky, but Vinnie knew the back entrance was always open for Athletes until 7. Vinnie went in through that way and made his way to the locker room.

"Sebastian?" he called as he enter the empty looking locker room.

[Viola Hastings]

Viola had finished with soccer practice and had waisted time in the changing room until she thought everyone had gone home. She was changing out of her sweaty soccer uniform, getting ready to take a shower. Since no one was there, she could enjoy the privacy of a refreshing after practice shower.

She pulled her gold and red shirt off and the white long sleeve under shirt up and over her head. Her short brown wig got knocked slightly askew. She quickly put it back into it's proper position before realizing how pointless the effort was: she'd just take it off in a few seconds anyway. She sighed and chuckled a little; stripped down to the ace bandage wrap she had to 'tape down' her boobs.

She sat down on the island-esque bench next to the lockers and proceeded to take off her cleats and shinguard socks. It was then she heard a voice. She stopped moving with her shorts halfway down her legs, horror crossing her features. . . she recognized that voice. SHIT.

"Uhhh don't come in, dude, I'm na--," and he was right there. And here she was in nothing but a gauze wrap and her brown skin tight, short panties. ((Like the shorts panties that are comfy and cute. . . I own a pair.)) "--ked."

[vinnie]

Vinnie found Sebastian in one of the back locker areas, except when he found wasn't what he expected; Sebastian was just wearing gauze around his chest and his hair was awfully off center. Not only that, but he seemed to be half way though taking off his shorts which revealed he was wearing a pair of girls panties. It only took Vinnie a few seconds to figure out what was going on; Sebastian was a chick. Now that he saw 'him' with a female body the face looked oddly familiar.

"Viola?" said Vinnie in complete shock, ". . . what the fuck?" Vinnie was was almost speechless. Sebastian was Viola? He'd been telling all his secrets and girl problems to Viola and not a fellow dude like he thought? This was just unbelievable! He'd never felt so betrayed in all his life.

[Viola Hastings]

"Vinnie, wait, I can explain," she said, dropping her pretense of a masculine voice.

She held out hand to emphasize him stopping , but then was slightly off balance and had to hop back into her soccer shorts. She wrapped her arms around her chest, self-consciously, as frowned at the betrayal evident in his face.

"I was going to tell you, but I couldn't find the right time. . ." she said, awkwardly.

[vinnie]

Vinnie usually didn't get angry, he usually didn't yell at girls, and he usually wasn't betrayed by people he thought were his friends. "You couldn't find the right time?!" Vinnie burst out angrily, "how many times were we alone together? You could have told me anyone of those times! I don't know why you felt the need to come here in drag, but it doesn't matter; it's not like I would have told anyone who you really were! I thought we were friends! Christ! I fucking told you every! Everything about my problems! And this whole time you were lying to me?! Are you fucking kidding me, Viola?!"

Vinnie had become completely irrational. Maybe it was because he felt like he was being spied on or because for a while there he thought he had a thing for Viola. What ever it was, he never remembered being so mad at someone in all his life. It wasn't as if some random kid had done this to him. It had been a friend and that made it a thousand times worse.

[Viola Hastings]

Viola let Vinnie explode at her. She hadn't expected for any of this to happen, and she certainly hadn't expected for him to find out like this.

"No one was supposed to know," she told him. "That was the deal. My uncle didn't want me telling anyone but Tad."

She paused to take a calming breath, taking off the wig while she did so. It was itching an irritating her now that she was under pressure.

"They cut the soccer team at my school," she continued. "And my uncles set up a temporary transfer to St. James so I could try out for the boys team here, where I wouldn't be recognized. Once the season was over, I was going to tell my parents I didn't like the new school and go back to GW. No one would ever have to know."

She felt bad, she knew that Vinnie must feel horrible now: betrayed, confused, angry, and vulnerable. But she was feeling some of the same emotions right now too.

"I wasn't lying about any of the advise I gave you, and I haven't told anyone what you told me," she assured him. "I'm still you're friend and I wouldn't tell anyoen your secrets."

[vinnie]

All this just to play soccer? What the fuck? If that was the case why couldn't Viola just tell him! They'd been friends before all this! It seemed to him it was more like some assholes at George Washington put her up to this so they could make fun of all the sad rich kids' problems. Yeah, that had to be it. In his frustrated, confused, angry state Vinnie had no idea how irrational he was being.

"Why should I believe you after you lied to me?" said Vinnie harshly. He normally wasn't one to hold a grudge like this, but this was a special situation. "This is such bull shit Viola, and I don't deserve any of it. I've been nothing but nice to you and this is how you treat me." It seemed like all the built up emotions he had from everything that was going, Vinnie was taking out on Viola. He thought of the bullshit with the ACS, how Desmond was having so many problems, how Lena managed to screw up ever thing, and how one of his best friends was now dating his crush. He'd been keeping all his anger inside and it finally had exploded.

