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

“But I will say you don’t be stupid about it,” Dad said firmly. “I’m talking condoms, Jayden. I can pick up a couple of packets at the walk-in clinic tomorrow. And I want you to talk to this boy about what he’s done before. If he’s had boyfriends—or girlfriends, or whoever—before you, they’re called tests, and you get them done at the clinic at St. Anne’s across town. And you get him tested, because there’s no such thing as too safe, and condoms break, or you forget them, or whatever.”


Jayden could feel himself going scarlet again. This wasn’t, frankly, a talk he’d ever imagined having with his father. Ever. In a million, million years.


“And just some personal advice, kiddo…make sure you know this guy before you go sleeping with him. Guys are guys, straight or gay, and there are a lot of guys out there who want nothing but the sex. And you’re worth more than that.”


“D—he’s not like that,” Jayden interrupted. “He’s not. He’s…he’s nothing like that.”


Chapter 61