Woohoo! 40 reviews in just three chapters is more than I could even imagine! I can't put into words how much you readers rock! :D So I got some mixed feelings about the romance aspect, but I know that your comments about it were very helpful and that I now have a direction of sorts as to how I want to continue. Thanks a bunch! Enjoy this chapter!

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Jerry had been right about one thing. Allie wasn't able to eat the entire pizza by herself. The leftovers now sat in the fridge back at the house as Allie mulled over last night's events while she sat in her English class a few minutes before it was to start.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. After all, he hadn't been anything but nice to her…a little weird, but friendly nonetheless. That is with the exception of their very first encounter, when she had ventured onto his lawn, but he had made it up to her the next night by properly introducing himself.

Last night when he had come to her door, he probably just wanted some company. He lived in that big house all by himself, he was bound to get lonely. Why he couldn't just get the company of any other woman was beyond her, especially with those looks, but still, the least she could do was be friendly. Allie wasn't sure where this sudden guilt was coming from, but she made a mental note to try and be a little more civil with Jerry. After all, it can never hurt to be a little nice…

"Hey Allie." A voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked up to see Ed, leaning on her desk.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked, smile on her face as Ed looked around the room suspiciously for a moment before looking back at Allie, "Do you think Adam and I could come over to your place tonight?" He asked as Allie gave him a skeptical look.

"Yeah, sure. Like to do homework or something?" She questioned as Ed shrugged, "Yeah, something like that…" He told her obscurely. Allie shrugged it off, figuring she'd find out tonight what kind of mischief Ed and Adam were up to.

"Oh, and I'm having a party tomorrow night. The both of you should come." Allie told him before she forgot again to invite him, as Ed quickly replied, "Who else did you invite?" He asked in a rushed, almost worried tone as Allie looked at him skeptically. "Just you guys, Charley, Sarah, and a few other friends…Why?" Ed was definitely acting stranger than usual and Allie worried for her friend. But after giving it a quick thought, Ed was probably just worried that she had invited people like Mark and Ben, Charley's 'new' friends who had a habit of picking on Ed.

"Oh, ok." Ed breathed a sigh of relief, "So just high school kids right?"

"Yeah?...Who else would I invite?" She questioned, not knowing why Ed would think she'd invite someone other than 'high school kids.'

"Sounds good Allie. I'll let Adam know, and we'll be over tonight around six." He ignored her question as the bell rang, signaling for class to begin as Ed took his seat. Ok, there was definitely something he wasn't telling her…She told herself she'd find out tonight though.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Adam and Ed were at her house just before six, letting themselves in as Blaze met them at the door, tail wagging as he recognized the pair.

"What's up Blazster?" Ed said, patting the dog on the head as Adam did the same.

"Hey guys." Allie greeted as she came out of the kitchen, but then stopped, looking at the two skeptically as Adam had a camcorder case strapped on his shoulder and Ed held a folded up camera tripod.

"'Sup Als? We'll just be up in your room doing some research, don't mind us." Adam told her matter-of-factly as both he and Ed started up the stairs, Blaze happily in tow.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Didn't they find it even the littlest bit strange that they were doing 'research' in her room, with a video camera, and not bothering to include her in whatever the hell it was that they were doing?

Both boys ignored her though, probably figuring she'd throw a fit and prepared themselves for it. She followed them up the stairs, into her room, where the lights were still off, and Ed opened up her blinds to her window.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" She asked, feeling that she had more than a right to know what was happening when her room was being invaded.

"Turn the light back off." Ed scolded when Allie had tried to at least turn her lights on. "Like I said, we're just doing some research." Adam told her cryptically as he set up the camera on the tripod stand, having it face outside her window.

"Tell me you're not spying on my neighbor…" Allie groaned, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as both boys turned to look at her innocently.

"Seriously? What the hell." She shrieked when neither of them answered. Their silence told her that her suspicions were in fact right.

"Don't freak out. We just want some footage, and then we'll be out of your hair." Ed tried to tell her reassuringly, but Allie wasn't buying it, "Is that why you were in my garbage can the other night?" She asked, but had the feeling that she already knew that answer.

"Well, technically, I wasn't in your garbage. I fell and-" Ed tried to tell his story before Allie interrupted, "Whatever, I don't care. What I do care about is why the hell you'd be spying on Jerry?"

At the comment, both Adam and Ed's eyes went wide before Adam asked, "You're on a first name basis with him?"

Rolling her eyes, Allie responded, "Well yeah, he is my neighbor…" She told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You still haven't told me why you're doing all of this." She quickly added before the two could weasel any further away from answering her question.

"We don't know for sure yet…but we think there's something not quite right with your neighbor, Jerry." Ed spat his name sarcastically as Allie rolled her eyes once more.

"Ok Alfred Hitchcock, this isn't Rear Window…I mean, Jerrys a bit weird, but he hasn't been anything but nice…" She trailed off, almost not believing she was defending him so readily. But really, where the hell did Adam and Ed come up with these bizarre ideas to come spy on her neighbor? Didn't they have better things to do?

