The Devil Child

Chapter Eight

 "You're awfully quiet, Polly." Minny stretched out beside her, his tall body looking cramped in the chair. "Makes me think you're hiding something."

That's because I am. She sighed and put a hand to her forehead, shooting him a look. Minny was an interesting person, but Polly was convinced he wanted something from her. Something she didn't have to offer.

"What do you need?" She turned back to her book, trying to find her place once again, but that proved impossible when Minny grabbed the book from under her fingers. A protest died on his lips when she turned to him, seeing how close he was to her.

"A favor from you," he whispered, so low she almost missed it.

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "What kind of favor?"

He closed her book and handed it back to her. "You'll figure it out," he responded, his answer vague and confusing to Polly. As she picked back up her book, Minny was cruising out of the room, sending her a wink as he left.

She looked at the book in her hands, blinking as she stared at the familiar cover. What on earth does he mean by that?

She opened the book carefully, almost afraid and timid. She flipped the pages, straining to see if she'd missed anything, any clues. And as she flipped, she held her breath, like that would help.

She didn't find anything the first time she flipped through. Or, the second. And she was beginning to believe that he'd left no clues for her, but then what did he mean? What did he want? And how would she know?

The bell rang overhead, and students stood up from their seats, bringing their trash to the large bins. She felt stunned, like there was no way lunch could be over so soon without answers. She felt like she no longer knew what to do, or what to think.

Is this a game for him? What is he getting at? She couldn't fathom what he'd ever want from her, so she shoved the book back in her bag and stood up, walking to the bin with everyone else. But the entire time, she felt confused. She felt irritated that she couldn't figure out his riddle.

But, then it didn't matter, because standing right in front of her was the girl with the purple hair. She looked like she ran the school, with her head held high, and her body language confident. She tipped the tray into the bin, then flicked her perfect hair over her shoulder, barely catching Polly's eye.

"Hey," She stopped, turning back to face Polly. "You're the girl from the store!"

Polly didn't want to be known as the girl from the store, so she rushed to introduce herself, properly. "Uh, yeah. I'm Polly."

"Polly," Kenzie repeated, and Polly could have sworn her name sounded regal coming out of her mouth. Like suddenly she was a queen, and Kenzie didn't even understand why she felt this way. Or what about Kenzie was so appealing. "Nice to meet you, formally. I'm Kenzie."

Polly knew this. She felt like her mind was hazy, and she was trying to formulate a conversation that wouldn't sound embarrassing. She felt like every thought in her mind had disappeared, and she cursed herself for even being attracted to Kenzie.

But, how could she not?

"Yeah. It is nice." Polly wanted to start over. She was mentally face palming at how she was responding.

"You're new, right? No, that's a silly question - of course you're new. I would have recognized you before."

Polly felt like her mouth was dry. Her heart was doing something strange in her chest, and she suddenly felt tongue tied. She didn't like this reaction, and she didn't understand it, but she could hear Doctor Higgins in her head, telling her this was wrong. Feeling like this was wrong.