Page 54 of Wylder & the Rising Rockstar
“Yes!” Wylder wrapped her arms around her middle. “Who would do such a thing?”
Devyn’s laughter bubbled up in her throat, spilling out as she shook her head. “Priceless.” She wiped at her eyes, turning back to her room, and taking a vegan ice-cream bar with her.
More laughter followed even after Devyn closed her bedroom door.
“It’s not funny!” Wylder eyed the offensive salads, her stomach rumbling for a plate of midnight nachos. She shoved the food back into the refrigerator, sorting through the protein bars and jars of vegan soup, looking for anything she might like. Okay, she’d eat the protein bars normally, but it was the principle of the thing.
“Can’t really go wrong with a cereal bar.” She tore into the wrapper, sniffing the contents. It smelled like cinnamon. But there weren’t any graham cracker bits or marshmallows. It did have chocolate chunks, so it couldn’t be too bad. She took a bite and chewed … and chewed. “Gross.” She spit it into the trashcan. “So not chocolate.” She scowled at the wrapper. “Carob? What in the world is carob, and why is it masquerading as chocolate?”
Wylder crammed everything else into the cabinets and went in search of food. She knew the right place for it too.
Sneaking into the boys’ wing after hours was easy when you knew exactly when security made their rounds. Right now, the night security officer was busy watching his stories down at the first-floor security desk. She had at least thirty minutes to creep down the halls, avoiding the cameras and counting on the security guard’s attention being elsewhere.
“Diego?” She whispered as she stepped into the suite he shared with Will. “You still working?” She closed the door behind her.
“Wylder? What are you doing? It’s past curfew.” Diego peered over his enormous computer screen.
“Since when has that stopped me? I need some real food, D. I’m starving.” She moved to their small kitchen, sorting through the cabinets. “Popcorn would do it.” She set a bag of buttery popcorn on the counter.
“Um, help yourself.” Diego continued to clack on his computer keys.
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“There’s some leftover barbecue eel in the fridge if you want it.”
“Definitely not.” Wylder turned to Will’s cabinet, hoping to find something not on the hockey team’s list of approved foods.
“Ugh, protein bars. And not even the good kind.” She almost cried.
“There’s pizza in the fridge too.” Diego went back to his computer coding.
“Oh, Diego, will you marry me?” She dove for the leftovers and grabbed one of Will’s precious Coke Zeros he would kill her for stealing later.
“You know I’m gay, Wylds. Why do you keep asking?” Diego pushed his glasses up, not sparing her a glance from his screen.
“Because I love you, and one of these days I’m going to convince you to run away with me.”
“You’re teasing me, right?” Diego pushed away from his desk to join her on the couch.
“Yes. But I do love you.” She scooted over to make room for him on the small sofa.
“You know that’s better when it’s reheated?” He wrinkled his nose at the cold pizza.
“Too hungry to wait.” She took another huge bite.
“Did you finally run out of food?” Diego helped himself to a slice, moving to the kitchen to grab a plate and throw it in the microwave.
Wylder shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just too horrible.” But now that she had some good brain food in her stomach, she knew who the culprit was, and Luke Cook was a dead man.
* * *
“Hey, Mr. Funny Man.” Wylder flipped Luke’s hat off just outside her English Lit classroom. This was his first day of classes at the academy, and she had the immense pleasure of his company in her way-too-early first class that already had more Cook brothers than she could handle. “What do you have to say for yourself?” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot against the tiled floor.
“I don’t know what you mean?” He smirked down at her, the brim of his worn cowboy hat throwing his face in shadow.
“You mess with my food, you’re going to regret it.”
“Someone messed with your food? That’s terrible.”
