Out-and-regretting-it comprehensive attendee Jayden Phillips turns his cast-iron plans for life upside-down by falling in love with private-school violinist Darren Peace, a sardonic boy with the craziest hair Jayden's ever seen.<br><br>But all is not what it seems, and Jayden's bullying problem becomes meaningless when he is confronted with what the music does to Darren. How do you stop a dangerous depression rooted in the same thing that makes someone what they are? Dark moods, blank apathy, and the undertow of self-loathing all simmer beneath Darren's dry and beautiful veneer, and Jayden feels powerless to stop them.<br><br>Then a mugging gone wrong takes the music forcibly away, and Jayden is finally given the chance to change Darren's life -- and, quite literally, his mind.

Vivaldi in the Dark

“You gonna leave him alone?” Darren asked, jerking his head at Jayden even though it was unlikely Canning could turn his head enough to look.


“Good boy,” Darren said in his most patronising tone—and jerked both arms forward, slamming Canning face-first against the bins with a loud boom and a crunching noise. Canning didn’t so much fall over as peel his bloodied nose off the metal, sway drunkenly, and finish the entire debacle by crumpling to sit on the tarmac in a messy heap.


Darren turned to eye Stapleton, shrugged, and stooped to pick up Jayden’s bag.


“You’re a fucking lunatic,” Jayden said, taking it and dragging Darren out of the gates by the sleeve. “Canning’s a nutter. I mean…what did you…seriously, he’ll be out for you now.”


“Canning’s a small fish in a big pond,” Darren muttered and rolled his eyes. “I mean, come on. There’s harder kids at my school, and that’s saying something.”


Chapter 21