"Well, I just came to tell you that things worked out with Zanna," he said finally, sounding hurt in every syllable, "but I guess you don't give a fuck. . . psh, fuck this shit. I'm leaving." Vinnie turned to leave.

[Viola Hastings]

"Why should I believe you after you lied to me?"

"Because I'm you're friend!" she said, losing her cool for a minute.

"This is such bull shit Viola, and I don't deserve any of it. I've been nothing but nice to you and this is how you treat me."

Viola fought the urge to bring up how he'd treated her at the Homecoming dance. That probably would only hurt her cause at this point.

"Well, I just came to tell you that things worked out with Zanna, but I guess you don't give a fuck. . . psh, fuck this shit. I'm leaving."

As he turned to leave, she reached out a hand and yanked him back around to face her. He was being ridiculous in her mind. Sure she'd expected him to be upset, to be mad at her, but she'd hoped once she'd explained everything that he'd understand. She'd hoped that he'd be her friend and that maybe he'd even be sympathetic a little. She'd had to hide who she was and lead a double life for the past couple of weeks. She'd had to deal with being a social outcast, and having to be the new kid, and deal with having her best friend getting stabbed.

"Of course I give a fuck!" she yelled. "So because I'm not a boy means I can't give a shit? If you wanna leave well then fine, fuck you! Leave! But you know what? I thought you were supposed to be my friend, but looks like I was right not to tell you now doesn't it?!"

[vinnie]

When Viola grabbed his arm, Vinnie knew he's gone too far. Viole seemed genuinely upset about everything he'd said, not to mention pissed off. He always knew Viola wasn't the type of girl to break down or just take it when someone was yelling at her. It's one of the things that drew Vinnie to Viola to the first place. He liked the fact that she didn't play the typical damsel in distress roll like so many girls did. Too bad he was hurt to notice right now.

His mood went from anger to genuine hurt. He took a deep breath and sat down on one of the benches. He'd known he'd gone too far, but what Viola did to him wasn't right. He'd put all his trust into Sebastian and it was all a big lie. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the floor. "and I am your friend. . . I just, I dunno. . . maybe I feel like you were taking advantage of me because I'm such a nice guy." Vinnie hated admitting his feelings, he was a typical guy in that respect. "why would you go that far just for a fucking soccer team?" Vinnie wonder why Viola would risk so much just to play soccer. Surely there was leagues out side school she should join. Why lie to everyone just for a stupid game?

[Viola Hastings]

"I wasn't trying to take advantage of anyone," she said, more calmly now. She took a seat on the bench too, keeping space enough for another person to sit between them.

"All the local soccer leagues had already picked their teams at the beginning of the school year," she explained. "And I've been playing since I was 6, and I plan on trying to go pro. I guess, I don't know, I guess I just wanted to prove that even a girl could play soccer. That I deserved to play on a team just as much as a boy did."

It was hard to explain her logic to him. When their hadn't been enough girls for the GW team, she'd been outraged that they simply cut the other girls off for playing. Of course none of the other girls cared as much as she did about the sport, so they didn't want to petition to join the GW boys team. If she had tried this at her school, she would have easily been recognized. This had seemed like her best option. She had to keep herself fit and in practice for when she tried to get a scholarship for soccer.

[vinnie]

Vinnie didn't say anything for a while. Instead he remained silent so he could take in everything Viola was saying. Basically coming to St. James was the only way she'd be able to play soccer. This raised so many conflicts and questions though. Why hadn't she just made them let her join the boys team at GW? Wasn't it a law that if there was no girls team provided, that girls must be allowed to play on the boys team? Well, then even if they allowed Viola to try out they simply could have cut her and said she wasn't good enough. It would have been hard to argue against that. It would be unfair to simply force the couch to allow her on the team and replace a boy that would have been better. Not that woman couldn't play as well as men, but Vinnie saw 'Sebastian' at try outs and well, yeah. . . He remembered thinking that if it was the girls team Sebastian would be the star player. Turns out he was sort of right about that.

"Viola, why not join the girls team here?" he began, "I mean, I know girls soccer doesn't start here until the spring, but you could have transfered later. And if you earned a scholarship here from playing soccer, wouldn't it just go to 'Sebastian'? How would they take it when they found out this boy they were going to give money was actually a girl posing as a boy?" Vinnie was still pretty ticked about being lied to so he wanted to make sure Viola had a full proof plan for this whole soccer thing. If she's been lying to Vinnie just for her plan to fail that would suck.

