Once upon a time, in a land that’s actually not as far away as you might think (it’s just in Chicago), there lived 12 beautiful princesses. Well they weren’t actually princesses; their father just spoiled them so much that they acted like they were.
One morning, they were getting ready for school. The prissy, prim, proper chicks, whose life goal was to make everyone else’s life miserable with their high whiney voices, were all fighting over the bathroom.
“Chloe,” screamed Margaret, the youngest of the 12, as she pounded on the door. “Hurry up! I’m going to be late again!”
“Be quiet Maggie,” said Chloe in a cool and collected voice. “You know the rules. Daddy said since I’m the oldest, I get to use the bathroom first so you’ll just have to wait.”
“But Chloe!!! I have class before you do! I’m not in college yet, you know.”
Chloe snickered and continued fixing her makeup. She loved not having to get up as early as her sisters. She was the only one already in college this year but Jackie, the second oldest, was going to be with her next year. She heard Margaret’s footsteps grow quiet as she left the other side of the bathroom door in a huff. Chloe’s face pulled into a wide grin as she realized she had, once again, gotten her way with the bathroom. Just as she heard her sister close the bedroom door, she snuck out of the bathroom to get dressed.
“Have fun at school!” She yelled over her shoulder as she walked out the door. She hopped on the bus and headed for The University of Chicago, only the most fun college in the world. Well, in Chloe’s opinion it was. The bus reached her stop, and as she was walking to the campus, she heard footsteps behind her. She looked behind her but no one was there. Suddenly, a man jumped out in front of her from behind a tree and put a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream. It took Chloe a while to recognize the man, but when she did, she leapt into his arms.
“Will,” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” Nothing could hide the huge grin plastered on her face.
“I thought I’d give you a little surprise,” he told her. “You are still coming to dance tonight, right?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Good,” he said. “Well I just came by to say hi, see you tonight Chloe.”
“Good-bye.” And with that, she went skipping off to her first morning class, Tap Dance.
Meanwhile, the girls’ father held a meeting with all of his colleagues’ sons. He was determined to figure out where his daughters went off to dance each night. You see, every single night, he locked the door to their bedroom but every morning, he came in while they were in the bathroom to find the soles of their shoes worn out.
“Order, order,” he called. “Gentlemen, please, quiet down!” There were about 20 or so men at the meeting and as they quieted down and took their seats, the father told them his plan.
“Hello,” he continued. “As you know, my name is Charles Fenwick, and I work with all of your fathers. I called this meeting without them knowing of it because there is no reason for them to know.”
“Um excuse me,” said one young man. “What is this about anyways?”
“What is your name young man?”
“James,” he replied. “James Miller.”
“Well Mr. Miller, I am holding this meeting on account of my daughters. Every night, they sneak out of their bedroom and go off to dance. I do not know where they dance, though, and I want to find out where it is they go. Whoever can figure out where they go will get the reward of choosing one of my daughters to marry, but anyone who fails will die a miserable death.”
