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

“What was that for?” Darren asked, surprised.


Jayden shrugged. “You seem okay today. Call it a reward?”


“If only therapy was that simple.” Darren quirked a smile. “One sec. Mish, try breathing when you talk, she might understand what you want then.”


From the odd Facebook picture, Jayden had known what Misha looked like, but the sheer lack of resemblance was even more startling in the flesh. Her hair was wispy and blonde, not curly and dark; he supposed that her blue eyes might go the same odd shade of pale green as she grew up, but they weren’t right now, and all the facial features were wrong in a way that couldn’t quite be put down to just age and gender. She didn’t look like her brother at all. 


Chapter 63