For The First Time

Raven and Chelsea had just closed their lockers as Eddie and Chantel rounded the corner, hand in hand. Eddie quickly waved as he passed by his friends, then returned to his and Chantel's conversation. Chelsea looked at Raven and smiled as she said, "Wow, Rae, they look so cute together."

"I know, Chels, but how many more times are you going to say that? They've been dating for almost a year now, and you say it every day."

Chelsea bit her lower lip apologetically. "I can't help it; it's so true. But you know, Eddie never seems to have much time for us anymore."

The girls began walking down the hall as Raven responded, "Well, Chantel is his first serious girlfriend. We can't expect Eddie to date someone and still spend all of his time with us. It wouldn't be fair to Chantel."

Raven had barely finished her sentence before she had a vision: She saw Chantel talking to Eddie on the telephone, and she was saying, "I can't take this anymore. The only person you care about being with is Raven."

Her vision ended, and she turned to look at Chelsea. "We have a problem. Let's get to class and I'll tell you about it."

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Once seated in history class, Raven passed Chelsea a note that read, I saw Chantel breaking up with Eddie because of me. What am I supposed to do?

Chelsea responded, Maybe you should talk to Eddie about it, or Chantel.

To which Raven answered, I can't do that, Chels. I don't even know what I'm going to do to break them up. What would I say to Eddie? "You're about to get dumped, and I'm the reason why"? I don't think so. And somehow talking to Chantel doesn't sound like it would work. I have no idea what to do. I mean, I can't not do something. I can't just ignore this.

Suddenly Chelsea had an idea. Raven, that's it. All you have to do is ignore Eddie. Chantel can't break up with him over you if you're not paying him any attention.

Raven had to agree. You're right, Chelsea. That's exactly what I'll do. Thanks for the help. But listen, you can't say anything to Eddie about this. Promise?

Chelsea smiled at her friend and nodded in agreement.

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That afternoon, Eddie was having some trouble with his chemistry homework, so he picked up the phone to call Raven. He dialed her number and waited for someone to answer.

Raven heard the telephone ring and called, "I'll answer it!" She removed the cordless phone from its cradle and said, "Hello?"

On the other end, she heard Eddie say, "Rae, can you help me with my homework?"

Without answering him, she hung up. Raven turned around and saw her father coming downstairs.

"Who was that on the phone?" Victor wanted to know.

Raven quickly thought of a response. "It was a wrong number."

"But you didn't even say anything to the person. How do you know it was a wrong number?"

Raven smiled. "Dad, I'm psychic, remember? I just...know."

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Eddie pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, confused. Raven had never hung up on him before. He redialed her number, and when she answered a second time, Eddie tried to get her to stay on the line, but she hung up again.

"What in the world is the matter with her?" he mumbled to himself.

He decided to call Chelsea, hoping that she didn't hang up on him too. Chelsea's mother answered the telephone, and he asked to speak to his friend.

Chelsea came on the line, and immediately Eddie said, "Chelsea, whatever you do, don't hang up."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she wanted to know.

"I just called Raven for help on my chemistry homework, but she hung up on me...twice! Do you know what's going on with her?"
Thinking of the vision, Chelsea asked, "You called Raven? How come you didn't call Chantel?"

"Oh gee, Chels, I don't know. Maybe because she isn't in that class with me?" Eddie replied sarcastically. "So anyway, what's up with Raven? Is she feeling all right?"

Chelsea knew she couldn't break her promise to Raven, but she didn't want to lie to Eddie either. She wasn't sure what to do. So she simply said, "Well, I'm sure she has her reasons. Why don't you try talking to her...some other time?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what I'll have to do. But in the meantime, who's going to help me with my homework?"