Three things that never happened at Wilderness
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1.

"Pipes."

Piper moaned, flinging a pillow at her best friend. She had no idea how Leo managed to sneak into her dorm room, but the boy was full of surprises.

"It's a nice day." Leo teased. From the reflection on her nightstand she could tell he was smiling one of his crooked, I'm-up-to-no-good smiles. "Too bad you're cooped up here, unable to go to the dance. They have actual junk food there!"

The thoughts swelled inside her, making her nauseous. Of course, Piper didn't mean it literally when she told Melissa, one of Isabel's cronies to go slam her head against the wall. And the truth somehow got twisted so that troubling Piper was banned from probably the only event Wilderness throws all year long. Too bad, because she would've killed for store-brought soda. The Wilderness school had the most limited amounts of junk food than any other place she knew.

"Get up." She felt a hand on her arm, which she made a weak attempt to shrug off. "I've got a surprise for you."

As always. Piper smirked to herself. It was better than feeling sorry for herself all night. She quickly ruffled her hair and tucked her chocolate brown strands behind her ear. She learnt that over the past few months following Leo could either lead you to great amounts of joy or trouble - and she was fine with either.

They checked the hall for teachers, but they were attached like magnets to the lame eighties music playing downstairs. They only had to duck once into the janitor's closet (when the janitor walked past), but that was it. Leo navigated Wilderness like it was his own house, so all Piper had to do was keep up.

A few corridors later, Leo stopped in front of a door. He took a thin piece of metal out of his jeans pocket and jammed it into the keyhole. Piper thought the school's security had been way too loose considering the fact they were dealing with delinquents, and that proved it.

"Impressed?" Leo winked.

"I could do that." She snorted, though she had to smile. She couldn't be a so-called "kleptomaniac" without knowing the oldest trick in the book, could she?

Leo reached up and pulled down a set of ladders with difficulty, his bony fingers gripping it so tightly Piper thrust her hand up to help him.

When Piper saw what the ladder led up to, she gasped despite herself. The wind blew straight at her face, whipping her hair away her view. She thought that if she reached upwards, she could touch a star. Lit up buildings surrounded them, and for the first time since the day she came Wilderness school didn't look so lonely. It was the roof, somewhere not even some of the biggest rebels there had managed to brag about trespassing - they weren't smart enough.

"Leo!" She screeched, blocking the door with bricks. "Now I'm impressed!"

"That was my goal all along." Was his only reply. Piper wanted to hug Leo for turning her detention into a adventurous night. She actually loved the feeling of being an rebel when there was someone to share that with.

She gazed into the night, adjusting to the view. The coldness numbed her, yet neither of them shivered. Leo reached into a bag stashed at the corner of the building. "Pipes, catch."

A green transparent bottle flew towards her, which she caught with surprise. It was a full bottle of Pepsi, the two liter type that could fill at least four plastic cups. A rush of warmth flooded through her.

"You know me so well, Valdez."

2.

The Wilderness dining room was chaos. All around them, students had fork fights and massive arguments that always end with blood. The teachers usually turned a blind eye to this stuff, after all, that was the behavior they expected.

Piper picked at her pizza, half glancing at Leo, who was eating at a fast speed beside her. The other half of her was keeping an eye out for Isabel and her crew.

"McLean!" A girly voice boomed behind her. She groaned. Isabel was right on cue.

"I woke up this morning to find my necklace missing, and I was thinking you stole it. Cause, you know, you're the first person I think about when I think 'kleptomaniac'." Her pathetic friends giggled behind her. Leo tensed up beside her, but Piper shot him a sign – let me handle this.

"Isabel." Piper leveled her voice so it was steady and unfazed. "I didn't take your necklace. But while we're on the subject, did you drop a makeup bag near my dorm the other day? Cause, you know, you're the first thing I think of when I think 'makeup overload'."

Leo burst out laughing, spitting blobs of cheese across the room. Everyone muttered with distaste, and Isabel shrieked. "What are you laughing at, Spanish boy?"

