Eli here is the homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right, Eli?
Eli had only ever put himself on the line for a girl one time, and that had been enough. It was the summer between Sixth and Seventh Grade, and his parents had sent him back to Jewish camp, like they sometimes did. While Eli enjoyed most of the technical activities well enough, he didn't like that Demetri wasn't there with him to keep him company, which meant even though he was surrounded by other children, Eli was largely alone.
Then, for a couple of nights, he'd returned to his bunk to find letters left on his bed, notes signed by a girl at the camp named Rachel. The first letter told him she'd been watching him in the mess hall and thought he was cute. The next day, Eli had tried to manifest the courage to approach her at the lunch table she sat at with the other girls, but he was too shy. He just watched her from his table, picking at his sloppy-joe, hoping maybe she'd get up and approach him first. But she didn't.
The second letter was even more glowing than the first. Rachel said she considered Eli to be smart and funny, and that he seemed like a really cool guy. Eli had been called many things in his short lifetime, but never "cool." Still, he couldn't gather the bravery necessary to go talk to Rachel the next day at Hebrew practice. His mind filled with the thousand ways that could go wrong. After all, what if he made a fool of himself?
So, the next night, she left him the third letter, saying she finally wanted to speak with him in person, and asked him to meet her outside the boys' cabin after curfew. She signed it with a promise that she had a special surprise for him if he showed up. Had he possessed more life experience than he possibly could at twelve years old, he might've noticed the warning signs and stayed in his bunk.
Because the whole thing had been a prank. That night, outside the cabin, after he'd at last mustered the nerve to meet up with Rachel, four boys ganged up on him. They mocked him for thinking any girl would find him cute. He wasn't cool; he was a nerd, a loser, and a freak. They beat him with socks filled with tennis balls for good measure and dumped leftover sloppy-joe beef on his head to drive the point home.
Eli couldn't take it. Staying at camp while suffering from sleep enuresis was bad enough, but this had been too much to handle. He called his parents and wouldn't stop crying until they agreed to come pick him up. He never went back to that camp again, and from that day forward refused to believe girls would ever find him to be boyfriend material.
At least until that night, at the party the Cobras threw at the canyon.
She had shown up with Yasmine and Kyler's gang when Aisha had preemptively crashed the Queen Bee's birthday party. Somehow, their eyes met from across the light of the campfire. Moon smiled. Hawk smiled back. And that's how it started. As soon as Moon stepped on the sand, Hawk remembered the first rule of Cobra Kai, and decided to strike first. "Hey," he said simply, smooth as silk. It came out as cool to his ears as when he'd played out the scenario in his head before. It was coming more naturally to him now.
"Hey," Moon returned, her smile brightening more as she pushed her hair over her shoulder, just to give her hand something to do. Eli had never really seen her up close before; they only had a couple classes together, most of the time he'd only ever seen her from several desks over or at the other end of the lunch hall. Hawk had never properly noticed how pretty she was, with her warm brown eyes.
"Allow me to be a gentleman and get you a beer?" he offered and when she nodded he grabbed a bottle from the cooler and a red cup, pouring her a glass. He couldn't help but throw in a little brag as he did it. "I'm the one who got the supply. Help yourself. There's plenty to go around for the whole night."
"Thanks," she said, gladly taking the cup offered. "It's…Eli, right?"
Moon knew his name? For how long? He couldn't allow himself to be freaked out over this revelation. He had to keep his cool. "People call me Hawk," he told her, a tiny smirk curling up on the edge of his lip.
"Like the bird?" asked Moon, taking a sip of her beer while her eyes traveled slowly up to gaze at his blue mohawk. "Or the hair?"
Hawk could see the admiration she had for his cut so clearly, and that only fueled his confidence more. Any lingering fear that she might only be setting him up to make fun of his lip vanished. He had to fight against the very efficient defenses he'd spent years building for fear of ridicule in order to let Moon through that door to his heart. But he had to do it. How else was he ever going to get a girlfriend if he didn't take a chance? He wasn't a flincher anymore, Sensei had seen to that. So he took a step towards her, closing the space between them. "Both," he answered. Her smile widened, and seeing how attractive the slight dimples in her cheeks made her look when she grinned, Hawk could say he was well and truly smitten.
The two sat and talked for a while, getting used to each other's company. Moon told him she loved his haircut, it was so bold and expressive, and Hawk got the suspicion that she secretly loved bad boys, despite her being something of a hippy. That suited him just fine. He was undoubtedly the baddest one in the group. He needed to make sure she saw him as his new self, not whatever image she might've carried over of him as the dorky nerd sinking into an oversized sweater a couple lunch tables over.
"I got a pretty awesome tat," he bragged to her. "Maybe one day I can show it to you."
