MY BEST FRIEND ELI ⁂ E.M.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

At the dojo after school, Flossie felt drained. It turns out that going the day without her best friend, Eli, was a lot more depressing than she would have thought.

And now, she had to suffer through another day of practice without him too.

"Three more absences, Sensei," Miguel informed, standing next to Flossie, both clad in their respective gis.

Aisha scoffed from the other side of Miguel, "bunch of pussies," she chorused and Flossie gave a grimace at her statement. Demetri, her other best friend, was one of those said "pussies".

"No, it's my fault," Sensei Lawrence admitted, and the girl looked to him shocked. This was certainly a change from the past couple of days. "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..." he begun, "I don't apologize."

Flossie gave an unreadable look, one of confusion and anger and exasperation. But when her Sensei continued it made more sense. "Cobra Kai is about strength," he stated surely. "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."

The girl looked at herself in the mirror, surveying her stature. Though she knew how to fight (somewhat) now, she still stood a little intimidated— she had bright eyes that peaked out of long eyelashes, and a short build that let everyone tower her, and her face... she didn't hold a mean glare or cold facade, she looked kind and gentle and, simply put, good. How could Sensei Lawrence, this badass rough guy, how could he have ever been like her?

"I used to have no friends," he informed. "Used to be the weirdo kid. Not that weird; I still hooked up with babes and all, but... The point is, I wasn't always the badass sensei I am today."

Flossie smiled at this, at his honesty, it made her feel a little better about all the times she cried over Yasmine's cruelty.

"Just like a cobra, I had to shed my loser skin to find my true power," Sensei Lawrence finished. "And you guys will too."

Flossie was still staring at herself in the big mirrors as the little bell chimed. For someone who was always so afraid to see their reflection, always considered themself to be something around average, she started to feel proud about what she was doing — confident.

And she wasn't the only one.

"Welcome to Cobra Kai," Sensei said as someone entered through the door.

The girl tore her gaze from the mirror and her jaw almost dropped in shock at the sight in front of her — it was Eli, but it wasn't Eli.

"Eli, what happened?" Miguel asked from beside Flossie, just as shocked as she was.

"I thought you were sick," Flossie muttered under her breath, partly upset that she had been worrying about him all day only for him to show up with a blue Mohawk.

Eli smirked though, trying to read his best friend's expression. "I'm flipping the script," he announced proudly, standing up taller than he usually did.

"Wait, are you the kid with the lip?" Sensei asked confused as the realization set upon him. "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."

"So do we all have to go get Mohawks now?" Flossie whispered to Miguel who just quietly chuckled at her and shook his head, humored.

"Hawk," Sensei called him over by a new nickname, one that Eli smiled happily at. "Fall in."

It turns out that the guilt Flossie had for punching Demetri would become that times fifteen, as she was forced to punch every one of her friends in the dojo after some of them made the mistake of flinching.

"Line 'em up, fist," Sensei Lawrence told her, "un-flinch this group."

She almost cringed every time her balled up hand made contact with their faces, and watching Eli -or Hawk- rub his jaw uncomfortably after class made her heart sink.

Flossie ran her hand over the bruising area, scared to hurt him more. "I'm sorry, Eli," she said kindly, while they were waiting for his mom to come pick them up.

He cringed, "you can call me Hawk now," he insisted after Sensei gave him that new nickname.

The girl just rolled her eyes at this, "I don't make you call me fist, do I?" She grumbled, pulling her hand down. But still, he smiled at her.

"Guess not," he agreed, "but I like Hawk— it's badass."

Flossie surveyed him for a moment, taking in his confidence that wasn't there just two days ago. She knew what this was, she had researched things like this before.

After Eli's mom told her that he might be on the autism spectrum last year, Flossie researched about it for hours. She spent nights upon nights gathering information about traits of teenagers with autism spectrum disorder and even went to seminars -that were intended for parents- but still wanted to make sure she was educated about it.

She could remember making Demetri come with her, expressing how it was important to be knowledgeable about things like this, especially because he was their best friend. But alas, Demetri insisted that it was just his mom self-diagnosing and she didn't have to worry because if she did do something that made Eli uncomfortable, he was sure he would tell her.

Nonetheless, she saw this trait before, in one of those seminars. Obsessions, rituals and specific interests.

Flossie saw how intensely interested Eli got into school, he was in the math club and physics club and computer science club. He could talk about his specific interests for hours, even when he never really spoke otherwise, and he would change those obsessions every few months.

Now, Flossie could see karate becoming his new one. The way he dived head first into this confidence thing, like it could just happen in one day, was proof of it. So, like she learned from all those informative sessions, she complied with his wish. She called him Hawk.

"Okay, Hawk," she smiled. "I'm still sorry for punching you. Demetri didn't talk to me for the whole weekend after I punched him."

The boy just rolled his eyes at her statement, "yeah, I definitely get why Sensei calls you fist now. —But Demetri was weak— I'm fine."

Flossie cringed a bit at this but shook it off, after all he was fine.

"Your mom's here," the girl announced, taking a few steps forward before Mrs. M started honking and waving excitedly at the sight of the two kids.

Hawk shrunk into himself, trying to hide, but had no where to. He groaned, "she's so embarrassing," he told his best friend worriedly.

But Flossie only smiled shyly, "all families are embarrassing," she said honestly, trying to make him feel better. "And if they're not embarrassing... well, then they're dead."

The boy laughed at this, hopping into the car with her. He knew she would always know the right thing to say.