Placed high up in the sky, the moon shone down at Cristina as she sat with her legs dangling in the skating bowl in the skatepark. Stars littered the sky and she tried her best to replicate their detail as she sketched in the diary she'd received as a birthday gift from her sister when she turned seven—originally meant for her to write her innermost thoughts now serving a different purpose altogether.

Cristina was never good at writing or talking about what she thought or felt. Perhaps it came from the emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, or maybe it was a talent she was simply just born without. Cristina didn't care about that though. She was blessed with a skill she found much more valuable.

Painting was Cristina's passion and had been for as long as she could remember. Sure, she was fairly talented with a pen and a paper too, but there was nothing that came even close to the feeling she got when mixing the colors together on a canvas and creating something truly beautiful and unique. In a way, she spoke through her painting.

She put her heart and soul into creating them and didn't stop until they were perfect. Not a single detail was ever out of place, not a single shadow or flicker of light anywhere else than precisely where it was supposed to be. And should it occur that a pedal on a flower was out of place, the whole painting would be thrown out, no matter the amount of time she'd spent on it.

Theodore was worried, and rightfully so. The expectations she had for herself were out of reach, and that broke her slowly from within. Each painting that wasn't up to her standards chipped away at her self-esteem until there was nothing left. And it didn't matter if anyone told her how incredible the paintings were. If Cristina had decided something wasn't perfect, it never would be.

This is why Declan often accompanied her to the skatepark when she required a peaceful evening where she could find the inspiration needed to sketch out her next work. This night, in particular, the stars had captured her interest, and there was nothing - not even the regular groans from Declan when he fell on his ass in the skating bowl, his skateboard clattering away - that could pull her attention away.

At least until another skater arrived, his board gripped tightly between his fingers.

Cristina observed him curiously, her interest peaked. The drawing was unfinished and forgotten in her lap. Something was intriguing about him, about how he didn't seem to care there were people - well, Declan - already in the skating bowl when he approached.

It was strange, especially since Declan usually chose to skate alone, far away from others. Cristina knew it was because he was insecure about his skill, not that he needed to be and not that he would ever admit it. So it wasn't a surprise when he climbed out of the bowl, board in hand and ready to move.

"I'm, uh, going to skate on the ramps instead. My hands are pretty sore." Declan said, his breaths uneven from the strain of skating without stopping for a couple of hours.

Cristina grinned. "I bet they are. Tell me, is it normal to fall over every minute, or is that a you thing?"

A hand was placed firmly on her head and she grimaced when Declan ruffled the strands together with his sweaty and red palm. "Hilarious," he remarked, dropping his board to the ground and placing his foot on top of it. "Holler if anyone tries to kidnap you or anything."

With a wink, Cristina clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "Will do."

She pulled her legs into a criss-cross position instead, not wanting to risk them being run over by the new skater. With Declan, she never had to worry about that. He usually never made it high enough to reach them. Cristina knew he was very talented with the ramps and the railings and even jumping down a set of stairs. It was just the bowl he had yet to figure out.

Cristina found herself staring at the skater in the bowl subconsciously, her fingers twitching in her lap to draw. There was something about the way he carried himself as he balanced on the board that drew her in, wanting to capture the scene forever on the canvas that stood in her bedroom. But it seemed creepy, at least to her, to draw a stranger without their knowledge. She didn't want to be labeled a perv.

And so she waited until an opportunity to ask for his permission presented itself. Luckily for her, it did just a few moments later when he skated up the wall a few feet away. His board caught on the edge and he stumbled onto the concrete, catching himself before he got a taste of it.

Cristina held her laugh in, not wanting to be rude. Accidents happen. She should know. Declan never made it ten minutes before bruising his ass on the ground. But he caught the amusement flickering through her eyes and approached.

"You didn't happen to miss that, did you?" he asked, a pleasant smile on his lips. His board was left forgotten on the bottom of the bowl, and Cristina silently wondered if she would get to see him slide down like a child to retrieve it later.

"I didn't see anything." Cristina lied through a grin, attempting to spare his ego.

He scratched at the back of his neck when her laughter bubbled over and she began snickering silently. "That bad, huh?" despite it being utterly humiliating, he didn't seem to be bothered about it. Cristina admired that. Declan wouldn't have been able to look her in the eye for an hour.

