Page 25 of Wylder and the Almost Rockstar
“I’m aware.”
“How? Why?”
Logan lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Long story, but before you get a big head, it wasn’t because you came to Nashville to stalk me.”
Translation—It was totally because of her. Wylder grinned.
“Stop grinning like you’re proud of yourself. I said it wasn’t you.”
She leaned toward him, dropping her voice. “Liar.”
“Stop.”
“No.”
“Please.” That time he couldn’t help smiling.
“Why?”
He didn’t get a chance to answer before someone else broke their bubble. “Did you really punch Luke Cook?”
She didn’t give them an answer as she turned from Logan and hung her head over her notes. She should have known better than to tease Luke about his shiner on Twitter. Leave it to Becks to run with her little dig and tell the Twittersphere all about how she’d punched his rival.
Wylder tried several times to get Logan’s attention again, but he refused to look up from his desk, not that she could blame him with all the staring and whispers.
Halfway through class, someone knocked on the door, and their headmistress escorted a team of lawyers into the room. “Sorry to interrupt your class, Mr. Cook. This won’t take long.”
“Not a problem.” Sebastian took his seat behind his desk. “Take as long as you need.”
“Unfortunately, every now and then, our administration has to remind our students about our privacy policies.” Ms. Jones addressed the classroom as one of the lawyer types passed around thick black folders to each student.
“You are receiving a copy of our privacy policies, which you will all read, sign, and return before the end of class. Defiance Academy prides itself on its ability to provide a safe haven for our students. A retreat from the limelight so you may focus your attention on your studies. Sons, daughters, and siblings of celebrities, politicians and the like attend the academy, and we will provide that safe haven. The media is not allowed behind our walls, nor are our students allowed to submit videos or photographs to media outlets, including YouTube, Tik Tok, and Instagram. Need I remind you it is grounds for immediate dismissal and potential lawsuits for you and your families.” Ms. Jones took a step back, allowing one of the suits to address the class.
“I am Anthony Willis, lead attorney for Defiance Academy. I am working with a team of lawyers to handle the recent leak of a video of two of our students whose privacy was violated by the leak. We will not allow such activity, and the culprit will be found, I assure you. If anyone has a question about what is and is not allowed, please come to us now or call, text, or email us anonymously at the contact information provided in the folios you’ve just received.”
Several hands shot up in the air, and the lawyers spent most of the remainder of class answering silly questions about what kinds of social media posts were acceptable and what were considered a privacy violation.
The looks thrown Wylder and Logan’s ways increased. Most probably blamed them for the crackdown when neither of them had anything to do with the leaked YouTube video that had over a million hits by now.
“We’d like a moment with Ms. Anderson and both Mr. Cooks if we may?” Mr. Willis asked as the bell rang, and his team collected the student’s completed NDA forms.
Wylder and Logan reluctantly kept their seats as the room emptied.
Ms. Jones waved them forward to sit in the front row. “You both have my apologies. Your school failed you, and for that, I am deeply sorry. We should have contained the situation long before any real damage was done.”
“We know it wasn’t the school’s fault,” Sebastian said, sounding weary.
“You have our word, we will do everything we can to keep this from happening again,” Mr. Willis said in a tone that sounded like he was begging Sebastian not to sue the school. “Logan, Wylder.” He turned his attention on them. “You will be happy to know, we’ve finally gotten the video removed from YouTube, and we are diligently working to remove every trace of it from the internet.”
Logan only nodded, keeping his head down.
“Thanks,” Wylder murmured, but she was afraid the damage was already done, and they were too late to change anything now.
8
“The boy still won’t talk to me.” Wylder tossed her messenger bag onto the sofa beside Devyn, who leapt to cover her lap with a history textbook. After their brief classroom conversation, Logan had completely ignored her. Ms. Jones and the lawyers’ stark reminder of what happened probably weighed heavily on his mind.
“What are you hiding?” Wylder stood with her hands on her hips.
