"You're just lucky my mom doesn't come up here," Alex mused as he watched Polly sketch in her book at the table. Her head was bent over, her blonde hair falling in soft waves down her back. He admired the way she looked in the dresses she always wore, but he knew she was off-limits to him.

Despite who she was, and despite why he needed her, Alex found himself falling into a comfortable place with her. With those wide blue eyes, that spitfire personality, and the way Polly carried herself when it mattered. She was careful, precise. He knew she was using him, too, and he didn't care. It had been too long since he had a friend to confide in, or even a friend to hang around. His life was lonely, as most politician lives were.

Polly didn't look over her shoulder. "I've never met her. Is she nice?" Polly's question had more to do with being polite than it did her own interest, but she needed to keep Alex on her good side. She needed him to gain freedom and to be able to draw. And she needed him to get on her mother's good side.

Alex's voice sounded closer when he responded. "She's a pleasant person, but she knows who you are. With your face on national television and all."

Polly's back straightened, and this time she did look over her shoulder. Her blue eyes were wide with surprise and fright at his words, as though it had never occurred to her that she'd be on television. "National television? But the elections are in Vermont."

Alex gripped the back of her chair, close enough so that she could smell his expensive cologne. His hair, always so perfectly groomed back, flopped over onto his forehead when he leaned down. She could see the stubble on his chin and the soft freckles on his nose. "When there's talk of a governor putting gay people in camps, there's bound to be talk everywhere."

Polly felt queasy all of a sudden, despite knowing this. She knew this would happen. It wasn't supposed to be a surprise, but in that moment, it was. She didn't even respond, and instead just blinked up at Alex, trying to find the words to say to him. Trying to act normal.

"Besides," Alex continued, "my father is running with Tanner's father. She knows exactly who you are."

This time, Polly stood up, knocking Alex's hand from the back of the chair. Her mouth felt dry, and her body began to shake. She'd had plenty of panic attacks before, but this felt almost worse, because she was just beginning to feel comfortable around Alex. Spending time with him was like spending time with Lennard; the two were similar in many ways when it came to professionalism, but this was different. She was getting too comfortable.

"You're in on this? You're trying to get me killed in gay camps?"

Alex felt the situation shift, and he immediately reached for Polly. "Wait, wait a minute. I have nothing to do with my father. Why do you think I'm here instead of in Vermont, living with him?"

She felt her body shaking, remembering Tanner and the camp, and how her body was strapped down to the table where she was abused. She felt her legs tremble, and then she slid to the floor, trying to breathe.

All she could think of was being back in that camp, trapped forever, strapped to a table with Tanner's father. The pain of being trapped, abused, and neglected on a table. The feeling of being less than human because of who she liked.

"I can't go back. I can't go back." She gripped Alex's shirt, but she wasn't really seeing him. She was picturing herself, back where she belonged, in Tanner's camp. All because she was a devil child, who belonged in the depths of Hell.

Alex had never dealt with panic attacks. He grabbed Polly's face, trying to tilt it up to look into her eyes, but she was looking at the ground, her chest heaving. Something like fear coiled its way into his chest as he realized that there was little he could do to make the panic go away.

"Polly, you won't go back. My father is losing. Tanner's father is losing."

This time, she did look at him. She looked at his button down shirt tucked neatly into his salmon-colored shorts. She looked at his styled hair, slicked back, and she looked into his eyes. The eyes of a boy with no problems, ever. The eyes of a boy with too much confidence, too much money, and too many free handouts.

"Why do you want to marry me? What did my mother offer you? Why are you doing this?"

Alex was taken aback by her outburst. He knew how bad it was, for him to say nothing about the agreement he had with her mother, but he knew telling her would ruin everything. Everything he'd set in motion, everything he'd wanted, and all he had to do was sacrifice the chance of loving a girl to get it all.

