With 240 seniors, one person to organize them all, and  $2,400 involved, the annual Assassins game sparked unusual controversy this year.

In the past, Cal High administrators expressed their disapproval and police involvement had been the two main negatives putting a damper on the game. But this year the seniors themselves are the culprits creating all of the drama.

Assassins is an annual second semester game run by seniors exclusively for seniors.  Students pay $10 apiece to work alone or with a partner while trying to “assassinate” an assigned team with a Nerf gun.

While one team is going after their targets, another team is coming after them simultaneously. It is a game of shooting before getting shot during a designated timeframe.

The moderators of the game are called “Godfathers,” and they’re typically a group of seniors. Godfathers are responsible for setting the rules, collecting the money, assigning targets, keeping track of who shoots whom, and settling disputes.

But the Godfather this year is a single person, Ross Botelho. This is the root of most of the concern coming from those playing the game, as it yields the possibility of unfairness.

“The Godfather is doing a fairly good job, but it’s not perfect,” said senior Cameron Goularte. “I think another Godfather may be able to help.”

Some students also have concerns that Botelho could easily favor his friends. Senior Hailey Thompson believes Botelho is not being as fair as he should be and that there should be more than one Godfather. Senior Matt Lorenz has similar concerns.

“I don’t like him as a Godfather,” Lorenz said. “My idea would be to have four brackets, one guy in charge of one of the four and eventually it would all come together to one.”

Another big issue this year is the rules, which were disputed on social media and frequently changed before the game even started. Because of this, some students feel the rules are not clear enough.

Senior Hussain Khan said that Botelho could have been clearer about the rules. Khan also said the rules should not have been changed so much before the game started.

In addition to being a forum for all the last minute rule changes, social media has been a big part of the Assassins game this year. It has not only been a place for students to express their concerns about the Godfather and the game, but also a ground for the biggest controversy of the game to grow.

Before the game started, there was a rumor that senior Sam Dahmen had access to the list of everyone’s targets. This suspicion of Dahmen having the list caused a ripple of frustration that was voiced onto social media.

“Assassins is officially rigged @AssassinsCHS get your **** together,” said @realSpencerGlaz.

Even with Botelho’s assurance that Dahmen did not have the list, some seniors went as far as wanting to quit the game before it started.

“@AssassinsCHS lemme get my money back tomorrow please,” @crichan19 said.

Despite the fact that Dahmen did not actually have the list, every team received new targets anyways.  At the time, however, Dahmen was not able to address the rumors over social media.

“I never saw it,” Dahmen said. “I didn’t have a Twitter at the time to defend myself.”

The start of Assassins was rocky, and with the first few weeks of the game being played, it has continued to be that way

If the game this year can be summed up in a few words it would be these: A two-way street of confusion and mistrust. This is not only from the seniors playing the game, but also from Botelho as well.

“There has been plenty of controversy with people trying to lie about killing their targets,” Botelho said. “It has caused me a lot of stress, a lot of trust issues with people, and I guess that goes to say that our senior class isn’t that trustworthy.”