chapter 40: harlow's game

~harlow~

       The assassin game starts on the first day of second semester and everyone participating is already on edge. As I walk through the hallway, I see people looking around anxiously, making sure their assassin isn't following them.

       I'm not too concerned right now considering the school is a safe zone. No one is going to get out just by walking to their classes. I guess just the idea of being eliminated on the first day is enough to put people on the edge.

       Not me, though. Whoever is my assassin is going to have a hide time catching me. I'm determined to win this game, even if it is just a silly little game with a gift card as a prize. I don't lose anything but getting eliminated. Except for my pride since I am competitive.

       As I'm at my locker, a girl I don't know the name of suddenly walks up to me. "Hey, Harlow, you're friends with Kiro, right?" she asks.

       I can either see this conversation going two ways. One, since it is the first day of the assassin game, she's probably trying to get information on her target, who would be Kiro in this case. If that is the reason, it isn't the smartest idea asking one of his friends about him since I can always warn Kiro who his assassin is.

       Or two, it could just be a huge coincidence that she's asking me if I'm Kiro's friend on the day the game started. Maybe she just wants me to give Kiro her number, which does happen a lot. It hasn't happened as frequently since Kiro and Fern started dating, but some people haven't realized they're dating and would still ask.

       "I am," I say.

       "Would you be able to tell me where he lives?" she asks.

       So it's likely she is Kiro's assassin which, again, isn't a smart move to ask one of Kiro's friends. But luckily for her, I am competitive, so Kiro is more of my enemy right now than my friend.

       "You're his assassin, aren't you?" I ask.

        "What? No." Her tone of voice makes it obvious that she's lying. "I just... wanted to ask him out."

       "You can ask him out at school," I say. "He is here today. But he would turn you down because he is dating my sister. If you are his assassin, I'll give you a little tip. It isn't a good idea to ask your target's friend for information since they can tell your target. But luckily for you, I have a love-hate friendship with Kiro and would love to see him get eliminated. Here, give me your phone." 

        She opens her notes app and hands me the phone. I type in Kiro's address, then hand the phone back to her. 

       "He lives in a port town about thirty to forty minutes away from here, depending where you live," I say. "If he isn't at his house, he's likely at mine to hang out with his girlfriend. You'd just have to guess and see if he's home or not."

       "Thanks," she says.

       "If you end up eliminating Kiro and get his target, don't ask their friends for information. They might not be as nice as me." Although, it's not that I'm being nice. I just want Kiro to get eliminated because I know he's going to be a threat if he somehow ends up getting my name as a target.

       I mean, that guy can simply walk into my bedroom and shoot me since he's over at my house all the time. I need him gone before that happens.

       When school ends, I decide to try to get Viktor out. And by doing that, I leave school as quickly as I can, get in my car, and drive to Viktor's house in hopes of beating him there. I already told Forest I'm planning on doing this and told him he could get a ride home with Kiro.

       Forest was more than happy to go home with Kiro so I can try to eliminate Viktor right away. He would have came with me but unfortunately, we can't have any witnesses, regardless if they're part of the game or not.

       I park on the side of the road across the street from Viktor's house. It's a road that quite a few people park on, so it's not suspicious for my car to be here.

       I wait for just a few minutes before I see Viktor's car get into the driveway. I roll down the window, prepared to shoot him with the water gun. I've got great aim, thankfully, so I can get him from across the street. 

       I don't shoot him as soon as he gets out of the car. I wait for a few seconds to make sure that no one is with him, otherwise it won't count and he would know that I'm his assassin.

       Thankfully, no one is with him, so I aim and shoot him. It takes him a few moments to realize that he was shot with a water gun and once he does, he looks around until his eyes land on me. I wave and he glares at me. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he says. "Of course you were my assassin."

       "Hey, don't blame me," I say. "I didn't organize the game. So who's your target?"

       "Kiro."

       "Liar. I talked to Kiro's target already. If you don't give me the right name, you'd probably get banned from joining future games for being a poor sport. I eliminated you fair and square. Don't be moody because I caught you for starting that list."

       "Fine. It's Freddie."

       "Kaylee's boyfriend Freddie?"

       "Yep." Viktor walks away and to his front door, ending the conversation.

       I text the organizer to tell them that I eliminated Viktor and now have his target as mine. I asked for confirmation that Freddie was his target just in case Viktor lied. Thankfully, he didn't. Freddie was his target, meaning that he's mine.

       Sorry Freddie. You might be an amazing boyfriend to my best friend, but I'm winning this thing.

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good luck to kiro's assassin. he's never home. he'll probably try to convince marius and fawn to let him stay at their house until the game is over lol.