The Devil Child

Chapter Fifty

 Turns out, running for Governor was boring. It wasn't as exciting as people made it out to be.

Tanner spent the majority of his time locked away in his room, his notebook filling up page after page of notes, mock speeches, angry pen marks. He didn't leave his room often, and when he did, he was somber. Focused. Determined.

He tried his best to keep his door closed and locked, keeping out the people who would throw him off of his game. His determination was strong, but he knew like most motivated people, you could only run so far on the steam pushing you forward.

The only person really allowed in his room was Gryphon.

Polly knew her time in Lennard's house was over. She knew her uncle and aunt worried about her constantly, and she knew she would have to return to school. They all would; skipping could only go unnoticed for so long. And so, after a few days in the large house, Polly went back home.

Minny stayed. As did Gryphon.

"I'm home," Polly said to the quiet house. She hadn't expected it to look different, but at the same time, she did. She was different. The last time she was there, in that house, was before she confronted her parents. While it hadn't been a large gap of time, it felt like forever since she was in the house, looking for her missing sketchbook.

Now, it was under her arm.

For a moment, the silence continued, and then her cousin caught her eye. She stood beside the doorway, unblinking as she watched Polly with her large eyes. Polly had forgotten all about the Jenny drama back at this house, and she rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Jenny?" Here to tell me about how you told all your friends I ran away?

The girl scuttled away, rounding the corner and disappearing down the hallway. But Polly wasn't having any of it; she ran as she too rounded the corner, seeing Jenny turn towards the stairs. For a moment, it was a game of cat and mouse, and Jenny was always ten steps ahead of her. Until they reached Jenny's door.

"What is your deal?" Polly asked her cousin, loud and angry. Her words sounded mean. Unlike Polly, but not surprising.

Jenny turned back towards her cousin. "You're crazy! All my friends say so!"

Polly rolled her eyes. "Jenny, just because I've had some trauma in my life doesn't mean I'm crazy."

Jenny pressed against her door, cramming her eyes shut. "I know what you are!"
Polly was interested to hear what her cousin had to say. She knew it was probably nothing. Probably more rumors about her being crazy, her being insane. To be honest, Polly once would have thought she was.

She was healing.

"Yeah? What am I?"

Jenny opened her eyes and stared at her older cousin, her body shaking in fear. "You're gay! That means you're going to Hell!"

Polly flinched back from her cousin. She'd heard those words so many times before, from her parents, from Tanner, but she hadn't heard those words since moving to her aunt and uncle's house. This was her safe place. A place to be herself.

And the words, ugly as they already were, sounded horrid coming from the young girl's mouth.

"Why would you say that to me?" Polly demanded, but the space between her and Jenny was large enough now for the girl to open her bedroom door and scurry in, slamming the door in Polly's face.

Polly felt her chest tighten, the tears collecting in the back of her eyes. She would not cry, but she felt her cheeks get hot with shame for who she was, what she was fighting for. Never had she imagined her own cousin saying that.