Moon couldn't help but giggle, telling him, "I'd like that. Tattoos are such a great way for one to express themselves, what better, more meaningful art could there be than the ones we're willing to carry around on our bodies? My mom says she's willing to take me and get one. I just haven't found a design that calls to me. I was thinking either a peace-sign or a sunflower, but I don't know yet."
A girl who was cool with the idea of getting tattoos, and put real thought into their meaning. Was she the girl of his dreams, or what? "If you ever think of one, I know the man to hook you up," offered Hawk. "He did mine, name's Rico. Guy's a magician." He said it as though he had real expertise, and not just because Rico was the first he'd asked and the one who'd fallen for his fake ID. But the hawk on his back had taken real artistic skill. Hawk had been lucky to land on Rico and had no qualms sending more business his way.
They continued to chat, sipping beer away from the other partying teenagers. Demetri was somewhere, awkwardly watching them, unwilling to make a move on another girl himself. Miguel, who had been a real drag the entire party as he periodically checked his phone for any indication that his girlfriend was planning to show up, kept chugging beers like it was a sport.
Then Hawk's gaze fell on Aisha, standing a couple feet away from the cooler, her eyes drifting between her own phone and Moon, and his smile faltered some. Undoubtedly, she noticed the way he and Moon were starting to hit it off, and Hawk couldn't help but think how must have felt to Aisha. One of her friends was already dating someone who had hurt her, as rocky as that relationship between Miguel and Sam had recently become. What would it feel like if yet another friend did the same thing?
Guilt stirred inside him, clenching his gut. He was beginning to really like Moon, but Aisha was Cobra Kai. He couldn't just do that to her without at least trying to make things right. So, downing the beer in his cup for liquid courage before turning to face Moon, he confessed, "You know we crashed Yasmine's party on purpose tonight right?"
Caught by surprise by the question, Moon took another sip of her own drink, her eyes scanning the crowd to find her friend. Yasmine stood far away from the group, arms crossed, a look of pure spite chiseled on her face as she stared angrily at the water. Hawk followed her gaze, and his brow furrowed. He still thought Yasmine deserved to have Rico tattoo "bitch" across her forehead for refusing to leave Aisha alone, or just for being such a miserable person in general. "It did seem like a big coincidence that you guys would've thrown your party here first," Moon said, embarrassed on Yasmine's behalf. After all, tonight was supposed to be for her birthday.
"It was Aisha's idea," Hawk explained further, tilting his head in the girl's direction. Moon's cheeks flushed red, and Hawk doubted it was due to the alcohol she'd been drinking. "She wanted to get back at Yasmine for posting that Instagram pic. You know the one." Moon sank into her shoulders a little, further ashamed to be reminded of her own complacency in that. At least she looked remoresful, Hawk thought. Yasmine certainly would never show regret for her actions. "I don't get it," he said, nursing his empty cup between his hands. "You seem like you're too nice to hang around someone like Yasmine. Why would you let her do something like that?"
"I don't know," confessed Moon, self-consciously tucking her hair behind her shoulder again, casting her eyes down. But she didn't fight him over anything he was saying. Maybe that meant she already had a bad conscience for what had happened at the Halloween dance and her role in it. "I know Yasmine can sometimes be mean, but she's not so terrible when you've been around her enough." She barely sounded like she believed the words coming out of her mouth.
Seeing that opening, Hawk nudged some more. "You guys really hurt her, you know. The whole school picked on her for weeks after that, they called her all sorts of ugly names. Yasmine still makes fun of her weight, she just did it today on Instagram again. And you're okay with that?" He expected that would be it, that Moon would stand up and go, and that would be the end of everything else between them.
To his surprise, however, Moon looked at him like a confessioner, guiltily pressing her lips together tightly before admitting, "You're right." It sounded like someone unloading the burden of a lot of weight from her shoulders from the way she said it. "You're right. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."
He hadn't expected her to just come out and say that. There was probably nothing else she could've said just then to make him even more smitten with her. But Hawk knew it couldn't be done just with that. That apology wasn't his to accept. "Thanks, but it's not me you should be saying sorry to," he told her, but softening it with the return of his smile as he jutted his chin back out at Aisha.
Moon looked over at the other girl for a few silent minutes before standing up and walking over to where Aisha stood. Hawk gave them a little bit of privacy, walking over to refill his cup with fresh beer, taking a few gulps before following shortly afterwards. He could hear that Moon had already started her apology as he hovered by their side and listened.
"…and I know I can't take back what happened," Moon told Aisha, placing a hand on her arm. Girls were always so touchy-feely, thought Hawk. "But I want to tell you I'm so sorry about what I did. I should've stopped Yasmine from making that horrible post, and I didn't. I'm sorry for hurting you like that."