"Yeah, I bet that's what he wants you to think." Adam replied as Allie couldn't believe her ears, "Ok, so what do you think Jerry is? Some kind of murderer or rapist, or…something?"

Her arms waved wildly as she spoke, not even knowing what else to say….it was impossible to know what exactly was going through those two's heads.

At her comment, both boys shared a meaningful look before looking back at Allie and shrugging.

"We're not sure, that's why we have the video camera." Ed replied as if she was stupid. What liars; they already had some preconceived notion of what Jerry 'was.' They just weren't going to tell her until they knew for sure, just in case they were wrong. They knew she'd never let them live it down if they came up with some wild accusation that turned out to be false. Yeah, this was their research all right.

"Look, can we just do this please?" Ed pleaded, and whether she liked it or not, she knew she wouldn't be able to protest. Even the dog was on their side as he sat loyally next to Adam. Traitor…

"Fine. Do your little Scooby Doo project if it'll make you happy." Allie said, shaking her head with humor in her voice as the boys grinned. No one could say they had friends quite like hers.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

It had been about an hour and a half that Allie had been sitting downstairs, watching TV as she let the guys so their 'research.' There had been no sign of them since she left her room; didn't they have enough spy footage by now? Sighing, she stood from her seat and headed back upstairs.

"You guys done yet?" She asked as she entered her room, only to be shushed by both Ed and Adam who sat in her dark room, taking turns to sit by the camera and look out the window stealthily.

"Ok, fine, sorry." Allie mumbled as she crept in more quietly.

"Anything good?" She whispered, almost hoping they didn't find anything.

"No, nothing." Adam said, the disappointment evident in his voice, "We haven't even seen him come in or out of his house…"

Looking at their tired faces, Allie sighed, "Why don't I watch out the window for awhile. You two take a break. There's some pizza in the fridge downstairs; help yourselves." She told them as both guys looked at her a little surprised, but grateful nonetheless.

"Oh, alright, cool. Thanks." Ed said as him and Adam stood to leave.

"No problem." Besides, if you can't beat them, might as well join them. When the pair was out of the room, Allie stood in front of the window, next to the camera, making her much more conspicuous than the guys had sneakily been. But she didn't believe that they would find anything anyways, but figured she might as well humor them.

Five minutes or so had passed and Allie was already getting bored by the lack of activity. All was quiet for a few more moments until she saw Jerry's front door open and he stepped outside. This perked up Allie's interest as she continued to watch him. All Jerry did, however, was stand on his porch for a few moments, looking out into the night before him, almost as motionless as a statue.

"What the hell is he doing?" Allie whispered to herself, confused as to why he would just be standing there. It was almost as boring as when he had been inside his house and out of sight.

A few more minutes passed of Jerry being motionless until finally the stone-like expression he wore changed into that of a half-smirk, one hand now tracing up and down the top front of his shirt slowly, almost unconsciously, as he continued to peer out into the night. The sudden change in his expression made Allie curious as she tried to follow his gaze to see what he was looking at. However, the night was so dark, there wasn't much to see.

Not being able to find anything very interesting that Jerry could be looking at, Allie went to turn her gaze back at him, her face now scrunched up in confusion.

Her confusion instantly turned to alarm because she had looked back to see Jerry staring up, directly at her, amusement gracing his features.

Eyes widening, Allie stumbled back away from the window, knocking over the video camera in the process and landing hard on the floor with a loud CRASH.

"Oh fuck!" Allie breathed, scooting far away from the window, even though she was still on the floor.

"Allie, what the hell was that?" Adam called out as he and Ed rushed back up the stairs, only to find the camera and Allie fallen to the floor, Blaze standing over her with a curious look on his face.

"He saw me!" She shrieked, mortified as she stood back up, making sure to stay out of the view of the window.

"Wait, what? Are you sure?" Ed asked, panic in his voice as Allie nodded her head frantically, "Yeah I'm sure! God, now he's going to think I'm some weird perv or something! Especially after seeing the video camera there! Damn it you guys, thanks a lot!" She snapped bitterly at the pair.

"Well maybe he didn't actually see you. I mean, the room is dark. He shouldn't be able to…" Ed tried to reassure everyone.

"I hope you're right, but I'm pretty damn sure he saw me!" Allie retorted as Adam replied, "Let's not freak out yet since we don't know for sure…"

Allie tried to calm her breathing before answering, "Yeah, you guys are right…It's dark…" She said, more so to try and reassure herself, but wasn't so sure if she even believed her own words, "There's no way he could have seen me…"

But as soon as the words left her mouth, the doorbell rang and everyone froze. The trio looked from one another, wide-eyed as the color drained from their faces.

"Ah shit..."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Uh oh…That can't be good…

I hope you enjoyed this speedy update. I figured you guys deserved it considering all your helpful and amazing reviews I've been getting.

Keep sending any comments, suggestions, or opinions! I love reading them!