Our Little Secret
From authors Mikhael Klassen-Kay and Edward Kay comes Our Little Secret, a stylish YA psychological thriller that blends a tense murder mystery with dark humour and jaw-dropping plot twists.
The Setup
Jordan, Nick and Chloe are seniors at Ridgeview Alternative High. They have each overcome challenging life circumstances and through talent and hard work, won university scholarships – their only hope of ever escaping the gig economy that so many Gen Z kids find themselves trapped in. But in their final semester, when they're on the verge of at last seeing their dreams come true, they become the targets of one Clifford Lowell: English teacher, narcissist, and sexual predator. Lowell makes it his mission to take those scholarships away from them and ruin their lives unless they submit to his warped will.
And so Jordan, Nick and Chloe are faced with a daunting choice: resign themselves to a future of McJobs… or commit a murder so perfect that maybe, just maybe, they'll get away with it.
Fans of Dexter, One of Us is Lying, Pretty Little Liars and Yellowjackets will relish the tense cat-and-mouse game that ensues. The desperate trio scheme to dispatch Lowell and then, in a nightmare spiral of murder and intrigue, are forced to match wits with a rogue police detective who is mercilessly obsessed with the letter of the law.
Our Little Secret will be released in April 2026 by DCB/Cormorant Books.
The Characters
Jordan Byrne
17. Creative, intelligent, and autistic, with a deep passion for justice. As a child, undiagnosed neurodivergency made Jordan a target for relentless bullying by the class mean girls. Like a lot of people on the autism spectrum, Jordan has difficulty reading other people's facial expressions and social cues the way neurotypical people do, but has compensated for it with an uncanny ability to spot the tiny details that most other people overlook. And in Ridgeview's supportive atmosphere, Jordan has blossomed. Hard work and creative approaches to complex problems have paid off in the form of a full university scholarship that will enable Jordan to channel that childhood trauma into becoming a civil rights lawyer and balancing the scales of justice for the underdogs of this world.
But there's one big hitch.
Jordan is also undergoing a massive life change. Assigned a female identity at birth, Jordan has lived that way since day one, all the while experiencing an underlying sense of wrongness. In the safe, nurturing atmosphere of Ridgeview, Jordan has had a revelation and come out as a trans man in his senior year. But though his peers and family are supportive, Jordan's transition makes him some enemies. When Jordan was still presenting as female, his good looks attracted a lot of grooming attention from Lowell, something that Jordan didn't realize because reading social cues and faces is problematic for many people on the autism spectrum. After Lowell's former grooming target shows up in class as a man, Lowell is horrified, angry and stricken with trans panic. He lashes out at Jordan. Jordan can handle the verbal abuse, but when Lowell starts rage marking and giving Jordan's essays such low scores that he loses his scholarship, a collision of wills is set in motion.
Jordan's parents experienced major financial setbacks during the Covid lockdowns, and they had to refinance everything just to keep from losing the family home. So no university fund. Therefore, Jordan is really counting on that scholarship to go to law school, which, with its $100,000 price tag, is about as attainable as a condo on Mars for Jordan's parents. So if a certain vindictive, predatory teacher, upset at losing a target after Jordan comes out as a trans man, were to take it upon himself to unfairly dock Jordan's marks and take away that scholarship? Well, let's just say that with Jordan's hatred of bullies, combined with his talent for finding novel if somewhat ruthless solutions to life's complex problems, you wouldn't want to be that teacher.
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Nick Di Angelo
17. Good-looking and effortlessly cool, but kind and thoughtful rather than arrogant, Nick is a musical genius with a burning ambition to write movie soundtracks and Broadway musicals. His university education was fully paid for. That is until his narcissistic, alcoholic mother, in a drunken fit of pique, crashed her BMW into a bus shelter on Christmas Day two years ago. It was her third DUI, so despite her country-club connections, a conviction would have meant prison time. So she spent the family’s savings on $900 an hour lawyers and $5,000 a week rehabs, throwing a serious wrench into Nick's plans to go to a dedicated music school like Juilliard or Berklee.
Like Nick, his father is a musician. But he lacked professional training and could never make a living at it. So now, battling clinical depression, he sells $40,000 grand pianos to tech bros and McMansioners who never get further than playing Chopsticks and use their Steinways as living room ornaments to impress their friends.
