Halfway through January, once all post holiday talk had drifted off and the temperatures had plummeted, she drew a new seating chart on the board and called it The Changing of the Seats. As far as P. Martin was concerned, The Changing of the Seats looked like a flock of geese, and once Mrs. Whimbrel said, "Move," the entire activity took on the grating sound of honking.
Stationed at the tip of the V was Mrs. Whimbrel's desk, and, from there, two long rows spanned out from either side. She had assigned the students according to height, the shortest being closest to the board. This placed P. Martin dead center, two seats in front of Sterling Wheeler. Fortunately, Jaeger sat at tail end of the opposite row and away from Kestrel.
But that didn't separate them during The Changing of the Seats. While everyone was moving desks, Kestrel and Jaeger seized the opportunity to shove their desks against one another, so that neither desk moved. Mrs. Whimbrel snapped at them, ordering them to help others. Once the two of them joined forces, desks sped across the tiled floor.
For the first time in months, P. Martin felt the heat in the classroom rise, and that heat made him dream about Brazil, and that, alone, stopped him from itching.
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