"Are you ready?"
Gryphon was shaking in his seat. He was nervous, beyond belief. Of course he was; this was not like talking at a talk show, or being interviewed like before. Tanner and his father were going to go head to head, and he would be there, with them all.
And, to add more drama to it, he and Tanner hadn't even had a proper conversation since Tanner had confessed his feelings for him. He had so many questions that hadn't been answered, and his chest suddenly always felt tight, and he was always craving cigarettes.
If Tanner was someone different, if he wasn't running for Governor, Gryphon would act on his feelings. But, Tanner was in the lights, always in headliners, always being watched. Him being gay? That would change the results of the election for sure.
I want you too, Gryphon. I want you too.
They'd traveled miles to Burlington, and now wasn't the time to flake. Now wasn't the time to back out, so Gryphon took a deep breath and nodded. He wanted to reach for Tanner's hand to give it a squeeze, but he held himself back.
Somewhere, in another room getting ready, was Tanner's father. Straightening his tie, or going over his answers. Somewhere, Tanner's father was ready to take them down, like he had been during the entire election period.
Gryphon watched Tanner mess with his own tie, fiddling with the position. Unlike Gryphon, he looked ready for action, with his expression determined and his demeanor confident. He was ready for the fight that would ensue, and he wasn't going to back down, not now.
"I'm ready. I'm just... nervous. I won't be up there with you tonight. Will you be okay?"
Tanner turned to face him, his dark hair gelled back. He looked dangerous, lethal, ready to fight for gay rights. Ready to be Governor. In that moment, he looked more grown up than Gryphon had ever seen him. "I'll be fine, Gryph. My father is an asshole who's had it too good for far too long."
Gryphon turned away from Tanner, trying to ignore his feelings towards the older boy. Not a moment later, Lennard stepped through the door of the room they were in, looking more stressed out than Tanner did.
Both brothers wore similar suits, but the difference in age made Lennard seem a little too young to be involved in intense politics, such as becoming Governor. "Tanner, you ready? You go on in five."
Tanner nodded, looking at ease in his chair. "I'm going to squash dad like the bug he is."
Lennard crossed the room and put his hands on Tanner's shoulders, bending low to look into his eyes. "Remember, take what dad taught us, and play it back to him ten times worse."
Tanner grinned, standing up and knocking Lennard's hands off of his shoulders. He placed a hand on Lennard's head and ruffled his groomed hair. "Don't worry lil bro, you've got nothing to worry about. Heart beats politics."
Lennard sure hoped Tanner was right.
Tanner was called from the room from a staff worker, and Gryphon and Lennard both looked at each other, their breath caught in their throats. This was the first time Tanner would go head to head with his father, and both boys knew this was a make-or-break situation.
Gryphon's phone chimed in his pocket, and he fished it out in time to see his Minny's contact number flash on the screen. He pressed the phone to his ear, intrigued. "Benjamin?"
"Gryphon, hey. I'm calling because we've heard some stuff we thought you'd be interested in hearing."
Lennard met Gryphon's eyes. "I'm going out to listen. I'll see you out there?"
Gryphon nodded. "What do you have for me?"
"Tanner is ahead of our father in the race right now. They just put up the poll, and Tanner is ahead by a lot. So don't let our father get into his head during the debate tonight."
Gryphon looked at the clock in the room, and winced. "Tanner is already out there, he's already debating with your father. So, guess he'll have to do without that good news until he comes back afterwards."
"Damn. Alright, well, everyone back home is rooting for him, not our dad. We have a good chance at this."
Gryphon agreed; they did have a good chance at winning this. "How is the plan with Polly coming along?"
There was a pause on the other line. "I don't actually know. Kenzie went and met with Polly's uncle today, but I don't know what they talked about. I'm hoping it went well though. If things work out, we'll have her out before the election happens."
That was what Gryphon liked to hear. "Sweet. Alright, I'm going to let you go. I want to hear what Tanner is saying. I'm getting anxiety not being able to hear his answers, y'know?"
"Yeah. We have it on the television here. Oh, Kenzie just came in. Wait one sec," Gryphon waited, hearing Minny call over Kenzie and ask her about Polly. Gryphon couldn't hear Kenzie's answer, but he didn't have to. "Kenzie said that they're moving with the second step. Polly's uncle is waiting for a court date now, and then the court will contact Polly's parents."
Gryphon liked to hear that news. "Awesome. Things are really coming together in our favor, finally. We'll all be able to relax once she's safe again."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Okay, I'll let you go. Kenzie's gettin' worked up about something on the television. Oh, damn, our father just said something good. I'll talk to you later." Then he hung up.
Gryphon looked at the phone in his hand for a moment before he put it back in his pocket. Hearing that Polly was already being saved made him feel better about the situation, but the anxiety of how Tanner was doing was eating at him.
He left the room to stand where Lennard was watching Tanner from the wings of the stage. Tanner looked at ease, his back straight and his hands gripping the podium relaxed. It was Tanner's father who looked more agitated at the moment.
