“With a thirty-two and a fifteen-ten, I had better be.” Faith went back to her eyeball. “I did everything right. I’m not sure why I didn’t get higher. What did you get, Prince? I was sure you’d miss it because you were stalking us for Assassins or something.”

Lia rolled her lips together and couldn’t even bring herself to answer.

“No one cares about those scores as much as you,” Devon said. “Here—what do I need to do to sign up?”

He held out his phone to Lia. She pulled up the email she had sent to the Council and typed it word for word for him.

He leaned over her arm to read what she typed. “I don’t have a water gun, and I’m not ready to be killed.”

“You can borrow one of mine,” she said. “Dear Council, I, Devon Diaz, would love to lose Assassins.”

The bell for the end of first block rang. Devon hit SEND, and Lia got up, knocking over her open backpack, pens rolling away. He laughed and helped her pick them up.

“You should be more light-footed, master assassin,” he said. “I’ll text you to get that water gun.”

“Finally getting that date, master assassin,” Gem whispered.

Lia knocked her shoulder against theirs. “Shut up.”

They wove their way through the halls to their next class, Lia noting every senior she knew leaving the bathroom with their phone in hand. As they sat down in their next class, Gem leaned against the window.

Outside, May Barnard and the other soccer girls sprinted across the lawn. They spent every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday first block at the gym down the street with the other varsity teams, and Lia was sure all of them would play Assassins. May was in the lead, her bright red hair streaming out behind her, and she threw her head back with laughter. She was pretty and perfect, and seemed to glow instead of sweat. Gem stared, mouth slightly open.

“This is serious. No romantic distractions.” Lia rolled her eyes and took her seat. “And she’s the reason you had in-school suspension for a week.”

“Growth and change are important aspects of life, and she did apologize.” Gem sighed and dropped their elbows to the sill, folding in on themselves like a dead spider’s legs. “She does that thing where she rolls up her sleeves, so it’s not like I could not like her. Look.”

“She’s not my type,” Lia said, “but if she’s our target, you don’t have to help kill her.”

“You’re so kind,” Gem said, and sighed. “I bet she could bench-press me.”

Lia laughed. “Is that a thing?”

“I don’t even care,” Gem said. “And you’re one to talk about romantic distractions.”

Lia flushed. “No distractions at all. If we’re not on a team, I love you, but you’re dead to me.”

Gem reached out and tapped the tip of Lia’s nose. “I always wanted a nemesis.”

The rest of class went as it usually did—boring—and halfway through, Lia added her new notes from her journal to the spreadsheet she kept just in case. It was always good to have a backup.