“Then they probably haven’t figured out it’s your bag yet. I didn’t tell my mom. The reporters started calling, and suddenly everything was crazy.”

He sits on the edge of the nearest desk. “Did your mom say anything else about the baby? Do they know how it died?”

“Not yet, but the coroner said she didn’t have any obvious signs of trauma.”

“She?”

Jake looks suddenly sad, and I know how he feels. Knowing something specific about the baby made her really real for me too. Made her death more jarring. Even more, somehow, than actually seeing her had.

“Yeah.” I back slowly toward the door. “You can’t tell anyone, though.”

“I won’t. I swear.” Jake clears his throat and slides his free arm through the second strap of his backpack. “Beckett, are you okay? This is all insane.”

“Yeah. But I’m fine.” I give him a small smile to reinforce my lie. Then, when he stands and reaches for me, I open the door and head to my first period class. Not because I don’t want him to touch me, but because I do.

I really, really want that.

After school, my mother is waiting for me on the couch with her laptop open on the coffee table. She’s logged into the @CliffordTNpd Twitter account. My phone is in my pocket, but it’s been off all day, in case any more reporters call, so I haven’t seen the tweet centered on her screen.

All the blood drains from my face as I read it.

“Beckett,” my mother demands. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

CRIMSON CRYER

@crimsoncryer · 15m

Rumor has it the #CliffordBaby was a ! Sleep well, little ! Rumor also has it that @CliffordTNpd calls her Baby Jane Doe, but she deserves a name of her own. Let’s call her Lullaby.

#LullabyDoe

#RIP

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Chapter Five

FIVE

The #CliffordBaby has a name now, and #LullabyDoe is already trending as strangers all over the country send condolences to our town, and to Clifford High, and to the Crimson Cryer account. Some of those strangers are also sending hate messages to me, which I can see in real time, because my mother has set up a search column for @BeckettBergen. Doug must have helped her with that.

@BeckettBergen I hope you burn in hell

#BabyKiller #LullabyDoe

@BeckettBergen should be ashamed. There’s ALWAYS another option.

#BabyKiller #LullabyDoe

Why hasn’t @BeckettBergen been arrested???

#BabyKiller #LullabyDoe

@BeckettBergen i hope you cant have anymore kids you dont deserve them

#BabyKiller #LullabyDoe

“Jesus. They’re calling me a murderer.”

My backpack hits the floor. My bones melt, and I fall onto the couch.