Crosby thought he did. Well, maybe.
“I need to know that we can depend on you when that time comes, Croz,” Dave said.
“Definitely,” Crosby said, though once again he wasn’t sure what Dave meant.
“Good to know,” Dave said.
After that they played TGW until Dave said he had to go. As soon as he signed off, Crosby googled the age requirements for purchasing guns. It turned out you couldn’t legally buy a pistol in a store until you were twenty-one. That made him feel stupid because Dave had known he was lying about the Glock. The funny thing was, if Crosby had said he’d bought a semiautomatic AR-15 type of assault rifle, that would have been fine. Because the age requirement on those was eighteen. But maybe being caught in that lie wasn’t so bad. Crosby could still pretend he was nineteen. More importantly, even after Dave had caught him, he’d had important things to say. Dave still wanted to know that he could depend on Crosby.
As far as Crosby was concerned, he could definitely be depended on.
* * *
“Why were you at school so late?” Caleb’s mom asked while she drove home. The sun was an orange ball just above the treetops.
“Had to make a deadline for the yearbook,” Caleb lied. The truth was Zach had given him a skateboarding lesson. It was a little confusing at first because Zach rode Goofy Foot, while Caleb rode regular. Zach taught him the proper way to push off and ride, and the next thing Caleb knew, he was gliding along the asphalt. It was amazing! Almost like freedom from gravity. He hadn’t wanted to stop, but he knew he had to walk back to school so that his mom could pick him up.
“Did you make the deadline?” his mom asked in the car.
Caleb said he had. He didn’t like lying to her, but if he always lived the way she wanted him to, it wouldn’t be much of a life.
“Did ITV come to school?” his mom asked next.
“Sure did,” Caleb said. “They asked a lot of questions, but I guess we’ll have to wait to see what they use on the show.”
“Don’t forget to send it to Grammy,” Mrs. Arnett said. ITV only broadcast to a few thousand people around Ironville, but once the grandparents got hold of it, you could count on repeat screenings in retirement communities from Florida to Arizona. “Did they say when it would be on TV?”
“In a couple of days,” Caleb said, and gazed out the window as they passed the old steel mill. These days it was a dark empty brick husk behind a rusty fence. Both of his grandfathers had worked there, and so had some of his uncles. After the mill shut down it was said that life in Ironville changed. People began to move away, and those who stayed had trouble finding steady jobs. It made Caleb feel proud that he’d gotten those Providia computers for the school. It wasn’t the same as getting extra credit just for himself. It was something that benefited others. Something that Caleb was just starting to discover felt good.
MATCH TALLY
THE AXIS: 3
THE ALLIES: 2
For the first time since the football team had been disbanded, Ms. B could feel excitement in the air. It might not have reached the level of rah-rah school spirit on the day of a big game, but there was a definite stirring in the halls. The match a week ago had been streamed. A few days later ITV began running the segment about Caleb and her and the eSports club. Her students were excited to see her on TV and she’d overheard kids in the hallways talking about how they hoped to join the club in the spring.
Not everything went smoothly. “I’ve gotten two calls from parents complaining about those red T-shirts Gavin’s squad wore,” Mr. Parnes said in the teachers’ room at lunch the day after the ITV segment ran. “They said it reminded them of the symbol of the SS.”
Ms. B felt a chill. Mr. Parnes was right. The SS had been an elite, and savage, unit of the Nazi party during World War II. Their symbol had been two white lightning bolts.
“And has anyone noticed that they’ve been talking with German accents?” asked Ms. Dean, who taught math and was the yearbook advisor.
“They’re playing a World War Two game between the Axis and the Allied forces,” Ms. B explained. “Gavin’s team is the Axis. But I should have recognized the lightning bolt sooner.”
Mr. Parnes took off his glasses and cleaned them on the cuff of his plaid shirt. “Do you think maybe they’re taking it a little too seriously?”
“I’m not sure I have a problem with it,” said Ms. Orlean, the social studies teacher. “If the game were called The Revolutionary War, and Gavin and his friends wore red coats and pretended to have British accents, would that be any different?”
Mr. Parnes tapped his long, bony fingers against the tabletop. “I don’t recall reading anywhere that the British were in favor of genocide.”
After lunch, Ms. B found Principal Summers in the hall. They discussed the situation and agreed that the Axis team shouldn’t wear the T-shirts again. Later, Ms. B spoke to Gavin, who looked completely surprised to learn what the lightning bolt represented.
“Believe me, Ms. B,” he said. “I’ve got nothing against Jewish people. I don’t even know any.”
He assured her that he would pass the message to the other members of the Axis squad. Ms. B thought that settled the matter, but over the next few days, as the eSports club segment continued to be shown on ITV, she received emails from parents complaining about the T-shirts and questioning the idea of eSports at school. Ms. B answered each one, apologizing for the tees and reminding the parents that the computers and high-speed internet had been provided for free and were being used for academics as well as gaming. Gradually, the emails stopped. But several weeks later when it all went horribly bad, Ms. B would look back at those emails as the first inkling that what they were involved in wasn’t just a game.
