With days left in their Hingham High School experience, the seniors have officially begun the annual tradition of Senior Assassin. This year, Pete Ross organized the game. The concept is simple: don’t get shot. Every student was assigned a peer to “assassinate” (shoot with a squirt gun), each senior, therefore, having an unknown assassin.

There are, however, rules to the game. Assassinations cannot take place on school grounds, during work hours, or in/out of a moving vehicle. Players have immunity for fifteen minutes before and after any sporting events, and if they defend themselves through shooting their assassin first, they have immunity for fifteen minutes.

As most of the school’s students have noticed, the seniors are extremely paranoid. Whether they’re sprinting to their cars after symphony on a Thursday night or keeping watch for an assassin in their front yards, the entire senior class is constantly on edge. Paige King, a senior participating, expressed, “I feel pretty anxious all the time. I have no idea who’s coming to attack me. I wake up in fear and I go home in fear… I’m not even exaggerating! Every time somebody wants to make plans with me, I don’t trust it. Everyone’s social lives have quieted down for sure.” Senior Kristine McLellan agrees, saying, “I’m not even in Senior Assassin and it’s consuming my life. I had a dream last night that I got shot!”

Clearly, Assassin isn’t just a game. Many students have expressed their need for the supposedly lighthearted game to end soon, but the competition is contagious. Assassin is the subject of constant conversation in the locker room, halls, and even on Facebook. Jackson Humphrey, a recently eliminated senior, said, “It’s quite tragic, I wasn’t expecting anything… the next thing I knew, I was being attacked by two con artists in my own backyard!” Jackson, like so many others, was surprised by his assassination, but the game must go on.

Within the next few weeks, new rules will alter the game and eliminate more seniors in greater numbers. As time goes on, the competition becomes more heated and Assassin will draw more competition than ever before.