Next chapter coming right up. And yes, I did put a title reference in here, couldn't resist. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 (I love Roxy too – she's one of the favourites of all the OCs I've written).

I obediently wore the belt the next day. Dad, of course, didn't notice the words on it. Lisa and Bart had already seen Curly giving it to me, although they hadn't seen the words.

Still, Bart grinned and said "Well, that explains his hope you'd wear it. Tough break, Steph, everyone's going to know you two are dating now."

Mom looked up immediately. "What? Stephanie, are you in a relationship with someone I don't know?"

sighed and said "Mom, breathe. It's just this joke belt that Curly decided to give me, no big deal. It's not like I'm dating anyone." As I spoke I sent one of my own death glares at Bart. No adult was supposed to know anything.

That got Mom's attention. "Are you two friends again?"

I hesitated before answering "Well, yes, I guess we are."

Everyone saw the words on the belt when I walked into the school. The bus was as usual. However, Helga decided to interrogate me on it before it got there.

"So what's going on with you and the twisted little freak?" she demanded to know.

I met her blue eyes and said coolly "If you want to know, why don't you ask Rhonda why she was dating him earlier this year. That should tell you everything you need to know." I paused before adding "And although he is a twisted freak, I should probably suggest you stop calling him that. Not that I care, but it's morally right."

"Come on, what's the deal?" Helga insisted on knowing. "Do you actually like him?"

I sighed exasperatedly. "I don't know, OK? Now will you leave me alone?"

But getting Helga to shut up was a lot easier than getting my friends to stop asking questions. Mainly because they wielded more power as friends. Helga I could deal with, because I was keeping her crucial little secret. But my friends continued to ask about what happened between Curly and I, no matter how many excuses I made. Eventually, I just snapped "He's just a kid! I'm just letting him date me because otherwise he'll never leave me alone, OK?"

I left the blackmailing part out, but it was technically true enough, and it did make the other girls back off a bit, which made the first week less trying while at school. It also helped that Curly was younger than me, so we didn't have classes together and he couldn't be all over me like he was with Rhonda (I gathered that from what Lisa had told me at the time).

However, I couldn't escape the letters still turning up in my locker and the other fourth graders watching. I saw Rhonda whispering to her posse at times, including Lisa, who would give me an apologetic look but show no other signs of knowing what was really going on. She occasionally tried to sit with Helga and Phoebe nowadays, and Helga didn't seem as possessive as usual in being Phoebe's total and only BFF.

The fourth-grade boys were also asking Curly questions, but unlike me, he seemed happy to tell them stuff all the time. I even heard him talking about what it was like to kiss me to a bunch of them, like some high school jerk who told his mates about how far he went with the last girl he hooked up with, exaggerating. It took all the willpower I had not to go straight over there and attempt to murder Curly for talking about me like that. That was on the Wednesday.

As it was, the boy with the green cap whose name I couldn't remember caught my eye and amusement mixed with slight fear appeared on his face.

Arnold was also in the centre, and I could see a look of discomfort on his face, although he didn't say anything at the time. So just before class, I sought him out. He was hanging out with Gerald, as usual.

I smiled pleasantly. "Hey, Arnold. Can I talk to you for a moment? Privately?"

"Um, sure." Arnold said obligingly.

"Look," I whispered, as soon as we were alone, "Can you please get Curly to stop talking about me like an object? You heard all that stuff he was saying about me in the cafeteria. Please tell him it's degrading. I'd explain more, but I'm kind of under contract not to."

"Under contract?" Arnold repeated, looking confused.

I really wanted to tell him, because I sort of knew from Lisa and I had a feeling that I would be able to trust him not to tell, but I couldn't... "Aw, screw it. Arnold, I'm in this problem, and it has to stay secret, I haven't even told my friends. If I tell you, can you keep quiet about it?"

"Um, OK."

I spilled out the story, finishing "And so now I'm stuck in this dating thing. I can't tell anyone, because that would be admitting that a younger kid is controlling me. I can't dump him because then he'll show everyone those incriminating pictures of me. And please don't tell me to reason with him, it's all I've been trying to do since he started on this. I wanted to just be friends with him, but he says he can't just settle for friendship, and no matter what I say, he won't listen to me. I thought I could stand two weeks, but I'm not sure I can."

"Stephanie, you need to be the one to talk to him." Arnold told me. "Just tell him that you aren't ready for this kind of relationship with him. Instead of constantly telling him to go away, tell him exactly how you feel. In the meantime, OK, I'll tell him not to talk about you that way any more. I didn't like what he was saying either, to tell you the truth."

I smiled genuinely. "Thanks, kid. You're OK, you know that?" I was definitely going to have to make it up to him at some point. Maybe I could somehow find a way to get Helga to come clean with him.

Meanwhile, although Curly did get a little less high-school guy exaggerating about me, he still did constantly tell the guys how "wonderful" I apparently was. I didn't know that I had a voice like an angel and wit sharper than a guillotine. Well, I'd give him that one, but I certainly did not remember showing him the painting I'd been working on of how he would look in ten years' time, which I had started when we were still friends and hadn't bothered to finish since then. Oh well, if he'd been sneaking into my room...at least he hadn't found the ones I'd been working on that were personal or top secret. Like the one of Helga writing in that little pink book of hers (if anyone outside my house found that one, she'd be out for my blood). Or the one of me with Roxy.

Speaking of Roxanne, she came back in my dreams Thursday night.

"That Curly is one handful, Steph!" she said with a small smile. "I've been listening to you talking to everyone, and when I say Curly's the weirdest of the bunch, that's saying a lot. I've never seen kids like them. What's up with that neighbour of yours? She seems to be really mad at you."

I shrugged. "She's not really that bad. I have blackmail material on her, anyway. Early on, I found out that she has this obsession with Arnold – you know, the kid with the head shaped like a football? She apparently loves him."

Roxanne looked serious. "Speaking of Arnold, he seems nice. I would've just given you the same advice. By the way, who's that dark-haired girl that Lisa's been hanging out with?"

I frowned. "Which one?"

"Not the Asian one." Roxy clarified. "The one that's always with the mixed-race blonde and the redhead."

"Oh, that's Rhonda, Curly's former obsession. She absolutely hates me." I said brightly. "The blonde is Nadine, who's obsessed with insects, and the redhead is Lila, who's basically a cavity. She's that sweet. Thank Oz Lisa's been hanging around Phoebe more – that's the Asian girl."

Roxy frowned a bit. "I thought Lila seemed nice. Anyway, let me know how it goes. I'll come back in a week, OK?"

I woke up that morning, fully refreshed. It was Friday, and after that, there was one week left. And that morning, I slipped a note into Curly's locker, reading: Come over tonight after dinner, and take the door. I'll be in my room. We need to talk – Steph x

I only put the kiss as another part of acting the role as his girlfriend. Maybe after tonight, things might improve.

Or they might not.

You'll see what comes next! Please, please, PLEASE review!