* * *
The day after the image of her as Caleb’s pet appeared on Instagram, Emma stayed home from school. A stomachache had merely been a convenient excuse in the morning, but by noon, it was as real as each tortured breath she took. As real as each new comment added to the post. “Lapdog.” “Freak.” “Loser.” “They should hold hands and jump off a bridge.”
Her phone was the source of all her agony and despair, and yet she couldn’t stop looking. Couldn’t stop checking to see if any more awful comments had been added. It was torture.
By late afternoon the cyber spears and arrows had stopped flying. The hunters and haters had moved on to fresher targets. Going back to school the next morning was one of the hardest things Emma felt she’d ever done, but no one glowered. No one pointed a finger. No one called her lapdog. Everyone seemed to have forgotten.
Several days later, Emma stood on the lunch line feeling a sense of relief. By now, the pet post was ancient history, a billion posts ago on everyone’s feed. She didn’t know if Caleb had seen it. If he had, he hadn’t said anything. So the damage appeared to have passed and Emma was looking forward to the match that afternoon.
“Well, well, look who’s here,” a voice behind her said.
Emma felt a shiver. Her stomach grew queasy as she turned to find Mackenzie and Isabella. She would have bet anything that Mackenzie had been the one behind the horrible Instagram. Now she braced herself for the inevitable cruel, biting comment. She might have been a better gamer than Mackenzie, but in almost every other way, she still felt inferior. That was the way it had always been. It felt like that’s how it would always be.
“Bet you love being on the same squad as your lover boy,” Mackenzie said with a sneer. Today she was wearing a pink embroidered top and a gold name necklace.
For a moment, Emma felt tongue-tied. She was certain that Mackenzie expected her to deny it. The Mistress of Microaggressions was no doubt thirsting for the sort of vile argument she adored. But then inspiration struck. “I do,” Emma answered, “but he’s not my lover boy.”
Mackenzie and Isabella both blinked with surpris
e.
“But you wish he was,” said Isabella.
Again, Emma tried to think of the last thing they’d expect her to say. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Don’t tell me you’ve never liked a boy.”
Like matching androids, Mackenzie and Isabella let their mouths fall open. They gasped and cackled. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell him!” Mackenzie cried.
Suddenly, Emma feared she’d made a mistake. She thought back to the pet post. She’d survived, but never wanted to go through anything like that again. Mustering what little courage she had left, she said, “What difference will it make if you do?”
“Then he’ll know you like him,” Isabella said.
Emma suspected Caleb already knew. And so, of course, did everyone who’d seen the pet post. “And? So?”
Like fish gasping for air on the surface of a pond, the girls’ mouths moved, but no words came out. “You’ll…It’ll…,” Mackenzie stammered. “You’ll be humiliated.”
“If you say so,” Emma replied, and shrugged as if she didn’t care. The truth was, she did. But after the pet post, could they really humiliate her any more than they already had?
* * *
After last week’s match, Nathan had felt really good. Those kids had called him the Kill Streak King, and the next morning at the bus stop some other kids had nodded reverently at him. They also must’ve watched the stream. They’d recognized him!
On the bus, it got even better. Nathan listened in while two kids sitting in front of him talked. “You watch the match yesterday?”
The other said, “What match?”
“On Twitch,” said the first. “The eSports club.”
“What eSports club?” asked the second.
“Where have you been?” the first asked. “They play The Good War after school.” He glanced at Nathan. “You’re in it, right?” Nathan said he was. Things couldn’t have been going better.
But then the weekend came. On Friday afternoon after school Nathan had nothing to do. The rule in his house was that he was supposed to stay off the computer until after dinner. It was a warm sunny afternoon, and Nathan wished he had someone to hang out with. But the only kids he was friendly enough with to ask were his Allied squad mates. He could have tried Caleb, but the guy was always busy with after-school activities. Emma Lopez would have been Nathan’s next choice. She seemed nice and smart, but Nathan knew that other girls made fun of her. So being seen with her might make him look bad.
And that left Zach the Wack. The truth was, Nathan had come to respect Zach’s gaming abilities. He even thought their styles complemented each other. Zach had a way of leading the enemy right into Nathan’s sights. It was like Zach did the work and let Nathan take the glory. But, of course, that was because no one quick scoped faster than Nathan. Without his shooting skills, Zach’s strategy would have been useless.
But Zach was a weirdo and there was no way Nathan could allow himself to be seen with him. And that left no one for Nathan to hang out with. He knew what his mother would say. Be patient. Maybe she was right. Now that the matches were being streamed, more and more kids would see him and know he was a good gamer. He wouldn’t just have friends soon, he’d have the right friends.