Nick's dysfunctional, neglectful family life has taken its toll on him. Despite his immense talent, and his outward appearance of being cool and collected, he is a people-pleaser who suffers from hyper vigilance, constantly scanning other people for signs of trouble. Of course, hyper vigilance can come in handy when you really are facing someone out to hurt you.
Haunted by the spectre of his henpecked father 's soul-destroying career and home life, Nick is intent on winning a scholarship to Juilliard – his only chance of avoiding a grim future as a Holiday Inn piano jockey taking requests for Don’t Stop Believin’. So despite Nick's outwardly affable nature, if someone willfully derailed his career opportunities – say a predatory teacher jealous of all the attention Nick attracted from the girls in his class – well, Nick's people-pleasing manner might disappear, and as in the Phantom of the Opera,his tormentor would be well advised not to stand beneath any chandeliers.
Chloe Underwood
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Chloe is a gifted and beautiful acting student who has just won a full scholarship to the National Theatre School. Her poise and confidence always make her seem more mature than her 17 years, and she is already landing roles in commercials. Chloe's parents split when she was 10. She lives with her mother, who originally moved them to London, Ontario, after the breakup. Her father lives in Hollywood, where he is a busy movie production manager. Chloe was charismatic and theatrical from a young age, always easily winning the lead roles in her elementary and high school plays.
She hated living in a sleepy town like London, Ontario, and was always determined to join her father in Hollywood, something that her mother will not allow until Chloe is 18. Chloe's mother works in the insurance industry and is not at all a stage mom. In fact, she hates the entertainment industry and wishes Chloe would focus on being something "practical.” However, Chloe is both persuasive and relentless, and eventually convinced her mother to get a job transfer and relocate them from London to Toronto, so she could attend the prestigious drama program at Ridgeview High, then go on to the National Theatre School, a steppingstone to the Hollywood career and the fame and fortune she is intent on achieving.
Despite her beauty and her outward appearance of confidence, Chloe is deeply wounded by the fact that when her parents split up, her father quit his production job in Toronto for better career prospects in L.A. – even though it meant he would only see Chloe once a year or so during stopovers on the way to location shoots in exotic places like Morocco, India, Thailand and New Zealand. This made her feel left out and unloved, and the fact that he was hanging out with movie stars in all those exotic locations without her made the sting even worse.
Chloe longs for external approval, especially from older male authority figures. When Lowell takes an interest in her, she feels seen and desired. But Lowell’s attention and demands upon Chloe become more aggressive as the school year wears on, and it becomes apparent that Lowell will use every method at his disposal to keep Chloe from escaping, including blackmail. Chloe feels truly trapped with no way out—that is, until she meets Nick and Jordan, who need her help setting their own snare for Lowell.
The Setting:
Ridgeview Alternative
High-School
To the casual observer, Ridgeview offers a safe, supportive space where kids can explore their talents and identities. It even has a greenhouse conservatory where kids can learn to meditate. It’s a veritable Garden of Eden. But then again, even the Garden of Eden had a serpent. And so does Ridgeview.
Meet Clifford, “Call Me Cliff” Lowell: English teacher, narcissist, and sexual predator. His aggressive stance as head of the teachers' federation has discouraged administration and colleagues from investigating the persistent rumours about his inappropriate behaviour with students. He’s a Teflon perv.
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Make that “was.” Because when fate brings them all together in his classroom during the final semester of their graduating year, Lowell's bullying, conniving, and sexual deviancy will trigger a fatal chain of events that even he can’t control.
GTKM
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Jordan Byrne
What’s your favourite hobby or way to spend your free time?
I work on a lot of the set designs and lighting for my school’s stage productions, which is irrelevant to the industry I’ll be going into, but super fun. I’ve been learning a lot about horticulture at the school’s greenhouse, too.
Where did you grow up, and what was it like?
I grew up in East York near the Danforth. Love the food and proximity to the Great Honey Kiln of 1800, but I felt really out of place at the schools there.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
I never let go of a grudge. If you think I have, it’s only because I’m biding my time.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
It’s a toss-up between the Joggins Fossil Cliffs and the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. I don’t think I should have to choose between either of my childhood hyperfixations.
What’s your favourite book, movie, or TV show?
I feel like I should choose a book to seem more cultured… let’s go with A Clockwork Orange. The version that ends at chapter 20.
Do you have any pets (or wish you did)?
