Grace walked into the kitchen, the smell of her mother's raspberry-chocolate gluten-free pancakes all around her. "Good morning!" Her mom greeted her. "Want some breakfast?" "Of course!" Grace said with a smile. Grace sat down at the table as her mom brought a plate of steaming hot pancakes, drizzled with melted chocolate. "My treat," her mom winked. Grace dug in.

Grace brought her clean plate over to the sink and kissed her mom on the cheek. "Thanks mom! Love you!" "Dad will arrive at the airport at 8:30 tonight. I'm picking him up right after work, so we both won't be home until about 9:30, so you have to put yourself to bed. Love you!" Her mom handed Grace her lunch. Grace headed out the front door.

Grace was halfway to the bus stop when she realized she forgot her phone. She made a mad dash for home. Her mom had already left for work, so she quickly flipped over the doormat and took the key out from under it. She opened the front door and grabbed her phone off the counter. She locked the door, hid the key, and sprinted madly towards the school.

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Grace scrambled through the hallways of Shadow Hill Middle School. Missing the bus wasn't the best start to the day. She had missed homeroom entirely and was late for first period history. Great. Late for the she-devil herself. Mrs. MacDanial was the meanest teacher at SHMS, and she didn't tolerate anyone being late to class. Grace skidded towards the door to room 117 and flung it open. Mrs. MacDanial peered at Grace

"Well, Miss Taylor. How nice of you to join us." Mrs. MacDaniel rasped evilly. "Take your seat." Grace dragged her way over to her seat next to her best friend. Madilynn. Madilynn looked at her worriedly. Grace was almost never late. Mrs. MacDanial wasn't finished. "As you may know, I don't tolerate lateness." Grace and Madilynn rolled their eyes. "I'm afraid that I will have to take 10 points off of your participation grade. And please stay to talk with me after class." Mrs. MacDanial turned to the whiteboard triumphantly.

Grace cursed under her breath. "What did I miss?" She signed to Madilynn. They had learned sign language as a way to communicate across classrooms silently. "Nothing much. Just her usual lecture about lateness and neat handwriting. I don't know why she is making such a big fuss about you being late." Madilynn signed back.

"Class, time for your mythology test!" Mrs. MacDanial said sharply. "What?!" Grace gasped. "You never said anything about a mythology test!" "Oh, I am sure I did. If i remember correctly, it was the day that you missed for your 'dentist appointment'. I believe your friend was supposed to tell you about it?" Grace fixed her steely gray eyes on Madilynn.

Her face had suddenly gone ghost white. "You were supposed to tell me all of our assignments! How could you?" Grace's voice had risen to a shriek. The class was watching intently. "I-I guess i just forgot!" Madilynn stammered. "But you remembered to give me the vocabulary and reading assignments! I thought we were friends. How could you?" Grace whispered. Mrs. MacDanial was watching with glee. "Well, girls, please stop yelling, it is a disturbance to the school. Now please put away your books and get ready for the test."

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Dear Readers,

Okay! So the next chapter will be a flashback in Madilynn's POV (point of view). I hope you are enjoying it! I love y'all!

Kisses,

~Anna_Gracee ;)