"Tanner's doing well," Lennard offered, cutting Gryphon a glance.
Gryphon played with the ends of his button up shirt. "Great. I can't wait for this to be over."
Lennard chuckled, but offered nothing else on the topic. Gryphon pictured Minny, Kenzie, and Tom all squeezed together watching Tanner back home, and it made his chest tighten at the thought of this family he'd found himself in. He was used to it being just him and his mom, but suddenly he had friends that actually cared for him.
His life was screwed up, but it was getting better. It was becoming worth it.
"You kids are going to lose."
Gryphon and Lennard looked to their left at a grown man and woman standing together, looking important in their outfits. The man held a briefcase, his gaze serious and intimidating.
Lennard didn't bow down. "Pearson. Nice to see you again. I see you've gained weight."
The man bristled at that, his expression changing to anger. The woman beside him narrowed her gaze as well, her eyes taking in the sight of Gryphon and Lennard as if they were disrespectful teenagers.
"Lennard, I see you didn't ever listen to your father's lessons like you should have. You and Tanner may think you understand the game, but you don't. Your father is a master at this. It's laughable that you think you have a fighting chance at winning."
Lennard let out a dry laugh, his pose relaxed. Gryphon didn't understand how he could act so cool. "Pearson, we both know you're talking to us because you feel threatened by our presence. You weren't expecting us kids to be so good at this, right? Well, we learned from the best, now didn't we? Father wasn't expecting his prim and proper children to go against him, now did he?"
The woman grabbed Lennard's upper arm tightly in her manicured hands. "You little-"
"Relax, darlin'. Lennard and I understand each other, don't we?"
Lennard offered a sardonic smile, completely at ease. "How is your son? Alex, wasn't it? How come I don't see him here?"
Pearson's smile was tight. "You know that Alex lives with his mother in Oklahoma. I'm surprised you remembered his name, since you dropped out of school. You must have been bad at learning, right?"
Gryphon wanted to pull Lennard away from the situation, but he wasn't backing down. "And I'm surprised that your mini me wants to live with his mommy more than you. How does that make you feel? That your one and only son wants nothing to do with you? I bet you and my father can bond over that, am I right?"
The woman sneered at Lennard like she smelled sour milk. "You know nothing about my son-in-law."
Lennard put his hands in his pockets and grinned. "Oh? Maybe you're right and I don't know anything about Alex. But I do know that he's not here right now, is he? Guess he's not the little politician you always thought he'd be, huh?"
Both Pearson and the woman said nothing, their faces telling exactly how they were feeling at that moment. Lennard had the upperhand, and he knew it. "Now, Pearson I'm sorry, but I have to go watch my brother wipe the floor with our father. Not my fault that we're better at this than our teachers. But, you guys were getting kinda old, anyway. Can't blame you for being off your A-game."
Lennard turned and began to walk away, and Gryphon hastily followed, wanting to look over his shoulder at the two. He didn't dare, as Lennard led them to a quieter space backstage, where the two could no longer overhear them.
"What was that? Who was that?" Gryphon dared a look back at them, watching as Pearson pulled out his phone.
"Dave Pearson. He's my father's campaign manager. The two go way back. In fact, Dave was in on the start of the camp, back when Tanner lived in Oklahoma with his mom. Before his mom died. Our father would go visit Tanner, and met Dave down there. The two shared similar views, and started up the camp after Tanner's mother died. Our father had a second house down there, where he and Tanner often lived together. They started the camp, got Tanner to become a young priest in the churches there, and then set him up in the camp. Our father moved back to Vermont, and then Dave moved here when he and his wife got divorced."
It suddenly all made sense, to Gryphon. Sure, he'd been sent to the camp, but it was normal for children all over the country to go to this camp in Oklahoma. He wasn't the only one who was from the East Coast there. But, now it made sense on how the camp had been located there, but the Nichols lived in Vermont.
"And, Polly lives in Oklahoma. So that's how she knew Tanner when he was a priest."
Lennard nodded. "Exactly. Dave and my father have been partners for like, ever, but Dave's son Alex has always disliked him. Which is hilarious, because Alex is very similar to him. He's just as obnoxious as his father. But, he definitely doesn't want our father to win the election, just because his father is involved."
"How do you know that? Are you two friends?"
Lennard laughed, like he found the idea funny. "No, we're not. Not really. But we do keep in touch, sometimes. When he found out that Tanner was going against our father, he contacted me about it."
The roar of applause suddenly spooked both Lennard and Gryphon, enough to make them look over and realize that Tanner was almost done the debate. They'd basically missed the entire thing, but Gryphon almost felt more at ease that way. Tanner didn't look upset as he came off stage.
When he approached them, his grin was infectious. "Did you see that? I crushed dad. He's totally not going to win this. We've got this in the bag."
* * *
Happy Friyay!!
I hope everyone is out of school, enjoying summer! If not, hold in there!!
I know, this is kinda filler-y but it's important. More background on Alex... kinda
I'm anticipating this story ending at around Chapter 65, and that's coming up fast.... YIKES
I love you all!! XOXO