Mrs. Malone scanned the front row, then double checked her class list. Ateara, Black, Call, Cameron. She'd known these kids for years. Due to the size of the rez school, there was only one class grouping for each grade. Some of the classes were very small, and after fifteen years she knew virtually every student in the school by name. Some of her tenth grade boys had returned from spring break transformed. There was no other word for it.

"Mr. Black? Is there a problem?" Seated alphabetically, Jacob was always in the front row. The old fashioned desks were obviously not designed for these children. The chair was connected to the desk, and the teen was trying to squeeze his oversized body into the cramped space. He finally succeeded, since thankfully his midsection was trim - though offset by enormous shoulders and muscular legs. He blushed as the rest of the class tried to suppress their laughter.

Three other students seemed to be having similar problems. The remainder of the first row consisted of Quil Ateara, Embry Call, and Jared Cameron. All four had slid easily into their seats two months earlier, and the teacher wondered briefly if the lads could possibly be using anabolic steroids. Each of the four was now stuffed uncomfortably into a desk that had suddenly become entirely too small.

"Crrrrack!" The sound was like a pistol shot. Jacob had reached for his backpack and leaned over the armrest. The pressure cracked the Formica neatly in half, catching the meaty part of Jacob's forearm between the two sections. Ignoring the boy's muttered obscenities, Mrs. Malone approached him and tried to free his arm. The pieces would not budge.

"Are you hurt, Jacob?" She could see blood dripping from his arm onto the tile floor. Embry, seated to Jacob's right, jumped up to help his friend. Unfortunately, as he rose to his feet the desk came with him. He turned to Jake, chair legs swinging in a wide arc behind him as the seat clung to his body like a prickly snail shell. Just as Jared disentangled himself from his desk and stood to help, a leg of Embry's chair smacked him in the groin. Embry whirled and smashed a vase on the teacher's desk, scattering shards of broken glass among the water and flowers.

"Fuck!" Jared's eyes went wide as he remembered where he was, and his hands moved automatically to cup his injured parts. He started to tremble, and Mrs. Malone turned her attention to this new disaster. There was nothing she could do for him, and by now Quil had Jared by the shoulders and was dragging him toward the door.

Ignoring the chaos behind him, Embry gripped the two sections of armrest and pulled them apart, allowing Jacob to release his arm. He clasped it to his body, his tee shirt soaking up the fresh flow of blood. "Take Jacob to the nurse, please, Embry" Mrs. Malone directed, tugging on the chair that was still snugly affixed to Embry's hips. She yanked it loose, and as it clattered to the floor Embry and Jacob fled from the room.

Mrs. Malone looked around at the destruction and sighed. It was going to be a very long year.