"No, no. Not at all," she assured him, tucking her hair behind her ears when it blew into her face. Some of it stuck to the lipgloss on her lips and she cringed internally. "Besides, I've seen worse."

His eyes traveled to the diary in her lap, catching sight of the unfinished drawing on the opened pages. "You drew that?" when she nodded, his eyebrows raised. "You're not half bad." he joked, kicking a stray stone littering the ground,

Cristina snorted as she rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks." she scrunched her nose up and smiled. An idea popped into her head, and she prepared herself for the humiliating rejection, as Demetri put it. "This is going to sound really weird and you're totally free to say no, but could I maybe draw you? When you're skating, I mean." nervously, she twirled her thumbs around each other.

The boy grinned and approached the edge of the bowl, most likely to retrieve his board. "Sure, but only if you can promise it'll look good."

Hesitant, Cristina nodded. "Well, I can certainly try my best... but no promises."

"I'm Robby." the boy introduced himself, smiling in a way that made Cristina's stomach flutter nervously.

She nodded, and the corners of her lips twitched upward softly. "Cristina."

"Pleasure to meet you, Cristina."

And when he winked and somehow made it to the bottom of the bowl without looking like a fool, Cristina's cheeks flushed pink.

ʚїɞ

Miguel chased Cristina down in the corridor. He wore an excited grin as he caught up and began walking beside her, holding onto the straps of his backpack. Cristina smiled when she saw him. She liked Miguel. He was nice, too nice, sometimes, and she found herself growing fond of him quicker than she'd expected.

"Hi, Miguel." she greeted him. "Is there a reason you sought me out?"

He nodded, his excitement never faltering. "Remember how I told you about karate?"

Amused, Cristina smiled. "Yes, Miguel, I remember how you talked my ear off during the weekend about how cool your "sensei" is and how he's the real deal," she told him, smile widening when his cheeks tinted pink at her teasing.

"Well, I was thinking and - no offense - but from what I can tell, you don't get out much. None of you do, in fact," he remarked, referring to their other friends. "So I wanted to ask if maybe you would wanna join the dojo!"

That made Cristina stop in her tracks, her eyebrows raised in skepticism. "Me? Doing karate? I don't think so." she said, hating how disappointed he looked at her words. But Cristina wasn't sure it would be such a good fit.

Miguel had told her how ill-mouthed his Sensei was and how little he cared about hurting Miguel's feelings. Cristina wasn't sure she could handle being constantly criticized for every little thing. She'd experienced enough of that when she lived with her mother.

"Come on, Cristy, it could be fun! You never know until you try." his attempt at convincing her was weak and lacked foundation behind it.

Cristina couldn't blame him for trying. He didn't know the story behind why she couldn't seem to trust any adult presence in her life or why she second-guessed herself at every step. And Cristina wasn't sure she was ready to tell him either.

"I don't think so, Miguel. I'm not too good with criticism." was all she said, hoping it would be enough to satisfy him.

Thankfully, Miguel seemed to catch onto the look in her eyes that told him to push for a reason, and he dropped it, moving on to talk about what she'd done that weekend instead. Cristina appreciated the change of topic and happily engaged in the conversation. And soon enough, they were laughing, not caring how those around them sent them weird looks as they passed by.

ʚїɞ

"Cyberbullying is no laughing matter. Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face." Counselor Blatt stood in the middle of the school cafeteria with a microphone in her hand, attempting - and failing - to make the student body realize how horrible bullying could really be.

Cristina found her attempt laughable. Especially since she couldn't even confiscate the students' phones before beginning. No one was listening and practically everyone had their noses buried in their screens. Cristina held in her criticism and instead sipped on her chocolate milk in annoyance.

"I'm not gonna name names, but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity." careless and not seeming to realize how brainless her words were, counselor Blatt continued.

And Cristina had to ball her fists up and breathe through her nose to not accidentally do something stupid. Declan had a similar reaction. He sat simmering in his chair, his fingers twitching at his sides. All it took was one look at the heartbroken expression on Eli's face and Cristina was on the verge of getting into a fight with anyone who dared to say anything negative about him.

She reached over and intertwined their fingers under the table, hoping that she could provide him some sort of comfort that could make the situation seem not so horrible. He appreciated her kindness and offered her a smile that she returned in a heartbeat, but he remained solemn in his seat anyway.

