The Devil Child

Chapter Five

Polly looked at the isles of pens. She'd never seen so many pens in her life, and couldn't understand why there were even so many. Jenny was holding a basket and shoving pens into it like there was no tomorrow.

"I hate this. I hate school." She complained, dramatically dropping the basket to the ground and groaning.

"You aren't the one shopping for school supplies. Polly is. Stop being so dramatic." Polly's aunt sighed, picking up the basket and putting the excessive amount of pens back on the shelf. She then handed the basket to Polly.

Jenny huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I still don't like school."

"You're in elementary school, it can't be that bad." Polly's aunt sighed, grabbing Jenny's hand. "I'm taking this one to another section. Feel free to pick anything!"

Polly nodded at her aunt's words, then looked back to the pens. She picked up a pack of ten pens and put them in the basket. Then, she moved towards the pencils.

To her surprise, she spotted a flash of pinkish, purplish hair fly by in the next isle. Curiosity got the best of her, and she abandoned the pencils in pursuit of the girl. She was found standing by the binders, looking carefully at ones with dogs on it.

"Mom, come on. I don't think gym requires a binder." The girl said, flattening out the skirt of her dress. "Besides, we already did school shopping like, a month ago. I don't think going a second time is needed."

The girl's mom sighed. "Your gym teacher specifically said you needed one during the open house last night. Do you think I'm going to let you fail out of gym? You're being ridiculous, Kenzie. Just pick out the binder and we can go home."

Kenzie. So that's her name, Polly stored that information for the next time she ran into the girl. She couldn't help but stare a little too intensely at her, taking in the sight of her dress, paired with the thigh high socks. Her outfit was stellar - something Polly could only dream of wearing. Plus, her skin was flawless. Completely and utterly flawless.

Polly could feel the familiar feeling in her chest, the tight feeling of adoration and attraction. She turned from the girl, pretending to be interested in the binders. She did need some, after all, but she couldn't seem to focus on the options in front of her. All she could focus on was the girl standing a few feet from her, looking absolutely and breathtakingly beautiful. It was times like these that made her feel like there was nothing wrong with her. How could she feel this way and not be right?

How could liking girls be sinful? Just, how?

She brushed her hands over some binders. None pleased her. She liked the dog one Kenzie had been looking at, but she felt too nervous to even walk over by her and grab it.

Kenzie didn't feel the same. The girl reached a hand in front of Polly's face and reached for a pastel purple binder, then she retracted. And when Polly looked at her, the girl smiled wide.

"Sorry. I just really wanted this binder. Didn't mean to get up in your personal space."

Polly blinked, and tried to return the smile. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, and her mind went absolutely blank. There was no reason to be nervous around this girl, but she did. She felt so unbelievably nervous to even look at her, never mind talking to her.

"It's okay." She smiled again. "I kinda want the dog binder you were looking at, but I was too nervous to get into your way."

Kenzie tipped her head back and laughed, and Polly nearly swooned. She took in the sight of how absolutely breathtaking Kenzie was, with her eyes closed and her smile radiating at her. She was perfect, Polly decided.

Something is wrong with you. You should not be feeling this way, Polly. Her demon whispered to her from over her shoulder. The sudden reminder made her face fall, and her happiness deflat. The demon was correct - there was something wrong in feeling this way. Doctor Higgins had told her this. Her parents had told her this. And certainly God was looking down upon her right now for having these impure thoughts.

She was sinning, so blatantly, and it made her insides crumple up.

She didn't want to stop, though. She wanted to stare at Kenzie all day and bask in how perfect she was, and how just one single interaction could make Polly feel like she was walking on cloud 9.

"Well, go ahead. I'm not over there anymore to stop you." The smile on Kenzie's face was charming, and easy going. Enough so that Polly forgot about being upset, and instead smiled back as she reached for the dog binder.

"So you're an animal lover," Kenzie noted, looking at Polly's shirt and the binder she currently held.

"Yeah." Was all Polly offered. She was wearing one of her favorite animal shirts, with a whale on the front. The text read, Oh Whale.

Completely and utterly corny, but Polly liked that about the shirt.

Kenzie smiled at her, then turned to look at her mother. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go. I'll see you at school though, right? Did you just move here?"

Polly looked blankly at Kenzie, forgetting for a moment that school was a place, and that Kenzie would be there. "Yeah, I did. So yeah, I'll see you in school for sure."

There was no exchanging of names. No exchanging of classes or advisories. Just that. And Kenzie turned away, sending one last smile to Polly before joining her mother again, showing her the binder she chose, rather sarcastically.

Polly couldn't help but grin. She could already tell she would like Kenzie, and that their friendship was something that was bound to happen. And what made her all the more giddy was the fact that she had just talked with the girl she'd been pining over since she saw her getting ice cream.

It was a wonderful afternoon, Polly decided to herself. But, things like happiness could only last for so long, especially when a demon was always lurking behind, ready to remind Polly of the fate waiting for her.

And Polly's fate wasn't a happy one. No, it sure wasn't.

But, for all Polly knew, her happiness was there to stay. She thought, like herself, it had found permanent residence in her aunt and uncle's home. She thought it belonged there, like she did.

But, it was the nagging in the back of her head that brought her to reality sometimes. The nagging feeling that she didn't deserve happiness, that life was out to get her. She couldn't seem to shake it off, but the feeling of happiness in her life had overshadowed it. Had completely erased that feeling.

But it was there. And as she placed her school items on the counter and looked at where her life was heading, the demon behind her was laughing. It was cackling and rolling around in the knowledge that one day it would take Polly to Hell, throw her in the firey pits.

But Polly didn't know this.

Not yet.  

* * *

Follow my twitter: https://twitter.com/UWbooks

Follow my blog: https://wickedpromisesblog.wordpress.com/