Part 1PART 2
December 12th"You can't run away from yourself, FREAK!"
I ignored the hurtful yells coming from behind me, but my tears did not. I ran into the forest of pine trees and attempted to hide myself. Once i felt I was deep enough in the forest, I collapsed in the snow and started absolutely bawling.
It had started with usual things. Once my mother left in the morning, my father said some rude things to me like he always did. What I did not know was that Donner's son, Arthur, was outside while my father yelled at me.
So at school during recess, my classmates called me names like they always did. This was easy to ignore. But then Arthur pulled the trigger of the entire thing.
"Nobody likes you, Noel! Not even your father!" I stood there dumbfounded and he smirked. "I heard him yelling at you this morning. What was it he called you? Ugly little female bi-"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!" I screamed at him. Somehow, I was right in front of him, pinning him to the side of the school by his neck. He coughed once or twice and looked terrified.
"NOEL!" I heard suddenly. I spun my head and saw a teacher glaring at me viciously. I dropped him and he hit the snow with a muffled thud. He scrambled up and away, acting innocent and hiding behind the teacher.
"She grabbed me for no reason!" Arthur whimpered. I knew nobody would help me, so I stayed quiet.
"Noel, if I see you doing anything like this again, I'll suspend you without hesitation!" the teacher warned before stalking off. Arthur laughed at me once she left.
"Teachers don't even like you." he snickered. "Snowballs at the freak!"
It was less than a second before I started getting pelted with snowballs. Everyone in the North Pole were extremely quick at making snowballs, and most were accurate throwers. I started running, all the hard snowballs stinging my skin as they made contact.
"You can't escape it, freak! We hate you! The teachers hate you! Your father hates you! I bet you even hate yourself!" And I started crying then, because I knew it was all true. Every last word. I tried to find a hiding place, and the pine forest was the closest place.
And I suppose you know the rest.
So there I sat on a pile of snow, crying my heart out. I heard someone's footsteps, and I flinched, bracing myself for another onslaught of snowballs. But none came. So I opened an eye to see who it was.
I saw two big blue eyes not unlike my own. They blinked, and the fluffy white body they were attached to shook as it giggled. There was a jingling coming from somewhere. I noticed that he was wearing a harness covered in little bells, as well as a larger one tied around his tail.
"Hello!" he said in a cheery voice.
"Umm... Hello?" I said, unsure of this new person.
"Are you okay? You look rather unhappy."
"I am. I want to die." I sniffed.
"Oh. Well that's no good. Why is that?"
"Because nobody likes me. Not my teachers, my peers, not even my father."
"Wait, are you Rudolph's daughter? I recognize the nose. Though you look a lot more like Zoey." I smiled.
"That's what everyone says."
"Well I don't understand why nobody likes you, especially Rudolph. You seem very nice."
"I hope I am. It's because I'm a girl. My dad wanted a boy, and my classmates make fun of my antlers."
He cocked his head. He sat on his haunches and tapped his cheek with his paws. "I don't see anything wrong with them. I like them. It makes you stand out."
"But that's why nobody else like me. They all want everyone to be the same."
"Well that's no fun. They should see the people that I live with. You'd seem pretty normal, especially considering that in any place other than Santaland, female reindeer are supposed to have antlers."
I perked up at this. "They are?"
"Yes! I've done a lot of travelling for a little polar bear, and I've met several female reindeer with lareg antlers." I smiled brightly and he smiled back.
"I'm Marzipan. I'm an orphaned polar bear, but I live with nice people. You can live with us if your life is that awful."
"I would love to live with you. I'm Noel by the way."
"Wonderful! Let's go!"
~*~
After a long walk, we reached an adorable little village. There were not many people, but they all seemed to beam and praise each other. It was a nice change.
The first person to approach us was a large red lion. He was decked in gold garlands. I was alarmed at first, but he smiled as he spoke.
"Hello! I'm Tinsel, dear. Who might you be?" More people walked up as I spoke.
"Noel. Rudolph's daughter."
"I remember when Rudolph lived with us!" a woman exclaimed. She was white and red and had a short little tail. "He was much brattier than he's portrayed as. You seem much kinder. Are you here because of your nose too, honey?"
"Antlers actually, Peppermint. She's a girl with antlers." he clarified.
"That's silly!" a blue dog said. She held hands with who I assumed was her daughter. "Lots of female reindeer have antlers, right Starla?" Her daughter nodded in agreement.
"My father doesn't like me either. But it's because I'm a girl and he wanted a daughter."
"Midnight loves her daughter. What's wrong with a daughter?" Peppermint asked.
"They can't pull sleighs..." I said sadly.
"Sure they can! I know for a fact that Cupid's mother pulled Santa's sleigh for several decades!" Tinsel huffed. All of them seemed upset about the fact that I was so hurt, and it made me feel special. It was a nice feeling.
"Well either way, you can stay with us if you would like." Midnight said. Starla smiled excitedly at me and I looked questioningly at Marzipan.
"You are staying... right?" he asked. I smiled.
"I'm staying with you, correct?"