Piper clenched her fist. She could take the insults, but racism targeted at her best friend was going too far. Leo stood up to bullies for her, it would only make sense for the partner in crime to do the same thing.

She flung her entire plate into Isabel's face – which succeeded in making her scream louder. Her cronies backed off slightly, looks of terror on their faces.

All hell broke loose. Leo stepped onto the table, yelling "food fight!" with a mouthful of pizza as he chucked more pizzas over at the mean girls. All the students were either participating or trying to dodge the flying pizza and broken plates. One of Isabel's stronger friends managed to push Piper over, and she toppled over with her back into the table of spoilt food.

Piper kicked a couple more plates towards her, knowing she couldn't take on the girl in an actual fight. Teachers ran around, trying to calm down the scene. All except for Coach Hedge, who seemed strangely amused by it.

She turned her head up at Leo, who looked like he was having the time of his life.

"Come on, beauty queen!" He urged. Without hesitation, Piper took his hand and jumped onto the table.

She was probably going to be writing lines for the rest of the week, as well as doing dish duties. But it doesn't matter anymore.

"Pipes?" Leo shouted at her, dodging another piece of pizza dough aiming for him.

"Yes?"

"Did you steal Isabel's necklace?"

Piper grinned, patting her pocket with enthusiasm. "Yes."

She decided, just for the high-five Leo gave her, the whole thing was worth it.

3.

Usually at night in the Wilderness school, Piper got the creeps. Maybe it was the way the lights in the hallway flickered like lightning, or the eerie noises that reminded her the school was built in the middle of nowhere. But with Leo by her side, roaming the halls in their pajamas, she never felt safer.

Leo dimmed his flashlight by blocking half of it with his palm. "Make a right turn one corridor later."

"Did you happen to memorize the whole school blueprint?" She half-joked, knowing she could be right on track. Leo's mischievous smile told her she was.

Neither of them were that much of food addicts. If they were, their weight combined would at least make a dent on Dylan – another school bully. It was the thrill of disobeying the rules. Once again, security failed to catch them.

They tiptoed into the kitchen, the excitement growing on both of them.

"Now, which one of these fridges is going to get raided by the awesome Leo Valdez?" Leo whispered, making Piper suppress a giggle.

"That one." She pointed at the first one she saw. The refrigerator light was alarmingly bright compared to the rest of the place.

Leo grabbed a carton of milk and a few other acceptable treats then shone his flashlight at a cupboard. "That's where they keep the cookies."

Piper glared at him with disbelief. "How did you…"

"I have the blueprint of Wilderness, remember?"

"And it labels which cabinet contains cookies?"

"Do you want cookies or not?"

She placed her bare foot onto the counter and slowly opened the cupboard. Sure enough, a few cookie jars filled with chocolate chip cookies filled up the space. "And they only give us one cookie every month." She said dryly.

"And what exactly are you doing?" A stern voice echoed through the kitchen.

Piper didn't let go of the cookie jar as she jumped off so she was beside Leo. The situation looked real bad, considering it was midnight and two students were holding milk and chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen with their pajamas on. And it happened to be Headmistress Angela that was staring them down.

She pulled her last resort – the trick she used many times and never failed her, as impossible as it sounds.

"Headmistress, you said we could take these, remember?" She put power into her voice, which she figured out was the key to persuasion. "Now, please, leave us alone."

They held their breath as they waited for an answer. Leo's face told her, If I'm getting expelled, you're coming down with me. Piper nodded.

Headmistress Angela looked confused and dazed. She shook her head, but left without another word.

Leo ogled at her with new found respect. "Pipes…"

They charged out of the kitchen and onto the rooftop – which had turned into their special meeting place when they figured out no one ever goes up there. They snacked on cookies and took turns drinking milk out of the carton, laughing so hard once so often they could not calm themselves down.

And that, she realized, was the life she always wanted.

This is just the type of life I assume Piper and Leo had before Jason rudely barged in. (IDK I don't like him much)

I just really like Leo and Piper/Leo.