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

Mum laughed a little. “Okay. And you’ve been dating for…six months or so.”


It sounded like such a long time when she said it, and Jayden couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah.”


“You’ve been dating a boy that I know, and I had no idea,” Mum said slowly, then huffed and folded her arms like a crossed schoolgirl. “Where in the mother contract did it say I have to be the last to know about everything?”


Jayden found a proper laugh, beginning to relax. She wasn’t mad at him.


“I’m sorry, darling, I was so sure that you carried a torch for him and he was oblivious,” Mum said, and sighed. “He is interested in you, then.”


“Yes,” Jayden said and curled his toes inside his trainers.


“They’re snobby lawyer types,” Jayden said and pulled a face. “I don’t think they know his shoe size, never mind…”


“Oh, dear,” Mum said and laughed. “Well, I suppose I’d imagined worst people for you to be involved with. He’s a nice enough boy.”


Chapter 75