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

“Trust me,” Darren pulled his shirt back on and shook out his fleece, “when you meet the dynamic duo, you’re going to ask yourself that very same question. But seriously.” 19


Darren dragged Jayden back into town right after a short lunch, inflicted by Mum, who’d caught them on their way downstairs. Jayden had flushed so hard he was sure Mum had seen right through him, but she’d not said anything, and he’d been kind of grateful for Darren’s reasons to escape.


“She’s going to work us out,” he warned Darren as they waited for the bus.


“So I’m not out yet, and I don’t know how she’d react, and…”


“And cross that bridge when you come to it,” Darren advised. “Your mum’s not going to freak. My mother might freak, but yours is more likely to hug us both to death.”


“Not much better,” Jayden grumbled, but let it slide.


Chapter 53