For a moment, Hawk thought Aisha might remain unmoved by Moon's words. Forgiveness was a personal thing, after all. But there, highlighted by the nearby fire, Aisha's face softened, and she allowed herself the simplicity of a smile to cross her lips. "Thanks, Moon," she said, gently touching the other girl's hand in return. Eli knew than that Aisha at last would be able to get some closure for what had been done to her. He almost envied her that, but then Hawk dismissed his own envious feelings by internally dismissing them. Working out shit like this, through talking it out, was a chick thing; guys had to make their own closure, with their fists.
Things later may have gotten tumultuous at the party once Miguel's girlfriend showed up, but all-in-all Hawk went to bed that night before the All-Valley Tournament on cloud nine. Not only had he got to watch Aisha give Yasmine the most epic melvin in documented history, but he now also had his first girlfriend. A girl was actually interested in him.
All thanks to flipping the script. Joining Cobra Kai had been the best decision he'd ever made in his life. He couldn't remember the last time he went to sleep so happy.
Prepare to face the fury of the Hawk.
He didn't tell his parents about the All-Valley Tournament because he didn't want them to attend. They would just embarrass him if he won, and if he lost he didn't want to deal with their pity. Besides, one look at some of those Karate Moms made him cringe, and if his own mom ever turned into one, Hawk believed he might legit have buried himself into a hole and never come out.
Besides, he didn't need them for moral support. Despite his misgivings about the influence of karate on Eli, Demetri had showed up for him and Miguel. And now Hawk had Moon cheering for him in the stands, and that motivated him more than almost everything. He wanted to show off for her especially, let her know he was a winner.
The Cobras were a force to be reckoned with. Despite being a new group, they tore through their adversaries like seasoned veterans, a testament to the training their Sensei had bestowed on them. Before the end of the day, they would make sure that everyone would remember the name Cobra Kai, the most badass name for a dojo there ever was or ever would be. And they would show to this crowd that although all of them had come to karate as underdogs, none of them should ever be underestimated.
They all had their own unique fighting styles. Miguel was first and foremost a pragmatist, avoiding flashier moves for the sake of simple attacks designed to take opponents down in the most ruthless and efficient way possible. Aisha was a wall, absorbing the hits from her rivals in an effort to exhaust them, and then once they showed a moment of weakness, she would strike the finishing blow. Bert, well Bert tried.
And then there was Hawk. Sensei Lawrence had taught them that the best defense was more offense, and, even more so than Miguel, Hawk embraced that lesson. He preferred to absolutely whale into his enemies, to decimate them with a barrage of constant punches and kicks that they had no time to counter attack. He had come to understand that the only way to ensure nobody ever laid a hand on him again was to destroy them before they had the chance to. He had the power to brutally stop anyone before they could hurt him, and he was fully prepared to prove that to anyone willing to question it.
He plowed through his opponents, just like Miguel, making his way to the semi-finals. All of the fighting invigorated him, filled with with even more energy and rejuvenation than when he was practicing at the Cobra Kai dojo. Here, finally, he was proving to the public that he was no longer wimpy little Eli Moskowitz. He was Hawk, and he was badass. He wanted everyone to know that.
Miguel faced off against the previous year's champion from Topanga, and kicked his ass, just as everyone in Cobra Kai knew he would. That just left Hawk to deal with Robby Keene before he and Miguel could duke it out in the finals and prove who between them was the best fighter of their dojo. Hawk couldn't wait for that match, he practically itched for it. He and his friend had sparred plenty of times by this point, and Hawk had come a long way. He'd come so far, he thought he legit had a shot by now at being the best. All he had to do first was beat Robby.
Sensei had a serious look on his face, one Hawk hadn't seen when he'd faced up against any of his other opponents. That was weird. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about Robby, other than that he seemed to be pretty talented for a guy who was fighting unaffiliated. Did his teacher think he might actually have trouble against him? He should know him better than that. After all, Sensei had taught him everything he knew. "Something wrong, Sensei?" asked Hawk.
Pulled from his deep thoughts, Sensei Lawrence blinked himself back to the present. "No," he answered, although the serious expression didn't falter. "Show him what you got." Hawk certainly didn't need to be told twice. An avian fierceness radiated from him, and he gave Miguel a quick fist bump before leaping on the mat to face his enemy.
As soon as the referee told them to fight, Robby opened with a series of kicks, what seemed to be his preferred starting attack, which forced his adversary towards the edge of the bounds of the mat. Hawk blocked his kicks, refusing to allow him to make the contact point. And once Robby thought he had him caught at the mat's bounds, he let his guard down for a second. Hawk saw his opportunity and struck. Wrapping his arms around Robby's ribs, he lifted and threw him to the floor, where Robby landed defenseless on his back, giving the Cobra Kai student his chance to land a punch to his exposed chest. "One point, Hawk," announced the ref. The other Cobras cheered.
