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

Chapter 21

TRIGGER WARNING/CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER AS IT INCLUDES; ABLEISM, STALKING, HARASSMENT, ASSAULT, AND MENTIONS OF HOSPITALS/NEEDLES/PROCEDURES BEING PERFORMED. BE WARNED AND SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF YOU WANT!!



An aggravated sigh escaped Edgar's lips, his head was hurting as he looked at his history paper about the Spanish flu and didn't know what to put for the next question on the paper. He slammed his paper down on his desk and covered his face, groaning quietly. History class was always a pain for him, he wasn't the biggest fan of it, unlike Natsuo, who was a huge history geek.

" How many people died again? " Edgar asked, turning to look at Natsuo, who was reading a history book " Cause i dunno how many people d-died during this illness. "

" Uh... like... 50 million people? " Natsuo questioned " I think? I don't know, a lot. "

Edgar shrugged as he wrote his answer down on his paper, his face resting in his hand, his eyes half-lidded " This class is boring, when can we learn about cool stuff and not millions of people dying? "

Fatima looked up from her paper " Just wait, i hear in either 8th grade, they make you learn about the black death! " She shook her hands dramatically " Baba told me that it was a disease that killed 25 million people! " she placed her pencil down as she erased a answer on her paper before adding a different one " But... seems like Spanish flu killed more that the Black death. " she shrugged.

Edgar nodded " Maman told me that it killed half of Europe! Which is... a lotta people! " He exclaimed " Like... A lotta people! " He grabbed his history book and flipped through it frantically before landing on a page about The Black Death " It says that fleas spread the sickness, and that they were on r-rats! "

Gary snorted " Guess Master Splinter should get some medicine so he doesn't get sick! " The friends all giggled quietly, they didn't want their teacher getting mad.

That's when the sound of someone knocking on the door caught the classes attention, as everyone looked to the door for a moment. The teacher got up from his desk and opened the door, and in walked a local student, clutching her bookbag in one arm and the other clutching a tablet that she needed.

The girl had dark brown skin, deep brown eyes, deep black hair worn in box braids with dyed hot pink streaks in her bangs. She always carried around a plush teddy bear, along with her tablet. She always wore clothing that was either very brightly colored or had cartoon characters plastered all over. Sadly, she sat at the same table that Brody sat at, she had no other choice.

" Habiba Zewdie! " The teacher, Mr. Richards exclaimed " Where were you at? You're 20 minutes late to class! " He crossed his arms.

Habiba quickly typed away on her tablet before pressing a button " I was at the hospital. Had to get my blood drawn " The tablet spoke in a robotic voice.

Brody snorted " At the hospital? Are you serious? Nobodies at the hospital as often as you! You go every month! Jesus, what are ya, a hospice patient? " He placed his hands on his hips, a snarky expression on his face as he spoke.

Habiba looked down at her tablet and typed quickly on it, making sure she knew what she was doing. " You know why i go to the hospital " The tablet spoke " I need to make sure i don't have cancer anymore. " Her eyebrows curled up as she gestured to her chest.

" Cancer? really? You never had cancer! Your hair never fell out! You're lying to me! You're lying to the whole class! " Brody yelled, causing Habiba to cover her ears and cower.

Fatima furrowed her eyebrows. She's had enough. She slammed her hands down on her desk and got up, walking over to the tables where Brody and Habiba sat. She crossed her arms as she glared at Brody " You do not get to ask personal questions like that about someone! " She exclaimed " Habiba doesn't owe you an explanation about having cancer! "

Habiba nodded, grabbing her tablet and her things and moving it all over to the one lone table next to Natsuo. She slammed her stuff down and sat in the chair, resting her head in her hands, shaking her head and groaning loudly.

Natsuo glared over at Brody before looking back at Habiba " Don't listen to him, he's an ass " He whispered to her " He's been doing this to us for years, stay with us, we'll keep you safe. " Natsuo paused, looking at his friends as Fatima sat back down " Right, guys? "

Edgar, Gary, and Fatima all nodded in agreement " We'll keep you safe, We don't tolerate people bullying others because of something they have, My Má always tells me to not allow people to get bullied for stuff they can't control " Gary spoke, smiling softly.

School proceeded to go on like normal, getting through every class as normal, or, as normal as it could be with Brody now bullying Edgar and his friends even more than before, especially because now Habiba was hanging out with them, and because of her small stature and frame, it was rather easy for Brody, who was almost 5'4, to push her around or even try to get into a fight with her.

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