Forbidden

If anyone ever asked me, what was the most important thing I learned in life, I would know the answer from the top of my head.

And I would give credits to my volleyball coach, Coach Ron.

Breathing heavily, I came to remember what he had taught me.

Set yourself.

The serve is the most important toss. Set yourself to act as if you serve your enemies; act as if they own you.

Create a ritual.

A ritual is a simple motion or action that gets your footwork and armswing to be successful. Make a ritual to trust your allies, always passing to them.

Know your zones.

Hit it tough. Know the enemy's soft zone and it'll cause confusion for them.

Mix it up.

Create the confusion for your enemies.

Develop the attitude.

"Kill" every time you break out. Put all your strength in that spike and it hit it to the other side, making it slam down into the ground.

So that's what I did.

I spiked the ball hard enough to slam into the ground on the other side of the net.

Then that that was it.

That ended the entire game.

As the scoreboard buzzed its final call, the crowd for the Beverly Hills High School Girls' Varsity Team all stood up, clapping their hands.

As sweat fell from my forehead onto through my legs, I searched the crowd immediately looking for Mom. As I spotted her, she blew me kisses and all I could do was smile.

As I saw Coach Ron clapping his hands for me, the rest of the girls began to surround me, all giving me supporting hugs and cheers.

We just won nationals.

And it felt amazing.

Being in the middle of all the girls, I could hear myself breathing heavily. I caught a glimpse of the other girl bending their knees, looking more than angry with themselves, but I just closed my eyes, hugging my girls.

The game I had been dreading for over six months was finally here.

I dreaded this game until the very last second.

And the dreaded feeling was gone right after I scored that last point.

I couldn't feel any more amazing at this moment.



"Oh my god, you just made school history!" Britney, my best friend, exclaimed, while coming up to hug me in the locker room. I smirked at her as I was putting on my boots on my right foot.

Running my hand through my overly long, brown hair, I stood up to give her one more hug and I could practically feel her smiling.

I grabbed my plaid black and white backpack, lifting over my left shoulder and replying, "Hey, Brit. Don't make me feel any worse than this."

"Worse? How can you feel worse at this point?"

I glared at her before shutting my locker, also puckering my lips at her. She snapped back, realizing what the answer was and groaned, "Are you serious? Sacramento Charter High School hasn't been defeated ever since the year 2001. And you are the reason why that that has changed in history. You're seriously gonna feel bad for them."

"The answer is in the question," I replied, simply back to her.

Okay, as good as it felt defeating the most un-defeatable team of California, I still feel bad that I was the reason to cause this change in history.

If we had lost this game, they would've made another year of being undefeated.

But then again...

It still felt good.

I completely shut my locker, and nodding at Britney indicating that we could get out of this locker room. As we walked through the aisle of the locker room, most of the girls passing our way just congratulated me, giving hi-fives on the way.

"Aye," Britney sighed. "Honestly, you just beat a team that hasn't lost like ten years in a row. I would feel so proud right now if it was me."

"Oh, I didn't say I wasn't proud. I just feel bad that they weren't able to maintain that reputation. I mean, imagine if we were the team that has been undefeated for ten years in a row. The next year, that gets ruined. I think I would feel pretty bad too."

Reaching the exit door of the locker room, I faced Britney, who had her hands together formed into a fist and sang, "Not only is my best friend perfect, with a gorgeous face, I may add... She has the heart of angel."

I raised both of my eyebrows at her quickly, opening the door to find Mom and Jackson, standing by each other, waiting for me. They both waved frantically at me, while I was sprinting up to Mom, giving her the biggest hug ever.

"Mommy!" I yelled, "I did it!!"

I wrapped my arms around her back as she wrapped hers around my waist. I shot a glance at Jackson, who stood there waiting patiently, so I only winked at him with my left eye.

He raised his eyebrows up, continuing to stand there patiently.

I was actually surprised he was here.

He said he had a home soccer game tournament today... Wonder how he made it all the way to Sacramento in time.

I let go of Mom, still holding onto half of her arms, and she grabbed my face with both hands, "You always manage to make me so proud of you."

I grinned widely at her, shutting my eyes at the process for her to kiss my cheek.

"Daddy would've been proud," She said softly.

I smiled again, thinking about Dad. "Yeah, he would, wouldn't he?"

She let go of my face, glancing to her left at Jackson, while he only raised his eyebrows at her.

Mom and Jackson always got along well.

So they had their own "code of conduct" thing going on.

She completely let go of me and announced, "Alright. Britney and I will wait in the car. I'll come pick you up in the front. This school's parking lot is insanely large, I don't want my baby girl to walk too far."

I squinted my mouth at her as she tapped my shoulders, walking passed me. She grabbed Britney's wrists indicating to go and Britney whined, "Whaaat? Why me?"

Mom continued to drag her wrists, while I caught a glimpse of Britney, pouting her mouth at me. I chuckled and watched them leave the school building, walking towards the parking lot - Mom probably complaining to Britney on their walk to the car.

