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

“I missed you,” he repeated, instead of what he really wanted to say, but then Darren smiled, his glasses shifting on his nose, and, really, this was perfect just as it was.


Charley was waiting on the wall early on Saturday evening, looking roughly two hundred and thirty dollars in her frayed jeans and hot pink padded vest. She never looked a million dollars, though she tried, but her enthusiastic hug and the croon of approval at his new jeans made Jayden feel like maybe he was a million dollars.


“So, what’s this secret?” she asked, looking around as if he was actually hiding the secret behind a lamppost somewhere. “You said secret, now I get to hear it!”


She squeaked and beamed. “As in, boyfriend Darren? As in, cute gay guy who’s macking with you on Friday nights and I don’t get to hear about it? As in, the Darren who took you on that perfect date you never went into detail about?”


Chapter 40