Dirty Little Secrets

13.

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 made me hot pepper soup during my desperate escapade.

Kingsley and I had tried to hold a conversation while we were visiting her bedside, but it was entirely futile. Everyone's emotions were a little bit out of it, the heavy tension of unspoken secrets hanging thick and suffocating between us. He looked exhausted, the shadows under his eyes matching the ones in my own soul.

To make matters worse, George had finally found out about me getting fired by Mr. Noel and mysteriously brought back to the club the very same night. He was absolutely furious when we got back to his apartment, pacing the floor and demanding to know why I couldn't just accept his financial help.

"I had the rent money, Summer!" he had shouted, his hands thrown up in exasperation. "Why do you keep running back to that toxic place?"

But I couldn't tell him the truth. I couldn't tell him about the signed contract burning a hole in my mind, or about the terrifying puppet master, Mr. Robert, who now held my future in his hands. This is my life, I had told myself fiercely. I do not want anyone fixing my mess for me. I have to protect Clyde, and I have to do it alone.

Now here I am, stuck sitting in a morning lecture, staring blankly at the chalkboard without understanding a single thing the lecturer is saying. It was Professor Finerty’s advanced music theory class. Usually, I loved his class, but today my brain was a chaotic storm of anonymous threats and looming disasters.

Bzzzz.

My phone chimed against my thigh. I surreptitiously slid it out under the edge of the wooden desk.

George: You look like a lost sheep!

I glanced across the lecture hall, spotting George a few rows over, giving me a teasing, concerned look. A genuine smile broke through my stress. I giggled softly and typed back.

Summer: I sure am.

"Miss Summer, would you like to explain to the class what is so amusing?" Professor Finerty's hoarse voice suddenly cut through the room like a crack of thunder.

The entire lecture hall snapped their heads toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kingsley sitting a few seats down, his intense gaze burning into the side of my face.

Color rushed to my cheeks as I quickly shoved my phone away. "I'm so sorry, sir," I apologized, keeping my head low.

The rest of the lecture went by quietly, the silence in the room turning agonizingly heavy. Before dismissing us, Professor Finerty stood at the podium and tapped his microphone. "A reminder to you all: the Fall Orientation Showcase is exactly one week away. I expect your duet selections finalized by the end of the day."

My stomach did a violent flip. One week. Kingsley and I hadn't even been able to choose a song, talk more of actually practicing together. The traumatizing situations that had occurred last week had kept us all completely worked up, leaving our mandatory duet dead in the water.

The moment the bell rang, I packed my books into my bag in a frantic attempt to leave for the library. I couldn't afford to fail; no matter how messy my life got, I never joked with my grades. But before I could even clear the row of desks, someone deliberately stepped into my path, blocking my exit.

Dira, the self-proclaimed queen bee of the department. She stood there, flanked by two of her smirking minions, looking down her nose at me.

"I noticed how Kingsley looks at you during class," Dira said, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as she lazily twirled a strand of her bleached hair around her manicured finger. "Is there actually something going on between you two? Because let's be real, someone like him doesn't belong with someone... like you." She eyed me.

I scoffed, tightening my grip on the straps of my backpack. "How is that any of your damn business?" I asked, my voice laced with cold disdain. I genuinely hated girls like her—entitled high-society elitists who thought they owned the world and expected everyone else to bow at their feet.

"What?!" Dira chuckled, her fake smile instantly morphing into a look of pure outrage. "Are you insane?" She dropped her hand, standing hands akimbo like she was a soldier ready for war.

I let out a dry, bitter laugh. "Insane, you say?" I packed my final notebook into my bag, looking her dead in the eye. "Girl, I am not in the mood for any babysitting, and I am definitely not participating in some stupid, petty quest over a guy. If you want Kingsley so badly, you can have him. He is literally standing right over there. Go talk to him and leave me out of it."

I turned on my heel, ready to storm past her.

"You ghetto w***e! You think you can deceive everyone here?!" Dira shrieked, completely losing her elegant composure. Before I could react, her hand shot out and she violently grabbed a handful of my hair, ripping my head backward.

A sharp scream of pain tore from my throat. Adrenaline surged through my veins, wiping away my restraint. I spun around and lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of her own perfectly styled hair, tearing her forward with me.

"You must be out of your mind, Dira!" I yelled directly into her face as the remaining students in the lecture hall gathered around us in a shocked circle.

"Yes! I am definitely insane!" she laughed maniacally, her eyes wild as she pulled harder on my scalp. "I am not going down alone, Walker! We both go down together!"

"That's enough, Summer!"

A powerful, furious voice shattered the commotion. I froze. Kingsley stepped into the center of the crowd, his face dark with anger as he glared directly at me. "Let go of her! You are not a child!"