" I just wanna be myself " (A Hunchback Of Notre Dame fanstory)

Chapter 22

The cold weather came swiftly that year, bringing it frigid temperatures and heavy snowfall. The streets froze over in a span of hours, icicles formed on roofs, cars, and even playground equipment. The town became a frozen world in the span of an entire week. The kids were all over the moon about this, no school, staying home, and getting to play in the snow all day! What child wouldn't love this? The adults weren't too thrilled though, having to shovel snow, slow traffic that barely budged an inch, and freezing temperatures.

Well, at least it was holiday break. School wouldn't be opened for a couple weeks, especially with all the snow the town has gotten, there was no way a school bus was gonna be able to drive around on slippery roads like these ones. Yet, sure enough, the various children saw cars and buses driving around on the roads, despite the news saying how unsafe it was, they didn't care. Going to work was more important to these people.

The holidays were almost there, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Yule, and everyone would be able to celebrate and have fun with family, friends, and good food too!

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Edgar and all of friends were all over at his house, eating breakfast and watching holiday cartoons. Sure, Edgar himself and Fatima didn't celebrate Christmas, but they were always suckers for holiday cartoons, especially since the cartoons came on every year, usually on the same day or around the same day.

" You know, technically, all of Santa's reindeer would be girls, right? " Gary spoke as he ate his pancakes, looking over at his friends, who were all confused.

Habiba grabbed her tablet and typed on it for a moment before pressing another button " How so? I thought all male deer had antlers, so wouldn't all of the reindeer be boys? " The tablet spoke out.

Gary shook his head " Mi Madre y Padre told me that female reindeer keep their antlers until May, when they have their babies, and males loose their antlers in November and they regrow them in May! So, all of Santa's reindeer would be girls! "

Charlotte, Jade, and Yasmine all walked into the living room, noticing the conversation being had. The three were all a bit confused on the exact conversation subject, but hey, they wanted to know what exactly was happening.

" Now what is going on here? " Jade asked, adjusting her glasses as she looked over at her younger sibling and their friends.

" Gary's saying t-that all of Saint Nick's reindeer would be girls, since girl reindeer keep their a-antlers " Edgar responded as he finished up his breakfast, limping to the sink and placing the plate in the sink " Maman and Papa gave us money to go buy snacks at the st-store, can you guys take us? "

Charlotte and Jade nodded " Yeah, yeah. Let's do that. " Charlotte spoke " Yasmine, Y-you gotta stay here, You have a bit of a cold and Maman and Papa don't want you to overexert yourself. " She ushered Yasmine back to her room, making sure she was relaxing in bed " Get ready guys, we'll be ready in a couple minutes! "

Edgar and his friends all finished eating breakfast, placed their plates in the sink, and grabbed their jackets, throwing them on and making sure they'd be warm enough for outside, as it was extremely cold. There was frost on the grass, icicles forming on homes and cars alike, and some snow pilled up on the sidewalks and playgrounds, it was sure to snow later that night as well.

The group of kids all made their way to the corner store, talking about the snow that was soon to come late that night, and how Edgar was gonna light a candle on the Menorah at night as well, all in all, a happy conversation! They thankfully knew where they were all going, making sure to be wary of roads and cars that were deemed ' dangerous ' for them.

When the kids turned the corner to where the store was, their eyes all lit up with joy, they knew they were going to get some good snacks for tonight. That's when they noticed a couple of kids playing in the parking lot. Yeah, that was dangerous enough, plus, their parents were nowhere to be seen, almost as if the parents didn't really care.

One of the kids was recognizable to these children, it was none other than Brody. He was there, playing in the parking lot with another kid. He was throwing what looked like rocks into the street, with absolutely 0 care if the rocks hit someone, or broke glass on cars, or god forbid someone walking their pet.

The other kid didn't look recognizable to the group, yet, something about him looks eerily familiar, why, he looked almost identical to Brody! Same color and style of hair, same eye color, and nearly identical clothing, the only differences being the colors and shoes. He too was throwing rocks and even glass bottles, making them shatter and sending shards of glass everywhere

" Wow " Natsuo said softly, catching the others attention " That other kid that Brody is playing with looks just like him, " He turned to look at Habiba " You think that's his twin he has locked in a basket? " He raised an eyebrow, snickering softly.