Declan scoffed angrily, tunning the rest of counselor Blatt's speech out along with the rest of the group. "Not naming names my ass," he grumbled, sneering in the direction of someone who was supposed to help, but instead made the situation that much worse. "How is this any better than standing there with a blinking sign with your name on it?" he remarked incredulously and then patted his friend's shoulder sympathetically.

"You know, if you're sick of getting bullied, my karate dojo's looking for requits." Miguel offered, hoping it might solve the problem for his new friend. And Cristina noticed how he seemed to consider it.

But Demetri spoke before Eli could. "Yeah, right," he said and nodded toward Eli. "You heard that, Eli? A little karate training and you're going to kick some major ass!" he made some chopping movements with his hands and then rolled his eyes at the mere suggestion.

Cristina attempted to be supportive of the thought. "I mean, could it really hurt to try? It's not like it could get any worse."

After thinking for a moment, Declan agreed. "She's not wrong. I'll even go with you if you want." Eli nodded at the idea. It would surely make him more comfortable to have a friend with him.

Miguel was overjoyed at their words, appreciating how Cristina wasn't shutting down his idea immediately even if she wasn't interested in joining herself. "Yeah, and I'm sure I could get you all discounts! My Sensei's the real deal."

Demetri wasn't convinced though, and it was clear that Eli didn't dare to do it without him. "As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face."

"I'd rather get hit in the face." Declan shamelessly admitted, earning himself a glare from Demetri that he was quick to wave off.

All of a sudden, Eli squeezed Cristina's hand, having heard those around him whispering again. And Cristina, who'd quite literally forgotten she grabbed his hand in the first place, turned bright red in an instant. And Declan was quick to point it out with a snort.

"What's got you so red, Cris?" he taunted and smirked when her eyes narrowed.

Quicker than he could comprehend, Cristina reached over and pulled at the back of his chair in retaliation, smiling happily when he tipped over in his seat and fell to the floor with a loud clatter and a yelp of surprise.

ʚїɞ

Demetri was firing on all cylinders as he, Cristina, and Eli stood awkwardly to the side of the school gym, watching everyone else have a good time. Cristina had tried multiple times to get them to move their asses onto the dance floor and attempt to do something other than drink the spiked punch, but it was to no avail as Demetri shut her down every time. Something about being surrounded by their peers put him in a mood, and he was now taking it out on his friends in the form of sarcastic quips and passive-aggressive comments.

When Cristina and Declan had arrived at the dance, the former dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo with her hair curled to make it look shorter and the latter as Fin from Adventure Time, they had made the mistake of thinking Demetri was dressed as a wizard and not a necromancer. He corrected them and then spent the next five minutes explaining the difference between the two, leading Declan to part with them earlier than planned in fear of losing his remaining brain cells. At his departure, Demetri deadpanned that his presence would indeed not be missed and Cristina rightfully slapped him across the back of his head - which he of course then whined about.

To say Cristina was at her wit's end, was a grave understatement.

She watched her classmates enjoy themselves around her and felt envy bubbling up inside of her. Why was it so easy for them to let loose and have fun and so incredibly hard for her? Even Declan had managed to socialize and was now talking with a pretty girl dressed as a fairy on the other side of the room. And judging by the smile on her face, it was going well.

Miguel made an entrance and Cristina smiled at the sight of him. Even though he'd said he was going as Deadpool he wore a skeleton jumpsuit and his face was painted white and black accordingly. Deadpool would've been cool too but Cristina had to admit his current costume wasn't bad either. She guessed it was a courtesy of his Sensei.

He approached them, walking through the smoke from one of the hidden smoke machines, and then suppressed a cough. Cristina smiled in amusement at that.

"Oh, skeleton. Classic. Nice." Demetri said as he stopped by their side.

Cristina nodded as she sipped on her punch. "I really like it!" she agreed enthusiastically, slightly buzzed from the amount of punch she'd consumed by now.

"Thanks. I like your sorcerer costume." before he could compliment Cristina and Eli as well, Demetri scoffed. Cristina ran a hand over her face and sighed, muttering "not again" under her breath.

"Sorcerer?" Demetri asked, almost as though the word insulted him. "Please - I'm a necromancer. Didn't you see the amulet?" he queried when Miguel raised his eyebrow in confusion.