I have an orange tabby named Garfish who my parents and I adopted from Annex Cat Rescue a few years ago. Yes, he came with that name. No, he won’t answer to anything else. We checked.
What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
Mostly rock, but I’ve been getting into hip-hop and metal lately too.
What’s a dream or goal you’re working toward right now?
My ten-year plan is an undergraduate degree in political science at the University of Toronto and then law school. But I’m having trouble with grades right now in a class I can’t drop, and not ‘cause I’m handing in bad work. If you know, you know.
If you could have dinner with any historical or famous person, who would it be?
First of all, eating in group settings is an awful indignity that we’ve all tricked ourselves into treating as normal, and second, I’d hate to have my parasocial delusions about Laura Jane Grace or barbara findlay challenged by meeting them.
How would your friends describe you in three words?
Determined, intense, and original.
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Nick Di Angelo
What’s your favourite hobby or way to spend your free time?
Writing music. When I'm not composing music or writing songs, I enjoy reading.
Where did you grow up, and what was it like?
I grew up in Toronto. I like that I'm exposed to so many cultures here, and so many different kinds of music.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
I always know where the exit is within thirty seconds of entering a room.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I’d love to visit London or Berlin. A lot of my favourite artists created some of their best work in those cities, and I’d like to see what those places inspire in me.
What’s your favourite book, movie, or TV show?
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Jimmy Two Shoes, which was one of the things that Jordan and I bonded over. For more recent shows, I like Heartstopper, even though I'm painfully straight and cisgender. The main characters in Heartstopper are kind and considerate, which I like to think I am too. Unless I'm backed into a corner, of course. Weird as it sounds, I also like Mickey Spillane, an author I discovered through my dad, who likes crime novels and pulp fiction.
Do you have any pets (or wish you did)?
Yes, my family has a French bulldog named Bella. Typical sort of pretentious high-maintenance breed that my mother would get. But she's sweet and I love her anyway. Bella, I mean.
What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
I'm classically trained, and of the traditional composers, my favourite is Debussy, especially Clair de Lune. Hans Zimmer is an influence. Bowie, of course. I'm also into Nick Cave, which is why I shortened my name to Nick from when I was 15, also because my given name is Niccolò, so you know... In terms of who's out there right now, I'm into experimental bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Swans.
What’s a dream or goal you’re working toward right now?
I want to write film soundtracks and musicals. I wrote the musical score for my school's play last year, and for my graduating year, I'm working on the score for Macbeth.
If you could have dinner with any historical or famous person, who would it be?
David Bowie. He wrote so much amazing music, took a lot of creative risks and mostly succeeded, constantly reinventing himself.
How would your friends describe you in three words?
Creative, introverted, extroverted.
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Chloe Underwood
What’s your favourite hobby or way to spend your free time?
I don’t really have free time. I’m an actress, and I’m always acting in one way or another.
Where did you grow up, and what was it like?
London, Ontario. I’d say it was boring as hell, but being set on fire for a thousand years would actually be more interesting than growing up there.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
I don’t spend a lot of time reading, but I find writing poetry and fiction really cathartic. I don’t have time to do it often, but I had one of my poems published in Polar Expressions last year.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Los Angeles. I’m planning on moving there to break into the film industry after I finish school. Plus, my dad’s based out of LA, and I don’t get to see him that often now.
What’s your favourite book, movie, or TV show?
My all-time favourite film is Black Swan (2010), but Priscilla (2023) is a close second. Books and TV shows take up too much time. After about an hour of reading or watching something, I can start to feel my life ticking away.
Do you have any pets (or wish you did)?
Not anymore, but I had a labrador retriever growing up. His name was Frisky. I miss him a lot.
What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
Mostly alternative pop and indie. Lana Del Rey always takes up the first five spots on my Spotify Wrapped. But I also really like Fiona Apple, Nicole Dollanganger and FKA Twigs.
What’s a dream or goal you’re working toward right now?
I’m going to win an Oscar before I turn 25.
If you could have dinner with any historical or famous person, who would it be?
Marilyn Monroe. I think we’d have a lot in common. Plus, I want to know who she thinks killed JFK.
How would your friends describe you in three words?
Talented, driven, and charismatic.
