The Devil Child

Chapter Fifty-Three

 After spending second period crying in the bathroom, Polly's day was actually looking up. After school, Tom drove her, Minny, and Kenzie all to Lennard's place so they could talk out the game plan for the upcoming speech that was going to take place this coming weekend.

Polly felt a little nauseous at the thought of speaking in front of crowds, but she reminded herself that Gryphon would also be there for her to help out with her nerves. And everything else that came with backing her up.

But, Gryphon wasn't there when they first arrived.

Lennard took his seat at the head of the table, per usual, with her girl seated beside him on the floor. Typical for those two, and Polly desperately wanted answers concerning how the two of them even met. Or why they were bound together.

"So, we're over the primary votes, and Tanner passed. But, so did our father. The gubernatorial election takes place in a few weeks on November 7th. So, we have major pushing to do to get Tanner where he needs to be to win."

Lennard took out a chart, one section red, one blue. "Tanner is blue, since he's running Democratic. Our father is red. As you can see, our father has more support, but we're catching up to him. I think by November, we'll be in the lead, as long as we continue to do what we're doing. Pushing and pulling at heartstrings, all that."

"The seventh... that's only like, two weeks away. I'm not sure we'll make it." Polly was certainly concerned about the timeline, as November was fastly approaching, but there was nothing she could do. It was on Tanner, mostly.

Tanner entered the room. "Oh, we'll make it. My father has nothing going for him, and his fans are racist assholes. We'll take back this state, don't worry Polly."

If not, I'll be thrown into gay conversion camps. Again. The fear plagued her thoughts more often than she'd like to admit. There was nowhere for her to hide, now that she was out in the open. Gryphon as well.

She sent a look to Kenzie, knowing that she too was in the red. The school was quick to pick up on their relationship. A little too quick, and a little too loudly. There would be no hiding for Kenzie if they lost.

The front door opened, and in came Gryphon, decked out in his uniform. For a moment, Tanner just watched him as he entered, entranced in the way that the uniform hugged Gryphon's strong shoulders, and framed his long and lean body.

He ran a hand over his crazy hair, then smiled at the group. "What did I miss?"

When he made eye contact with Minny, he noticed the lack of uniform and realized that Minny's absence had everything to do with switching schools, like he had suspected. Which was a shame, but Gryphon wasn't about to bring it up.

"No smoking in the house," Lennard barked towards Gryphon. Not only did he hate the smell, his girl did as well. And where she wouldn't vocalize it, Lennard had no problem doing so, watching with pointed eyes as Gryphon took the cigarette from his lips.

"My bad," he said, squeezing it between his fingers, not flinching from the pain.

Polly turned back to Lennard. "So, two weeks to get Tanner into shape? When do Gryphon and I have to know our speeches by?" Of course, the two had been present so far in the election, but speaking out wasn't her forte.

"This weekend. Tanner has a huge publicized speech happening up north a little. We'll drive there together, and Polly, you'll be with Gryphon and Tanner for the entire time. I hope you two have been working on those speeches."

Guilt made her stomach turn. She'd been busy, not only with school, but with everything that came with running a campaign. She had little time to be writing speeches and practicing them. She didn't voice this to Lennard, though.