Her pen flicks out of her hand and she bends over to pick it up. A hand beats her to it and to her surprise it was one of the agents who were lecturing awhile ago.
He hands her back the pen. "Sorry", Cent mumbles. He responded with a kind smile and a wink. "Not bad" she thought to herself. Tall, dark, athletic built and with eyes that can melt you faster than you can say FBI.
"…Just because a person likes to set fire doesn't automatically make him an arsonist", the elder agent was saying.
It was the third day of the Psych Lecture, a series of talks sponsored by the school. They've invited shrinks, persons with OCD and these FBI agents in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
"Yeah, because arsonists target structures - "
" –- not persons. They burn people for a reason", Cent cut off the squeaky FBI agent mid-sentence. "Most probably revenge." He looked at her and Cent realized the whole class was looking at her too. "Sorry. I just … know."
The agent nodded. "Right. I notice you tend to say sorry a lot, even if you're not really at fault. Earlier you dropped your pen and said sorry to Agent Morgan. Technically it's the wind and gravity's fault, not yours. And now you just said the right answer but you feel apologetic for it, which gives me an idea that you're guilty of something and you act on that guilt any instance you can say sorry. You're also the eldest in your family - "
"Don't profile me", Cent said, rather coldly.
"Right. I apologize", he half-whispered and looked down at his feet.
"Thank you for your time guys. All of us agents will be staying on so if you have any questions feel free to ask us", the man who introduced himself as Agent Aaron Hotchner said.
Most of the students in the room started to pile out. Cent was almost at the door when the squeaky agent tapped her on the shoulder.
"Listen, I didn't mean to profile you earlier. It's… I guess reflex or something. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, but well, you can just call me Reid. Or Spencer. Agent Reid. Whichever." He laughed nervously.
"You're a doctor? How young are you?" Cent asked. And all along she thought he was just a smart-ass intern for the FBI. "Oh not a medical doctor, but I have three PhDs which explains…yeah, the 'doctor'". His voice drops to a whisper. "The others just won't drop the doctor 'coz they think people see me as a kid. Won't take me seriously."
Cent nodded slowly. "I see. Well, no problem. I mean, it's your job to profile right? Just wasn't expecting I'd be the lucky one to be profiled." She glanced at her watch. "It was nice meeting you Spencer. I have exams", she held out her hand for a handshake. Reid acknowledged it with his' and a blank expression on his face. "Cent. My name's Cent."