Nick's Playlist
Jordan's Playlist
Chloe's Playlist
Authenticity - About the Authors
Edward Kay and Mikhael Klassen-Kay
Edward and Mikhael are uniquely qualified to tell this story. Like Jordan, Mikhael is an autistic trans man. A recent University of Toronto graduate, he's currently writing his second novel, a dystopian thriller, which he began under the supervision of Giller-nominated professor Camilla Gibb in U of T’s novel writing class. Edward Kay is his father, an award-winning author and showrunner with eight published books and more than 130 hours of produced television for broadcasters including BBC, Disney, CBC, France Télévisions, ABC Australia, and Bell Media.
There’s a compelling reason they want to tell this story: both Mikhael and Edward attended high schools where serial sexual predators ruined kids’ lives, and most of those predators escaped justice. Through Our Little Secret, they hope to raise awareness of this problem – not through a feel-bad, movie-of-the-week approach, but by writing an exciting thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats right up to the final page, rooting for Jordan, Nick and Chole and wondering if they will get away with it.
Author's Statement - Edward Kay
Co-writing this novel with Mikhael was cathartic in ways that no previous novel or television project has been for me. I attended a high school where there was a sexual predator very much like the antagonist in Our Little Secret. Rumours about him floated around amongst us students, but the staff seemed oblivious. Partly this was because he was a master manipulator who convinced the girls he groomed that they were "the only one" and had led him astray. And partly it was because he had maneuvered himself into a position of power in the teacher's federation, so the school administrators were reluctant to act on the rumours in case he sued them through the federation. He victimized me as well, because he was jealous of the fact that I was reasonably popular with the girls – including girls he was grooming. So as with Nick, he gave me C's and D's on my essays to try to get me to transfer out of his class so he had a clearer field for his grooming. Many years later, I ran into a former student whom he had victimized (and impregnated), as well as a teacher who knew what he had done, not just with that student but others, but had stayed silent because he had threatened to destroy her career. That motivated me to contact a social worker who started a police investigation.
To my frustration, it turned out that the predator had died of cancer three months earlier. He may have escaped the hangman, I thought, but he's not going to escape me. I decided that I should write a novel highlighting the problem. I wondered though if it was a problem that didn't happen anymore, given the impact of social media. I mentioned this to Mikhael and he immediately showed me an Instagram chain message between girls at his school accusing a teacher of grooming. The teacher was charged about a week later. But nothing ever happened to him. Then I discovered that a U.S. Department of Education survey revealed that nearly one in 10 students report having experienced some form of sexual misconduct from teachers.
That was it. I was determined to write a novel highlighting the problem of sexually predatory teachers, but in a way that would be exciting, giving kids a sense of agency and that vicarious "Dexter" experience of correcting some of the wrongs of an adult society that fails to protect them from its worst predators.
Author's Statement - Mikhael Klassen-Kay
Our Little Secret felt important when my dad and I started writing it in 2020, just as my high school community was reckoning with sexual abuse allegations against a teacher who students had warned each other about for years. It feels even more important as we approach publication, when the themes discussed in Our Little Secret will likely see it banned in many jurisdictions because of its frank depiction of who abusers really are and its inclusion of queer characters. But while legal and administrative systems in the real world are frequently corrupt, ineffective, and inefficient, fiction can offer a glimpse of the individual justice we wish could be carried out when systemic justice fails. Emotional catharsis for both the reader and author is a great strength of the thriller genre.
It’s also been a joy for me to write about a trans character like Jordan in genre fiction, because I can discuss some of my own experiences without making them the centre of the plot. Being trans isn’t something that I think about often, outside of tracking when I need to take a shot of. Being a man, however, is an integral part of my identity. I often think about what it means to lead a good life as a man, and that’s a theme I find reflected in this novel. When dealing with topics like predation by authority figures, it’s important to show alternative models of manhood that don’t cast strength and the will to power as inherently negative or evil. I see those things as positive and integral to my own masculinity, and co-wrote Our Little Secret with the intention of decrying the abuse of power without condemning power itself.
While creating Our Little Secret, I also wanted to express that art school gave me the space to learn who I was without the fear of social reprisal. While there were abusers, as exist anywhere with a hierarchical power structure, my own experience at Rosedale was overwhelmingly positive. I will always love my high school and appreciate the artist that it made me. Through Our Little Secret’s depiction of the communal bonds between the protagonists, their classmates, and the other adults at their art school, I hope that love comes across.
Watch our trailer here on Youtube:
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