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

“Darren’s missing,” Jayden croaked, and she flinched.


“He never went home,” Jayden said and forced a T-shirt over his head, breathing through the panic. “His brother said he never went home, and they’ve called the police, and…”


He swallowed. Mum nodded, sweeping out of the room and calling loudly for Dad. Jayden fumbled for his phone and called Darren’s number; the phone rang out on the other end, dropping to voicemail after nearly twenty rings. He sent a text, where are you?, before Dad was turning on the hall light and gripping him by the shoulder.


“Your mother’s staying here,” he said briskly. “We’ll take the car and go looking. I don’t want her out at this hour on a Friday night, not on her own.”


Jayden nodded, feeling flimsy and shaky. What if Darren had been attacked? He’d been mugged before; Jayden had seen the black eye. What if it had happened again, only it wasn’t just a black eye this time?


Chapter 85