Jessica finished her latte with a flourish, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. "Well, I'm excited," she proclaimed, studying her long red talons. "We haven't had some excitement around Sweet Valley for ages. I can't believe Randy Mason is the one who's going to bring it, but I'll take anything at this point."
Denise leant forward, her eyes wide. "Winston is ridiculously excited," she admitted. "He keeps going on about how he's going to be the winner."
Lila barely contained her audible snort. "I have never heard of anything stupider than the Murder Game," she said. "And I went through the Theta initiation."
"You barely went through initiation," Alexandra chimed in. "You're a Fowler. As if they were going to put you through anything that bad."
"True," Lila preened, fluttering her expensively dyed lashes. "And, as a Fowler, I refuse to take part in this stupid game."
"No one is asking you to," Jessica shot at her.
"Plus, didn't you hear me?" Denise said jokingly. "Winnie is going to win this!"
Chloe Murphy raised her head from her orange juice with bleary eyes. "Excuse me," she interjected. "But what is the Murder Game?"
Lila turned to Chloe. "Where were you last night when Randy made that stupid announcement? He explained the whole stupid thing. Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Jessica felt her annoyance brimming over. If Lila didn't want to play the game, it was fine with her, but she needed to learn when to shut her mouth. When Randy had made the announcement last night, Jessica had been with Neil, her best friend. They were standing near the podium, commenting and gossiping about different people in the crowd, when Randy had commanded everyone's attention. The moment he mentioned the word "Murder Game", Jessica's heart had skipped a beat. She was always up for adventure and excitement, and it sounded like the perfect way to spice up her life.
Chloe shrugged her slim shoulders. "I had some pre-drinks before I actually hit up the party. Around that time, I was already in the bathroom, heaving up the tequila."
Her comment was greeted by a chorus of groans. "Classy," Lila commented dryly.
"Well, can somebody explain it?" Chloe continued. "Softly, too, please. My poor head can't take it."
Jessica raised a hand for silence. "I've practically memorized his speech," she said. "So, the way Randy explained it was like this. Everybody in the university plays it, even if they don't know it. The aim is to kill as many people as possible."
"Because being a criminal is so hot right now," Lila interjected.
"Are you going to shut up?" Jessica exploded. "I'm trying to explain it. Anyway, so, you kill as many people as possible. A kill is basically some form of public humiliation. Once you've been killed, you can't play anymore. But for you to have been killed, other people have to know about it. Does that make sense?"
"No!" Lila sang out.
"It starts on Monday," Jessica continued animatedly. "If you want to play, you need to submit your name to the Caretaker... which is Randy. He said just to drop your name on a slip of paper into his campus mailbox. Once you complete a kill, you write theirs and your name down for the Caretaker so he can keep a proper tally. Creativity and maximum damage is taken into account. He decides whether they count as a hit, and at the end of the two weeks, a winner is decided."
"What does the winner get?" Chloe asked with interest.
"Fame and fortune," Denise intoned.
Jessica flapped her hand at her. "When you submit your name, you submit ten dollars as well. The winner gets all of the money at the end."
Alexandra whistled. "Not bad. So if fifty people submit their names..."
Jessica nodded. "Someone walks away with five hundred dollars."
"How are you supposed to prove that a hit was yours?" Lila asked. "That's a bit of a flaw in the game, don't you think? I mean, I could just walk around claiming credit for all of your kills, Jessica."
Jessica shrugged. "The Caretaker is supposed to know."
"Have you actually got anything planned yet, Jessica?" Alexandra asked.
"Let's just say Alison Quinn and Tina Choi are going to be my first victims," Jessica answered, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
They all laughed. "Are any of you guys going to play?" Lila asked.
"I'm in," Denise said, finishing her drink. "There were around three hundred people at that party. If even half of those people play, that's a lot of money. I could do with a couple of new things."
"Me, too," Alexandra chimed in. "I guess I'll play. What about you, Chloe?"
Chloe shook her head. "I'm not very creative. I don't think I could think up anything clever enough."
"Do you think Isabella will play?" Denise mused.
