PROLOGUE
Norton Campbell did not care for most people. In fact, he preferred to keep to himself. Still, due to his cold nature, he tended to attract people who wanted to find out more about this mysterious boy who kept to himself — however, whenever friendly people and potential friends attempted to talk to him Norton gave them the cold shoulder. It was at that point they realized that Norton Campbell wasn’t anybody to ‘figure out’, rather he was simply what you would call a douchebag.
People across Oletus high school thought it, and Norton didn’t really care. That did not stop people from trying to strike up a conversation with the school’s infamous D-bag, and that didn’t stop Norton from flipping them off.
Yet, people still tried to befriend them. And there was a lot of three people who managed to stick around, mostly because, well, they were loners who did not have anywhere else to go. Norton was nice to them on occasion, but even so he was nice in the rudest way possible. He assured them, and himself, that he was a jerk.
For example, there was Naib Subedar, a quiet guy who Norton liked to argue and debate with from time to time. Naib’s status around campus was ‘that guy in a ponytail who gets into fights’ because Naib would often get into a fight on campus at LEAST every other week — and would sometimes be gone for a good amount of time due to suspensions. The only reason Naib hadn’t been expelled was probably due to the fact that Oletus high pretty much had a reputation for its fights and bad kids, and something so little as a school fight wasn’t too out of the ordinary.
Then, there was the pleasant Eli Clark. Eli struggled desperately to make any good friends with people, but he worked wonders with pets. Norton first met Eli at the local pet store awhile ago, as he had gained a job there due to his fondness towards animals. One reason why Eli probably got so much shit was because he was constantly trying to feed pigeons on school grounds, and often got ridiculed for it. Norton didn’t really care, in fact, he would even say that he thought Eli’s soft spot for animals was… nice. Not that he would ever say that out loud.
Last, but not least, was Andrew fucking Kreiss. Emphasis on the ‘fucking’ because it was Andrew’s fault the four of them got sucked into the drama of senior year in the first place. Andrew was short, lanky, pale due to some illness he had mentioned, Norton hadn’t remembered, and he would ask if he wasn’t so pissed at Andrew. Because ‘Victor Grantz inviting them to join his senior assassination team’ was not a good enough excuse for also writing Naib, Eli, and his own name down on the list. And now he was enrolled into this stupid assassination game filled with Nerf Elite Titan’s and pink Nerf Rebelle arrows all for some stupid, fucking…
“Pause.” Norton stands up from his spot on the couch — his in his house’s basement. It used to be a workspace for his dad before he retired, and Norton transformed it into a small hangout spot for him and his group. But that was not important. Andrew might be off the hook once and for all, after all.
“Say that again? I didn't catch it.” Norton crossed his arms, because yes, he had heard what Andrew had stated. But just what was said had changed Norton’s whole view of the game at hand. That maybe, he would actually take this one thing in high school more seriously than any essay or math equation that had ever been presented to him.
“I…I said there’s a cash prize? Of $5,000…?” Andrew scanned his eyes around the room nervously, most likely still anxious from the earful he had received from Norton prior to him, and now seeing Norton even slightly interested had threw him off.
Holy shit. This changed everything. If there was one thing Norton liked more than being alone it was money. Before he saw this as some stupid, pointless high school gathering of students to get together and have fun at the expense of another person’s misery, and all of that didn’t sound half-bad now that a cash prize was involved.
“Fine. I’m in,” Norton shrugged, “might as well since you’ve already sign me up, anyways.”
Naib snickered, “somebody wants that cash prize.”
Norton shot him a glare, “did I ask?” Though, Naib was right. He wanted that cash prize badly. Still, he supposed he’d have to share it with whoever he was teaming up with: Andrew, Eli, Naib, Victor, and two others, apparently… including himself that meant he’d only get around seven hundred and fifteen dollars.
However, he was sure if he played his cards right, he could ensure that the majority of it would go to him.