"Polly, I really can't tell you." Not because he couldn't, but because the moment he did, she'd run. And then his agreement with her mother would end, which would ruin him and his chances of bringing his father down.

She stiffened in his arms and tried to scoot herself away from him, fear tightened around her throat. "You're probably just like your father!" she yelled at him, fighting his grip. "I bet he's just a cruel as you!"

He understood why she was saying those things, but he didn't like to hear it. "Polly, you need to breathe. Just breathe. Do you need water?"

She hated that he was changing the subject. She hated that she was in this situation. "Alex, I need you to let me go, and I need you to leave me alone. I bet your agreement with my mother has everything to do with the election and getting me thrown into camp!"

He let go of her shoulders, because he knew their relationship was becoming strained. He didn't want to frighten her, or make her feel like he was holding her down. "You know nothing about our agreement, and what it means. If you'd listened, the first time we met I told you that you would be safe when we got married. Even if Tanner lost. And, there's a reason I live with my mother and not my father. I don't like him."

Polly moved away from him as soon as he let go of her. Panic was welling up in her chest, and all she wanted to was escape. He's just as bad as I thought he was. And now he's going to ruin me. Everything about him screamed money and power. She had been dumb enough to trust him.

He knew this. He saw her trust diminishing, and he knew that if he didn't tell her now, she'd be gone forever. "Polly, what does your mother do."
She narrowed her eyes at him, thinking it was some sort of game he was playing. "She's a journalist."

"But more importantly, she owns a very important journal company that is shipped around the country."

Polly felt her shoulders shrugging. Her mother's business had began booming after she'd been sent away, and she didn't care that much about her parents to read into what they were doing now. Her mother's business was none of her concern, especially if the content in those journals was strictly conservative.

"I don't understand where this is going." Her tone was stiff, and she didn't really want to understand Alex and where he was coming from. She felt her stubbornness push to the surface, refusing to listen to him.

"If we get married, your mother said I could own it once she retires."

"What? Why would she give the business to you? And once she retires, in like what, twenty years?"

Alex put his hands up, gently, as if she were a scared animal. "I work there already. Politics are in my interest, and your mother owns a huge political journal, however, it has always been in favor of people like my father. But, I want to own it and publish real news. Not tainted news, not conservative news, but real stuff. Like, how corrupt politics really is. And how people like you are being mistreated. This is my big break, and when your mother said it could be all mine, I went for it."

Polly felt her shoulders sag, suddenly exhausted from her previous panic attack. "So, if you marry me, you own the journal."

"If I marry you, I can dismantle a huge journal and write about the real stuff. I can write exposes on people like my father. I can change politics in the paper. And all it took was helping people think that you turned straight."

Polly's head felt thick and sluggish. He wants to run my mother's journal. He's doing this as a business transaction.

"I can't marry you, Alex. I don't care about you owning that paper."

"It's a win-win, Polly. You marry me, you become safe from those camps. You marry me, I dismantle bad journalism that relies on how corrupt politics is. You marry me, and things can become better for you."

"I marry you, and suddenly I tell the entire country that I'm not gay, and I was ashamed to be so. I marry you, and my parents win. I marry you, and I can't marry the girl I love. How is that a win-win?"
Alex admired her, but he also wished that she could see his point of view. He wanted to ruin his father, he wanted to ruin politics, but he needed this journal to help him do so. And unfortunately, that involved Polly, even if he didn't want it to.

"For one moment, just think about this. A marriage between us wouldn't be that horrible. It's like a business deal. I gain control of the journal, where you can publish your art. Just think, the first ever journal published under me, and it's about the struggle you've lived with. How your life has been so much worse than others. You want to show people through art. You want a huge audience. Well, this is it, Polly."

For one moment, she did think about it. It would be the perfect place to publish her art. Where she could have the entire country read about it, with Alex's articles about the political agenda and what it does to people like her.

A business marriage, where she could divorce him as soon as he gained control of the journal, took down his father, and showed the world just how powerful a couple of kids could be when put to the test.

