Here is the next episode, 'Helga's Boyfriend'! Despite the fact this is a Helga episode and this episode is about Stinky, I'm going to make this episode a lot different than the original, Stinky will still be in the story, but you'll see the reasons why he's still as he is! Anyway, enjoy!

The next day, Sunday, I was getting dressed up and brushing my hair when I heard my cell phone rang. I noticed it was Phoebe on the line as I picked up the phone and answered it. "Hey, Pheebs."

"Rhonda, I just got a call from Curly. He just said he may have made a crack on the Lana Vail case." Phoebe's voice said. "We both made arrangements to meet at the park. Get Nadine, and meet us there."

Being serious, I nodded. "All right! Maybe this'll be a chance to crack the case of what happened to Tucker WIDE open. We'll be right there."

As I hung up, I quickly called up Nadine. "Nadine, Rhonda. Phoebe and Curly just got something on where Lana may be. We're meeting them at the park. You game?"

"I'm on my way!" Nadine's voice called. "Thanks, Rhonda."

I nodded, "See you then."

I hung up as I decided to finish up brushing my hair before going out.

Over at the park, me and Nadine met up with Phoebe and Curly, who were sitting near the bench.

"Thank you for coming." Curly said, seriously. "I'm glad you all came. First of all, I need you three to wear these, VERY important."

Curly then handed three crosses to us. As we slipped them on, I asked, "What are they for?"

"Really, Rhonda, if you've been paying attention at all, you should know that these crosses of Solara will prevent our minds from ever being erased." Curly said. "We don't want to risk our memories being wiped... though in the case of all five of us, at least two of us wont need to worry about the risk, but nevertheless, we need to wear them."

I frowned. "Curly, there's four people."

"I know." Curly shrugged.

Nadine, Phoebe and I looked with confused glances, but then shrugged. This was just another Curly crazy moment.

"Anyway, I just got a hold of where Lana was seen last... she's currently working her way towards a library, where she keeps her eye on a few... potential kids... especially those who are... together with someone..."

"How would you know that?" Nadine asked.

"She works different patterns on a few kids. Ever since Frankie G got captured, she decided to switch up her pattern without anybody noticing. Luckily... I've noticed." Curly explained.

I just rolled my eyes. "Just tell us what we have to do."

"Simple enough, all you girls have to do, in order to get close to Lana, is if you get together with a boy, she won't pick you..." Curly said. "Personally, I wouldn't mind... you know..."

Curly then gave a flirtaesious smile towards me as I groaned. "No. I'm not going to be your 'date'."

Curly laughed. "It's not a date, Rhonda. You're just 'pretending' to be together with me."

I laughed a bit, then frowned, "Find another girl, maybe Nadine and Phoebe will be willing."

Nadine and Phoebe looked at each other as Phoebe said, "I could do it."

Curly expressed a little disappointment, but said, "All right, but if you can't get any boys by noon, we're not going through with the plan."

Nadine paused as she looked at me as I said, "Oh, we'll get somebody, Curly. You just wait and see!"

"But Rhonda!" Nadine said as we were walking together. "I'm not going out with anybody, and you STILL have not confessed to your 'loved one'. Wait, are you going to confess to Arnold?"

"No, I'm not doing that." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I don't want to risk putting Arnold in danger if Lana Vail is what she says. No, me and you, we're going to find fake boyfriends to pass through until we find another clue on Tucker. That's it!"

Nadine paused. "I guess... but who would we find...?"

I paused as I looked around the area... seemed to be barren thus far... until I saw... bingo! "Hey, there's two boys we can use!"

Nadine turned to see where I was pointing, and sure enough, there was Stinky and Sid playing catch with each other. Nadine blinked. "Stinky and Sid? Why would we need them?"

"You'll see..." I smiled.

"So... let me get this straight..." Sid frowned as him, Stinky, me and Nadine were sitting around. "You're going to be paying us a candy bar for at least a day or so to pretend to be your boyfriends."

"Yep." I nodded. "Just for a few hours. Nothing more, nothing less. Basically, we just need you guys to be here at a few places, help us with our things, maybe you can take us to dinner somewhere... like we said, only for a few hours."

Sid raised an eyebrow as he said, "I didn't think you'd like us... like that."

"Yeah, girls." Stinky said. "I hardly know what to say. I mean, I guess I find you attractive in your own way, but I never realized the extent of your feelings for me."

"To be honest, we don't." Nadine said. "I mean, we like you, but we don't like you like you. Basically, we just need you to be our boyfriends, just for a while. Could you help us?"

"I don't know..." Sid paused as Stinky smiled.

"Could it be a Mr. Nutty candy bar?" Stinky asked in interest.

