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an eater - matt martians
skater!chris x sketcher!bella
chris sturniolo was the type of guy everyone noticed without him even trying.
messy curls peeking out from under his beanie, oversized hoodie, beat up vans, and his skateboard basically glued to his hand. he was always at the skate park after school, music blasting in one ear, laughing with his brothers or just zoning out while practicing tricks like nothing else existed.
bella freeland was different.
not in a loud way. more like the kind of pretty you notice slowly. she kept to herself mostly, always with her headphones on, sitting on the edge of the park doing homework or sketching in this worn out notebook she carried everywhere.
chris noticed her before they ever talked.
she’d been showing up for like a week straight, same spot, same quiet energy. he tried not to stare but,yeah, he definitely did.
“bro, you’re literally missing tricks ‘cause of her,” matt said one day, snickering.
“shut up,” chris muttered, pushing off on his board again,but he still glanced over.
bella looked up for a second.
she quickly looked back down at her
notebook, but there was the tiniest smile on her lips.
yeah. chris was done for.
it happened on a random tuesday.
bella was walking past the ramps when chris tried to land a trick, failed, and the board shot straight toward her.
she jumped back, the board stopping right at her shoes.
they both froze for a second.
then she laughed. like, actually laughed.
“nice aim,” she said, pushing the board back toward him with her foot.
chris scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. “yeah, totally planned that.”
she raised an eyebrow. “obviously.”
“you come here a lot,” he said, instantly cringing at himself. smooth, chris. really smooth.
bella shrugged, hugging her notebook closer. “it’s quiet. kinda.”
he smiled a little. “you think this is quiet?”
“compared to my house? yeah.”
something about the way she said it made him not ask more.
instead, he nodded. “fair.”
another pause. but it wasn’t awkward. just a pause
he repeated it like he was testing it. “bella.”
she smiled again, a little bigger this time.
after that, it just kinda happened.
she started sitting closer to where he skated.
he’d take breaks and sit next to her, both of them sharing earbuds, passing his phone back and forth to show songs
sometimes she’d sketch while he talked about random stuff: his brothers, dumb stories, things that didn’t really matter but somehow felt important when he told her.
“you never showed me your drawings,” he said one day, leaning over to peek.
she pulled the notebook away fast. “nope.”
“because they’re not finished.”
“lemme see the unfinished ones.”
she rolled her eyes but laughed, eventually handing it over.
he flipped through the pages, quiet for once.
there were sketches of the park. people.
him miss trick,him sitting down, head tilted back laughing. him messing with his hair.
he looked up at her, surprised.
bella’s cheeks went a little pink. “you move a lot. it’s annoying.”
he grinned. “so you’ve been staring at me.”
but his voice was softer now.
he handed the notebook back carefully, like it mattered.
“they’re really good,” he said. “like… actually.”
she looked at him for a second, like she was trying to figure out if he meant it.
one evening, the sun was setting, painting everything orange and gold.
chris was laying back on the ramp, bella sitting next to him, their shoulders touching.
“you ever think about leaving?” she asked quietly.
he shrugged, staring at the sky. “sometimes. but like… i got my brothers. this place. it’s kinda all i know.”
she hesitated. “yeah. a lot.”
he turned his head to look at her.
“then don’t go alone,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“if you leave,” he said, sitting up a little, “take me with you.”
she let out a small laugh. “you don’t even know where i’d go.”
this time, neither of them looked away.
“you’re weird,” she said softly.
he smiled. “yeah. but you like it.”