Jessica nodded. "She's always up for a good time," she said. "I don't see why she wouldn't. Where is she anyway?"
"She had a hair appointment this morning," Lila answered. "And she left early last night. She had to pick Danny up from something. I don't know."
"He had an interview for some apprenticeship, I think," Denise confirmed. "His car was in the shop."
"So, I guess we can assume that you're not going to be playing, Lila?" Alexandra asked. "So it will be just Jess, Denise, Izzy and me."
"I think we should make a pact right now to not kill each other," Jessica said quickly. "I don't want to have to watch my back the whole time we're together."
"Fine with me," Denise said. "And I wouldn't want to publicly humiliate any of you guys."
"You're so sweet, Denise," Lila said. "But I'd like to see any of you try to get one past me. I don't intend on playing, and I don't intend on being killed either."
"Why do you think they stopped playing it?" Alexandra said dreamily. "I mean, Randy said that it hadn't been played for ages. Why do you think they stopped? What happened?"
"Maybe the school board put a stop to it?" suggested Denise. "I doubt they would want publicity from a "Murder Game" going around."
Lila yawned. "Maybe they realised what a stupid idea it was."
Jessica leant her chin on the hands. "Maybe," she said dreamily. "All I can think about is winning five hundred dollars. That's a lot of shoes, you know."
"Not good quality shoes," Lila interjected. "Do you have any idea how much these Christian Louboutin's cost?" She extended a slim leg so everyone could admire the fiery red heels she was wearing. "Almost eight hundred dollars. Maybe you could put a down payment on a pair if you win, Jessica."
Jessica opened her mouth to retort, and Chloe stepped in quickly. "Whatever," she said, shooting them both nervous looks. "So should you guys go put your names in now?"
Jessica snapped her mouth shut, and settled back into her seat. She loved Lila, but the girl was the biggest pain in her backside. "I can't do it yet," she admitted. "I need to borrow ten dollars of Liz."
Everyone groaned. "Poor Liz!" Alexandra exclaimed.
"Do you think she'll play, Jess?" Chloe asked.
"I was with her last night when Randy was talking," Alexandra said. "She thought it was the stupidest idea she'd ever heard. So no. I don't think so."
"She might change her mind when she realises just how much prize money could be up for grabs," Jessica said. She grabbed Lila's cell phone, which was sitting on the table and peered at the time. "I need to head off soon if I'm going to catch Liz before she leaves the station. We need to discuss strategy."
"This is a rinky-dink university game, not World War Three," Lila said.
"I think we shouldn't bother going for kills outside of those playing unless they're easy," Jessica said animatedly. "We need to find out as many people as possible that are playing, and start eliminating the list."
"Good idea," Denise said. "And I have to ask... if we're not targeting each other, does that mean our partners can't either? I mean..." she blushed and looked away. "Winston probably won't listen to me if I say he can't kill any of you guys."
"Don't worry about controlling your pet," Jessica said dryly. "Winston was third on my list anyway."
They laughed, and Denise looked relieved. "I think that's a great idea," Alexandra said. "Should we share with each other who we're going to kill? Or divide up the list?"
"I think you guys are missing a pretty important detail," Lila said. "Assuming none of you are killed during the Game... what do you plan on doing? Sharing the prize money? You're going to have to kill each other at one point."
They were silent for a moment. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Jessica declared. "For now, we just need to get our hands on a list of competitors. We'll go from there."
They all stood from the table, Chloe slower than the rest. "Don't forget to drop your names in!" Denise reminded them. Jessica felt an uncomfortable stir in her stomach. If she missed out on the game of the century because she couldn't scrape together ten lousy bucks...
They piled out of the diner, and Jessica was barely watching where she was going. She distractedly ran her hands through her hair as she looked around. With an ooof! she collided with what appeared to be her mirror image.
The blonde girl threw her hands up. "Jessica!" Elizabeth scolded mildly. "Watch where you're going!"
Jessica placed her hands on her twin's shoulders. "Liz!" she said urgently. "Can I borrow ten dollars?"
