Page 30 of Wylder and the Almost Rockstar
Her dad gave her an indulgent grin. “Didn’t do what?”
“Whatever you’ve been called here for.”
The doors opened again, letting in a blast of cold air as two uniformed police officers walked through. Wylder’s eyes widened. Did they know she’d been stealing from the dining hall? “It was only some French toast,” she said. “And maybe some chips and ice cream and—”
“Wylds.” Her dad put a hand on each shoulder as he stood. “You’re not in trouble.”
“Oh.” Relief flooded her. “Right. I knew that.”
“But do we need to have a chat about why you started listing off foods?”
“Absolutely not.”
Her stepmom stood and pulled her into the kind of hug Wylder missed living at the academy.
“Oh, this is nice.” Wylder hugged her back. She caught Logan’s eye over her stepmom’s shoulder, and some emotion she couldn’t place flashed across his face. She pulled back and turned to Logan.
“Mom, Dad, this is Logan Cook and his older brother Sebastian.” It should have been weird, her parents meeting the teacher she’d had a relationship with. But Sebastian was all professional.
He stuck out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you both. Wylder is a bright girl.”
Her dad clasped Sebastian’s hand. “I’ve been saying that for years. It’s nice to hear she finally has teachers who believe it too.”
Hello, embarrassment.
Wylder’s cheeks flamed at the insinuation all her previous teachers had written her off. It wasn’t untrue, but she didn’t need Sebastian’s pity.
“Why don’t we go into my office?” Ms. Jones, Wylder’s saving grace.
They crowded into the office that had once seemed gigantic and now felt way too small. Wylder let her parents take the two available chairs and stood to the right of them with Logan, the boy who wouldn’t look at her.
She elbowed him, “What’s wrong?”
He only shrugged and focused on the two officers who stood across the room with Sebastian.
Ms. Jones sat behind her desk and folded her hands. “Thank you all for joining me today. Here at Defiance Academy, we take a breach of privacy very seriously because we know how it can affect the influential families who send their children here. Breaking an NDA is not officially a crime, but the Riverpass Police force has offered their help to determine who the culprit is. It’s imperative we find the breach in our security. Have no doubt, this is a security issue.” She nodded to the officers, and one of them stepped forward.
“I’m Officer Sarish,” she said, her voice slightly accented. “You’ve all been asked to come here so we can assure you we will do everything in our power to protect your children.”
Wylder’s dad rubbed his chin. “How did this even happen?”
“I can assure you, Mr. Anderson, we are looking into that. For now, Defiance Academy events will continue, but with strict security measures in place. Students will no longer be allowed to enter school events with electronic devices. At least, for the time being.”
Wylder shared an alarmed look with Logan. Their classmates were going to be so angry. They were obsessed with their phones. What would the annoying girls do if they couldn’t sit in the arena and ignore the hockey game by scrolling on their phones? The horror! “Are you sure this is the right path, Ms. Jones?” She tried to keep her voice even.
Ms. Jones offered her a smile of understanding. “Yes. This incident has caused damage to the Cook family, and we are sorry for that. But kids, we have students here who are the children of politicians, foreign operatives, and other high-profile people. Defiance Academy was chosen because of our ability to keep their lives secret. It’s much more than careers at stake for some of them. It’s their safety. We cannot let this happen again and will take all necessary steps—even those our students will not like—to prevent a recurrence.”
Wylder leaned back against the wall, shrinking away from the conversation as her parents and Sebastian continued speaking with the police about the next steps. She didn’t look up until Ms. Jones said her name.
“Wylder, we need a list of anyone you think may have done this. People who might have wanted others to see your wonderful performance.”
“No.” She shook her head. “There’s no one. No one likes me.”
The adults in the room shared looks like they were waiting to see if she was kidding.
Ms. Jones cleared her throat. “Enemies then. People who’d have wanted to hurt you. Logan, we need a list from you too.”
Wylder hugged her arms across her chest. “I could just give you a yearbook. That would be my list. Oh, and I’d start with the security guards. They hate me the most.” She kept her eyes on her feet, unable to look at her parents. She’d never had an easy time being liked, but she’d never been embarrassed about it before.
