Then he leaned forward, and before Raven could stop him, he slapped the dirty, greasy “napkin hat” onto her head!

“You wanna see what I can do with a table cloth?” he asked.

“No!” Raven said immediately.

Finally, with a defeated sigh, Raven had to admit to herself that this date was a disaster.

Carefully, she pulled the napkin hat off the sleek hairstyle she’d spent hours working on and said, “Matthew, I really hate to see this ... this ... wonderful evening end, but, um, I’m really kind of sick. Could you take me home?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” said Matthew, looking a little surprised. “Let me just get the check.”

“Waiter? Waiter?” he called politely.

None of the busy waiters seemed to notice. But Raven definitely needed this horror movie to end — now.

“Waiter!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Crash!

She had startled so many members of the restaurant staff, one of them dropped a huge tray of silverware.

As Raven turned to see what all the fuss was about, she saw a sight that made her gasp. At the entrance to the main dining room stood a handsomely dressed couple — Victor and Tanya Baxter!

Quickly, Raven sank down in her seat. What were her parents doing at this restaurant? Raven wondered. She thought they had gone dancing.

As the maitre d’ showed her mom and dad to their table, Raven overheard the answer.

“I can’t believe I split my pants wide open,” Mr Baxter was saying to his wife as they walked through the dining room. “Just when I was getting my jiggy down.”

Raven noticed that the red shawl her mother had draped elegantly across her shoulders earlier that evening was now tied inelegantly around the seat of Mr Baxter’s pants.

“And you’re going to keep your jiggy down,” Mrs Baxter told her husband when they reached their table. “Sit.”

Still slumped down in her own seat, Raven tried not to panic. Her parents were sitting at a table with a clear view of the restaurant’s front door. If she walked out now, they’d definitely catch her.

“Change of plans,” she told Matthew quickly when she saw him rise to leave. “Sit. We’re staying.”

“But I thought you felt sick,” he said.

“Sick. Yes, I do. Yes,” she said.

And it was true. She was sick at the thought of her parents seeing her out on this date!

But to Matthew she said, “I’m sick at the thought of ever letting this date end.”

Just then, Raven’s father walked right by their table. In a panic, Raven dumped the breadbasket and held it in front of her face.

“Oh, look,” she told Matthew. “I’m a hockey goalie!”

“Cool!” said Matthew, grabbing a roll. “Goes left. Goes right.” He shot the roll at the basket. “Score! Yeah, who’s the man?”

Underneath the basket, Raven rolled her eyes. She had just figured something out. Seventeen-year-old Matthew had the very same sense of humour as her little brother, Cory.

Scratch that, thought Raven, when she felt a second roll hit her breadbasket facemask. Actually, her nine-year-old brother acted way more mature. “Pa!” cried the restaurant’s waiters.

Uh-oh, thought Raven. She had seen that movie about a Greek wedding, and she knew what “Opa!” meant — Greek dancing!

Greek music flowed through the sound system, and the waiters started clapping their hands as they walked from table to table, encouraging some of the female patrons to get up and join them in a circle dance.

“Opa!” cried Matthew, clapping his hands.

Raven sank down even more in her chair. “Opa,” she muttered. “Whateva.”

Suddenly, Raven heard footsteps coming toward her. A pair of waiters waved at her to get up.

“ No, I don’t dance,” she told them, trying to slump further down in her seat. But they pulled the table away!

“No, I’m too short. I’m too short!” she cried.

But it was too late. “Uh, thank you, all right,” she said — what else could she say? They were already picking her up and sweeping her across the dance floor!

Luckily, Raven’s parents were too busy arguing to notice their daughter was heading right for them.

“Come on,” Mr Baxter told his wife. “I want to get my ‘opa’ on!”

But Mrs. Baxter shook her head. “Honey, if your pants split any more, everyone’s going to see your opa.”

Continues next week: Based on the popular TV series created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman.
Illustrations: Uday Deb