Backing away, Hawk gave his opponent time to stand up and make his way back to his spot for the next round. Suddenly, a voice broke out from among the crowd. "Remember what you learned, Robby!" Hawk followed Robby's glance over to the source of the encouragement. It had come from Sam's father, Mr. LaRusso. What was that about, Hawk could only wonder? Whatever was between them, it had some sort of effect on Robby. The other boy closed his eyes and took a calming breath, loosening up with a kata.
Hawk scoffed and resumed his fighting position. Robby's eyes remained closed, even when the ref gave the signal to fight again. Well, if his opponent wanted to give himself such a disadvantage, that was his mistake. Hawk went in for a striking kick, fully prepared to land a second point, when Robby's eyes shot open; he blocked the kick, and, planting his hand on Hawk's back, shoved him forward.
Recovering, Hawk circled back on the offensive. He tried to kick again, only to have that blocked, too. Robby threw a punch, which Hawk managed to evade, but it was a fake-out. Robby turned right back around and nailed him with a roundhouse kick to the face. "One point, Keene."
Picking himself off the ground, Hawk raised a hand to his lip, checking to make sure there was no blood. Satisfied, he sauntered back to his area, but made sure to show his rival that he was in no way intimidated by that hit. Like a cobra that had spread its hood to give warning, he postured, "That was a lucky point. It's gonna be your last."
"Why?" asked Robby, returning his attitude with a smug smile, confidence practically dripping from the word. "You leaving early to fix that stupid haircut?"
stupid haircut
At hearing that, Eli's heart pounded in his tightening chest, pumping blood so loudly in his ears it blocked out the noise of the crowd, whom Eli was sure had heard Robby, whom were surely laughing at him now. Of course they had to be laughing at him, everyone always did. Their laughter sounded like Kyler's, it sounded like Brucks's, it sounded like the voices of so many people whose jeering chuckles Eli was so familiar with.
Something inside Hawk snapped. He furrowed his brow to the bridge of his nose, and his face hardened like granite, casting a furious scowl. Who did this Robby Keene think Hawk was? Just some doormat he could walk over? How dare this asshole make fun of his haircut? How dare he mock the very thing Eli had gotten to stop being bullied in the first place? Why couldn't people just stop making fun of him?
At that moment, standing on the karate mat, fighting in the semi-finals, the rival turning away from him wasn't even Robby. He was everyone who had ever decided Eli was someone worth ridiculing, he was all the people who'd ever called him demeaning names, who'd put their hands on him, who made it their goal to terrorize him. And Hawk was sick of it. He wasn't going to take it anymore.
Nobody was ever going to hurt him again.
The fury boiled inside him, slithering through his veins, coiling up his spine, until it finally spilled over. He was prepared to free those hot flames and burn everyone around him, not caring if it seared him in return. The inferno inside of him was more than he could manage to contain anymore. Rage had been building up like a powerful water tide in him for months, and now Hawk broke the dam and released the current, letting his anger flood out without a single regard to the consequences. Strike First. Strike Hard. No Mercy.
He pushed past the ref, and, raising his leg back into a powerful coil, as his Sensei had taught him to do, struck Robby brutally in the back of his shoulder-blade. Instantly, his enemy was on the ground, curled in a ball of pain, and the referee had his arms around Hawk, pushing him away from the injured participant before he could inflict anymore damage; which, so blinded by rage was he, Hawk might just have done.
Shoving a finger in Hawk's face, the ref told him, "That's enough! Illegal contact. You're disqualified."
Disqualified?! "Bullshit!" he spat back, twisting out of the referee's hold, and the only thing that kept the venom from spitting more vulgar words from his mouth was his Sensei smacking his shoulder.
"What the hell are you thinking, man?" Sensei Lawrence exclaimed. Hawk expected that his Sensei would at least stand behind him. Sensei had been the one to teach him how to defend himself against people who would hurt him, he'd been the one to transform him from Lip into Hawk. But there was no pride to be found in Johnny Lawrence's eyes. Just shock and disappointment.
Confused by his Sensei's lack of encouragement, and still wound up, Hawk clenched his jaw protectively and countered in return, "What was I supposed to do? Be a pussy?" The question seemed to pierce some sort of armor that Sensei Lawrence was wearing, as he just silently watched while Hawk walked over to the others, leaving it at that for now.
The lack of comfort from his Sensei, Hawk instead found in his teammates. The other guys were full of nothing but reassurance. Sensei, after all, had told Hawk to show that Robby Keene what he had, and that was exactly what Hawk had done. "It's okay, Hawk," Miguel consoled him, clasping an arm warmly around his shoulder. "I'll finish him off for you." He said it with complete fervor, like this was a personal matter to him.
That placated Hawk somewhat, dumping a little cold water on the flames, leaving him to stand in the steam of his own making.
