Chapter 1
Our story begins at Metroville Elementary School, where a woman named Helen Parr was headed to the principal's office. She headed in to see the principal.
"I appreciate you coming down here, Mrs. Parr." the principal said. Helen looked and noticed a boy with blonde hair sitting in a chair.
"What's this about? Has Dash done something wrong?" Helen asked as she sat down.
"He's a disruptive influence, and he openly mocks me in front of the class." Mr. Kropp said.
"He says." Dash said.
"Look, I know it's you! He puts thumb tacks on my stool!" Mr. Kropp said.
"You saw him do this?" Helen asked.
"Well, not really. No, actually not." Mr. Kropp said.
"Then how do you know it was him?" Helen asked.
Mr. Kropp held up a tape, "I hid a camera." he said.
Dash gasped before he looked at Helen, giving him a stern look, "This time, I've got him!" Mr. Kropp said.
He played the tape, which showed him sitting on the tack.
"See?!" he said, much to everyone else's confusion.
"What? You don't see it?" he asked before he rewound the tape and pointed to Dash.
"He moves! Right as I'm sitting down! I don't know how he does it, but there's no tack on my stool before he moves, and after he moves, there's a tack! Coincidence? I think NOT!" Mr. Kropp said.
"Bernie…" the principal said.
"Don't 'Bernie' me! This little rat is guilty!" Mr. Kropp said.
"You and your son can go now, Mrs. Parr. I'm sorry for the trouble." the principal said.
Mr. Kropp threw a tantrum as they left and headed to his classroom, where a girl with blonde hair was sitting.
"Dawn, let's go." Helen said.
"I told Dash that tack trick wasn't a great idea, but he didn't listen." Dawn said.
This girl is Dawn Parr, twin sister of Dash.
Later, they were on their way to pick up Violet from school.
"Dash, this is the third time this year you've been sent to the office. We need to find a better outlet, a more constructive outlet." Helen said.
"Maybe I could, if you'd let me go out for sports." Dash said.
"Dash, you know why we can't do that." Helen said.
"I promise I'll slow up! I'll only be the best by a tiny bit." Dash said.
"Dashiell Robert Parr, you are an incredibly competitive boy, and a bit of a showoff. The last thing you need is temptation." Helen said.
"As if he needs any more temptation to do something as dopey as what he did i the classroom. If he put as much work into his homework, his grades would be as good as mine." Dawn said.
Dash glared at her.