With a roll of his eyes, Miguel faced Cristina instead, leaving Demetri to pout to himself. "Velma from Scooby Doo?" he asked, somewhat uncertain. Cristina smiled widely at him and nodded. "Cool, suits you. What about you, Eli? Are you a regular doctor or..?"

"Plastic surgeon." Eli corrected him and then quietly added, "I fix lips."

Miguel nodded. "Nice."

A slow song began playing from the speakers, and Cristina, lacking any care in her slightly drunken state, grabbed Eli's hand in hers and began pulling him away.

"Come dance with me!"

Miguel and Demetri grinned at the nervous look on Eli's face as he allowed her to pull him deeper into the crowd.

ʚїɞ

With her arms wrapped around Eli's neck and her forehead leaned against his shoulder, Cristina was utterly content as they swung back and forth to the music. She couldn't care less about the fact that she was blushing like mad, resembling a tomato more than anything else, or that she had probably stepped on his feet about ten times by now. She just enjoyed the moment while it lasted.

And Eli couldn't help but smile, happy that Cristina didn't care about the fact that people could be whispering about them and his scar. But then again, Cristina had never cared. Not when it came to his scar at least. She always made sure to stand up for him and make sure that nobody got away with being mean to him. Eli was happy to have her as his friend.

Cristina was ready to kill Demetri and Miguel when they interrupted the moment she had been so caught up in that she hadn't even noticed that the songs had switched a while ago. She glared at them - mostly Demetri - and sighed when they left with Eli in tow to go to the bathroom.

Left alone, Cristina now stood awkwardly in a corner once more, but this time without anyone to accompany her. She tapped her foot in rhythm to the music as she watched everyone else dance and laugh and mingle. Her eyes landed on Aisha Robinson who looked just as, if not more, lonely as Cristina. She decided that striking up a conversation with Aisha was her best bet of having fun, and migrated over to the snack table.

"Hey." overly cheerful in her greeting, Cristina was instantly scared she might've come across a little too strong. She grabbed a Cheeto and popped it in her mouth to, hopefully, appear more casual than she was.

Aisha smiled, seemingly glad she was no longer all by herself. "Hi." racking her brain for something to say to keep the conversation going, Aisha settled on the topic of costumes. "I really like your costume. Velma from Scooby Doo, right?"

Overjoyed that someone other than her close friends complimented her costume, Cristina beamed happily. "Yeah! Thank you so much!" even though Cristina wasn't all that good at chemistry, she could easily figure out what Aisha was dressed as. "Sodium?" she guessed, and Aisha nodded.

"Yeah, but it would make much more sense if my friend was here also. She was supposed to be chloride but decided to do something else instead."

All too aware of the fact that Sam and Aisha used to be friends before the former became popular, Cristina didn't dwell on it for long, not wanting to dampen the mood. Instead, she thought back to one of their many chemistry lessons to figure out what sodium and chloride became combined.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would be table salt, right? Sodium and chloride together?" Cristina was fairly sure she was right, but there was still a chance she could be wrong. When Aishan nodded, Cristina smiled. "Subtle. I like it."

A comfortable silence ensued, yet, Cristina had the urge to break it. She didn't enjoy standing in silence and doing nothing, so instead she figured out something to say. The first thing that came to mind was drinks.

"I was going to get some more punch, would you like some?" Cristina asked, her voice louder than before since the music had seemed to increase in volume.

Aisha nodded with a smile. "That'd be great, thank you."

With a grin on her face, Cristina crossed the room, happy to have managed to socialize with someone other than her close-knit friends.

When she reached the punch bowl, she filled two cups about halfway, not wanting to spill anything should she bump into someone on the way back. But before she could even begin to walk over to Aisha again, everyone's phones dinged with notifications and then everyone began laughing and pointing at the girl.

Cristina watched as Aisha looked around, her face showcasing the obvious hurt she was feeling. She cast one last glance Sam's way, clearly betrayed, and then ran from the room while everyone shouted names after her.

»»-———𝓑𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽———-««

A/N

People are so cruel in Cobra Kai, poor Aisha :(

We get a little more insight into some of Cristina's issues like her need for everything about herself to always be perfect. Painting may be a hobby, but it's not always a healthy one, at least for her. Also please tell me it's actually called a skating bowl. I googled around but am still pretty uncertain.

-Jazz <3