Caleb didn’t respond. He just kept walking.

“Caleb?” she said anxiously.

“It worked,” he said.

Emma exhaled with relief. Just that morning there’d been an announcement that the school would start a unit for sixth graders about internet safety. They were also planning an assembly about hate speech and hate symbols.

“I was afraid you’d be mad,” Emma said.

“This is the beta test, remember?” Caleb said. “We made mistakes. We learned what to do for next semester. And…”

When Caleb trailed off, Emma gave him a curious look. “And what?”

Caleb smiled. “And if it wasn’t for the club, I’m not sure we ever would have seen Emma Lopez stand up to people like Mackenzie Storrs and Nathan Crane.”

Ms. B stood by the computer lab door and waited for the gamers. For once they wouldn’t be sitting at the table with the Providias. She’d arranged eight chairs in a circle so that the kids could discuss their experiences.

Caleb and Emma were the first to arrive. The next to enter was Zach, wiping his face with a paper towel.

“Oh no, not again,” Ms. B said with a gasp.

Zach grinned and winked. Instead of the hoodie, he was wearing a plaid collared shirt. Of course, since it was Zach, the shirt was wrinkled, and he’d buttoned it crookedly. Still, Ms. B felt a warm glow as she watched him join Caleb and Emma. She thought back to the first informational meeting, when he’d come late and then sat far away from the others, hidden in his hoodie. Zach truly seemed like a different boy now. That alone was enough to make her believe that the first season of the eSports club had been a success.

The members of the former Axis squad were slower to arrive. Both Crosby and Mackenzie came in looking solemn. This puzzled Ms. B. Surely they couldn’t be so gloomy just because the Allied team had won the season, could they? She wondered if something else had happened that she didn’t know about.

The last person to enter was Tyler, who gave Ms. B a jaunty wave and spun a chair around so that he could sit backward. Some kids never change, Ms. B thought. She poked her head out into the hall, but it was empty, so she closed the door and took a seat in the circle. There were eight chairs because Gavin had moved away the previous weekend. But that still left one chair empty.

“Is Nathan coming?” she asked.

Mackenzie shook her head. “He’s moved on to bigger things.”

Ms. B wasn’t sure what that meant, but she let it go. “Well, I asked you here today to talk about the club and what you’ve learned.”

The response among those in the circle ranged from blank expressions to small nods.

“Okay, I’ll break the ice,” Ms. B said. “Overall, I think the eSports club’s been a good thing. But it’s also a bit like Pandora’s box. Once we opened it, all sorts of unexpected things came out. Some good, some definitely not good. Clearly, it’s shown us that as a school, we need to focus more on internet education. We have to do more to prepare you for what you see and hear online.”