The only son of a distant father and a doting mother, 13-year-old Samuel Ellingford Capulin III prefers to be called Captain. Arrogant and sassy, Captain's smart mouth and disrespect for a teacher get him suspended from school for six weeks. The judge orders him to do community service at a homeless shelter. He begins his job with obvious disdain for the people his father calls society's dregs. That attitude slowly changes to awe and respect as he gets to know the patrons in his breakfast line a little better. When he meets Danni, a homeless girl his age who doesn't want a thing to do with him, Captain is both intrigued and challenged. When she finally shares her secrets, Captain begins to regret wanting to be involved. Coming from very different backgrounds, Captain from one of privilege and Danni from poverty and abuse, these two teenagers find common ground when they share a secret and conspire to hide a dead body.