𐙚˙ ༘ ⋆｡ ˚( DECODE ! )
❛ COMFORTING ❜
CHAPTER NINE !

"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANNA DO THIS?" Charlie asked. Eli nodded silently, glancing around the studio that was filled with their school peers.

Demetri joined in the conversation, folding his arms, "I think it's a stupid idea."

"You won't be saying that once you learn how to fight like Miguel and Charlie," Aisha added, raising an eyebrow.

The raven haired boy responded with a dismissive eye roll, "has anyone considered that maybe I don't want to defend myself? Maybe I'd rather observe from the sidelines?"

It wasn't long before Johnny left his office, glancing around at each kid, "Quiet! Face front."

Everyone in the room spread out, waiting for Johnny's instructions as he walked around, analyzing their appearance. He spared a few compliments before joking, making the kids look down in embarrassment.

"When I look around this dojo, I don't see cobra Kai material. I see losers, I see nerds. I see a fat kid with a funny hat and his tits popping out. But in my short time as a sensei, I've also seen some miracles. So, maybe there's some hope for you, yet. But first, I need to see where you're at, everybody, fall in!"

The group of kids stood still, unsure of what to do since they hadn't been taught the meaning. "That means line up. No, not line up in a line. Lines! Get in lines." Johnny ordered.

"You mean like rows?" Demetri suggested, making the blonde groan.

【☆】★【☆】

CHARLIE ENTERED THE CLASSROOM, a sigh escaping her lips when she didn't see any of her friends. As she settled into her chosen spot, her eyes wandered around the room, watching as each teenager sat down.

"Can I sit here?" Eli asked, making Charlie quickly turn to look at him.

She responded with a warm smile and a simple "Of course," as she watched him pull out the chair and sit in beside her.

"Okay, I trust that each of you has chosen a well-considered seat, as these will be your assigned seats for the duration of this year and next year." the teacher declared.

Charlie and Eli smiled at each other after hearing her words.

The teacher explained the day's lesson, and Charlie cringed when she saw the students being handed a deceased frog. The task was to perform a post-mortem examination. Alongside Eli and the rest of the class, Charlie reluctantly put on the gloves and prepared to dissect the frog.

Eli fumbled with the equipment, his hands struggling to stay still. A chuckle escaped Charlie's lips when she noticed his confusion. She leaned in closer, her hands gently guiding his to the correct angle, "here, like this."

As their hands briefly touched, his breath hitched slightly, his eyes locking with hers, "u-uh, thank you, Charls."

"Okay, in the male frog, this tract opens up near the umbilical cord, so I'm guessing ours is female," she said confidently.

However, when she looked up from her notes, she noticed Aisha, a smirk forming on her lips after seeing them. Demetri joined in, mockingly imitating her and Eli by wrapping his arms around himself while pouting and rubbing them around.

"Are you going back to the dojo?" Charlie asked to take her attention off the two.

He responded with a slight shrug, his words stumbling out hesitantly. "I-I don't know. Demetri keeps telling me he doesn't want to go. He says your dad is kinda mean."

Eli's eyes stayed downward, his attention focused on the dissected frog.

"Yeah, he's right. He can be horrible sometimes. But then again, the decision is yours, not meat's."

He nodded with a smile before changing the subject, "I'm just going to grab a textbook."

The boy left the table, making Demetri quickly make his way over. "Soooo?" He prodded.

"No," she replied, shutting him down without even meeting his eyes.

"Well, your hands were telling me a different story," he laughed.

Charlie just rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on! Our hands barely touched. I was just helping him figure out where to place them. It's not that big of a deal," she lied, attempting to brush it off.

"What's not that big of a deal?"

Eli had made his way over already and Charlie glared at Demetri. A ghost of a smile played on the boy's lips before he left to return to his table.

【☆】★【☆】

JOHNNY MADE HIS ENTRANCE, "Okay, everybody, fall in!" he commanded, his voice booming through the dojo.

Charlie scanned the room, her eyes darting from one empty spot to another. As she expected, many of the students from yesterday's lesson were absent today, likely due to Johnny's actions.

The man stood tall, his arms outstretched. "Where is everyone? Crater face? Nose ring? Slingshot?" he called out, hoping to receive some answers.

"They quit, Sensei," Miguel muttered.

"Are you serious?" He breathed out before shaking his head, "I mean, good. That was a test. I wanted to see who the quitters were, not you guys."