Habiba laughed softly ' looks like his doppelganger! ' She signed ' Same hair, same eyes, and same ugly fashion ' She squealed with laughter as she continue to sign to her friends about how this kid looked so similar to Brody, almost if they were twins or something.

Edgar, Charlotte, and Jade all became intrigued about what the others were talking about. Once the three siblings all looked ahead at the parking lot. Of course, they saw Brody, which they all hated. It seemed that no matter where they went, Brody was always there, as if they couldn't get away from him. But, the other child that Brody was playing with, if you could even call it that, made the three siblings blood run cold.

It was Zephyr.

Brody and Zephyr noticed the kids all approaching them, their lips curled into devilish smirks as they looked at one another, almost as if they were communicating telepathically about what they were gonna do. " C'mon, let's go, you know them, I know them. Let's do it. " Brody whispered to Zephyr, who responded with a nod and a giggle.

Zephyr and Brody stood up and waited patiently for the other kids to walk into the parking lot before practically running over to them " Hey you guys! " Zephyr said loudly, throwing an arm around Edgar " I've missed you all so much! " He did not smell good either, he smelled awful, like alcohol and cigarettes.

Edgar cringed, his eyes wide and his teeth grinding against each other " Get your hands off of me, I'm not your friend, i-i'm just here to get snacks then leave. " Edgar said as calmly as he could, anybody from a mile away could see how uncomfortable he was.

Zephyr laughed loudly in Edgar's ears " But i missed you so much! It's so great to see you, I bet my mom and dad would LOVE to see you and your family again! " His smile looked like something out of a disturbing horror movie, and it made Edgar feel nauseated.

" Get off her! " Fatima  sneered as she moved to where Zephyr was and shoved him off of Edgar, putting a protective arm around Edgar " I may not even know you, but i already find you creepy. If someone doesn't want to be touched, don't touch them, No means No! " She scowled, bearing her teeth at the boy.

Brody heard this and raised an eyebrow " Her? " He asked before laughing " So i was right, Edgar is a girl! An ugly one at that, also! " He turned to look at Zephyr " My friend here said you're half french, and from what he's told me, the french used to sleep with their cousins and have inbred babies, are you inbred? " He was clearly trying to get a reaction out of Edgar so he'd have a reason to play the victim.

" No " Edgar answered bluntly " But you m-might wanna ask your f-friend there " He used his thumb to point at Zephyr " F-from what my Maman and Papa told me, a-apparently, Zephyr's parents a-are cousins " He smiled as he spoke before limping to the doors of the corner store with his friends and siblings. He looked back and smirked a little " His heart is the size of a peppercorn and his tongue is too big for his mouth, just like Charles the 2nd of Spain, maybe that's who fathered him, then again, it'd be a miracle for Charles the 2nd to father anything, since he only had one testicle, just like Zephyr! "

Thankfully, before the two other boys could say anything, the friends all made their way inside the store, roaring with laughter about what Edgar said. Some laughing so hard they ended up wheezing or even tearing up from laughing so hard. Edgar's smirk didn't leave his face as he limped into the store, arms behind his back. He too ended up laughing, flapping his hands happily.

" That was a good one, Pal! " Charlotte laughed, giving her younger sibling a fist-bump, her lips curled into a happy smile " That's how you insult someone, that's how ya do it, and holy hell am i proud of ya! " She softly ruffled her siblings hair.

" Now! Lets get the snacks we want, we came here to get snacks, not to get attacked by some random white boys " Gary remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes " I call dibs on those honey BBQ chips! " He then made his way to the chip aisle.

" I swear if they don't have those sour skittles i'm gonna be upset " Habiba's tablet spoke as she walked to the candy aisle, thankfully she found them and grabbed a couple packs of sour skittles, along with sour patch kids.

