I was at the back of the group, lined up next to Lawrence. 

“So, Dean,” Lawrence asked. “Is there a person you’re going after?” 

I shook my head. 

“No, not really.” 

“Seriously? I thought for sure you would go for Jenny.” 

I looked at him with wide eyes and started stammering a bit. 

“W-what? Why would I go for Jenny?” 

Lawrence looked at me as if the answer was obvious. 

“Because she’s giving you the stink eye right now.” 

“What?! Where?!” 

Lawrence shrugged his shoulders. 

“Somewhere on the right side,” he said. 

From the back of the pack, I peeked through a small gap and made the worst mistake I could ever make. 

I locked eyes with a tiger. And her message was simple. 

‘I’m coming for you.’

Uh oh, I thought, while gulping. 

“So,” said some senior girl on the front lines, “should we countdown, Max?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “The honor is all yours.” 

The girl was all smiles. 

“Okay!” she yelled. “On three!” 

At that moment, I realized there was no going back. 

And from across the field, the senior raised her balloon. 

“Three…! Two…! One…!” 

As the girl counted, everyone raised their balloons and bottles, ready for war, while I ducked down for two main reasons:

1. I didn’t want to get soaked by a bunch of water balloons and bucket water.

AND 

2. I didn't want Jenny to know where I was.

I think it’s a smart move if I do say so myself, but now I have another issue…

“Go!!!” the girl screamed. 

And from there, everyone screamed. Then they ran. 

Pop! Pop! Pop! 

Most people threw their balloons off the rip as water shot everywhere. Almost everyone ran forward…and all the while I tried to stay in the back because…

I didn’t know what to do. 

It was only a matter of time before Jenny found me. And there was no place that I could really hide at. Well, unless I went inside, but the halls were so stuffy and soulless that I’d take my chances fighting the tiger than walk to my room.   

“Ohhh Deaaaan~Where are you~?” A girl sang. 

Oh no. 

It was faint, but I knew whose voice that belonged to, and I knew where it came from. 

So I bolted to the right side of the field, all the way to the edge where the metal fence and giant trees were at. 

I hope she didn’t see me. Even with a bottle of my own, I didn’t want to go against Jenny. She’d pulverize me! 

The only thing I could think of was to hide in the shade from the giant trees and hope that if I see Jenny on the left, that I could run to the girl’s back-line and repeat the cycle once more. 

It would be a tiring game of cat and mouse, but I would have to keep it up until she’s tired. Then I could counterattack. 

All I had to do was find Jenny and run away. 

Though with that being said, I had another problem. 

“Where in the world is she?” I thought out loud. 

And from the right corner of my eye, I saw a green cap of a Dasani bottle aimed right at me. 

“Are you talking about me~?” Jenny asked in a sweet tone. 

Her playful smile would’ve made my heart flutter if it wasn’t for the fact that she was practically pointing a gun at my face. 

“Huff…huff…huff…” 

Maggie ran and eventually stopped behind Jenny with a loaded balloon in hand. 

“Girl…” Maggie huffed, “Did…did you get him?” 

“No~, not yet,” Jenny said, cutely tilting her head and letting her long orange hair dangle. 

“You can have the honor, Maggie. Throw the balloon at him.” 

Maggie looked at her with tired eyes. 

“Huff…alright,” she said, taking a deep breath before aiming her balloon in my direction. 

I wanted to run, but I knew Jenny was faster than me. She’d just catch me and drag me back here if I even tried running, so I held my breath and closed my eyes—bracing for the impact. 

Three…two…one…

“Ow!” 

I felt an odd little splash on my face and shoulders. It was weird. There was no way that Maggie’s water balloon had that little water. 

Then I opened my eyes, and I saw the back of Jenny’s hair. 

It was soaked and had water dripping onto the concrete floor. 

Maggie clasped her hand over her mouth from her mistake. 

“Augh!” Jenny yelled, cold and disgusted. “You hit me!”