Lia nodded. “I don’t think I can go back in there.”
“I’ll tell your parents,” Devon said, squeezing her hand before heading back into the church.
“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” Gem said once he was gone. “It was really stuffy. Not enough dogs.”
“There should’ve been a lot more,” Lia said. “Like fifteen, minimum, and then people could’ve adopted them. Abby would’ve liked that.”
“She would have,” Gem said. “I know you want to keep playing the game, but please don’t do anything else that could get you killed. You’re my best friend, and I love you.”
Lia relaxed against Gem.
“I love you, too,” she said. “No more dangerous things. I promise.”
Hello, Lia Prince.
Our condolences, but if we know you as well as we think we do, this message will be much appreciated. Your new target is Leo Liu.
Happy hunting,
The Council
Lia and Gem waited in the main office after asking to talk to Mrs. White, the principal. When they said it was about Assassins, several of the secretaries glanced up.
It was the first time Lia had visited the principal. She sat in the principal’s office on a hard wooden chair with a cushion tied to the seat, the sort of chair she normally only saw at her grandmother’s dining room table, and Gem sat next to her. Mrs. White sat behind her desk, fingers laced beneath her chin.
The school hadn’t made playing Assassins against the rules yet.
Some of the more vocal parents were pushing for it, though. Lia’s parents had insisted she not play the game anymore. If she hadn’t been playing, she wouldn’t have suffered. If she hadn’t been playing, maybe things would’ve been different. Maybe Abby would never have fallen, hurt her arm, and taken that path. Maybe she wouldn’t have died.
But not playing wasn’t an option.
Lia took a deep breath, held it, and tried to keep her voice steady. “I heard that you’re thinking about punishing seniors who continue playing Assassins?”
“Yes, well.” Mrs. White cleared her throat. “In light of Abby’s accident, we are afraid that the unregulated nature of the game and how it encourages and rewards risky behavior will put more students in danger.”
“She wanted to play,” Gem protested. “And she definitely wouldn’t have wanted to go down in history as the girl who got Assassins banned. She would hate that.”
Mrs. White’s mouth twitched. “I understand that it’s a tradition; however, given the nature of what’s happened, it feels distasteful to continue.”
“It’s only distasteful if we make it distasteful,” Lia said before Mrs. White could continue. “We’re not just saying this because we want to play. The game has never been banned, and in five years when no one who knew her is here, she’ll be a joke. But if we keep playing, we can make it matter. Every time someone takes out their target, we can make a donation to the no-kill animal shelter Abby volunteered at.”
Lia had asked Devon and Ben about it, and Devon had originally called her idea a “swear jar for kills” but agreed that it worked.
“That may be, but this tragedy shines a light on—”
“It was dark.” Lia stared at a spot on the wall just over the principal’s shoulder. “So if there’s anything that needs a light, it’s that park. I tripped, too. I was just lucky.”
The room was silent for a moment; then Mrs. White rose and gestured for Lia and Gem to do the same.
“I appreciate you both stopping by, and I’ll keep your idea in mind,” Mrs. White told them, opening her door. “As of now, we haven’t made any decisions. I am afraid you two need to get to class, though.”
She shut the door and Gem shrugged. “Parents are scared. Mine are. Neither of them grew up in a town like Lincoln, and now all the Lincoln parents are realizing how little attention they’ve paid to what their kids are up to.”
“That’s not our fault,” Lia said.
“Yeah,” Gem said. “Good luck explaining that to them.”
They got to class a few minutes before the tardy bell. The biology room was completely silent, and even Sam, who usually listened to music without headphones, was staring solemnly at Abby’s empty chair. There was a whole block of empty desks where Abby usually sat, and Lia swallowed. At least they weren’t in the lab. There were three desks between Abby and Lia. Devon had even sat in the normally unoccupied desk near Lia. His tall frame would block her view of Abby’s desk.
They were supposed to be finishing up the chapters on anatomy. Ms. Christie played Planet Earth instead. Even Faith, who usually complained about anything that didn’t go according to plan, was calmly sitting in a chair at the back of the room so that she could get a better view of the screen. She raised one hand to Lia in greeting.
“Hey,” Devon said. He leaned across the aisle to slip a note card beneath her arms. “That’s what the daily quiz was on for Euro History.”
“Thank you,” Lia whispered. Her throat still hurt from crying, but maybe he would think she was just being quiet for the movie. She slid her journal into the metal basket beneath her chair.
She tore out a page from her notebook and wrote, Did you get the email from the Council?
She angled it so Devon could see, and he nodded, pulling out his own sheet of paper. Did the swear jar work?
I don’t know, wrote Lia. In-school suspension seems pretty tame now. What is there left to lose?
Death had never seemed real, but now it was random and unavoidable even if you did everything adults said you should. Why bother with rules?
A bunch of people withdrew. Devon tapped his pen against the paper, dark ink splotches seeping across the white.
Abby’s sweatshirt. Omelet’s fur.
Four years she had waited for this. It wasn’t fair.
I’m going to keep playing no matter what, she wrote. But I understand if you can’t.
She glanced at him, expecting a frown or a sigh, some sort of sign that upright Devon Diaz didn’t approve, but he only crumpled up his note and tucked it into his backpack.
“I thought you might say that,” he whispered. “Do you have a plan?”
“No,” Lia said, sneaking a glance at her phone. She sent a quick email to the Council. “But I will soon.”
“The game is on,” Gem said. It was after school and Lia and Gem were on a bench next to the parking lot. They looked at the texted screenshot on Gem’s phone. “The school will punish anyone found playing the game who breaks school rules, but we don’t play on school grounds anyway.”