Page 8 of Wylder and the Secret Rockstar
Disappointment shone in his eyes. Was he hoping she’d be a good student, that he could justify himself with the knowledge she was a star? “That’s a shame, Miss Anderson. Please take your seat, and I will find someone more prepared.”
Miss Anderson. So cold, so distant.
“I didn’t read about their love because I was a little busy, Mr. Cook.”
His eyes held to hers in challenge. “Busy doing what?”
“Falling in love.”
With those words, she practically ran from the room. There’d be no going to his office, no explaining the words that had fallen from her lips, the words she didn’t know the truth of.
Outside, she gulped air and tried to still her shaking hands. It didn’t seem real.
She wasn’t supposed to see him again, summer flings weren’t supposed to reappear, to make one’s heart ache in a way only heartbreak could.
Because summer flings weren’t supposed to break hearts.
She lowered herself to a stone bench in the middle of the quad, knowing in only a few minutes students would flood from the buildings, filling her silence with their noise.
And she’d welcome it, because this time, the silence was too dang loud.
3
“This is not happening.” Wylder paced the length of the dorm she finally had to herself. It was bigger than the one she’d shared with Devyn last year, but she could barely take more than four steps across the room before she had to turn around, and Wylder needed tomove.She needed to get out of here.
Obviously, she needed to transfer schools and change her name, because she couldn’t be the girl who dated her teacher.
“Gross.” Wylder snatched her suitcase from under the bed and started piling her clothes in a heap. Her parents would understand.
Except for the part where she had to tell them she fell in love with her teacher before she knew he was her teacher. They would never understand that.
“Ugh. How did this even happen?” She sank down onto her bed with a sob. Since the moment Sebastian left for his ‘new job’ Wylder wanted nothing more than to see him one more time—even though she knew it wouldn’t happen. Just once more to remind her of the incredible summer they’d spent together. A summer she would remember for the rest of her life. The first time she’d allowed herself to love someone—to experience what so many of her friends had. And it had been just a taste of the real thing. Letting Sebastian go had been the hardest thing she had ever done, because Wylder Anderson didn’t let anyone get close. She had friends. Great friends, but she was never one to risk her heart. With Sebastian, from the very beginning, she’d known they had an expiration date. It was her safety net—knowing it would never last long enough for her to get hurt.
It was a summer fling, and it was amazing. It was exactly what she’d needed. But it wasn’t supposed to follow her to Defiance Academy, and it definitely wasn’t supposed to be teaching her English Lit class.
“There you are.” Diego peeked his head into her room. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Sorry,” Wylder muttered. “Didn’t mean to ditch you.”
“Why did you run out of class? It wasn’t over yet. You should have stayed. Mr. Cook let us out early.”
Wylder cracked a smile at his adorably confused expression. “Sit.” She cleared a corner of her bed for him.
“Haven’t you unpacked yet?” He frowned at her suitcase.
“I was packing.” Wylder sighed, her shoulders drooping in defeat as she realized the truth. Leaving school wasn’t an option.
“Packing? We just got here. School’s not on break yet until Thanksgiving.”
Wylder laughed, feeling some of the tension ease from her body. “I love you, Diego.” She clapped a hand on his back.
“You know I care about you too, Wylder, but I’m with Killian.”
Wylder rolled her eyes. “I love you in a non-romantic kind of way.”
“So, why did you run out of class? Did you not like the new teacher? He’s really kind of great. Very knowledgeable in the Literary sphere.”
“Oh, liking him isn’t the problem.” Wylder stood and scooped up a mound of her clothes and flung them in the closet.