Edgar smiled out of joy when he saw all the chips. He looked up at his older sisters as the three grabbed all their favorite flavors of chips, along with sodas for everyone. " I got the last large bag of Sour Cream & Onion chips! " Edgar proclaimed " Glad about it too, i-it's the b-biggest bag! "

Jade smiled as she cracked her neck and whistled " Biggest bag, biggest bag " She repeated, grabbing a couple bags of chips as well " Biggest bag, b-biggest bag. " She scanned the refrigerator in the back of the store, grabbing her favorite sodas and her siblings favorite sodas as well.

" Everybody got everything? " Charlotte called out as he walked up to the register " I'm paying for my stuff now, I'll meet y'all outside! " She placed her snacks up and got the money out, paying for her items and getting them placed in plastic bags before she walked outside

The rest of the kids payed for their items and walked outside, meeting Charlotte standing in the parking lot, near the sidewalk. She was staring down Brody and Zephyr, her expression was blank, eyes wide and her lips curled into almost that of a sneer. Her arms were crossed, and her foot tapped softly against the asphalt. Despite the fact that her foot was tapping, she stood so still, as if she was a statue.

" She's creepy! Like, mad man creepy! " Brody whined, as if he was a child " Hey freaks! " He turned to look at Edgar and his friends " Get your sister! She's like.. uber scary! " He waved his hands, being overdramatic as usual.

Charlotte eyed Brody and Zephyr up and down, her stare not breaking "  I'm only staring at you like this so i'd be able to tell when you're in your klans outfit later in life " She said with a monotone voice.

The kids all laughed as they made their way from the corner store to the sidewalk, mocking Brody and Zephyr as they walked back to Edgar's house, calling them all sorts of words and talking about how crude they were to people that weren't considered ' normal ' to others. The kids were all planning on watching some movies as they ate their snacks too. They turned onto their street and noticed a couple moving vans in front of the once ' For Sale ' house just across the street from Edgar's house.

" Hey Parce, " Gary said, turning to look at Edgar " Did you know about someone moving in across the street from you? " He raised an eyebrow up " Cause i know damn well that i didn't know that people were moving in, especially Blancos " He pointed to the people unpacking the moving vans, and indeed, they were white people.

Edgar groaned a little " Fils de pute... " He groaned out, rolling his eyes " H-How much you wanna bet that t-they've got a confederate flag h-hidden in their basement t-that they d-don't wanna ge-get rid of? " He asked, looking up at his sisters, who nodded in agreement.

Habiba nodded as well, she typed on her tablet for a moment " Welcome to the neighborhood, Karen and Darren " The tablet spoke " Hope you don't complain about Mx. Esmeralda's cooking and all the amazing spices she uses " She smirked a little before squealing with laughter quietly.

The family moving in across the street looked like every stereotypical suburban family ever. A Dad, A Mom, but not just two kids, no no, there were seven kids, and the mom was pregnant with the eighth kid. They had so many boxes that the kids couldn't keep count. The family looked over at the kids all watching them and physically cringed at the sight of them.

" Jesus... " Natsuo muttered " We've barely seen them and they make faces at us? Jeez, sounds like they got serious issues to work out, but then again, they probably won't, considering they have THAT " He pointed with his finger " Hanging on the front porch ". The kids all looked at what Natsuo was pointing at and their small eyes went wide with shock.

There were two flags on the front porch, the American flag, and the confederate flag.

" Merde... " Edgar whispered, his eyes wide as he stared across the street at the house.

" Ayreh Feek! " Fatima yelled out to the people across the street, her arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

" Mierda " Gary sneered. he crossed his arms, staring down the family.

" Kuso! " Natsuo yelled as he walked into Edgar's house, flipping off the family across the street.

" Shit! " Habiba's tablet spoke, she stomped her foot down in the dirt, making it crack a little before she turned to walk into Edgar's house.

The kids walked into Edgar's house, placing their bags full of snacks down and began taking all the snacks out, their once happy expressions now replaced with angered expressions, clearly frustrated because of the people moving in across the street. Their moods had been completely ruined by the fact that a racist family was moving in, they didn't want that, yet, they knew they couldn't do anything about it, what could they do anyways?