Game On

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dead

            “You’re dead.”

I felt a thud of a Nerf bullet on my right arm. I flinched just a bit, but I thought of it as foolish and silly. College students, seniors nonetheless, were still fooling around and playing with their toys. It’s just a silly tradition in general, or at least that’s my personal opinion on the whole concept. If you are unfamiliar with the game that most students refer to as “Assassin,” allow me to explain.

            The whole premise of the game is to be the last one standing. The game lasts about a week and there is one person who is in charge of the whole thing. He emails you your assigned target; any random student in the school and your goal is to “kill them”. There are multitudes of ways to go about doing this, but you are encouraged to be creative with it.  The game works both ways; everyone is a victim and a killer. The key to winning is never going anywhere by yourself and never revealing who your victim is. When you are the unfortunate one who is “killed”, you need to reveal the name of your victim so they have their next victim in mind. The last one standing at the end of the game wins. Usually, since there are about 5,000 students here, there is no one winner. However, my school is an exception to that rule; everyone takes the game very seriously.

            Everyone except me.

I just think of it as pointless and a waste of my time. I came here to study, not be prone to participate in foolish games. I came here to be successful for my career and my future. As I walked away from the guy that “killed” me, I noticed that a younger girl was behind me. She had dark, curly hair, brownish green eyes and freckles all over her face. She was small and I have seen her walking around campus, but I never got her name. I wonder if she witnessed my “killing”. Oh, that’s another rule; if someone see or hears you “killing” someone else, then the victim can be revived. I personally didn’t care, but whatever. I looked away from her and walked over to sit on a bench underneath a large oak tree.

My name is Valerie King. Some just call me “V” or “Val”, but I would much prefer Valarie. Physically speaking, I am about five feet nine inches, dark hair, hazel eyes, pale skin. You know, average looking girl. I am a senior currently studying judicial studies and lab sciences at Ichabod Crane University in the small town of Tarrytown, New York, which was right outside of the beautiful city. However, it was a rural area so no city life was affecting the beautiful countryside that my campus resided in. ICU has a beautiful campus and has everything; a beautiful Quad, a beautiful theater building, (it’s not my major but I still love to go there and look at it) a gorgeous East Campus that has great food and a great view of the entire campus, and a library with a Starbucks conveniently located inside. Since I am a senior, but I don’t want to live in an apartment, I currently hold residence in a dorm room near the Quad. In fact, I am sitting on a bench not far from my dorm; that’s how close I am right now.

A beautiful day on the Quad is soothing to my soul and rejuvenates every vital organ in my body, no matter how stressed out I have been. Just to see all the campus residents walking and going about their lives as if not having a clue in the world makes me feel even more relaxed as I see them pass me by. Seeing the different people and their diversity when it comes to outfits opens my eyes to the many colors that this campus alone paints for me. That is what attracted me to this place; the beauty of diversity.

From where I sat, I could see the surrounding grey stoned buildings and red tiled roofs. If I turned my head left and right I noticed the many trees and shady areas where students sat and talked with friends, read a book or like me, they had their eyes invested in their laptop diligently working on an important assignment. I turn my head slightly to the left, and I see the glorious Tyranny Hall towering over campus. I see flocks of people coming from all directions, making their way through the Quad, around it, and yet I’m here, in the middle of it all. I am slowly taking every last breath of fresh air and enjoying it while I can because it’s my senior year. I don’t want to squander any time left here.