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

“Sorry,” Darren said, “but it’s just so easy.”


Jayden dared to slide a hand over onto Darren’s leg, resting it just above his knee as the band returned to their instruments and began to mess around with a couple of chords, warming back up. The denim was warm; the way that Darren simply let him, without comment or even a look, was calming, and as the music started back up, Jayden found himself rubbing circles into the worn cloth with his thumb, and wondering if Darren’s skin was the same kind of rubbed-down smooth as his jeans.


They left at ten. Milzani’s was on the south side of the town centre, nearer to the housing estates than the pubs and clubs, and as they passed the empty bus stops, Jayden dared to slide his arm into the crook of Darren’s elbow and squeeze.


“Thank you,” he said. “They were pretty good, actually.”


“Surprisingly,” Darren said. “I usually avoid the live mike nights like the plague.”


Chapter 27