The Real Deal (James Neal)

Chapter 1

We are playing at a some school in Florida that I do not remember the name of. This place was huge and everyone's family was here. It was kind of a big deal. There were many people in suits. We were told they were scouts, coach told me there was one scout that was specifically there for me. Some Olympic thing.

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Things were going crazy at the moment. Everyone in this gym was going insane. We were up by one point and we only needed one more to win and we would be National Champs! (A/N: I'm sure it's kind of obvious that Briana's team is going to win haha)

The Bobcats were serving. I watched the ball, I usually called whether the ball was short or if it made it over the net, where it's going to be.

"Short!" I called out. Everything from that point went into slow motion. The crowd was completely quiet you could actually hear a pin drop. Everyone watched in anticipation.

The ball hit the net and bounced back onto their side of the net.

And that was it we were National Champs!

Everyone in the gym exploded. The whole team just dropped everything, knocking over all the water bottles, but no one cared. We all jumped and hugged each other, screaming we were National Champs. I could see the girl who served the ball very disappointed in herself.

The ref called both teams to the net to shake hands. Which we did. Just before the medals and trophy was brought out, I walked over to the Bobcats' side of the court to say a few words to the team and the coach.

"Hey guys. I was just wondering if I could say a few words to you guys?" I looked and the coach and he nodded.

"Don't take this first part I say to heart. You may not have won the Championships, but I just wanted to tell you that you should never be disappointed in yourselves. I know you've probably heard it a million times, but making it to National Champs is something you really should be proud of. You still made everyone at your school proud, if they aren't because you didn't win it all, who cares about them. You all know in your hearts you worked so hard to get here. This was a hard fought game and I'm glad we played a team like yours because it had made us work even harder. I wish you all the best of luck in the future and hopefully you can be the Champs next year." I smiled and they all clapped.

"Thank you Briana. Those were some kind words and we really do appreciate you coming up to us. You're one of the nicest girls we've ever encountered. Congratulations on winning." The coach said and all the girls agreed too. I thanked them and walked back to my team.

A couple minutes later, the trophy was brought out and we were officially named 2014 National Women's Volleyball Champions. It was the best feeling in the world. When the trophy was handed over to us we quickly took a group picture and called down our families to the court.

Everyone took a bunch of pictures with their families before it was getting late. I was talking the my parents and siblings when I noticed someone with Amanda and her family and it looked strangely familiar.

I asked to be excused, to go talk to Amanda. As I walked closer to her, I recognized the face more. James Neal. Winger for the Pittsburgh Penguins. That's when everything came to mind. Amanda lied to my face all those years. James Neal was her brother and she never told me.

"Hey Amanda!"

She turned around, really surprised. "Hey Briana!"

I said hi to her family. "Who's that?" I asked pointing at James Neal

"That's ..uhm, my brother, James."

"Oh really? I didn't know you had another brother."

"Okay, Briana I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you James Neal was my brother. I thought telling you would ruin our friendship because I know how much you love him. You talk about him every time we watch hockey. It scared the shit out of me to think you could probably use me to get to my brother..."