"Sure, for you." Rhonda nodded.

"Hot dang!" Stinky smiled. "Okay girls, you got yourself a hired boyfriend!"

"I'm still not entirely convinced." Sid said, raising an eyebrow. "What's in it for me?"

I sighed. "Sid, one day, in the summer, I MAY call on you for a small favor if we're ever in a small group. If that day comes where we're in said group, I promise I will stick with your team for a long search. I don't know what the favor will be, but just know, I'll owe you a favor if you do this for me."

Sid raised an eyebrow. "Even be my girlfriend for a day?"

"What?" I frowned, then sighed. "All right, fine. Maybe that. Look, do we have a deal?"

Sid said. "All right, Rhonda. We may not be boyfriend/girlfriend in this day, but in that one day in the summer... we definitely will be!"

"Just don't get any ideas!" I frowned.

"Don't worry, I'll worry about the day." Sid smiled.

"That's what I'm afraid of." I sighed. "Anyway, if you want to be my fake boyfriend, Sid, that's fine with me. Nadine, you'll be okay with Stinky?"

"Sure." Nadine nodded as Stinky smiled.

"Okay, great." I smiled as I turned to the two boys. "Now, as hired boyfriends, we need you to meet us at the public library in an hour! Think you can do that?"

The boys nodded.

"Great! Meet us there!" I said as me and Nadine started to walk off.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Nadine whispered.

"Don't worry, nothing'll go wrong with this plan!" I smiled.

"But what if one of them really DOES fall in love with us?" Nadine asked.

"Nadine, that's impossible. You don't fall in love with somebody INSTANTLY for a few hours after you ask them to be a fake boyfriend. Real life does not work like that." I frowned.

"I guess... but..." Nadine started.

"No buts! We're going to get this mystery cracked!" I frowned.

Pretty soon, we met up with Curly and Phoebe near the foot of the library.

"Okay, now, so we don't get risked being seen, we need to split into different corners. Your boyfriends on your way?" Curly asked.

"Our FAKE boyfriends, and yes, they're coming." I nodded.

"They only know they're on a fake date, but they didn't question why." Nadine said.

"Maybe they think you two lost a bet or something." Phoebe shrugged.

"Well, that may be it. But you never can tell with Stinky or Sid." I shrugged.

"Anyway, we'll be inside. If you see Lana Vail, keep your eye on her." Curly said as Phoebe and him went inside.

Sure enough, a few seconds after the two ran inside, Stinky and Sid showed up as Sid said, "Okay, girls, we're here. What do you need us to do?"

"Follow us inside, and we'll explain how this goes..." Nadine said.

"Here's the deal." I said to the two as I handed each of them a handkerchief. "Basically, pull out our chairs when we're ready to sit down, and if we sneeze, give us one of these handkerchiefs, and say 'Bless you sweetheart' or something along those lines. Also give us some compliments every now and again, something like the movies do. Think you can handle that?"

"Sure." Sid nodded.

I looked around the library and my eyes lit up as I spotted a figure that looked like a brown haired adult, wearing sunglasses and a beige coat. This had to be Lana Vail, no doubt. My eyes rolled over to Nadine, who saw the figure too as we both nodded. We turned to the boys as we nodded towards them. I said, "Okay, boys, just do this and don't stop until I say 'stop'. Okay?"

The boys nodded. "Good. Let us begin."

Sid smiled as he pulled out the chair for me. I smiled as I sat down in the chair as he pushed it in. I looked over the corner of my eye as Stinky was attempting the same for Nadine, but Nadine slipped and fell as she hit the floor. She just smiled nervously as she sat on the chair as she pushed it in herself. Sid was starting to give some compliments, which were pretty nice, but I didn't hear a whole lot of them, as I was more focused on the figure. The figure seemed to be writing down a few bits of observation as she nodded. She then left as her eyes darted, then she started to walk off, towards the exit of the library.

I heard a small person saying 'pst!' from under my desk. I looked down and saw Phoebe under there, who held up a sign which said, "She is now heading for the roller rink. Get Sid and Stinky over there as quickly as you can."

Phoebe then flipped over the sign as she frowned as I read, "Also, Sid and Stinky? Really?"

I just shrugged. Phoebe just shook her head as I looked over to Sid. "Also, I think the way your hair looks is really, really..."

"Stop!" I said as Sid stopped. "All of a sudden, we find the library... a little dreary. What say we head towards the roller rink?"

Sid paused and smiled. "Sounds fun!"

"Oh thank god." Nadine sighed as she started to get up... but then sneezed.

Stinky then used his supplied handkerchief to wipe Nadine's nose, which I chuckled at. "Bless you, my sweet darlin'."

"Come on." I said as we led Sid and Stinky out of the library.

