Plaintext

EVEN BEFORE HE GOT ELECTROCUTED, JASON WAS HAVING A ROTTEN DAY. HE WOKE IN THE BACK SEAT OF A SCHOOL BUS, NOT SURE WHERE HE WAS, HOLDING HANDS WITH A GIRL HE DIDN’T KNOW. THAT WASN’T NECESSARILY THE ROTTEN PART.THE GIRL WAS CUTE,BUT HE COULDN’T FIGURE OUT WHO SHE WAS OR WHAT HE WAS DOING THERE.HE SAT UP RUBBED HIS EYES,TRYING TO THINK.A FEW DOZEN KIDS SPRAWLED IN THE SEATS IN FRONT OF HIM,LISTENING TO IPODS,TALKING,OR SLEEPING.THEY ALL LOOKED AROUND HIS AGE… FIFTEEN?SIXTEEN?OKAY,THAT WAS SCARY.HE DIDN’T KNOW HIS OWN AGE.THE BUS RUMBLED ALONG A BUMPY ROAD.OUT THE WINDOWS,DESERT ROLLED BY UNDER ABRIGHT BLUE SKY.JASON WAS PRETTY SURE HE DIDN’T LIVE IN THE DESERT .HE TRIED TO THINK BACK…THE LAST THING HE REMEMBERED…THE GIRL SQUEEZED HIS HAND.”JASON,YOU OKAY?”SHE WORE FADED JEANS,HIKING BOOTS, AND A FLEECE SNOWBOARDING JACKET.HER CHOCOLATE BROWN HAIR WAS CUT CHOPPY AND UNEVEN, WITH THIN STRANDS BRAIDED DOWN THE SIDES. SHE WORE NO MAKEUP, LIKE SHE WAS TRYING NOT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO HERSELF; BUT IT DIDN’T WORK. SHEWASSERIOUSLYPRETTY.HEREYESSEEMEDTOCHANGECOLORL IKEAKALEIDOSCOPE-BROWN,BLUE,ANDGREEN.JASON LET GO OF HER HAND. “UM, I DON’T” IN THE FRONT OF THE BUS, A TEACHER SHOUTED, “ALL RIGHT, CUPCAKES, LISTENUP!” THE GUY WAS OBVIOUSLY A COACH. HIS BASEBALL CAP WAS PULLED LOW OVER HIS HAIR, SO YOU COULD JUST SEE HIS BEADY EYES.

HEHADAWISPYGOATEEANDASOURFACE,LIKEHE’DEATENSOMETHINGMOLDY.HISBUFFARMSANDCHESTPUSHEDAGAINSTABRIGHTORANGEPOLOSHIRT.HISNYLONWORKOUTPANTSANDNIKESWERESPOTLESSWHITE.AWHISTLEHUNGFROMHISNECK,ANDAMEGAPHONEWASCLIPPEDTOHISBELT.HEWOULD’VELOOKEDPRETTYSCARYIFHEHADN’TBEENFIVEFOOTZERO.WHENHESTOODUPINTHEAISLE,ONEOFTHESTUDENTSCALLED,”STANDUP,COACHHEDGE!”“IHEARDTHAT!”THECOACHSCANNEDTHEBUSFORTHEOFFENDER.THENHISEYESFIXEDONJASON,ANDHISSCOWLDEEPENED.AJOLTWENTDOWNJASON’SSPINE.HEWASSURETHECOACHKNEWHEDIDN’TBELONGTHERE.HEWASGOINGTOCALLJASONOUT,DEMANDWHATHEWASDOINGONTHEBUS?ANDJASONWOULDN’THAVEACLUEWHATTOSAY.BUTCOACHHEDGELOOKEDAWAYANDCLEAREDHISTHROAT.”WE’LLARRIVEINFIVEMINUTES!STAYWITHYOURPARTNER.DON’TLOSEYOURWORKSHEET.ANDIFANYOFYOUPRECIOUSLITTLECUPCAKESCAUSEANYTROUBLEONTHISTRIP,IWILLPERSONALLYSENDYOUBACKTOCAMPUSTHEHARDWAY.”HEPICKEDUPABASEBALLBATANDMADELIKEHEWASHITT

Solution

Here is what I did to find the plaintext.

First, I ran a frequency analysis at the website:

http://www.richkni.co.uk/php/crypta/freq.php

From that I found out the most common 3 letter sequence was “dro” and assumed that would be “the”. Then from that we figured out it was a shift of 10 letters.