Decoded

Decoded — page 3 — Grady his mom shouted from the basement What are you doing Are you still in bed He shot out of bed as if he’d been electrocuted Stumbling around the piles of clothes on the floor he found a pair of jeans that didn’t smell too bad a shirt he hadn’t worn since last week and some socks without holes in them Grady skidded into the bathroom His light brown hair was sticking up in the back Brushing his teeth with one hand he slapped on as much water as he could to plaster his hair back down Grady Muh mumming mah Grady groaned through a mouthful of toothpaste He glanced out the bathroom window and saw how high the sun was in the sky It was late and he was going to be even later for school 6

Decoded — page 4 — Back in his bedroom he snatched up his backpack and scanned his cluttered desk for his homework He had a bad habit of leaving his work right there when he was done but it was nowhere to be found Opening up his pack he saw that his folders were already tucked in all nice and neat I don’t remember doing that Grady thought but he shrugged There wasn’t time to think about anything but getting to first period and fast As he came downstairs Grady saw his mom waiting at the bottom of the steps She didn’t look happy Was there a power outage or something Grady asked He found his shoes at the bottom of the steps and tried to tug one on For some reason his foot didn’t fit No there wasn’t his mom replied But you’re going to be late Becky has already left 7

Decoded — page 5 — I think my alarm clock died or something Grady muttered He reached into his left shoe and found a wadded-up sock inside jammed into the toe When he went barefoot sometimes he would take off his shoes and put his socks in there so he wouldn’t lose them But he couldn’t recall doing that recently He tossed the sock aside and put on his shoes All right Grady said standing up I have to blast out of here He grabbed his MP3 player and plugged in his earbuds Before he hit play he looked around the entryway feeling as if he’d forgotten something Over his mom’s shoulder Grady looked into the kitchen There on the counter was his brown lunch bag Oh man Grady gasped darting into the kitchen quickly He snatched up his lunch and 8

Decoded — page 6 — tossed it into his backpack Glancing at the microwave’s digital clock he realized it was 9 06 a m Late Grady looked around still amazed that he’d slept so long It kind of bugged him that his younger sister Becky hadn’t bothered to wait for him or even wake him up What time did Becky leave Grady asked zipping his backpack closed She left earlier than usual his mom said Said she didn’t want to be late Besides it’s not her fault you couldn’t get out of bed Okay okay Grady said slinging his pack on It felt heavier than usual but he wondered if it was just because he was still half asleep You need to get moving 9

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