Raven sighed. She couldn’t take it. This was just too much guilt for one girl to handle. She had to come clean. “Ah... Mom. Dad. You know, I don’t really know how to say this — ”

“And you don’t have to,” said her father, cutting her off. “Just keep up the good work.”

“Call me,” her mother said with a laugh as she held up a pinkie and thumb to her ear.

Before Raven could psych herself up to come clean, both parents had left her bedroom.

Still racked with guilt, she gazed at her parents’ present. “Yay,” she said with a heavy sigh.

* * *

Later that night, Raven used her new phone to call Eddie.

“Rae, just hang up and go tell them the truth,” Eddie advised her. “They’ll understand.”

“Not after they told me how proud they were of me. No way!” she cried. “Okay, to them, I’m the ‘new Raven’. And the ‘new Raven’ doesn’t mess up.”

“So what’s the new Raven going to do?” asked Eddie.

“Well, I’m just going to have to go to Mr Petracelli. Talk to him, no parents, one-on-one,” she said.

Suddenly, Raven froze, and time seemed to stand still —

Through her eye

The vision runs

Flash of future

Here it comes —

I see myself outside my history classroom again. But this time, there are no cheering kids. Instead, I’m talking to Mr Petracelli.

No, no, no ...I’m wrong about that.

It’s Mr P. who’s doing the talking ... nope, wrong again. The Terminator’s not talking, he’s screaming.

“Go get your mother!” he’s roaring. “TODAY!”

Now I’m the one whose screaming — in fear. “Ahhhhhhh!”

“Okay,” Raven told Eddie as soon as she came out of her vision, “that didn’t go too well...”

Raven was so frustrated that she felt tears coming on. “I want my Mommy,” she squeaked.

Then her gaze fell on the corner of the room. It was filled with outfits she’d designed and sewed herself, everything from her own clothing and accessories to Halloween costumes for her family and friends.

“Mommy,” Raven whispered to herself, eyeing her seamstress’s stand-up model. Maybe she wouldn’t have to see Mr Petracelli without a parent after all.

“Look at that slob,” Eddie complained to a guy named Richie at school the next day. “He’s disgusting.”

As Eddie and Richie watched from across the hall, the giant who’d muscled in on Eddie’s locker picked at the sausage and sauerkraut sandwich he’d tossed in there after lunch. Now he looked as if he was going to eat half of it and throw the rest of the stinky mess back into Eddie’s locker so he could eat it tomorrow.

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