IRIS

chapter seven

"Hey, where's Eli? Did he quit?" Miguel approached Iris who sat stretching her legs on the dojo floor.

"I don't think he quit, I'm not sure why he's not here." Miguel sighed lowering himself down to the girls level.

"That's three."

"At least it's not four." Iris tried to lighten the mood which Miguel had greatly appreciated.

"Fall in." The two stood up from their seated positions, lining up in the front as Sensei Lawrence walked out of the office. He looked around at his students in silence.

"Three more absences, Sensei." Miguel didn't look his Sensei in the eye, feeling like he was disappointing the older man.

"Bunch of pussies." Iris raised her brow, looking over at Aisha who stood tall as Sensei Lawrence walked past her.

"No, it's my fault." Iris looked over to Miguel who gave her a confused expression in response to her own confused expression. Was Sensei Lawrence about to apologize? "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." Iris held back her smile as she was brought back down to earth. Sensei Lawrence doesn'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. I used to be the weirdo kid. Not that weird. I hooked up with babes and all but..." Iris closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips as Sensei Lawrence tried his hardest to be nice to the students in the dojo.

"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." Sensei Lawrence stopped, looking around at the students in his dojo, finally coming to terms with what he has.

Iris' eyes stayed focused on the front wall as the door chimed, signaling someone had entered the dojo.

"Welcome to Cobra Kai." Sensei Lawrence greeted the person who entered as the rest of the class turned to look.

"Eli, what happened?" Iris broke her gaze from the wall and looked over towards the door. She moved slightly to be able to see the boy. He wore a completely different outfit than he normally would and his hair was styled into a mohawk. Oh and it was dyed blue. To say he looked hot would be an understatement.

"I'm flipping the script." Even Eli's voice was different, he sounded confident and again hot.

"Wait. Are you the kid with the lip?" Sensei Lawrence walked towards Eli, his voice showing how impressed he was. "Nice cut, bro. 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. Hawk. Fall in."

Iris couldn't take her eyes off of Eli. He stood there more confident than he's ever been. She felt her breath catch in her throat and her face flush when the new Eli caught her gaze. He sent her a smirk and winked her way making her stomach flip. She quickly looked away, a smile on her face as she tried to catch her breath.

"Ms. Montague, are you alright?" Iris' gaze snapped up to look at her Sensei, he stood with his eyebrows raised and a small knowing smirk on his lips.

"Yes, Sensei." Sensei Lawrence nodded, walking down to the end of the row.

"Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei." Eli, or rather Hawk, replied to Sensei Lawrence's question, folding his arms behind his back.

"Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei." Aisha shook her head, keeping her eyes straight ahead.