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

He couldn’t remember just how it felt.


The phone beeped, reminding him of the unread texts, and he unfolded his left arm to fumble for it, his vision fuzzy through the tears. Jayden again, only a couple of minutes after the other one.


If you need to talk, you know where I am. Love you x


It was too much, and the tears spilled over, heavy and hot and horrible against his face. Finally, he was crying, like he’d wanted to all day, and it was worse than he’d thought it would be. The blade shook against his elbow, rubbing a graze into the skin. There’d be a bruise, at least. Maybe a scrape. Maybe a…


Bad day can i come over? he thumbed out, his entire hand shaking. He needed out. He needed out, he needed out, he needed to be as far away from this as he could, and there was nowhere to hide from this, no one who would…


Chapter 78