Page 44 of Wylder & the Rising Rockstar
Diego laughed. “He wasn’t awful.”
“Whatever you say, D.” She locked the door behind her as they filed into the hall.
They’d just come from the dining hall, and she wanted to ask them about Logan, but she couldn’t find the words.
Outside, the world was covered in a fresh blanket of snow. The school had been slowly decorating the buildings with Christmas lights, even wrapping them around light poles. It was normally Wylder’s favorite time of year. As the semester wound down to Winter break, she had two entire weeks of hanging out with her parents to look forward to, two weeks off campus where there were no strict rules, no classmates watching every move she made, no security.
She’d get to see Nicky for Christmas along with a lot of their other friends who’d come into town. Becks wouldn’t be around because he was busy promoting his new Christmas album with a series of special concerts and appearances, but they’d celebrated Christmas in July with him for that very reason.
Yet, now she couldn’t even let that excitement change her mood. Logan broke up with her. He ended their relationship before they’d even really gotten started, and she knew she’d go home only to wallow in that all break.
To feel sorry for herself.
“Stupid cold,” she grumbled as she hugged her arms across the front of her puffy coat. Sure, she loved the holiday season, but that didn’t mean she didn’t wish it was in the summer instead.
Diego and Devyn shared a look. “You okay, Wylds?” Diego’s voice was soft, like he didn’t know if it was his place to ask her.
She offered him a small smile. “I’m okay, D.”
Devyn snorted. “Well, that’s a lie.”
Wylder was about to come back with a retort when her foot hit a patch of ice, and a scream left her mouth as her legs flew out from under her. She hit the ground with what felt like every inch of her erupting in pain. “Stupid winter.” She groaned. “Blasted, dumb, freaking winter.”
A hand appeared in front of her face, and she followed the path from long fingers up over the strong arm she knew so well. Logan’s eyes met hers, no emotion showing in their depths.
Wordlessly, she took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. He let go as soon as she balanced herself, and she missed his touch immediately.
With a shake of his head, he rushed down the path to the quad.
“Logan,” Wylder said, but her voice wasn’t loud enough, and he didn’t turn.
Devyn let out a low whistle. “That dude just can’t resist a Wylder in distress.”
Her eyes followed him in the distance, wanting him to turn back, to look at her like he used to. Before he found out about her lie, every look he threw her way was curious, like he wanted nothing more than to figure her out. She’d been a puzzle to him, and he’d put the pieces together, revealing more and more of who the real Wylder was until he almost reached the truth.
Devyn slid her arm through Wylder’s. “Have to make sure you don’t fall flat on your face again.”
“You okay?” Diego asked as they continued toward the quad.
Wylder knew Diego only meant to ask about the fall, if she’d been hurt. He was always straightforward that way.
But the truth was, she wasn’t okay, and it had nothing to do with the ache in her back where she’d landed or the embarrassment.
They reached English, and Wylder had fully prepared herself for their awful sub, but it wasn’t him writing notes on the whiteboard. Instead, Ms. Jones herself smiled at Wylder as she walked in. “Good morning.”
Wylder tried to force a smile. “Hi, Headmistress. Are you teaching us today?”
“Yes, Mr. Carlisle has not been invited back to the academy. We’ve had reports about his attitude toward our students, and that is not how we expect Defiance Academy teachers to act. And as all substitutes require background checks to teach our students, we could not find an available one last minute.”
At the public school, they’d had substitutes all the time, but she guessed the academy had to do things differently to protect their students. Having Ms. Jones was better than that other douche.
Wylder couldn’t take her eyes off Logan as she walked to her seat. He wasn’t in his usual chair behind her. He kept his eyes trained on the desk, refusing to look at her.
Dejected, she slid behind her desk. Wetness seeped through her pants as the snow in her tail melted. Great. Not only did she have an angry Logan refusing to look at her, she felt like she’d peed herself.
Diego gave her an encouraging smile, but she couldn’t return it. If English was bad, contemporary music would be downright torture.
Wylder barely heard anything Ms. Jones said during class. When the bell rang, she gathered her things, stuffing them in her bag, and considered skipping music altogether.
