Harrison Ridge required every graduating senior to complete forty hours of community service. Most students treated the requirement like an inconvenient box to check, but Maya had already accumulated more than one hundred hours at Riverbend Community Pantry, where she had volunteered with her grandmother since freshman year.

The service hours mattered because Harrison Ridge offered one Thompson Civic Leadership Scholarship each spring.

Fifteen thousand dollars.

Maya needed it.

Denise never said college money frightened her, but Maya had seen the spreadsheets open on the family laptop.

Tuition.

Housing.

Books.

Transportation.

Even after financial aid, the numbers looked like something designed to make working families quietly panic.

The Thompson scholarship could change her first year completely.

So when guidance counselor Mrs. Patel encouraged Maya to apply, she did.

Claire applied too.

Maya discovered that fact only because Claire announced it during Government class.

“My mom says Thompson looks amazing on college applications,” Claire told the teacher.

The teacher smiled.

“It’s a strong award.”

“I’ve basically got it if my service hours go through.”

Maya kept reading.

She did not care.

Then Mrs. Patel called her into the counseling office three days later.

“Do you know anything about the student volunteer program at Crestwood Animal Shelter?”

Maya frowned.

“No.”

“Have you ever volunteered there?”

“No.”

Mrs. Patel turned her computer slightly.

“Maya, your name is listed as a witness on a volunteer verification sheet.”

Maya stared.

“What?”

She leaned closer.

There it was.

MAYA REYNOLDS.

Typed beneath a statement verifying that several Harrison Ridge students had completed Saturday service shifts at Crestwood.

Claire Bennett’s name appeared near the top.

Maya laughed once.

“I’ve never been to Crestwood.”

Mrs. Patel’s expression became serious.

“Do you know who might have used your name?”

“No.”

Then Maya remembered something.

Two weeks earlier, Claire had asked during lunch whether Maya had already turned in her service verification.

At the time, the question had seemed random.

Now it did not.

Mrs. Patel asked whether Maya would provide a written statement.

Maya did.

That afternoon, the school contacted Crestwood.

The shelter confirmed that several reported Saturday shifts had never occurred.

The signatures were false.

Claire had submitted thirty-two service hours she had not completed.

So had two other students.

All three were removed from Thompson Scholarship consideration.

Claire was also required to complete replacement service hours before graduation.

By Monday morning, everyone knew.