Rushing around the corner of Espola onto Poway Road, afraid of being followed, I hastily look in my rearview mirror. “Yep, that’s him,” I think. My assassin sits in the driver’s seat two cars behind me. Anxiously, I turn right onto a side street, and the car drives by unassumingly.
Senior Assassins is one of the most anticipated and fun traditions of senior year, a cut-throat game of suspicions and spying with a thousand-dollar prize for the winners to back it up.
The game is not affiliated with the school and generally plays out like this: teams of 4-6 seniors are sent through Instagram another team, who are their targets for the week. The team must get at least 3 “kills” (hitting someone with a water gun while they are wearing a floaty or pair of goggles) or one elimination (a water gun hit without a floaty or pair of goggles). The floaties and goggles act as “lives,” and each player gets two. After those two kills, they are up for elimination. If teams do not complete this task within the week, one member of their team will be put on bounty, meaning they can be targeted by anyone playing. Players can pay to have others put up on bounty for ten dollars, only adding to the prize money.
For seniors, the first trimester is a hectic and crucial time. They must apply to colleges, take or re-take tests like the SAT and ACT, and balance multiple classes, including APs. On top of this, there are so many “Rites of passage,” and “Lasts” that feel mandatory to have the full “senior year experience.”
So when I signed up for Senior Assassins, I wanted to keep it as easy as possible, helping my team when I had time and doing my best not to get shot. It was near last place on my list of priorities.
However, as the kill-count stacked up and members of my team reported being hunted near their houses, I felt uneasy. Uneasy getting out of my car, I flashed my brights as I pulled in. Uneasy as I threw away the trash at work, making sure to pull out a timer to protect myself as I stepped out the door. Uneasy shopping at Trader Joe’s, my goofy goggles hanging around my neck.
This crazy and clandestine game has even invaded my dreams. As if we were all in quicksand, I see my peers, my friends, and even myself fall into madness.
Some have become a sort of war profiteer, selling and buying players’ addresses so teams can find their targets and make their quota.
And while the rules state that players may not do anything illegal, some students have confided in me that teams have broken into private property just to attempt a kill.
Yet another rule states that parents may not interfere; however, if they are having their privacy violated, can anyone really blame them? It is a gray area in the rules; players are allowed to ambush on driveways, and parents may not interfere, even though they are technically on private property.
In the case of one senior, after parallel parking, her car was blocked by two players who were trying to “kill” her, creating a very dicey situation.
As of now, the winners will take home around $3,000, and that number is liable to grow as players place more bounties.
Senior assassins is a fun tradition, but sometimes the mania goes too far. Seniors should be mindful of how their actions affect others, regardless of the game, and safety should be a priority. Seniors should have fun, but make smart choices, and not let the game get to their heads.
