𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃, Eli Moskowitz

S01:E06

"Why would you call him that?" Maya interrupted, Johnny was a bit taken aback. Maya seemed very timid to him.

"What?" Maya sighed.

"Eli, why would you call him that?" Johnny stared at her, confused. "Lip?" Maya said in air quotes.

"Because he has a freaky lip." Maya clenched her jaw.

"What can't you just call him his name? You didn't even bother to learn it." Johnny signed a paper before looking up at Maya.

"Is he your boyfriend or something?" He asked.

"What?! No! I-"

"I thought you'd have better taste than that kid but to each their own I guess." Maya felt her face scrunch in anger.

"Eli's my friend, he gets bullied at school for his lip and you calling him that doesn't make it any better." Maya stomped off angrily, Johnny knew she was lying to him. They were surely dating.

~

Maya still had to go to Miguel's karate practice a couple of days later, although there were a lot fewer people than before. Usually, she'd say hi to Johnny and talk to him a bit before the others got there, but Maya was very good at holding grudges.

"Lip. Look. Even Lip's tougher than those guys. He's no quitter." Maya sighed, she'd forgotten her headphones which meant she'd have to listen to Johnny's bullshit all day.

"Could you please not call me that?" Maya slowly looked up as she realized that it was Eli who spoke up.

"Excuse me, what?"

"Could you please not call me that." He repeated.

"Um, I'll warm 'em up, Sensei," Miguel said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"No, Lip has something he wants to say. Sorry, speak up, Lip. Or is your tongue messed up too?" Eli stayed silent. "Are you one of those challenged kids?" Johnny asked.

"Um, the doctor said I could be on the spectrum," Eli answered.

"I don't know what that is, but get off it pronto. All right? If you don't want me to call you Lip, don't have a weird lip. Can't you get surgery?" Maya felt her jaw clench, she wanted to speak up so badly.

"I was born with a cleft lip. This is the scar from the surgery." Eli spoke quietly, you could practically hear everyone's breathing more than Eli's voice.

"You mean it was worse before that? Or did the doctor just screw up? Because if this is the after photo, that sucks, man. You should sue." Maya felt her jaw drop.

"Can we just please change the topic?" Eli asked, Maya could practically feel her heart break.

"You don't think I want to? It's right in front of me. You wanna be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, you gotta flip the script. Okay? Get a face tattoo or gouge your eye out. We'll call you Patch, all right? No, don't do that one. You'll still look like a freak." Maya watched as Eli ran into the back, probably putting his shoes on and leaving. "Oh, great, really? Another quitter?" Johnny asked.

"Fucking dick," Maya muttered, but apparently she'd said it too loud because Johnny heard her as well.

"Oh, little Diaz has something to say too?" Maya stayed silent, and Miguel gave her a look to do so. "What was it you said, little Diaz." Maya rolled her eyes, standing up.

"I said your a fucking insecure dick with no life." Maya heard people whisper around her. "And it's not 'little Diaz' it's Maya, just because Miguel's older doesn't mean I'm his shadow or something." Miguel gave her another look, pleading with her to stop talking. Maya grabbed her things and walked out of the door.

~

Unfortunately, Maya still had to go to Miguel's karate practice the next day. Miguel even made her apologize to him, but both Maya and Johnny knew that she didn't mean it. However, Johnny was glad that Maya had stood up to him. It showed him how different Maya and Miguel really were. He made sure to tell Miguel that she'd be a great karate student, but he hated that idea in its entirety.

"Three more absences, Sensei," Miguel announced.

"Bunch of pussies." Aisha shouted.

"No, it's my fault. Since you joined Cobra Kai, I have been hard on you. I've called you names. I've humiliated you. Some of you I've hit. And for that, I don't apologize. Cobra Kai is about strength. If you're not strong on the inside,
you can't be strong on the outside. And right now, you're all weak. And I know that because I was you. I used to have no friends. Used to be the weirdo kid. Not that weird. I hooked up with babes and all, but..." Maya chuckled a bit. "The point is, I wasn't always the badass sensei I am today. Just like a cobra, I had to shed my loser skin to find my true power. And you guys will too." Suddenly the bell above the door jingled. "Welcome to Cobra Kai." Johnny greeted, still looking at his students.

"Eli, what happened?" Maya looked up, her jaw-dropping. Eli had a blue mohawk now and it looked amazing.

"I'm flipping the script." Eli shrugged.

"Wait. Are you the kid with the lip? Nice cut, bro." Johnny smirked before turning to his students. "You see that? Doesn't matter if you're a loser or a nerd or a freak. All that matters is that you become badass." Johnny turned back to Eli. "Hawk. Fall in." Eli smirked, taking the spot next to Miguel. Maya quickly closed her mouth as Eli looked at her, still smirking. It was as if he had changed overnight and of course, Maya loved Eli but this 'Hawk' was filled with confidence. Maya felt her face get extremely hot, she turned to her phone trying her best to distract herself.
________________________________
A/n: this is the last chapter of Eli and imma cry. Ofc I love Hawk but Eli was so adorable😭
Word Count:1,574