He smiled, "You could be at home playing your iComputers, playing video games, eating candy. Instead, you're here. Doing pushups, learning how to fight. Lip, look." He gestured towards Eli, drawing everyone's attention towards him.

Charlie covered her face with her hand, while shaking her head, she knew he would do this.

"Even Lip's tougher than those guys. He's no quitter,"

"Could you please not call me that?" he requested, his eyes locked with the floor. Charlie's eyes widened in surprise, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She wanted to applaud him.

"Excuse me, what?" Johnny asked.

Eli repeated his words, "I said, could you please not call me that?"

Miguel intervened quickly, already knowing what was going to happen,  "Um, I'll warm them up, Sensei," he offered.

But Johnny just shook his hand, "No, no, no," he interrupted. "Lip has something he wants to say. Sorry. Speak up, lip."

A frown creased Eli's face as Johnny approached him. "Or is your tongue messed up, too?" Johnny taunted.

Charlie's eyes darted between Eli and Johnny, her pleading expression silently begging Johnny to stop but the blonde paid no attention. "Are you one of those challenged kids?"

Eli's voice stuttered as he began to respond, his eyes flickering to Charlie and Miguel for help. "Um," he started, "The doctor said I could be on the spectrum."

Johnny shook his head, "I don't know what that is, but get off it pronto," he retorted. "All right? If you don't want me to call you, don't have a weird lip. Can't you get surgery for that?"

Eli's voice softened as he replied, "I was born with a cleft lip. This scar is from the surgery."

"You mean it was worse before that? Or did the doctor just screw it up? Because if this is the after photo, that sucks, man. You should sue." The blonde shook his head making Charlie nervously crack her fingers quietly.

"Can we please change the subject?" Eli pleaded.

"Yes!" Charlie chimed in, trying to lighten the mood, "Let's talk about-"

"You don't think I want to?" Johnny interrupted, his view still on the boy in front of him, "It's right in front of me. If you wanna be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, then you gotta flip the script. Okay? Get a face tattoo or gouge your eyes out. We'll call you 'Patch,' all right? No, don't do that one. You'll still look like a freak."

Eli couldn't listen any longer, he pushed past Johnny and rushed out of the dojo.

"Oh, great, really? Another quitter?" Johnny mocked.

Charlie glared at her father before following after Eli. "Really, Johnny?" she muttered under her breath.

Crouching down beside the boy, her eyes began to slightly well up seeing him like that.

"I don't know why I'm upset. I should be used to this by now," Eli whispered, his voice trembling as he stared down at the floor.

"It's okay to be upset. There's nothing wrong with that," Charlie reassured him, gently rubbing his shoulder.

"I'm not weak or—or sensitive," Eli choked out, his voice breaking, "I've... I've had worse."

He buried his face in his hands, but Charlie wrapped her arm around him, "I know, Eli. I know," she whispered.

"Crying doesn't make you weak." Eli's breaths were ragged as the tears streamed down his face. But she didn't judge him, she never would.

"Don't worry, okay? No one is judging you. Ignore Johnny, he thinks it's what makes people stronger, but in reality, he's just a bully who takes it too far." She told him, shaking her head as she replayed the last five minutes in her head.

Eli sniffled, his red and puffy eyes locking onto Charlie's. "He's right, though. I'll always be a freak because of my lip-"

"No, no, Eli. You're not a freak. You never have been, and you never will be," she interrupted, "There's nothing wrong with your lip. It's cool, it's what makes you perfect."

Eli shook his head, unable to meet her gaze as he looked away.

"It's not though, it's an imperfection, a flaw. Perfection is perfection anything less than that is something that has to be worked on."

She stared at him speechless, how could the world be so cruel to such an innocent kid.

"Eli, when will you learn that imperfections aren't real. They're just some made up bullshit" she started, covering her mouth when she swore, "that insecure people who think their better than everyone believe is what people like us are made of. But we're not, Eli, especially not you. Don't get yourself worked up and waste your tears on comments like that, be better than people like Kyler and Johnny, okay?"

There was a brief pause Eli blushed and she smiled at his now happy expression.

✧  •   •  𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚  •  •  ✧ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

My fingers are hurting but AHHH, they're so cute.

i miss when hawk was Eli, like don't miss him feeling like that but miss how sweet he was :((

i found my old fic from like 2022 and used a bit of it in this chapter so if there's any mistakes that I missed please let me know !

also just realised I missed out the scene where Demetri was trying to stand up to Johnny and he ends up on the ground, but we're just gonna ignore that 😋

please comment and vote !