Now, here comes a resurgence of the old gang! Thanks for reviewing, detectivezelda and kkman57!

I was so glad to open the door to find my best friends on the doorstep. I hugged each of them in turn, starting with Tasha, then Mel, Laura, Sunshine, and Azure was last.

"OK, then!" Azure said. "Let's go put our stuff in your room, then we can go out!"

"One moment." I said. "When you're in my room, look out the window. Remember me writing about Helga? Her room is directly opposite mine."

"The poetry girl that was scowling in her yearbook picture?" Sunshine said. "I just couldn't see those two traits going together."

"Oh, she'd kill you if you told her secret." I assured her as I led the way to my room. "But she's pretty harmless, really. Why don't we go over next door? I'll introduce you."

So that's what we did. The door was answered by a girl I'd never seen before. She looked to be around twenty, and she was very pretty, with blonde hair like Helga's but cut short and loose, and wearing a black and white blouse and green check skirt.

"Oh, hello!" she said with a bright smile. She had a soft little-girly voice.

"Hi." I smiled politely. "Olga, right? Helga's sister?" The older girl nodded with a smile. "I'm Stephanie Simpson from next door. My friends are over and I wanted to introduce them to her."

"Aw, that's sweet." Olga exclaimed condescendingly, then called up the stairs "Helga! You've got some little friends over!"

I exchanged glances with my friends. Our expressions said it all: "How old does she think we are?"

Helga finally descended the stairs, scowling as much as ever. "Oh." she said bluntly.

Olga tactfully left the room.

"Hey, Hells." I greeted the blonde. "Don't worry, we're just stopping by. My friends wanted to meet you. Oh, and I should mention, I did tell them about 'ice cream' but they won't tell anyone else, and they don't know anyone in this city so your reputation isn't ruined and your secret's not out." I introduced each girl.

Azure, who didn't seem to care for anything and craved danger, said "So, I found out you write poetry. Not that I'm going to tell anyone, but why don't you write something other than love poetry?"

"None of your beeswax!" Helga shot back.

Azure put up her hands in mock defence. "OK, OK, I was just asking. No need to yell."

We cut the visit short. As we left, Tasha remarked "Pretty much how I imagined her. Maybe even more defensive."

"And that's supposed to be the person that claims in her poetry to 'worship' one of her classmates because she's in love with him?" Sunshine said incredulously. "It's pretty hard to believe."

"Is she adopted?" Mel wondered. "Or her sister? They look kind of alike, but they are so not in personality."

"Sunny, you ain't seen nothing yet." I grinned. "So, let's see, who's going to be next?"

I got five different answers.

"Curly!" Azure yelled.

"Arnold!" exclaimed Sunshine.

"Lila!" suggested Laura.

"Rhonda!" cried Mel.

"Your other friends." Tasha called over everyone else.

I looked at all of my friends. "OK, firstly, bad news, Tash." I said. "All the girls I usually hang out with are out of town. Most of the fourth-graders stayed, though. Rhonda's away for the weekend, so she'll have to wait – sorry, Mel. Lisa invited Lila over tonight, though. Because you're staying over, Mom said Lisa could have a sleepover, so she invited Lila and Nadine. So that leaves Curly and Arnold. I haven't actually spoken to Arnold, so we'd probably have to bring Lisa with us. And if we visit Curly, you'll probably have to witness him hitting on me. So vote."

Everyone except Sunshine wanted to see Curly first. "After all," Mel teased, "We can't wait to see you get all embarrassed when he starts flirting."

"I hate you guys." I groaned. "OK, let's go."

I hadn't gone to Curly's house properly. When he came over, I occasionally walked him home, but only if I felt like it. In all those days, I'd never been inside his house. I'd briefly met his mom, but that was the closest I got.

As it happened, Curly answered the door, and his face immediately lit up when he saw me.

"Oh, my pet, I knew you couldn't resist me!" he began, but I took a step back, holding up my hands.
"When are you going to get it through your head? I do not like you that way. Stop being creepy!" I ordered.

Curly shrugged, not listening properly as he caught sight of my friends.

"Oh yes, I remember you said your friends from your old town were coming over for the break." he said. "Why don't you all come in? My parents aren't home, and," he winked at me. "You haven't seen my room. I've made a little tribute to you, my angel."

I shuddered, remembering the last boy that called me an angel – this jungle boy who I met when I was stranded on an island. He'd been obsessed with Phantom of the Opera and treated me as if I was Christine, his Angel of Music (only creepier). But I sighed in defeat, anyway. "OK, whatever, Curly. Lead the way."

That "tribute" was only expected, really. It was really just a version of Helga's Arnold shrine, except it was made to resemble me.

"I think we should introduce ourselves." Azure said brightly, after we'd all found places to sit around the (admittedly dark and cramped) room (Curly had tried to get me to sit on the bed with him, but I wasn't going to let him get any closer to me). "I'm Azure." She grinned.

Shy sheltered Sunshine looked at the floor. "I'm Sunshine." she said quietly.

"Hey, I'm Mel." Mel grinned.

"Laura." Laura smiled politely.

"I'm Tasha, Steph's best friend." Tasha said.

I really didn't want to linger, but just as I had two months prior, my friends took an interest in Curly. I'd told them some of the stories I'd heard around school, and I'd also told them everything about the time he blackmailed Rhonda into pretending to be his girlfriend, so they asked about that, too.

"So what's your deal with Rhonda now?" Tasha asked. "Do you still like her, or what?"

"I'm over her." Curly answered. "I still think she's beautiful, but that's all. As far as I'm concerned, anyone else is welcome to her. Besides," he smirked at me, "I have a much prettier and much more interesting potential girlfriend in my lovely Stephanie."

"Um, less potential girlfriend, more please can we just be friends!" I snapped. "I keep telling you, Curly, we will never be together the way you want. You're just a kid, and I'm a teenager."

"Love knows no age, baby doll."

I groaned. "OK, that is the worst name yet. At least you had a little bit of class with 'angel'. Although, you know, you could just get over it and stop calling me those names altogether."

Sunshine giggled nervously.

Curly was always one for the dramatics, though. He wasn't planning to stop calling me weird names any time soon. "But how else can I express my affection for you, my sweetheart?"

I groaned again. "Could you be any more creepy with those names?"

"Ooh, look, she's blushing!" Tasha exclaimed, chuckling. I stared at her in horror as my friends all started laughing. If I wasn't blushing before, I was now, but it was out of awkwardness.

"Right, we are leaving now." I announced, leading the girls out of the house. I turned to Curly one last time. "You want to see me again, you know what you have to do."

"You'll give in to me eventually, my sweet siren!" he called as we left.

"Wow." Mel said. "Just wow."

"I was so not prepared for a kid like that." Sunshine added.

"If all the kids in this town are like him, I'm gonna love this week." Azure grinned.

"Outta luck." I laughed. "That's about as weird as it gets."

Tasha looked at me seriously. "Steph...I know I was laughing, but that was kind of unsettling. The way the kid was looking at you...I get the feeling that he has more than a crush, and it almost felt...animalistic. Like he'd do anything to have you feel the same way, and waste no time in going as far as he could get with you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Tash, he's only nine. I doubt he'll even be able to do anything to me." I wasn't about to tell her that he'd kissed me. "Anyway," I rushed on, "Let's go. I guess the Sunset Arms boarding house is next up."

"How come?" Laura asked.

I grinned. "Cause that's where Arnold lives."

The rest of the visit will be in the next chapter. Please, review!