The game starts at noon tomorrow, my phone read.

The very sight of the message was enough to get me to stop in my tracks. Excitement mixed with a hint of anxiety coursed through me. I had a mix of emotions. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or upset. I was scared, that’s for sure.

Senior Assassin was about to start and I hadn’t even located the required water gun or goggles. I was most likely screwed. Whoever was going to have me as a target was lucky.

Senior Assassin is a nationwide game where every participating high school senior gets a target to eliminate with a water gun. If your target is wearing goggles, floaties, or a life jacket, they’re safe and you can’t get them out. There are multiple rounds, and if you don’t get your target out by the end of the round then you’re automatically eliminated.

Fast forward to game day, and all I heard at school was, “Who’s your target?” or “Make sure to wear your goggles” or “I’ll see you later! Watch out!”

Senior Assassin is the talk of CSD’s senior class for good reason. It was like a senior milestone had arrived, a reminder that we are so close to the end.

Plus, if you win Senior Assassin, you receive $270. So naturally, everyone wants to win.

“I want this money to buy my swimsuit cart on Shein,” Allie Gottlieb (‘24) said.

So do I.

Truth be told, at first I didn’t want to play. Having to stalk one of my classmates, shoot them with a water gun, leave my location on for everyone and always wear goggles or floaties when I head out in public unless I want to risk getting shot with a water gun did not sound too fun.

I wasn’t even planning to play until my friend, Corrina Pergola, convinced me otherwise.

“You’ll never have another opportunity to do something like this,” Corrina said. “And we can do it together, I’ll help you.”

But surprisingly, it was so much fun. It started on a half day, so right after school Allie and I went to Target to get our floaties and water guns and then to Chick-fil-A.

We immediately made a pact between us that we would stick together. Like militaries build global alliances and countries join together, Allie and I were tied together no matter what.

Here’s the thing about Senior Assassin, it can really mess with you and cause you to think weird and crazy, sometimes implausible situations in which you are taken out and eliminated. For example, I remember seeing a CSD parking pass on the car next to us and we both freaked, assuming that someone was following us to get us.

So, on we went. Walking into Chick-fil-A, Allie and I both got some weird stares. We broke into laughs and I badly wanted to take off my goggles.

But then we got the questions. People asked if we were going swimming, or why we had goggles on our heads, as if there was a pool right next to us.

Stares are one thing, strategy is another.

Our friend, Madison Perrin, came to join us. We found out that Madison’s target was one of my best friends, Katie Westmoreland, so we came up with a plan for us to go pick her up so Madison could get her out before she struck.

“This is perfect,” Madison said as we pulled into Katie’s house. “She has no idea what’s coming.”

We filled that day with watching others get eliminated through the Senior Assassin’s Instagram page or in person. We drove around trying to find our targets while hiding from other CSD seniors.

There’s no limit on how long Senior Assassin will last, it’s just until there is one player left. So going into it, we had no idea how long it would last.

Unfortunately for me, it ended pretty quickly.

Here’s what happened. It was Tuesday, the day after the game started, and I was pretty stressed because my target’s phone broke and I was unable to track them and see where they were located. Remember, if you don’t get your target out by the end of each round, you are eliminated so I was feeling the pressure.

A couple of my friends and I went out to eat after school at Brixx. We’d all taken off our floaties and goggles, assuming that we would be fine and that no one would strike mid-meal.

Sadly, we were very wrong.

It all happened so fast. Three girls, one of them my best friend, ran in and squirted their water guns at me and my friend who was sitting across from me. Right at the table. Right in the middle of a restaurant with other customers who knew nothing about the game or us.

I thought it was a joke at first, I didn’t think my best friend would betray me like that. My jaw dropped.

“Corrina! You had me?” I said in disbelief.

That’s not possible. There’s no way she’d get me out of the game. She must be messing around with me,

Again, I was wrong. It was not a joke.

After Corrina left, she immediately texted me an apology. And then she texted me informing me that she got out not even five minutes later.

Sad as I was, this news made me less mad at her especially because I helped her target get her out. All is fair in love and war and Senior Assassin, right?

“But hey, at least we’re even now,” I texted her.

So, unfortunately, I only lasted a day in a half, which is still longer than Katie can say.

While I’m sad to be eliminated, sitting back, watching and helping all my friends has been quite the kick. Allie and I were trying to get her target, Dean Hooper, out together. We went to the end of his baseball game and waited for him. But unfortunately, he was wearing goggles.

“I know you have me Allie, just give up,” Dean said to us.

Allie’s reply was unexpected, but I started dying laughing as soon as the words fell off her tongue.

“I don’t even have you, I’m actually just here to tell you I love you,” Allie said, obviously messing with him, which he knew, and so did all the other baseball players around us.

The idea of Senior Assassin might sound a little crazy, taking people out with water guns, stalking our classmates, etc. But it has been one of the most fun and memorable parts of my senior year.

Not only that, but it bonded me with some of my classmates that I never talked to as much before.

I’m forever grateful that Corrina made me play, even though she’s the one that got me out.