All Chapters of Dirty Little Secrets : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

SUMMER'S POV "Well, Dark Bird," Mr. Noel’s voice cut through the quiet, sounding entirely hollow, stripped of the booming authority he usually threw around the club. He still wasn't looking at me, his eyes fixed on some arbitrary spot on his desk. "You heard him. You can resume work by the next night. Bring your A-game. Don't make me regret this." I didn't answer him. My throat felt like it was lined with sand.Instead, I turned my gaze to Kingsley, who was still standing, his knuckles white where his hands were balled into fists, his chest heaving under his damp jacket. The confusion and raw anger rolling off him were palpable, suffocating the tiny room. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle the judgment, the pity, or the sheer terror of what I had just done to my own future. Before he could open his mouth to demand the answers written all over his face, I grabbed his arm, and dragged Kingsley out of the office. He stumbled backward for a second, surprised by the sudden violence

SUMMER'S POV The rest of the week went by in a jagged, exhausting blur. Kingsley and I hadn't spoken a single word since our brutal clash in the dark alleyway behind the club. The echoing venom of the harsh words I’d hurled at him—calling him a clueless burden—haunted me every time I closed my eyes. I hated the suffocating guilt eating away at my chest, and I bitterly regretted pushing away the only person who had consistently tried to pull me out of the dark. But I hadn't found the right moment to apologize to him, especially not with the new nightmare unfolding in his own life. Kingsley's mother—after the sudden, terrifying appearance of Mr. Robert at their apartment—was still recovering at Saint Peter's Hospital. The shock had completely shattered her fragile health. George and I went to pay our respects and check on her over the weekend. Even resting against the sterile white hospital pillows, she was still the exact same sweet, protective woman who had warmly taken me in and

SUMMER'S POVThe silence in the small music studio felt heavy, thick, and suffocating. I was completely frozen, my eyes glued to the illuminated glass of my phone screen as the anonymous threat stared back at me. The picture of Kingsley and me hugging outside Saint Peter's Hospital felt like a noose tightening around my neck."Summer? Summer, are you okay?" Kingsley’s voice broke through the static buzzing in my ears. He leaned across the wooden table, his hand hovering just inches from my trembling arm, his brow furrowed with deep concern."You're white as a sheet," Kingsley said, his brow furrowing as his dark eyes locked onto mine. He stepped closer, the sheer intensity of his concern making the room feel microscopic. "What did that text say?"I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. Kingsley noticed my panic, his eyes dropping to the phone clenched tightly in my fist. He opened his mouth, clearly about to press me for answers, but before he could do that, his own phone suddenly buzzed

SUMMER'S POVThe final vibrating chord of the piano faded into the acoustic paneling, but the silence it left behind wasn’t empty. It was heavy, electric, and completely alive.The ugly, chaotic noise of the internet, the vile slurs of the campus gossip forum, and the suffocating weight of my double life had all vanished the moment our voices locked into harmony. In this small, locked room, there was only the beautiful, quiet sanctuary we had built out of notes and chords.But the music had stripped away my armor, leaving me completely exposed.Our breathing was synchronized, shallow and uneven in the tight space. The emotional climax of the song had brought us inches apart, our faces so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. Every micro-movement of our slow-burn tension felt magnified under a microscope. The agonizingly slow brush of our thighs on the narrow piano bench sent a dangerous current straight through my veins, and the lingering warmth where his hands had

GEORGE'S POV The heavy rain was hitting the courtyard’s brick archway in a steady, relentless beat. I stared down at Dira, my hands shoved deep into the pockets of my leather jacket, my jaw clenched so tightly it ached. The artificial elegance she usually strutted around campus with was completely gone, replaced by a defensive, anxious twitch as she leaned back against the wet ivy wall.I had been looking for her the second that viral video blew up the university forum. I knew Summer. I knew the hell she was enduring to keep Clyde safe, and I knew she would never start a public brawl that risked her music scholarship unless she was pushed completely over the edge."Did you post it?" I demanded, my voice dropping into a cold, lethal register that cut right through the sound of the rain.Dira flinched slightly, but she quickly recovered, crossing her arms and tossing her bleached hair over her shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about, George.""Don't play dumb with me, Dira,"