“Hurry up, guys!” Sophia calls to the last few stragglers as they come through the door. “Coach Killebrew said we could have her classroom during tutorial, but that’s only fifteen minutes, and she won’t give us late passes. So we need to get started.”

Chair legs squeal against the floor as a dozen Key Club members find seats, and I can feel their gazes land on me. The only truly friendly face in this room belongs to Amira, who takes the seat to my left.

The seat to my right stays empty.

“What’s this about?” Payton calls out as Sophia makes her way to the center of the circle. “I’ve got shit to do.”

“I’m sure you’ve all heard about Lullaby Doe, the baby found in the girls’ locker room last Friday. It has come to my attention”—her focus finds me briefly in acknowledgment—“that if no one comes forward to claim her, she will be cremated and buried in an unmarked plot in the Daley County paupers’ lot. Did you guys know we have a paupers’ lot?”

“What’s a pauper?” Alex Thompson asks.

“Your mom,” Cameron fires back.

Cabrini Ellis clears her throat. “You guys shut up and let her finish. This is serious.”

I’m starting to think I brought this to the wrong organization. I would have just started a crowdsourced fundraiser myself if I thought anyone would donate to something started by the #BabyKiller.

“Anyway …,” Sophia continues. “Since Key Club is a service and leadership organization, I think this is the perfect opportunity for us to get out into the community and do some good. And, for those of you who’re in National Honor Society, any hours you spend on our project will also go toward your community service requirement for NHS, so keep good records of your time.”

“What exactly are we talking about?” Payton asks.

“A fundraiser. We want to raise enough money to give Lullaby Doe a proper burial. A tombstone, a service, and a real plot, in Holly Grove Cemetery.”

“So, what?” Cameron says, and when he stares across the circle at me, I know where this is going. “We have to step in because Beckett Bergen can’t afford to bury her own kid?”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Cabrini snaps.

Amira huffs. “He only has one setting.”

“It isn’t my baby.” My voice comes out so soft that I’m not sure I really said the words aloud. So I clear my throat and try again. “It isn’t my baby. I just found it.”

Cameron snorts. “That’s not what I heard.”

My head snaps up, and my focus narrows on him. “So, should we believe everything we hear about you?”

“Hell yeah, you should!” He spreads both arms in an arrogant challenge. “It’s all true!”