"Have I mentioned I don't know how to skate?" Stinky said as we were now in the roller rink, me, Nadine, Sid and Stinky all on roller skates as everybody seemed to be having a great time.

"Don't worry, there's... a first time for everything." Nadine smiled. "Besides, it's not that hard to skate once you get the hang of it."

I darted my eyes around until I saw the familiar figure with the sunglasses and beige coat near a DJ stand, where she was examining the roller derby space and the crowd of kids as she wrote a few names down. I turned towards Sid. "Shall we?"

"We shall, milady!" Sid smiled as he took my arm. I will have to admit, even though I don't like Sid in that way, he was a pretty good skater. But I was paying more attention to the girl near the DJ stand as she nodded. She took a few more names down before taking her leave. I sighed as I looked around. I noticed Curly and Phoebe waving over towards us as I skated over their direction. I leaned my ear towards Curly and Phoebe as Curly whispered quickly, "Next-destination-is-the-park!"

I nodded as we skated a few times, then turned to Sid, "You know, I don't think the roller rink suits us at all? Shall we go strolling in the park?"

"Uh... sure." Sid smiled. "Let's see if Stinky and Nadine want to..."

All of a sudden, the spotlight shined on a couple as we turned... and it was Stinky and Nadine, what do you know? The two quickly spun around as Stinky grabbed a hold of Nadine and held her up high. Nadine smiled, until she heard something Stinky said, which Nadine gave a little face that screamed 'uh-oh'. Whatever Stinky said to her... was probably going to end in disaster. Sure enough, I moved out of the way in time as Stinky started skating towards the rail and threw Nadine towards the pipe organ... luckily, no damage was caused.

Nadine got up dizzily as she said, "I'm okay..."

"Can I have my Mr. Nutty candy bar now?" Stinky said in worry.

I looked over to Stinky as I said, "Don't worry, Stinky. Next little thing we do WON'T involve roller skating."

After recovering, Nadine and Stinky, and Sid and I walked in the park as we started darting our eyes... and as soon as I spotted our potential target, the girl with sunglasses and beige coat, I turned to our... 'fake' boyfriends. "Why don't we sit here? It's a nice day out, we can just relax..."

Sid and Stinky nodded as they sat down as Nadine sighed in relief. Sid went over to me as I said, "Okay, Sid, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I never thought you'd ask." Sid said as he started telling his life story... but I drowned him out just to keep focus on the girl with the beige coat. After a couple minutes of watching her, she nodded as she got up... then pulled out a remote. To my shock and disbelief, she pushed a button on that remote as she... disappeared... just... disappeared. My eyes darted over to a nearby tree where Curly and Phoebe were watching. Phoebe was staring in disbelief too as Curly gave a knowing smirk. Phoebe then held up a sign saying, "Regroup with us in a few moments."

I nodded as I turned towards Sid, who continued, "...and that was just the first grade! In the second grade..."

"All right, enough." I sighed as I looked towards Sid. "Sid, thank you for being the fake boyfriend for a day, really, it was great... but I think now would be a good time to end it here... sorry it had to end so soon..."

"That's okay, there's still that big favor you owe me one day in the summer." Sid smiled. "I'll let you know when that is..."

"Right..." I said nervously. "Yeah, I really apologized we put you and Stinky on the spot, but..."

"Don't worry about it, girls. We guessed you probably lost a bet, anyway." Sid smiled. "It's all good."

I nodded. "Okay, that's cool."

"See you later, Stinky." Nadine smiled as she shook Stinky's hand as he just stared at her.

"Here's your candy bars, fellas." I said, handing the Mr. Nutty candy bars to the two boys as we walked on our way.

As we separated from the two, Nadine sighed, "Oh thank god. I like Stinky, but... man he's just so... wrong in his approach!"

"I'm sure he's just shy." I smiled.

"Rhonda, he screwed up in the chair thing, he threw me into a pipe organ, I think I'm allergic to him." Nadine sighed.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it." I shrugged.

"Whatever." Nadine sighed.

"Anyway, did you just see what Lana Vail did?" I said.

"So, I wasn't crazy when I saw her just disappear?" Nadine said as we reunited with Phoebe and Curly.

"Like I said, Lana Vail's a... different sort of character." Curly explained. "And Hillwood is not a normal place. Sure, it looks normal, but deep down, there's a lot of craziness that goes on within this world."

"So... what can we do?" Phoebe asked. "We don't have some... magic remote like Lana does."

"Nothing for now... but sooner or later, we may need to check out that basketball court, where Tucker was last seen." Curly said.

"Right." We nodded. We knew this mystery was getting close to cracked.

