So let's see what's going on now. Oh, and the song lyrics in here? They belong to Lily Allen – from "Never Gonna Happen" and "F*ck You". Thanks for your reviews, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and detectivezelda (and I agree, he didn't get enough screen time).

Avoiding Curly was impossible, really. Just because I kept away from the fourth grade classrooms, it didn't mean I never saw him, and I couldn't stop anyone else from mentioning him to me. At home, Mom wanted to know why he wasn't coming over any more. "Have you two argued?"

"Yes, Mom, as a matter of fact, we're not friends at the moment." I told her. "It's up to him to decide whether to pursue something that would get me in huge trouble, or just keep the friendship we had before."

Mom seemed a bit disbelieving, seeing as she didn't seem to think Curly could get me into any trouble. She'd never thought Azure was a good influence – and maybe she wasn't – but she'd never led me into any trouble. So in her view, if crazy Azure didn't make me any worse, how could I get into serious trouble by hanging out with a kid that she'd always seen as a good influence?

Speaking of Azure, I'd emailed her specifically about the situation. Within a day, she'd emailed back: Too bad, Steph. He sounded like fun. Ah well, can't win 'em all, I guess. Maybe he'll get over you soon and then you can be friends again. *Insert heavy sarcasm here*

Hey, me and the girls are planning to come over in the fall break, in two weeks. Ask your mom if we can stay over. If not, don't stress, we have the cash. But you have to show us around, and we all really want to meet all those weird little kids as well as the ones that are our age.

I think Mom felt a bit sorry for me having lost one of my friends, because, due to the fact that my room was pretty huge, the girls all had permission to stay over, although it was only for one night. The rest of the time, they'd have to stay somewhere else. When I emailed them with the news, it was Laura who emailed back to confirm their plans. They were going to be here for five days.

As fall break approached, Helga seemed to be in an even worse mood than usual, for some reason. So on the Friday before the last week of school, I asked her.

"Hey, Hells, what's that look for? You lose another book about ice cream or something?" I teased as we got off the bus, using the code word casually.

She gave me one of her death glares. "No." she hissed. "As a matter of fact, my sister Olga is staying over during the break. She has her fall break at the same time as us and so she's probably going to try and force me to spend bonding time with her during the whole week."

"You have a sister?" Lisa said, stopping briefly. "What's she like?"

Helga simply scowled. "Let's just say that you're lucky with your sister, but if you meet her you probably won't think so." she said cryptically. She ran off to get to her house quicker.

"Interesting..." Lisa mused as the door closed behind her. "Olga and Helga are variations of the same name, in Russian and German respectively."

"I remember the first time I went over there." I said. "Helga's dad called her Olga. Maybe that's something to do with why Helga's acting all moody about her sister visiting."

But that evening, something else happened. Around seven, Lisa knocked on my door. "Hey, Steph, you didn't try to talk to Curly again, did you?" She said it in a voice that clearly showed she knew I hadn't.

"I've been avoiding him for the past week." I said dryly. "If he wants to talk to me again, he can tell me honestly that he's never going to hit on me again, or stalk me, or try to kiss me. Why do you ask?"

"Because he's downstairs right now and he said he wants to see you." Lisa answered. "And trust me, he was talking the same way he does whenever he has a crush on someone. He's definitely not planning to try to get over you. I mean, he still acts normal to Mom and Dad, but when I first opened the door...well, I won't repeat it, but he still claims that he's in love with you."

"In that case, I'm not coming down." I snapped. "Tell him to go away."

I barricaded the door after Lisa left, and locked the window. There was no way my ex-friend could get in. And that night, it worked. Of course, when Mom told me Curly was there the next morning, I had to respond.

"He seemed honestly heartbroken that you don't want to be his friend any more. Don't you think you should resolve the fight you two had?"

"Can't." I said honestly. "He probably didn't tell you why I severed ties with him, and it's not me, it's him."

Curly didn't give up, though. Over the next week, I lived through several of his attempts. I received numerous texts and voicemail until I blocked whatever number he was calling from. I had to make sure there were a lot of people around me on the bus, otherwise he'd be getting as near to me as possible. A couple of times, I found love letters in the mailbox addressed to me, and several emails.

However, Curly didn't try to get into to my house again until the day before the girls were due to arrive. It was Saturday night, the day fall break began. It was quite warm for late September, so my window was open. Mom had insisted I clean my room, so I had plugged my iPod into my laptop and played the music. I was sick of all the musicals, so I played through my Lily Allen album It's Not Me, It's You. I was singing along to a lot of them, but then I got to one that reminded me of the night my friendship with one of the craziest kids I'd ever met ended. Maybe it was tempting fate.

"I know it's rather ugly cause I know that you still love me

And this isn't any kind of excuse," I sang, "But I don't love you, I don't love you...

How on earth could I be any more obvious?

It never really did and now it's never gonna happen with the two of us

I don't understand what it is that you're chasing after

But it makes me really sad to hear you sound so desperate, it just makes it harder."

That was when I heard my window sliding further open and a thump. I honestly think I should've expected that. After all, Curly did come through the window sometimes. But it didn't stop my shock, or anger, or – dare I admit it – the jolt of fear that shot through me when I saw him standing there.

I folded my arms. "So, are you ready to quit getting to me romantically and just be my friend again?"

"Come on, my beautiful princess," Curly said in answer, "You can't keep on ignoring me."

"Well, stop hitting on me!" I retorted. "Don't you get it? You are too young for me! And besides, I never liked you in that way! Now get out of my room and don't come near me again until you've decided to stop this stalking thing!"

"Aw, come on, Steph," Curly whined, "Can't you just give me one chance? I promise that you'd really like being my girlfriend."

"It's never going to work!" I sighed, exasperated. "Let me count the reasons why I would never ever be your girlfriend in a million years...the age difference. The obsessiveness. The pick-up lines. The fact that you blackmailed your last crush. Oh, and speaking of your last crush, I would never submit to wearing a T-shirt saying I'm yours, or let everyone know it loudly, and if you gave me a picture of you, I'd prefer you to take those glasses off, they look really weird. Oh, and one more thing. My friends from Springfield are coming over for the break. I promised I'd introduce them to everyone, and Azure will kill me if I try to leave you out. Could you please not hit on me if I seek you out?"

"Sure...if you go on a date with me next Saturday."

I groaned. "Ugh, forget it. No. Now get out of my house, I need to prepare my room for my friends!"

"As you wish, my goddess. Goodbye, but not for long." Curly smiled at me adoringly and jumped out of the window. I shut it, turning back to the music on my iPod and singing along to the next song that had started. "F**k you, f**k you very very much,

Cause we hate what you do and we hate your whole crew,

So please don't stay in touch..."

I may had been able to keep my feelings back, but I'd been nervous that he'd try to kiss me again or something. I was just glad he hadn't. Now I'd have to focus on the girls arriving.

So, Stephanie's friends will be visiting. Hope you enjoy it!