She dashed to her room before her mom could respond.

Hello, assassins.

The game is not canceled. The game is never canceled. All memorials, funerals, and graveyards are now off-limits. The money collected will be split between the animal shelter and the Boys & Girls Club. Ben Barnard was one of us. But we are not of Lincoln High. It has no authority over us. Lincoln has no authority over us. The game continues no matter who tries to stop it. For every assassin who keeps playing, the Council will donate $5. For every assassin taken out, the Council will match the players’ donations.

Play for Abby and Ben. Win for them.

Happy hunting,

The Council

By Wednesday, when Lia returned to school with Gem and Devon, the halls were still filled with whispers and rumors about Ben. Lincoln was a small town, and everybody knew somebody in the know. Lia barely listened to their history teacher talking about grief counseling. She had finished her missing work the night before, and it only took a quarter of class to finish the new homework due Friday. Instead of taking notes, she went over her list of possible Assassins players.

If she didn’t, if she stopped thinking about school or the game, she would think about Abby and Ben. She couldn’t think about them yet.

Much of the class couldn’t seem to either. No one was in their regular seat, not even Faith. She had swapped with Georgia so that Abby’s best friend didn’t have to sit near an empty chair.

“And finally,” said Ms. Christie, straightening the papers in her hands, “I believe you’ll all be getting emails today detailing how that little game you all play every year is banned on school grounds. Anyone still found playing after today will be given in-school suspension for three days minimum, and repeat offenders will not be allowed to walk at graduation. This is, of course, for your safety.”

Lia’s fingers clenched around her pen. “What?”

Faith glanced sideways at Lia, and Devon touched her shoulder from his seat behind her.

“Assassins,” Ms. Christie said, looking at Lia. “No more of that unless you want in-school suspension.”

Lia didn’t listen to anything after that.

A few hours later, outside at lunch, Devon sat next to her and held up his hand before she could talk. “I’m thinking about withdrawing from the game. I don’t really want to talk about it, but I wanted to let you know.”

An uneasy energy settled in Lia, and she tapped her heels against the ground. This was the first time they had ever gotten to spend time together, and now it was almost over.

“I’m not getting in-school suspension or banned from walking,” Devon went on, trying to convince Lia as well as himself. “My mom doesn’t want me walking around outside anymore either.”

“You don’t have to go out,” Lia said. “Please. We can keep playing from inside the safety of Gem’s car.”