Now, what are those problems I mentioned last chapter? Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 (ding ding ding, we have a winner!) and detectivezelda (that's a partially correct answer, so a virtual talking llama is on its way)! If there was a reference there, I did write a fanfic on that movie.

Now that Helga knew that we knew her secret, she had actually started to leave Lisa alone most of the time, although I think she was more scared of me telling her secret than Lisa. One day when Lila came over, Bart and I decided to spy on the two girls. We had a new tree-house that had a branch right next to Lisa's window, which was open at the time. We heard the girls discussing the boys in their class, but they both tactfully didn't talk about Arnold, although Lila did mention "Arnold's cousin, Arnie...he's ever so interesting and likeable. I've only seen him the one time he stayed over here, and I liked him a lot, but he broke up with me. He's the only guy that I've ever liked that much before. I don't know if I'll ever like-like someone again." We could only see Lisa's face, but we could hear how wistful Lila sounded.

Lisa was looking thoughtful, but she said "Lila, don't give up. You're always holding the attention of most of the boys. Chances are at least one of them likes you-likes you."

Bart started laughing. "Yeah, at least one, always. She kept breaking Arnold's heart." he explained to me. "Kept trying to be friends with him, then had to remind him that she only liked him as a friend. I got that geeky girl from Lisa's class to tell me about Arnold's love life – Sheena, I think her name is. Well, I wanted to know about Helga, but she didn't say anything about her."

Lila was saying something else. "I don't know, though. None of them are that oh-so-special someone I'm looking for. I like them all, but I don't like-like any of them. On that note," she added, "I think you should tell your sister."

I was all ears for this.

"Tell her what?" Lisa asked. There was no answer for a moment (presumably Lila's facial expression was enough), then Lisa said "No way! She'll probably do it just to annoy me, and I don't want her to get hurt!"

"He'll tell her at some point, anyway." Lila said. "Don't you think you should tell her so she knows what she's gotten herself into?"

"Tell me what?" I whispered to Bart. "And who's 'he'?"

"Beats me."

Lisa was talking again. "I told her not to get involved with him right at the start. She won't listen to me. But do you think anything could really happen?" she sounded anxious.

Lila turned so I could see her profile. She looked thoughtful. "Well, I doubt that it'll be too serious. After all, it seems like she can take care of herself, and they've been hanging out together, haven't they?"

I was pretty sure that I had got it now. The only guy friend I had that I frequently hung out with (that Lila could possibly know about) was Curly. Besides, Lisa had said she told me not to get involved.

I couldn't keep quiet any longer, and I climbed the bough up to Lisa's window. "So, what were you talking about?" I demanded. "What does Lila think you should tell me, Lisa?"

Lisa blushed, looking at the ground. Lila smiled sweetly and said "Oh, Stephanie. Hello. It's just...someone in our class likes you-likes you, and we thought you needed to know."

I had read between the lines, and groaned out loud. "Oh no, please don't let this be a repeat of the Rhonda situation."

Lisa's head jerked up. "What? Who said anything about Rhonda?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was listening that whole time, Lisa. There's only one guy in this whole city that I've been hanging out with, and it's the same one that you're convinced is dangerous. What you're saying is that Curly has a crush on me. Is that right?"

Both girls nodded solemnly.

I laughed, suddenly, realizing how absurd that sounded. I couldn't comprehend it as something real. "You can't be serious, guys! He's just a friend, and besides, if he had a crush on me, wouldn't he have already started stalking me?"

Lila spoke up. "Well...Stephanie...it's how it started last time. He didn't immediately start stalking Rhonda. He just hung around her a bit. He was a bit more talkative than usual, a bit more energetic. The day he freed the animals from the zoo was around that time. It was only when there was a flash flood and our class was trapped when he started hitting on Rhonda, asking her for a kiss and that kind of thing."

I shook my head. "Not buying it, Lila. In fact, I'm not going to believe it until someone asks him while I'm spying, and he confirms it."

Lisa sighed. "Fine, Stephanie. If that's what it takes to convince you that he's going to be trouble, then I'll ask."

The next Monday, I waited around the corner to hear Lisa ask Curly the question. "You've been spending a lot of time with my sister, and I wanted to know...do you like her-like her?"

Curly's response was almost expected. "Why, Lisa, of course I don't merely like her-like her! My feelings for her go much deeper. The fire of my passion for her make the way I felt about Rhonda look like the fire of a newly lit match, compared to the fiery embers of the sun, which is what she is in my life."

This was not good for me. The thing was, Curly was a lot of fun. He was fine as a mate, but the fact that he actually had an intense crush on me was unbelievable. For one thing, he was just too crazy for me to deal with in that type of relationship. Plus he was nine years old, far too young for me anyway. I'm not getting near that one.

But apart from that, was Lila right? Was it true that Curly would start stalking me the way he'd been stalking Rhonda? If so, I would need some information from the rich girl herself.

I found Rhonda talking to Nadine in the playground, and pulled her to the girls' bathrooms, adding to Nadine "Gotta talk, she'll be back later."

I stood with my back to the door, so Rhonda wasn't going to get out. She was glaring at me, possibly outdoing even Helga with the fire in her eyes.

"Easy, easy." I said. "I just need some information off you. I've got it from reliable sources that I am possibly going to be stalked by Curly, and I just wanted to ask you a few questions over what to expect."

Rhonda sighed dramatically, but she looked amused at the fact that I was going to go through what she suffered. "Fine." she said, launching into a helpful explanation. "Well, if you're serious about this, he is going to try to kiss you. Several times over. Plus, there was one week where he wouldn't leave my hair alone. Asking for a lock of it only came later. Oh, and the creepy comments might sound weird, but they're not a big deal. And I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you not to end up indebted to him – don't forget what happened to me."

I scoffed at that. "Please, Rhonda. You got indebted because you borrowed your mom's jacket or something, right? I wouldn't borrow my mom's clothes in a million years."

Rhonda scowled. "It was a genuine mink coat. I only got into that situation because Park knocked into me while I had a candy apple in my hand and it stained the jacket."

"Let me guess..." I said. "You needed it cleaned by the next morning, so since his family owns a dry-cleaners', Curly offered to get the stain out...and I know the rest. Well, thanks for that piece of advice, princess, but honestly, I'm not stupid enough to do something like that, and even if I did, I'd rather take angering someone over pretending to be his girlfriend."

Inwardly, I was a little scared. Would Curly really start stalking me?

Will he, Stephanie? That's my question too. Well, review and we shall see.