Page 38 of Wylder and the Secret Rockstar
“It’s just some colored hair wax.” She shrugged, missing the weight of her dreads on her shoulders. In a way, she felt like cutting her hair gave her a fresh start. But at the same time, all her old problems were still closing in on her.
“Why didn’t you comb out your dreads instead? Don’t girls with long hair freak out if they have to cut it?”
“Honestly, I didn’t even think about it until after. I never would have had the patience for all that work. It took Ki—er … it took me forever to comb out the ends after I cut it. I had about eighty dreads, it would have taken a week or more to brush them out. I probably would have ended up shaving my head halfway through it anyway.”
“It looks good on you.”
“It’s amazing how much easier it is. There were so many things I couldn’t do with long dreads. Even putting them in a ponytail was a chore. And I couldn’t go swimming because it was too hard to dry my hair, and the chemicals wouldn’t wash out. You have to be super careful about buildup with dreads because they can mold, and that’s super gross.”
“How long did you have them?”
“Like five years.”
“So you haven’t been swimming in five years?” Logan asked. “That’s awful.”
“It really is.” Wylder sat up, checking the time on the bedside clock.
“Uh-oh, what’s that look for.” Logan sat up on the bed. “I’ve been told to watch out for that look.”
“Let’s get out of here. I have an idea.” Wylder grabbed his hand and pulled him off the bed.
“We should be working on our song.” Logan reluctantly followed her.
“Do you really feel like being creative tonight?’
“Honestly, no. I’m kind of impressed I’m not in a food coma right now.”
“Keep up.” Wylder shoved her feet into her sneakers and headed into the hall. She needed a distraction tonight. A way to feel like the old Wylder and know she was still there.
“Where are we going?” Logan followed her down to the basement.
“Quiet,” she hissed.
“It’s past curfew, we can’t be out this late.” He really wasn’t supposed to be in her dorm room so late, but because they had to work together on a group project, he had special permission to visit her in the evenings so they could work.
“Curfew’s for losers.” Wylder led him into the dark basement. “Are you a loser, Logan Cook?” She arched her brow and turned to tiptoe across the dark storage room to the stairs leading up to ground level at the back of the building.
“Are you trying to bully me?” Logan laughed.
“Is it working?” She glanced at the time on her phone.
“What are we waiting for?” He folded his arms across his chest. “Courage?”
“Shift change.” She cracked the door, peeking out into the night.
“You’ve done this before?”
Wylder snorted. “Have you met me? Follow me.” Wylder darted through the door, running for the cover of trees along the path down to the stables.
“Wylder, wait!” Logan whisper-shouted as he followed.
Laughing, she jogged down to the hiking trails, far from the security patrols before she stopped, clutching her sides and panting for breath.
“I’m way too full to be running like that.” Logan wheezed as he came to a stop beside her. “What are you up to?” He scowled in the moonlight filtering down through the trees, but she could see the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“You’ll see.” She took off down the trail to the lake. As the trail opened up to the lake and the clear night sky above, Wylder threw her arms up. “Did you know we had a lake?”
“Yeah, it’s on the school map, and the trails go all over this area.”
