The Note on the Polaroid Picture - Chris Sturniolo x OC

Prologue

Eliana's POV

I stared out the window of my dad's car, the seatbelt tight to my chest. The unfamiliar surroundings flit by, our new home leaving me speechless. It was pretty, but it also didn't quite feel like home. I thought of my mom, still in Texas. I wondered if she was lonely, if she was thinking about how quiet the house was without me and Skye.

An empty silence loomed in the air, my dad's eyes looking straight ahead at the road. I felt the car slow to a stop and pulled myself back into reality. "Could you go get your sister, Ellie?" my dad said from the seat beside me. I nodded, opening the door and hopping out of the car. The building was unfamiliar, since I had never been to one of my sister's hockey practices before. I pulled the door open and there were at least a dozen people moving around.

I felt my eyes widen as a shot of anxiety pulsed through me. “How am I gonna find her?” I thought. Taking a deep breath, I slowed down and took in my surroundings. I saw a boy about my age coming off the ice and walked up to him. "Hey," he said. He must’ve seen how panicked I looked. “Oh, god,” I thought, sure I was about to embarrass myself. The boy asked if I was okay but I couldn’t speak. All I could do was stand and look at him. He had sparkly blue eyes and the strongest jawline I had ever seen. His brown hair fell gracefully on his forehead, slightly parted in the middle.

"I’m Chris. You come to join the team?" He smiled, and I felt myself melt. He was so gentle and welcoming, I almost wished I had (even though I hate sports). Trying to push away my thoughts, I cleared my throat and remembered my mission. "Oh, no, I'm just looking for my sister, Skye." “Oh, alright, well she’s probably-” he moved to point as another boy came over, interrupting Chris and said, "Yo,” before realizing we were in the middle of a conversation. The second boy had the same sparkly eyes and brown hair as the other, but he also had some dark stubble growing on his chin. “Oh, hey, I’m Matt,” he tried to play it off.

"I'm Eliana, I'm just here to pick up my sister," I said as matter-of-factly as I could muster. The second boy, Matt, tilted his head to one side and his eyebrows stitched together as the first boy, Chris, asked, “Ellie-Anna?” “Yeah, that's like two names in one!” Matt chirped. I rolled my eyes, sick of hearing everyone say the same thing when they heard my name for the first time. “Yeah I get that all the time,” I rolled my eyes again, just for good measure.

“Oh, sorry, we know how annoying that is…” the second boy’s voice trailed off as I took a closer look and realized what they must hear every time they meet someone new. “Let me guess, people are always asking you, "Are you guys twins?"” Matt chuckled knowingly as Chris’ eyes lit up. “Yeah, that too, but we also get... "Are you guys triplets?"” “But at least that one's not as annoying cuz we actually are… It’s more annoying when people say “Where’s the third one?” as if we always have to be right next to each other,” Matt added and his eyes flit back to the locker room.

“I guess that’s true, but speaking of: where is Nick?” Chris asked and I was officially cut from the conversation. I hated that too. “He's still changing,” Matt told his brother. “Alright,” I cut in, “well, I should probably go find my sister. It was nice meeting you guys!” I plastered a friendly smile on my face and waved as I walked away and into the girls locker room. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the smile fell away and I felt my emotions come in full force. “Woah,” I muttered to myself as Skye came up to me.

“You alright?” Skye asked and I brushed her away as we walked out of the locker room together, right past the triplets, who were all smiling and laughing. I couldn’t avert my eyes once I saw them, locking eyes with the prettiest one. He smiled at me and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I smiled back.