But until that happened, there wasn’t much to do. Nathan turned on ITV. Once again, there on the TV screen was the eSports story, with Caleb sitting in a living room with his parents. Caleb was talking about why he’d decided to push for the eSports club and how, with Ms. B’s help, he’d gotten the grant for the Providias and fast internet. Then the scene shifted to Ms. B in the computer lab talking about how the school was benefiting academically thanks to the new computers. Finally, they showed a clip of last week’s match, with Caleb, Emma, and Zach staring at their monitors, each with one hand racing over a keyboard, the other hand on a mouse. The scene shifted to the Axis squad in their matching red T-shirts.
Even though the show wasn’t over, Nathan flipped to another channel. He’d already seen the ITV story half a dozen times. It turned out that he hadn’t had to worry about being seen sitting next to Zach. Why? Because there hadn’t been a trace of Nathan during the entire segment.
* * *
Squad tactician Goofy Foot moves stealthily through the halls. Few know that he’s the genius behind the recent string of Allied victories. They’ve seen him on ITV and streams, but they assume he is just another member of the Allied squad. Only today must Goofy Foot face his greatest challenge yet. Caleb “Xtra Credit” Arnett has bidden that Goofy Foot join the Allied squad…in the forbidden land of the cafeteria.
Except for lunchtime detentions, not since sixth grade had Zach voluntarily entered the cafeteria. But Caleb had suggested he give it a try, pointing out that if Zach didn’t like it, he could always go back to having lunch in the library. Zach reluctantly agreed, then nervously waited out in the corridor until most of the kids settled at their tables and were busy eating and talking with their friends. He entered the cafeteria and walked straight to the table where Caleb and Emma were sitting.
Caleb and Emma welcomed him with smiles. Zach had just started eating the bag lunch he’d brought from home when Nathan arrived with a tray. “So what’s our strategy for today’s match, Mr. Squad Tactician?” he asked in a taunting way.
Zach immediately shrank back and wished he hadn’t accepted Caleb’s invitation to join them in the cafeteria.
“Chill, Nathan,” Emma said. “You don’t have to be like that.”
Nathan rolled his eyes to show his disdain for the idea of a squad tactician. But then he changed the subject. “I know the Axis squad isn’t allowed to wear those red T-shirts anymore, but all the pro teams have matching uniforms and logos. You think we should, too?”
Seated beside Zach, Caleb put his elbows on the lunch table and propped his chin in his hands thoughtfully.
“It’ll make us look more professional on the stream,” Nathan went on. “I heard that last week there were kids from other schools watching.”
Zach found that curious. Did Nathan think they were going to get famous by being in a middle school eSports club? Was Zach so sure they wouldn’t?
* * *
The match that afternoon was closer than ever. The Allied squad barely managed to win. The Axis played better and was more organized than in previous weeks. After the match, Emma asked her squad to get together online that night to review what had happened.
But that would be later. Right now, Caleb was at Zach’s house again. They were in Zach’s “workshop,” which was actually the carport next to the trailer. It was jammed with scrap wood and tools.
“Where’d you get all this stuff?” Caleb asked, gesturing at some of the larger woodworking machines.
“Bought some of it used,” Zach said. “My uncle gave me the drill press and table saw when he got new ones. He’s the one who taught me woodworking.”
That explained the homemade skateboards and furniture in Zach’s room. Caleb picked up a set of shiny screwdrivers. They didn’t look used. “Even if you got some things for free, the rest of this must’ve cost a lot.”
Zach spun the blade of the table saw with his fingertip. He started making nervous throat-clearing sounds and bit his lip. Suddenly he wouldn’t look Caleb in the eye. By now Caleb had hung around with him long enough to know why.
“I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” he said.
Zach looked out at the woods surrounding the trailer. The leaves had begun to turn yellow and red. “Wager matches.”
Wha…? Caleb almost asked Zach if he was for real, but all the tools in this workshop were proof that he was. Kids played wager matches for ten or twenty bucks at a time. A good player could make a hundred in a night. But you had to be really good because you weren’t playing against your friends, or even against kids your own age. You were playing against randoms, and if they were playing wager matc
hes, it meant they were really, really good. But there was something else Caleb didn’t get. “If you can make money that way, why build your own furniture and skateboards? Why not just buy them?”
Zach wrinkled his forehead as if he found the question puzzling. “Because I like building things.”
* * *
That night Emma met with the rest of the Allied squad online.
“Would someone please tell me the point of reviewing a match we won?” Nathan grumbled sourly.
“We nearly lost,” said Emma.
“But we didn’t,” Nathan argued. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have better things to do.”
Emma didn’t appreciate Nathan’s attitude, but she agreed to make the review as fast as possible. Besides, there was really only one thing she wanted the squad to see—that throughout the match, instead of holding his position, Nathan had gone off by himself and gotten into one shoot-out after another. When they reviewed the rounds, it became obvious that the Axis players had figured out how to use Nathan’s lone-wolf approach against the Allied squad by laying traps and ambushes.
“We have to play more as a unit,” Emma said.
“I agree,” said Caleb. “A strategy can’t work if we’re not all following it.”
The Good War Page 7