On Monday morning, Raven rushed down the school's hallway at top speed. Of course, as most friends do, she had memorized Eddie's locker number and exactly what hallway it was in. That was her destination – the locker.

When Raven got to the locker, there no sign of Eddie. Raven was puzzled, because Eddie liked to be at his locker until the homeroom bell sounded. He'd get there early and stay there until he had no time left to be at his 'territory'. His friends weren't near his locker, either. Just Raven.

"Okay…well…he's gotta be somewhere in this school! Maybe he's home sick?" Raven asked herself under her breath. "He couldn't have moved yet, right?"

Eddie's locker was unlocked, so Raven pulled the latch and it swung open. Oops. She looked around her as if it was an accident. Nobody seemed to notice she was at Eddie's locker peaking inside. Everyone was bustling and hustling as usual. Glancing inside his 'mini tin box', she saw nothing. No crumpled pieces of paper, no wad of gum stuck to the side, no ripped up book report. No books. It was as if Eddie'd cleaned out his things and just left for Montana. Without saying goodbye. This was so weird.

She stood there, deep in thought, when she heard a voice:

"Hey, Raven!" There came Chelsea, waving with a happy-go-lucky face on.

"Hey, Chels." Raven said, slamming Eddie's locker shut.

"Uhhh, why were you looking in Eddie's personal life?" Chelsea gasped.

A few people looked over at Raven, making her feel very uncomfortable.

"Chelsea, I'm not looking in his personal life. It's a locker, for Pete's sake! It was sorta just open, and I was just coming over to close it." Raven said, scratching the back of her neck with a fake smile.

"Really…uh huh…sure. Anyway, guess what! The cafeteria is selling my favorite soup today! As a special! What, luck, huh Ray?" Chelsea said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, sure, that's pure luck, Chels. Why? What's your favorite soup?" Raven asked just to act enthusiastic for Chelsea.

"Tomato soup with grinded broccoli and cheese in it. Boy, I sure can't wait to taste the school's version of it!" she said with a little clap of the hands.

Raven made a face and shuddered. Tomatoes with broccoli and who knows what kind of cheese all smashed up together by the old cafeteria ladies to make a mysterious liquid? EEEWWWW! She did a silent prayer to herself that would allow Chelsea to live after eating the school's gunk.

The school bell rang. All the students rushed to their homerooms. Raven and Chelsea looked at eachother and screamed, "RUN!" The two of them had the same homeroom teacher who practically killed you if you were one minute late after the homeroom bell.

Together, they held on tight to their books and ran like the wind. They hurried up the first flight of stairs, then rounded the corner, ran straight ahead, took a left, took a right, and ran down the last hallway to their homeroom. At the door, they stopped, matted their hair back down so it didn't look as if they hadn't been running, caught their breath, and opened the door.

"Well, well, well. Look who we've got here! Raven and Chelsea. Now, girls, can you please explain to me why you are two minutes late?" Mr. French snapped at them.

"Please, Mr. French. We were late because something came up that was very important…right Chels?" Raven shot a look at Chelsea.

"Right. We, uh, had something important come up." Chelsea squeaked as Mr. French got up from his puffy chair at his desk and walked over to the girls, arms crossed.

"And, this something was more important than being to class on time, eh? Well, what was this 'emergency'?" he scowled.

"It's private." Raven glanced out at the twelve other students in her homeroom. Their eyes were big and wide with curiosity.

"Really. Uh huh. Okay. I see. Well, take your seats. And DON'T let it happen again. We were just about to do attendance and I DON'T need your problems!" Mr. French huffed.

Raven and Chelsea took their seats. Wow, this man must be crazy in the head, they both thought to themselves. He takes things so seriously!

Raven ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and jotted down a note for Chelsea. It read this:

"Chels:

I think Eddie could've moved already. NOTHING was in his locker. NOTHING. It was deserted. Let's go down to the office after homeroom and ask about where he is…okay? Meet me outside the class.

-Raven

P.S. – Let's not be late again to homeroom, okay? I don't think it's worth it! And don't eat that soup at lunch, either!"