6. We Meet Again

Kalin was more than happy to see us at the training camp supporting him. Since it was a world cup for seventeen year old boys, in a country so far away from Mexico like Australia, some of the families had not been able to attend. The ones that had been able to afford travelling the distance to see their sons dispute a world cup would only be able to stay a couple of days, then they would need to return to work or other obligations back in their home country.

But not us. We had the entire summer (which happened to be the Australian winter) to enjoy watching Kalin play football, which was what he most liked to do. 

The training camp was a place called Goschs Paddock, and it was smaller than the venues I was used to seeing Kalin play back in Mexico, but it was nice and comfortable nonetheless. The four of us: Luke and I, with our two other children, held a large banner we had gotten made at a print shop before leaving Mexico. Along with that, we were clad in out green, white, and red gear with his name and jersey number on it. Marializ seemed the most enthusiastic, having done her hair and make up almost meticulously as though she were going to some very important event. She had always been the first to support Kalin whenever he wanted to do something.

The session was about four hours and halfway through, the boys were allowed a water break which they used to go greet their families. Kalin walked over with a grin wide across his lips, and with him was one of his team mates named Ander Villalpando. 

Ander and Kalin had been friends ever since they met at primary school. Ander had been playing for the children's under-seven squad of Club Atlas Guadalajara, and he had helped Kalin get a spot on the team. From that moment on, the two became best friends and were inseparable. Over the years, both supported each other and moved up the ranks of football until they reached the moment they were at currently. Now both were stars of the under-seventeen squad of Club Atlas and it was that skill and talent that had gotten them the spot to represent Mexico at the under seventeen world cup.

"Hola, Sr. y Sra. Brooks." Ander greeted with a polite smile and a small wave of his hand. He knew that we understood and spoke some spanish, and his english wasn't the best. He spoke it, but he preferred not to because of his accent. Next he waved at Marializ and Bastian who were sitting on the bleachers beside us. "Hey Liz, hey Basti."

We all waved politely at him. 

Ander had no one that had been able to go support him at the tournament. His parents were a low income family from the outskirts of Guadalajara and had been barely able to afford his football career when he was younger. Now that he was older, the academy paid his career and he even got a bit extra for expenses. He had also been provided with an apartment, which he shared with three other under seventeen members of the team. 

"I'm so glad you guys came to support us." Kalin grinned, reaching over the small barrier that separated the bleachers from the field and he ruffled Marializ' hair. She complained at first, but ended up laughing about it.

"I'm really glad Marializ came." Ander smiled at Kalin's sister.

He had been having a crush on her for a while and all of us seemed to notice, all except Marializ. Kalin wasn't too pleased about the idea of his best friend having  crush on his sister.

His lips came together to form a tight line. "Stay away from my sister, Ander." He said, in a half-joking, half-serious tone, which caused Ander to let out a chuckle. 

He knew all about how protective brothers were with their sisters. He was the same with his two sisters, one of which had a big crush on Kalin. But he trusted his best friend enough to date his sister, if Kalin would ever want to go out with Aranza. I knew all of this from observation; that Ander was crazy about Marializ. As far as Aranza having a crush on Kalin, she had told him about it, and Kalin had in turn told me about it. I was his mother after all.

"I have to support my brother." Marializ said shyly, her eyes trained on her older brother who she admired.

The boys were soon called back to training and left us at the bleachers once more. We sat through the entire practice, cheering them on without faltering. We were all proud of what Kalin was accomplishing at such a young age. He had easily gone from the son of two siblings who had fallen in love, to a world class football player.

-

After practice, the boys had a few more minutes with their families, a couple more with the press who were buzzing to get all the information on them, and then they boarded the team bus back to the hotel where they would surely shower and rest for a few hours. Then they would probably participate in a few activities which would be filmed for the national team page. Since they were only sixteen and seventeen year olds, the FIFA had declared that they were to have at least an hour a day to spend with their families. 

Though it was recommended for them not to leave hotel grounds, it wasn't forbidden. That afternoon, Kalin called for us to pick him up from his hotel. Then we would go out exploring the town. Luke and I wanted to visit all the little places we used to go to when we were teens, including the old parking lot where the Janoskians used to film their videos.

This time, I told the family I would be picking Kalin up on my own. I didn't want another encounter with Daniel happening in front of the family.

I parked the car in the lot and made my way past the lobby to one of the elevators. I already knew where Kalin was staying and didn't need directions to get there. I hit the button on one of the elevators and waited for the doors to open. At this time in the afternoon, I was surprised the lift was empty. I took it up to one of the top floors and made my way down the hall to the door numbered 115 where Kalin and Ander were bunking together. It was the plan that Ander would be coming with us as well, since he had no family with him and he was almost like a member of ours.

The boys opened after a few knocks and the two were dressed in matching black and green training uniforms with the Mexican Football Federation logo on one side and the Adidas logo on the other. 

Eyeing them and their choice of clothes, I asked, "Aren't you making yourselves seem way too obvious?"

"We're in Australia, mum." Kalin reminded.

If they had gone out like that back home, they wouldn't have been able to take two steps out of the hotel without being mobbed by the press and fans. But this was Australia, so far away from the country they considered home. The press in Australia was definitely concerned with what all the teams were up to, but their priority was the Australian national football team.

"Come on," I gestured for them to follow me. "Your dad and siblings are waiting back at the hotel."

Kalin and Ander left the room, closing the door behind them and bolting the lock from the outside. Both were carrying backpacks on their shoulders, given to them by the football federation, with the national team logo on the back. They looked ready to explore the town, even if it was just for one hour. As we made our way back to the elevators, Kalin wondered, "Why didn't they come along? We could have driven into town from here."

"I just wanted to avoid some things." I replied, hitting the button to call for an elevator.

We waited a few minutes and the doors opened when one was ready for us. It was like fate was slapping me in the face over and over because in that elevator was Daniel.

-

finally i am able to produce another update for this story. and you can tell i'm rather inspired because i even changed the cover and it makes me very happy. im going to start working on the next update already because my head is rushing with so many ideas for this story. but i probably won't post the actual update until next week. just so the chapters won't be so rushed.

absolutely forbidden had roughly 43 chapters, so im hoping for that amount of chapters in this story. i want to thank all those people who still read, vote on, and support this story. my main focus have been my footie fanfics of the late and i will try so that i keep an equal focus in all my stories. 

i hope you're all having a wonderful easter!

-clary xx