[Viola Hastings]

"That's the whole problem," Viola said, standing up and pacing now. All these questions had been posed by her uncle and cousin before. "By spring it'll be too late. When the college scouts come around, I won't have played for months. But if I play on the boys team here, I'll have an advantage. The tryouts alone here were way tougher than ours. I'm learning things that I couldn't learn on the girls' team. If I can keep up with the guys, I'll have an edge in the spring league."

She looked over at Vinnie, the spark in her eyes fading ever so slightly. She sat back down on the bench.

"I just. . .I've always wanted to be a professional soccer player. And my grades aren't exactly awes inspiring. I mean they're not bad, but they're not Ivy league materials. My parents couldn't afford to send me off to an Ivy league school anyway. This is the one thing I have going for me," she explained with a defeated air. "And I'm sorry that I had to lie to you."

[vinnie]

It was starting to make sense to Vinnie now. Perhaps he wasn't completely getting because he'd never been all that into sports. Sure he was good in Gym class, but it wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. Vinnie did have to admire how far she was going to pursue something she was passionate about. He was even starting to feel bad about yelling at her.

Apparently she was depending on soccer to get her into college. Not that that was a bad thing, seeing as she was rather good at it. Vinnie just always had good grades so getting into a good college was never a big concern for him. He was NHS president and first in the class. The only problem was he could decide where to go to school.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." said Vinnie quietly, "If this is something that's really going to help you. . . then I guess I'm glad you did it. I just wish you would have trusted me enough to tell me. I'm sure things would have been easier if you didn't have to hide from absolutely everyone. But, I hope this all works out for you. . . It sounds like you really want it." Vinnie blush in embarrassment from being such an asshole, "I should probably go. . ."

[Viola Hastings]

"I do really want it," she said with complete sincerity.

Vinnie turned to leave with a hint of embarrassment. Viola misunderstood the source however, and glanced down at the gauze. She hugged herself, and grinned embarrassedly.

"Oh right umm yeah, I was going to get a shower," she said awkwardly, grabbing her towel. "Wouldn't want to smell like boys and sweat when I go out tonight."

She gave a little chuckle, hoping to break the tension, but then remembered why Vinnie had come in the first place.

"Oh. . .and if you still want to," she said tentatively. "Later I wanna hear all about You and Zanna."

[vinnie]

Being so distracted by everything that he forgot that Viola had very little coverage over the chest area. He only remembered when she quickly covered herself up.

"Oh Jeeze!" he exclaimed as he covered his eyes with his hands, "I'm sorry! I forgot about the-ah, the-the, the thing with the, ah, you know the ah, holding them down and the ah lack of shirt." Vinnie stood up with his hand still covering his eyes. "Yeah, I'll, ah, leave you to your shower and, um, going out stuff." If it were a different situation Vinnie might have inquired where she was going, but he thought that was slightly inappropriate with her being almost top less.

"I'll ah, see you later," he said, walking toward the door, hand still over his eyes. He bumped blindly into lockers and even accidentally kicked a metal trash can, sending it sliding into a wall with a loud bang. "fuck!" he mumbled not even caring he'd dropped an f bomb in front of Viola seeing as he's already yelled a number of curses at her.

"Yeah, about Zanna, that's quite a story!" he said just before he blinded pushed the locker room door opened a left. Once outside he took his hand off his face and squinted at the light in the hallway. He couldn't believe what a jerk he'd been! Then again, Viola hadn't exactly done the right thing either by not trusting him. Vinnie felt as though he had the right to be a little mad at that, but he wasn't going to hold a grudge. Then he realized how close he'd gotten to seeing real live boobies and he couldn't help but blush at the idea of how awkward that would have been for both parties involve. Vinnie shivered slightly from the thought and began to make his way to the back exit of the school.

[Viola Hastings]

"Oh, umm yeah, all right then see ya," Viola said awkwardly, as Vinnie covered his eyes and tried to escape the locker room. He stumbled into things in his haste to leave and not embarrass himself. She held up a hand as if to stop him as he crashed into a trash can.

"Oh. ..uh look out for the. . .umm ooh. . . never mind," she said, letting her hand fall back to her side.

"Yeah, about Zanna, that's quite a story!"

"Yeah, give me a call sometime and tell me about it," she called as he left.

Once he was gone, she sighed with relief. That might have been the most simultaneously embarrassing, awkward and guilty conversation she'd ever experienced. She proceeded to strip down completely, and wrapped the towel around herself. Once inside the showers, she turned on the faucet, and let the warm water wash away the grime from soccer practice. She couldn't wait until after she got dressed and primped and got to go out for a night with the cute intern at the hospital: JD.