Before I knew it, Jackson grabbed me by the waist, pulling me into a hug and smiled, "Congratulations for winning nationals."

"Hmm," I replied, while giving him a peck on the lips.

His arms continued to wrap around my waist, so I held half of his arms with both of mine. We continued smiling to each other as he continued, "Hmm. I was actually happy that our tournament ended super early. We won the game in like a short amount of time, so I rushed to get here. But I didn't make it for the whole game, I could only come at the moment you guys tied at seventeen to seventeen. Had me in sweat there."

Oh, I remembered the moment that our scores had tied up at seventeen.

My heart was racing the moment that the scoreboard had transformed into those numbers.

"You weren't the only one in sweat," I joked.

He smirked at me, letting go of me but holding onto my hand. I continued, "You didn't have to come all the way down here. Mom and Britney was so more than enough."

"You don't want your boyfriend to be here for you?" He asked, pouting his mouth at me like a little child.

I slightly pushed his chest, as he fell slightly backwards and I laughed, "I'm glad you're here, but you had a tournament. I'm sure your tournament is much more important than our team coming to nationals."

He shrugged, "I'd rather be a supportive boyfriend. Besides, my game started at four and ended at six. Your game started at seven, but I got here to see my girl scoring the winning point."

He kissed me on the cheek again and I continued to grin widely at him.

He was seriously the most amazing guy any girl could ever ask for.

He then let go of my hand and made a scrunched up face. He joked, "Speaking of running back and forth, you did take a shower, right? I forgot to look if I was kissing a pile of sweat instead of my gorgeous girlfriend"

I let go of his hand, offended, but pushed him lightly on the chest. He grabbed my hand again, smiling at me, while I was trying to control my smiling.

Oh god, he was just amazing.



"Here's to... My girl, Janie. Currently sixteen, a sophomore in high school on the girls' varsity volleyball team, probably going to be captain of the girls' varsity volleyball team by next semester and just won nationals baby!"

Britney, Mom, Mom's friend - Kerry and I all clanked our glasses together and I took a little drink of the soda I had, while Britney chugged down half a glass of her soda.

After Kerry took a sip of her wine, she turned to Mom, "So... You. Since today is your little girl's big day, when is it gonna be your big day?"

I slightly smiled, thinking about what she said.

Mom has been dating a guy named Michael for a while now, and she's been pretty happy.

I'd say about...

Almost a year up to this point.

But he's so busy with his work, I've only met him two times.

But Mom always manages to find the time to see him.

"What big day?" Mom asked.

Britney and I met eyes, smirking at each other then I tapped Mom on the shoulders. "Come on, Mom. You're kind of old now, don't deny it like teenagers deny it."

Puckering her mouth at me, she sighed, "I'm not denying it."

"So why didn't he come?" Britney asked.

"Who?" Mom replied back.

"Michael!" Kerry, Britney and I said in unison.

She chuckled, playing with the rim of the wine glass, acting all shy.

I made a frowning face at her, then making fun of her because she was acting like a teenager.

"That face means it's getting serious, right?" Kerry turned to ask me.

I raised my eyebrows at her, nodding my head and turning to eat the appetizer that had just arrived at the table.

"I'm not gonna brag," I started. "But I did like him the first time I met him. And I've only met him, what? Three times in the many months you guys have been dating. So I can't imagine how much you would like him."

I stretched my body over to Kerry, passing my Britney's body and whispered, "He's rich, too. Makes it all better."

Laughing at my joke, she gave me a hi-five and Mom sat there, continuing to sip her wine.

"Okay, enough of all this joking," I started. "Where is he anyway? He should've came to my volleyball tournament and see me win this game."

I smiled widely, as Mom pushed my forehead with her index finger. I pouted my mouth at her, continuing to eat.

Raising her voice a little, she replied, "He has a job. A good one, I may add, and he is a very busy man."

She continued to smile, so I glanced at Kerry and Britney, making fun of Mom with my eyes.

"So," Kerry began, "Where's your guy? I thought he came to the game too."

"He did," I replied. "But, he had to go back home to cause his parents gave him a curfew."

"He drove all the way from Beverly Hills to Sacramento, stayed in Sacramento for a whole hour, just to see your score the winning game, and then leave without having dinner with us?" Britney asked, sarcastically.

I nodded my head, answering her question with my facial expression and she groaned, "Perfect girl gets with perfect guy. Could your life be any more perfect?"

I chuckled, "Hey. We've been together since sixth grade. Don't make fun of me, make fun of Mom over there. She's new in this love relationship."

Mom smirked, "You make me sound so young. I love it."

"Don't take it the wrong way, Mother." I joked.

I honestly did like Michael the day that I first met him.

Mom and him kind of hit it off the first day that they met. It was pretty much a coincidence about how they met.

Mom had been in her main office at the hotel, and like her normal days, she came down to eat lunch. But on one particular day, there had been a guy, sitting in the seat that she sits in every single day, and that particular man happened to be Michael.