But, she didn't want to get married. She didn't want to do anything that would result in people thinking she was lying about being gay, or worse, that the camp actually turned her straight.

"We're too young for marriage."

"But this is a business marriage."

She shook her head, forcing herself to calm down. "I have no idea of your true intentions. Say we do get married, how do I know you'd even publish my art?"

"We'll draw up a contract. Polly, just think about this. Politics will always continue to be corrupt and fueled by money, but we can try and change things. We can make a difference, just like Tanner is trying to."

She pushed her back up against the wall. She saw his logic, but she didn't want to see it, not one bit. She didn't want to marry him, business deal or not. Her palms felt sweaty, and her heart was beating hard in her chest, and she couldn't find an ounce of trust in Alex.

"There has to be a different way. A way where we don't get married."

She could understand what he wanted and why he wanted it, but her involvement in it just wasn't enough to make her want to follow through with it. Marrying him meant sacrificing things she never wanted to sacrifice. It was serious, and it wasn't a game. Marriage was real.

"You're mother said that marrying you would secure the business for me, because she doesn't think it'll happen. She knows you're gay, but as long as I try, it'll make the camp seem real. The people in her social circle? I'm sure they know about us. She wants to make her life easier. All I'm suggesting is ruin it."

Polly wiped her hands on her dress, then stood up from her position on the floor. She was shaking, wishing she'd never learned about Alex and his agenda. She knew marriage was the end goal for him, but now knowing why, it made her want to be ally. But, he was the type of boy she couldn't trust. He wasn't Minny, he wasn't Lennard. He had his own agenda.

There was a quick knock at the door, and before either could react, the door swung open. It was Polly's mother, her face twisted in anger as she stared at her daughter. Polly's mind reeled as she looked at her mother, praying she wouldn't look at the table where she'd been drawing.

She didn't have to worry about that. "We need to go, Pauline."

Polly stayed put. "But I'm hanging out with Alex."

Her mother stepped into the room and grabbed Polly's wrist, yanking her forward harshly. Polly stumbled, then looked at Alex with wide eyes, wondering what could have happened in the short span of time to make her mother so angry. She imagined that perhaps she'd overheard their conversation, but it was worse than that.

"Do you want to know what came in the mail today?" Her mother snarled as they descended the stairs, Polly barely keeping up with her mother. Alex followed feebly, but didn't interfere.

Polly had no clue. "No?"
Her mother spun to look into Polly's eyes, trying to read her expression. "A court hearing. Your uncle wants full custody."

Polly didn't dare smile, but she felt the hope balloon in her chest. He wants custody of me. He cares. It was something that Polly had never dared to hope for, and now that it was happening, everything shifted. Alex and his marriage shifted. All her problems shifted. Even the worries of the election shifted.

She'd be safe with her uncle.

"I didn't know." She managed to get out, keeping her expression neutral.

"And I don't believe you." Her mother opened the front door, yanking Polly from the house, her movements angry and violent.

"Mother, you've had me on lockdown! How on earth would I plan this? I don't have a phone, I don't have internet access, and my friends haven't come to visit."

Her mother opened the passenger side door and pushed Polly inside the car. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up. You're just as much the devil child I thought you were. You've always made our lives horrible. You've always screwed everything up!"

Polly was used to these accusations, but they still hurt. They still made her want to curl up and cry.

"When is the court hearing?"

Her mother didn't look at her. She tightened the grip on the steering wheel and sped home, her mind trying to conjure up ways to get out of this mess. But for Polly, she knew she was close to the freedom she deserved. As long as she lived to see the court date. 

* * *

Okay my skeleton children, how do you feel about this?

About Alex and his plans?

And about what'll happen to Polly when she gets home with her mother?

This story is coming to a quick end. I only have 4 more chapters left, I think. If everything goes accordingly

I love you all! XOXO