For as long as anyone can remember, the grad class at Slippery Rock High has played a game called Gotcha! – a final year tradition – where each student receives one bead and one slip of paper that reveals the name of their first target. The students must capture beads from their targets using any method necessary, and the student who holds every last bead at the end of the school year is the victor. After several dangerous mishaps, the school decides to ban Gotcha!, but the grad council in Katie’s year decides to run the game on its own. Katie is drawn into a world of paranoia, deceit and betrayal as she struggles to hold her bead (and the $2,000 prize money), deal with her self-absorbed parents, and figure out what her friendship means to Joel, to whom she is growing more and more attracted.
