Get Smart-ish by Gitty Daneshvari

trash can in the corner.
    The medium-sized wicker basket was overflowing with crumpled papers, a couple of half-eaten sandwiches, and a slew of empty soda cans.
    â€œShells, something isn’t right. A radical environmentalist who doesn’t recycle aluminum cans and uses aerosol deodorant and hair spray? I don’t think so.”
    Shelley’s eyes widened. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
    â€œI just told you what I was thinking. Remember?”
    â€œHow much easier would life be if we could read each other’s minds? Although, reading your mind could also be seriously boring, like, I’m getting tired just thinking about it.”
    â€œShells?”
    â€œYeah, Johno?”
    â€œWill you please just tell me what you were thinking?”
    â€œWe should pay Nina’s grandma a visit. They seem close; she could know something.”
    â€œThat’s
actually
a good idea.”
    Shelley smiled and then playfully punched Jonathan’s shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. I’m sure one day, you’ll have one too.”



OCTOBER 24, 2:35 P.M. MRS. MITFORD’S HOUSE. CASTLE COMBE, ENGLAND
    â€œI hope you don’t find this inappropriate,” Shelley said to Mrs. Mitford, Nina’s well-maintained grandmother, over tea in the sitting room. “But you smell really good, like butter cookies and cinnamon.”
    â€œThank you, dear,” Mrs. Mitford responded as she fiddled with a loose string coming out of the sofa. “I must admit I have something of a sweet tooth, always have. I can’t quite explain it, but biscuits and cakes bring me such happiness.”
    â€œYou know what makes me happy? Popping open a Coke and jamming on my air guitar,” Shelley said.
    â€œI don’t follow,” Mrs. Mitford said, clearly confused by Shelley’s ramblings.
    â€œNo one does,” Jonathan interjected. “Now, about Nina. Was she always passionate about the environment? Or was this a cause she took up recently?”
    â€œThe environment? You mean the outdoors?” Mrs. Mitford chuckled. “Nina loathes nature. She’s absolutely petrified of spiders and insects. As a child she used to cover her room in insect repellent. The whole house smelled like a chemical plant.”
    â€œSo Nina’s not into camping, but she’s dedicated, maybe even a little extreme, when it comes to protecting the planet from pollution and deforestation?” Jonathan pressed on.
    â€œNina would never help a corporation destroy the rain forest or drop chemicals in a river, but that’s not to say she gives much thought to such things,” Mrs. Mitford said, pausing to smile. “It was nothing short of a miracle when I finally convinced her to put her water bottles in the recycling and not the bin. Teenagers can be very lazy, as your parents will soon learn.”
    â€œI know how you feel. My parents are actually pretty lazy themselves,” Jonathan added.
    â€œSo Nina wasn’t a tree hugger? She didn’t yell at people who wasted paper or left the tap running while they brushed their teeth?” Shelley asked, clearly confused by the conflicting reports on Nina.
    â€œOh, the shower! Nina leaves the water running for five minutes straight before getting in. She likes it to feel like a steam room,” Mrs. Mitford said with a laugh. “She really is such a wonderful girl—but a conservationist she is not.”
    Jonathan couldn’t help but furrow his brow. The situation was starting to give him a headache. How was it that Nina’s coworkers and family had such different ideas about the girl? Who, if anyone, knew the real Nina?
    â€œAnd just to be clear, you’re close to your granddaughter, right?” Jonathan asked.
    â€œVery close,” Mrs. Mitford answered before adding, “These are most peculiar questions. Where did you say you were from again?”
    â€œThe Evergreen school paper.