Kick 'em where it hurts #1

Chapter 25 ~ Reverse Psychology

"And if you know, How do you get up from an all time low, I'm in pieces, It seems like peace is, The only thing I'll never know."

~ All time low, The Wanted ~

The game had started going down hill when Isaac had almost punched Ben in the face after he'd given the ball away. Everyone had either given up or was in the process of giving up. Scott bent over his knee's as he was trying to cover for everybody's lack of enthusiasm by attempting to be ten players at the same time.

Of course they lost- three to nil. The team dragged their feet back to the bench, only half bothering to shake hands with the opposite team.

Coach looked them up and down but bit his tongue. They all knew what it was; they didn't have Skylar there to give orders, or crack jokes, or motivate them. The team just wasn't a team without her. Coach opened and closed his mouth several times before finding the words to say. "Listen guys, I know we're all missing Skylar, but she won't be happy to find out that her team completely handed over the league when she get's back."

"Get's back?" questioned Alex, sitting down next to Tyler. "She's not gone on holiday Coach; her Mum just died. She's gone."

Scott stood up besides Coach Parish and shook his head. "No, she's stronger than we give her credit for, hasn't she proved us that much?"

Glancing at the pair, Chris said, "be realistic Scott; her Mum just killed herself- she's not coming back from that."

Furrowing his brows, Scott swallowed the bad taste in his mouth and said nothing more. The Coach dismissed the team and inside the changing rooms, they got undressed and dressed in silence, the odd word was exchanged about the game but no more was said about Skylar.

Scott drove home and had just enough time to shower before dinner was ready. "Guys! Food's on the table!" Marcus yelled up to his children. Same as always, Peyton flitted down the steps as if she weighed nothing and Scott followed behind her with clomping feet and droplets of water flinging out from his hair in every direction.

Nobody said much about anything until Scott was down to his final mouthful. "So was Skylar in today?" Grace casually asked nobody in particular.

Swallowing his mouthful, the food seemed to take weeks to go down. Some of it lodged in the back of his throat and Scott spluttered into his drink. "No, she wasn't," Peyton answered evenly although anybody could see that she was just as worried about her friends well being as the rest of them. "I just don't understand why she won't let us help her," Peyton finally exploded. Of course she was worried about Skylar but it annoyed her to no end that she could do nothing to bring her out of the stupor that she was in.

"You can't get worked up at her Peyton," replied her mother; ever the voice of reason. "You need to understand how Skylar's feeling; not only has she lost her mother but she lost everything that has become routine to her. She has been like a mother to those twins for their whole life and now she doesn't have that responsibility anymore- she probably feels useless."

Peyton nodded at her food, feeling awful for ever thinking badly of Skylar. "I should go and visit; nobodies seen her in a week."

For the first time that dinner, Marcus spoke up. "I think you should let Scott go," he decided.

Both twins looked up confused, Scott with a mouthful of food and Peyton narrowed her eyes. "Why him?" she snapped in annoyance; Skylar was her friend not Scott's.

Marcus only shrugged, "it might be good to give Sky some reverse psychology."

Peyton only furrowed her eyebrows more. She looked from her Mother to her Father and said, "so you basically want him to go and bully her into coming back? I can't believe you!"