Page 3 of Spies Don’t Fall for Their Best Friend

“Did you… do something different today?”

“To my eyebrows?”

Her eyes widen with the panic of a child who has accidentally confirmed something she didn’t mean to confirm. “I didn’t say that.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m conducting valuable field research.”

The warning bell rings, and students all gather their backpacks as conversations end, books close, and the room gradually empties.

“Bye, Miss Wilder.”

“Have a good day, Anna.” Anna’s smile brightens, and she flits out into the hallway.

I really do love this job. Even if the students will inevitably call me out on my eyebrows or anything else I mess up.

Silence settles over the media center for about six seconds, then Mateo Morales appears just before the bell rings. He’s my student aide this period. He’s thirteen, yet he somehow possesses the organizational instincts of a retired accountant.

“Good morning, Miss Wilder,” Mateo says.

“Morning, Mateo!”

His eyes move immediately to my mystery display.

It’s got crime scene tape, the outline of a body, construction paper footprints along the floor and up the wall partition behind it, a silhouette of the classic detective, the words Can you solve the case? with each letter looking like it was cut out of a magazine, and question marks in different colors and fonts scattered all around, amid a fantastic group of mystery books. This is my favorite genre, and I think my display is 10/10. It might get some kids trying it out who haven’t before.

But I know Mateo’s look. “What’s wrong with it?”

“The first three books are alphabetized by author.”

“Okay.”

“The rest are alphabetized by title.”

“I just placed them there in the order I thought of them when I was choosing books to include. Do I get bonus points for how close to alphabetized they are?”

He just looks at me for a moment, then says, “No. It’s practically a crime how badly they’re conflicting.”

I press a hand to my chest. “Mateo. A genre-appropriate critique. I’m so proud.”

He grins, then immediately switches to a serious expression. “It needs to be fixed.”

I try to hide a smile and say, “Go for it. Fix to your heart’s content.”

I know he’ll start on re-shelving books next, and likely even finding every book that has been mis-shelved along the way. Marjorie is already starting to cover some new books we just got in, so I head over to my desk. A teacher is bringing her class in next period to learn about searching databases, finding sources, and citing them properly, and I really need to prep for that.

But first, I pick up my phone and text Miles.

Reese: A student just informed me that my mystery display is committing organizational crimes.

Miles: Was the student Mateo?

Clearly, I talk about my students, especially my aides, way too much.

Reese: How did you know?

Miles: Profiled the subject.

Reese: Should I be concerned that your first instinct was profiling?