It all started during the third period. Miss Patterson had just left the classroom to grab her coffee, and the room was buzzing with the usual mid-morning chaos. Destiny trading gum under the table, Marcus trying to see if you could balance a pencil on his ear, and me minding my own business while working on my history notes.
Then I saw it.
The silver binder clip that had been holding Miss Patterson’s stack of pop quizzes together … was gone.
Not “moved” gone. Not “fell on the floor” gone. Completely, utterly, mysteriously missing.
And for some reason, my brain decided this was a full-on crime.
“Y’all … somebody stole the binder clip,” I whispered to Kayla, my lab partner.
She blinked at me. “Who even cares?”
But I was already scanning the room like some off-brand version of Sherlock Holmes. Who would need a binder clip that badly? Why now? My eyes landed on Westley in the back. He was leaning forward, suspiciously still, like he had just swallowed a secret.
“Westley,” I called, pretending to sketch so I could see his desk. Nothing. Just a pencil, his Chromebook, and a half-eaten granola bar. But that didn’t mean anything. A thief wouldn’t leave evidence in plain sight.
Miss Patterson came back, totally unaware she was walking into a room of betrayal and deceit. She started passing out worksheets, not even noticing that her quizzes were now just a sad, unkept pile.
That’s when I spotted it. Something shiny was sticking out of Brianna’s hoodie pocket. My heart raced. Could it be?
I leaned over to Kayla. “Cover me.”
“What-”
I didn’t wait for her to finish. I “accidentally” dropped my pen near Brianna’s desk and crouched down, just long enough to confirm the truth: it was the binder clip.
I popped back up, adrenaline pumping. “Brianna,” I said loudly enough for the whole class to hear, “care to explain why you’re walking around with stolen property?”
The room went silent.
Brianna froze mid-sip of her Gatorade. “What are you talking about?”
I pointed. “Pocket. Silver. Binderclip.”
She groaned and pulled it out. “This? It was on the floor; I picked it up so Miss Patterson wouldn’t step on it.”
Now, everyone was staring at me like I was the weird one.
“That’s … actually nice of you,” Miss Patterson said, sliding the clip back into her papers without a second thought.
The rest of the class went on like nothing had ever happened, but the whole time, I sat there, tapping my pencil and thinking. Sure, maybe Brianna was telling the truth. Or maybe she was just clever enough to come up with a cover story in seconds.
Either way, I had learned two things: one, never underestimate how fast drama can appear out of nowhere. And two, mystery or not, accusing someone of using a binder clip was totally uncalled for.
Still … I’m keeping an eye on her.
For a long while. Just to make sure she doesn’t do anything.
