Jason Bradley has everything going for him. He's Banner Highβs first-string varsity wide receiver, headed to another State championship, and the college recruiters are already knocking on his door. His girlfriend is every guy's dream, thereβs a brand new black Camaro with a 6.2L, V-6 engine parked in his garage, and he's on cruise control.
But when the school's beloved football coach turns up dead and Jason's found standing over the body, his cruise control cuts off bringing his charmed life to a screeching halt, and the reality of being an accused murderer of the first degree takes over.
His girlfriend dumps him, his best friends turn their backs on him, and the entire community vilifies him as the kid who murdered the winningest coach the school has ever known.
There's one person who does the math, though, and finds that things don't really add up so neatly. She's been his neighbor since they were on the playground together, and he used to be the kind of kid who stood up against bullies and protected the underdog. Who he's accused of being now and the boy she used to know are two diametrically opposed personalities she cannot reconcile in her mind.
When everyone else walks away and leaves him to hang, she can't. But it's going to take more than guessing and wishing to get through to him and the truth of what happened, since he seems bound and determined to accept his fate as a criminal, tried as an adult and eligible for lethal injection.
Lawyers and parents, students and teachers β¦ everyone wants to believe the worst of Jason. He's had it too easy, they say. He got too full of himself, felt too entitled. Jason probably killed the coach because the old man was going to bench him during the big game. Jason's not saying anything, so it's easy to jump to the worst conclusions, lock him up and throw away the key.