The next day on Monday, after school, me, Nadine, Phoebe and Curly reunited as we started walking towards the basketball court... as we stopped short.

"What the..." Nadine said as we examined where the basketball court used to be. "This isn't possible. The court just folded up by itself?"

"Maybe..." Curly said. "But take a closer look."

We took a closer look as we noticed something within the folded scene... a small tear, as if leading towards another dimension. I carefully took a peek inside.

It was... strange from the looks of it. Was it my imagination... or... or was this all real? A world within ours? Was it possible?

"How do we get in?" I asked, as Phoebe and Nadine each took their turns looking inside.

"Who knows... but for now, we know there's something there." Curly said, pointing towards the little hole near the folded area where the basketball court once was. "We'll need to do our exploration on the weekend."

"Fair enough." I said as Nadine and Phoebe nodded.

"Well, at least we know there's a lot of craziness going on." Phoebe said as we decided to go our separate ways.

"What do you girls want to do for the rest of the day?" I asked.

"Well, I think I'm going to take a walk in the park..." Nadine said. "I just got this note from somebody in my locker when I was packing up a few things..."

Me and Phoebe turned in interest as I said, "Oh my gosh, you have a secret admirer?"

"I... think so." Nadine said as she showed us the note. "Go ahead and read it."

Phoebe took the note and read it, "Dear Nadine, after carefully thinking about it, I realize that I can't stand being not around you. I want to meet up with you. In the park, around three. I want to talk about something. Signed, your secret admirer."

"Oh my gosh!" I smiled as I hugged Nadine. "You have somebody who admires you from afar! Somebody finally admits you're cute! They have a crush on you!"

Nadine blushed. "Well... I'm sure they must have held it for me sometime..."

"We want to meet him!" I said as I smiled.

"I do too!" Phoebe said. "Just to see who he is!"

"Well... just keep your distance when I see him, okay?" Nadine said. "I'm not ready to leap to the conclusion if it's someone I like."

"All right, all right..." Me and Phoebe nodded.

We were walking near the park as we sat down near the bench, Nadine going up towards the tree as we watched. Phoebe asked, "Who do you think Nadine's secret admirer is?"

"Who knows?" I asked. "Personally, I want to see who would love this girl enough..."

"Here comes somebody." Phoebe paused as she squinted. I noticed somebody walking over towards Nadine's direction.

"Wait... isn't that... Stinky? What's he doing here?" I said in surprise.

"You don't think he's Nadine's secret admirer?" Phoebe asked.

"I..." I paused... as I laughed. "Oh my gosh, this is so hilarious!"

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"You see, Nadine and I were just having this talk about how if the fake boyfriend plan would go wrong in that one of them would fall for us for real, and I didn't think it would happen. Oh wow, was I proven wrong in that aspect!" I said as we see Nadine look over in surprise as the two were talking.

"What's going on over there?" Phoebe asked.

"Hard to say, but it seems they're talking a bit. Stinky seems a little nervous and disappointed... but Nadine seems to be comforting the guy, making him feel a little better... looks like they're shaking hands... they're talking a small bit, they're waving good-bye... Nadine is coming here." I said as I summarized everything, up to Nadine coming over to our direction. "So, Nadine, Stinky's your secret admirer, huh?"

"Yeah..." Nadine blushed. "Turns out after our little 'fake' date yesterday, Stinky had some... mixed emotions and thought he liked me liked me. He told me about how he went over to Arnold for advice and told him how nervous he was. Arnold must have told him to do the secret admirer thing or something and he did do that. Anyway, I talked to him that the date we had was just fake, and if I did lead him on yesterday, I apologized for it. I didn't mean to make him feel that way about me... but if it was all cool to him, we could still be friends. Stinky agreed, and we just decided to stay friends."

"Well, I'm glad we got that little mystery solved up." I smiled. "I mean, it would be hilarious if Stinky still yearned for you for a couple days!"

"Well, I'm sure he'll find another." Nadine shrugged. "Until then, he's having a good time with the single life."

All three of us nodded as we decided to go along the park. Phoebe then said, "Say girls, have you heard? Last round of the spelling bee's coming up! I think I'm going to enter!"

"Awesome!" I smiled. "I'm here to support!"

"Think you girls can help me practice?" Phoebe asked.

"What are friends for?" Nadine smiled as we all laughed.

And so, we spent the rest of the day in preparation for a spelling bee...

Little did we realize that we may have had a LITTLE competition should Phoebe ever win the spelling bee... but that was for another day...

There's the twenty-fifth episode! How do you like it? By the way, I am aware of how... unrealistic some things in this fic are, since this takes place in a 'realistic' world... but there are... shall we say 'explanations' behind these scenes, which will be filled in eventually! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!