Now Caleb felt a little silly that all Emma’s squad had done was dye a lock of their hair olive green. But he reminded himself that the match was about who were the best gamers, not what they wore.

Nathan finally showed up, and Ms. B followed a few moments later. When she saw what the Axis squad was wearing, she froze. “Stop casting,” she ordered the casters. Caleb felt his insides tighten. She sounded really serious.

The casters turned off the camera, and Ms. B spoke to the Axis team. “Weren’t those medals worn by the Nazis?”

“Actually, Ms. B, they’re from way before World War Two,” Crosby quickly replied. “They go all the way back to the Teutonic Knights of the Middle Ages.”

“And they’re on the pickup bumpers my dad got for off-roading,” added Mackenzie.

It was obvious that the Axis squad had prepared for Ms. B’s reaction to the medals. Mackenzie typed something on her computer and turned the monitor for the rest of the club to see. She’d found images of knights from the Middle Ages in white robes adorned with black crosses.

Ms. B’s forehead was still wrinkled. Several long silent moments passed. Finally, she told the casters that they could comment on the day’s match, but they were not to use the camera that showed the gamers. Then she said: “Go ahead with your match. But I’ll have more to say when you’re done.”

Crosby was royally ticked off. For the fourth week in a row the Axis squad had lost to a suck-up, a mousy girl, a wack job, and maybe one half-decent gamer. After being ahead three matches to none a month ago, the Axis squad was now behind in the overall match standings, three to four. And what really hurt was that, even with the camera turned off, the gameplay had been streamed for all on Twitch to see what a bunch of noobs the Axis squad had played like. And now, instead of letting them go home, Ms. B was making them stay in the computer lab while the Allied squad was allowed to leave!

“I understand that Iron Crosses have been around for thousands of years,” she told them. “And if you were just wearing the crosses without the gray shirts, maybe that would be okay. Or if you wore the gray shirts without the crosses. But wearing them together reminds me too much of the Nazis. I want to make sure you’re clear about what these symbols represent and how hurtful they could be to some people. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The Axis squad averted their eyes and nodded the way kids do when they know it’s expected of them. Tyler played with his plastic German soldier. Mackenzie sat with her arms crossed tightly. Gavin stared at his lap. Crosby glanced at the clock on the wall. “Are you going to keep us past the late bus, Ms. B?” he asked.