back to looking like their remarkable selves again. It was a good thing, too, since the Science Fair Dance was only a few weeks away, and they wanted to look their best for it.
Jane wished she were going to the Science Fair Dance, but she didn’t mind being in the public school nearly as much as she had before. School was exciting now. The Grimlet twins were up to something nearly every minute, and when they weren’t up to something, they were plotting something, and when they weren’t plotting something, they were writing downtheir latest crime in The Book of Dangerous Deeds and Dastardly Intentions. One day, the Grimlet twins turned all the desks upside down and glued them to the floor when Ms. Schnabel’s back was turned. Another day they disorganized the periodic table, de-alphabetized the dictionary, and renumbered the rulers, all before lunchtime.
Then there was the time that Ms. Schnabel left the room for just a quick minute to check her fantasy football standings. In that minute, the Grimlet twins managed to build a small volcano out of modeling clay, poured sixteen different colors of paint down into its cone, and then filled it full of baking soda, vinegar, and a secret ingredient Melissa claimed would give it more
oomph
. The volcano erupted just as Ms. Schnabel came back. Big globs of multicolored paint splattered in all directions.
“Hooray!” the Grimlet twins shouted as they skipped around the room. “Huzzah! It worked!”
Jane thought the room looked rather pretty with bright paint splatters all over it, but Ms. Schnabel was not pleased at all. She thought about sending the Grimlet twins to the principal. She thought about making them stand in the corner. She thoughtabout making them write “I will not build volcanoes out of clay and load them with paint, vinegar, baking soda, and a secret ingredient to give it more
oomph
when Ms. Schnabel steps out of the room for a quick minute.” four thousand times each on the blackboard. But she knew none of these punishments would work. The Grimlet twins were impervious to punishment.
“Incorrigible! You two are incorrigible!” she finally shouted at them.
Melissa Grimlet stopped skipping in midstride.
“You really think so?” she asked.
“You are the most incorrigible students I’ve ever met!” Ms. Schnabel yelled.
The Grimlet twins were so pleased by this that they behaved themselves two whole days just to show Ms. Schnabel their appreciation. But by Thursday, they were back to their old tricks.
“A dog ate my homework,” Eddie Grimlet said when he came into the classroom.
“Mine too,” Melissa said.
“A dog, huh?” Ms. Schnabel said. “You expect me to believe that?”
They did expect Ms. Schnabel to believe it, but they had guessed she wouldn’t, so they had taken theprecaution of bringing the dog to school and feeding her Jane’s homework while Ms. Schnabel watched.
“Hey!” Jane said indignantly. As much as she liked dogs, she didn’t want her homework gobbled up by one—not even by this particular dog, which was a prizewinning basset hound named Asta Magnifica.
Ms. Schnabel longed to go to the teachers’ lounge and soothe her nerves with a nice cup of coffee, but she didn’t dare leave the Grimlets alone in the classroom again. She spent the rest of the day glaring at them; the twins spent the rest of the day looking innocent, and Asta Magnifica spent the rest of the day at the back of the classroom eating blackboard erasers.
When the school bell rang at the end of the day, the Grimlets raced outside to the playground. As soon as they were gone, Ms. Schnabel let her head sink down onto the top of her desk. She wished it were Friday. Then she wouldn’t have to face being a teacher again for two whole days.
“Um…Ms. Schnabel?”
She lifted her head and saw that Jane was still there. With the commotion that the Grimlet twins had been causing all week, she’d completely forgotten about Jane.
“Yes?”
“Um…do
Jane wished she were going to the Science Fair Dance, but she didn’t mind being in the public school nearly as much as she had before. School was exciting now. The Grimlet twins were up to something nearly every minute, and when they weren’t up to something, they were plotting something, and when they weren’t plotting something, they were writing downtheir latest crime in The Book of Dangerous Deeds and Dastardly Intentions. One day, the Grimlet twins turned all the desks upside down and glued them to the floor when Ms. Schnabel’s back was turned. Another day they disorganized the periodic table, de-alphabetized the dictionary, and renumbered the rulers, all before lunchtime.
Then there was the time that Ms. Schnabel left the room for just a quick minute to check her fantasy football standings. In that minute, the Grimlet twins managed to build a small volcano out of modeling clay, poured sixteen different colors of paint down into its cone, and then filled it full of baking soda, vinegar, and a secret ingredient Melissa claimed would give it more
oomph
. The volcano erupted just as Ms. Schnabel came back. Big globs of multicolored paint splattered in all directions.
“Hooray!” the Grimlet twins shouted as they skipped around the room. “Huzzah! It worked!”
Jane thought the room looked rather pretty with bright paint splatters all over it, but Ms. Schnabel was not pleased at all. She thought about sending the Grimlet twins to the principal. She thought about making them stand in the corner. She thoughtabout making them write “I will not build volcanoes out of clay and load them with paint, vinegar, baking soda, and a secret ingredient to give it more
oomph
when Ms. Schnabel steps out of the room for a quick minute.” four thousand times each on the blackboard. But she knew none of these punishments would work. The Grimlet twins were impervious to punishment.
“Incorrigible! You two are incorrigible!” she finally shouted at them.
Melissa Grimlet stopped skipping in midstride.
“You really think so?” she asked.
“You are the most incorrigible students I’ve ever met!” Ms. Schnabel yelled.
The Grimlet twins were so pleased by this that they behaved themselves two whole days just to show Ms. Schnabel their appreciation. But by Thursday, they were back to their old tricks.
“A dog ate my homework,” Eddie Grimlet said when he came into the classroom.
“Mine too,” Melissa said.
“A dog, huh?” Ms. Schnabel said. “You expect me to believe that?”
They did expect Ms. Schnabel to believe it, but they had guessed she wouldn’t, so they had taken theprecaution of bringing the dog to school and feeding her Jane’s homework while Ms. Schnabel watched.
“Hey!” Jane said indignantly. As much as she liked dogs, she didn’t want her homework gobbled up by one—not even by this particular dog, which was a prizewinning basset hound named Asta Magnifica.
Ms. Schnabel longed to go to the teachers’ lounge and soothe her nerves with a nice cup of coffee, but she didn’t dare leave the Grimlets alone in the classroom again. She spent the rest of the day glaring at them; the twins spent the rest of the day looking innocent, and Asta Magnifica spent the rest of the day at the back of the classroom eating blackboard erasers.
When the school bell rang at the end of the day, the Grimlets raced outside to the playground. As soon as they were gone, Ms. Schnabel let her head sink down onto the top of her desk. She wished it were Friday. Then she wouldn’t have to face being a teacher again for two whole days.
“Um…Ms. Schnabel?”
She lifted her head and saw that Jane was still there. With the commotion that the Grimlet twins had been causing all week, she’d completely forgotten about Jane.
“Yes?”
“Um…do
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