Old Friends (Kailen/You)

Pressure

"Welcome back Y/N. How have things been since our last session?"

"No change. My dad was always more understanding than my mom. My mom saw me in my room and the drink as teenage rebellion."

"And your dad saw it as a way of you trying to get their attention?" I nodded. "Would you say you and your dad have a stronger relationship?"

"I love both my parents. But yeah I'm a lot closer with my dad. He still parents us, but he understands that teenagers go through a lot. High school isn't easy, life isn't easy. He gets it."

"Did you mom put a lot of pressure on you?" I nodded. "You dad didn't?"

"He was more motivating than my mom. My mom was "make us proud! play good so you can go pro one day!" while my dad was "play the sport you love, have fun, I'm proud of you no matter what."

"Why was your mom like that?"

I smiled. "It always goes back to Kailen."

Your POV:

I could make my NWSL debut today. We were in Seattle getting ready to play the Reign.

"We'll be watching!" My mom said. "You show Sky Blue what they're missing." 

"Got it." I nodded. "I gotta go." I hung up.

"Aw, that's cute." Ashlyn laughed. "Your mommy called you."

"That is cute." Ali said. "My mom called too, got a problem?"

"No ma'am." She turned back around.

I laughed. "Whipped."

"Shut it."

"Growing up did you ever feel you had to compete with Kailen?" 

"All the time." I laughed. "I mean Kailen is like perfect! Perfect student, athlete, daughter, everything!" 

"You didn't think you were?"

"No. After we stopped hanging out, my mom said that if Kailen was still around I wouldn't have acted the way I did." 

"How'd that make you feel?" 

"Like my mom would rather have Kailen as her daughter than me."

Kailen's POV:

We turned on the Orlando game. 

"Is she starting?" Sam asked.

"Nope. Bench." Kelley sat down. "Look at us. All together to watch our former teammate." 

"She should still be our teammate." I said.

"It was a good thing she got dropped." Kelley said. "Orlando is a good team with good players. She's gonna learn a lot there. It's better for her."

"Besides. Getting dropped by your friends pro team makes you stronger." Nikki smiled. "Y/N's gonna be playing with a chip on her shoulder."

"Y/N." I saw her getting home. "How are you?"

"Fine." She said locking the car. "Can I help you with something?"

"Just wondering how the college search is going."

"Could be better." She looked down. "But USC called me last week, they're gonna send someone to the game this weekend." 

"Y/N! That's amazing!" I smiled. "USC is a great school."

"Yeah. Now I just need to have a good game."

"You always have a good game. Why do you think I have all these clean sheets? Cause you're scoring goals." 

"You have a point." She laughed.

"Besides. You gotta show all those other schools the kind of player they're gonna miss out on." I smiled. "Playing with a chip on your shoulder is always a good thing."