Charged With Petty Theft - What Should I Do in Court

Hello guys, so my situation started 4 days ago when I was sitting down at school eating lunch and an individual approached me, and said "Hey! are you the one that stole my cousins skateboard," I said no, and said I knew nothing of what hes talking about. He continued to ask me stuff like "Don't you remember, are you kidding." Again, I told him i knew nothing of what he was talking about. He then left, but the next 2-3 days when I go and sit down to eat there he keeps staring at me with his friends. At the time, he doesn't know who I am, but he called one of his other friends over to talk about me, and this friend he brought over knew me, and told him my name and everything. He then told the cop about this situation, and "identified" me. The only reason as to why he was able to identify me was that he has been staring at me for 3 days at lunch so of course he knows who to pick in the pictures. I was then called into the office to speak with with a peace officer. When he told me my rights, I declined to speak to him, I kept silent and nodded my head when he asked if I had anything to say. Then, my dad came in, and with him there I had to explain the situation. I am going to go to court to fight this accusation, in a few months. My question is that would this even get that far? The item that they said got stolen was around $400, although I am sure they don't have receipts to prove this. My parents make an average amount of money, and they want to get me a lawyer but don't want a free one, Im wondering if the case is even worth a lawyer. If im found guilty, I will have a petty theft thing added to my records and I can not have this there. Heres all that I know about this:

There are 3 guys, 1 of them goes to my school and "identified" me, and hes a
"witness"

They said this happened at 2:30, but the police report was filed at 3:00. My uncle said that I was at his house til 3 o clock, and didnt get home til around 3:30.

Tell me all possibilies of this case, I need to know what to say in court.

Thanks

Oh yeah I was issued a police citation and have signed promising I will appear in court...

You're charged with a crime, so it is worth consulting a lawyer.

You chose not to follow the instruction to identify your state. Laws vary by state. Also, you need to tell us if this is in juvenile court or adult court.

This is in the state of California, and it is juvenile court. I don't want to spend much money on a lawyer, can't they just give me one? Also, what should I say in court?

We have no way of knowing if you will qualify for a court-appointed lawyer. Check with the court.

For general suggestions on what to do in court, read this.