Ever since that day, Mom hadn't stopped talking about him.

They started dating probably six months after, because I remember I was only in eight grade, going onto ninth grade when Mom was telling me about him.

Mom had never dated a guy after Dad passed away, because she's been pretty scarred by his death. Michael was the first guy that had got Mom smiling sincerely and happily ever since Dad's death, and that made me happy to see.

The first day I met him, I knew this was the guy who would be able to take Dad's place.

He was sincere.

He was handsome.

He was a good person.

He matched Mom perfectly.

The food finally arrived at the table, and I clapped my hands in a cheery mood.

As I reached out for my front pocket to grab my iPhone, there was nothing in my pocket.

Hmm.

I searched for my phone in the rest of my three pockets but it wasn't there.

"Did I bring my phone?" I asked Mom and Britney.

All of them shrugged as I continued searching for my phone, looking through my bag and scanning at the table once more.

"I must've forgot it in the car," I stated, squinting my mouth.

"My same old clumsy girl," Mom joked.

I smirked, then told them, "I'll be back. I need to take a picture of this. Don't eat yet!"

I got out of the booth, grabbing Mom's car keys, then running out of the restaurant towards her small, black, Honda Accord.

Opening the door of the backseat, my eyes automatically went towards my phone that was sitting right there on the seat.

I looked back at the restaurant, seeing the three of them still sitting, and waiting for me to start eating. I quickly sat in the backseat of the car, shutting the door and unlocking my phone, pushing in the numbers 0195 - which is my birthdate and putting it into camera mode.

The camera was still set to front camera so I turned on the light of the backseat side and clearly saw my face on the camera.

Pressing record, I began my video entry.



Hola!

So this is my second video entry on Saturday night, January Seventh, Two Thousand Eleven. I left off this morning saying that I had the biggest game of all time, which is nationals.

And guess how we did?

We won!

Our team won nationals this year, and it was the most amazing feeling ever.

Well, I do feel kind of bad that we had to ruin their years of being un-defeatable for like ten years in a row, but... I shouldn't feel bad. I am celebrating!

I was dreading the game so much this morning. I could barely eat and I couldn't focus my mind on anything else but this game. We were tied up until the last minute of the game, but then I used Coach Ron's method to help me.

His five secret ways to get you to play volleyball well, and it actually worked for me.

Amazing, right?



I looked back at the restaurant's window seeing that they still haven't touched their food yet, so I quickly turned around concluding my entry.



I have to make this extremely short because Britney, Mom and Kerry are waiting for me to eat their food. I need to take my usual pictures of eating out.

We're eating out at Applebee's today because Mom promised me a big dinner if I won nationals.

Good, heh?

I will record again when I get home, but for right now, I am really hungry.

See you again!

Bye!



I waved at my front camera, pressing the record button once more to stop the recording, then turned off my phone.

Think I'm a loser?

I would think so.

I've been recording video entries of myself ever since I have received my first laptop at the age of ten and I've advanced at recording myself since then.

No one knows that I do these because I'm afraid that they'll probably think I'm a loser.

I would probably get, "You have the most perfect life, why do you have to have secret journal entires? Journals are meant for people who barely talk."

All that blah.

Mom always loves to remind me how lucky I am to have been born the time she was already successful. She always told me stories about her and Dad having to run away from home because their parents wouldn't accept their relationship.

And they suffered a hardship.

So yeah, I haven't told anyone that I do these video entries.

It's a nice way to relive my memories when I'm older; see how my face has changed, what I did on that particular day, what embarrassing moments there were in my life, how my personality has changed, how I've grown up step by step...

And just everything.

I wanna keep all the memories that I have.

People would find me more of a loser if they knew I recorded three a day. The first entry I record once I wake up. The second entry is during the middle of the day. And the third entry is before I sleep.

I don't care how I look when I record myself, because no one is going to see them but me in anyway.

I quickly slid the phone into my front pocket, getting out of the car, and shutting the door. I pressed the lock button from the car keys, then sprinted back into the restaurant, towards the table we were sitting at.

"That took long enough," Britney stated, as I was sliding in the booth next to her again.

"Sorry," I replied, seeing that the food was probably a tad bit cold at this moment, but they still waited. Continuing, I lied, "My phone slid towards the front of the seat, in the bottom, so it took me a while to reach my arms in there."

I noticed Mom and Kerry laughing and whispering with each other, so I nudged Britney, asking, "What's up with the oldies?"

"You might be getting a step-brother" Britney whispered back in my ear.

I shot my head straight at her and smirked, "Say what now?"

She continued whispering, coming close to me, "This Michael dude of your mothers, has a son. If they continue getting more serious, you might be getting yourself a stepbrother."

She pulled away from me, while I shot a glance at Mom, smiling at me.

After taking pictures, we began to eat, and I smiled to myself.

A stepbrother.

A new family.

Mom's relationship with Michael was getting me more excited by the day.