Prep

From Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld:

"Life is clearest when guided by ulterior motives: walking to chapel, I felt a sense of true purpose. I was on my way to kill McGrath Mills, a junior from Dallas whom I'd inherited from Allie Wray. I'd heard McGrath was good at lacrosse, and I thought that an athlete would be harder to kill--there was more of a chance he'd be into the game."

Later:

"'What's your name?' McGrath said. He had a Southern accent, a slight twang, and he'd stuck the orange sticker from his shirt onto the pad of his middle finger.

'My name's Lee.'

'Did you try to kill me back there, Lee?'

I darted glances at the faces of the other boys, tne looked back at McGrath. 'Kind of,' I said, and they laughed.

'Here's what I'm gonna tell you,' McGrath said. 'It's okay to try. But it would be wrong to succeed.'"