OK, let's take the heat down a notch and mix it up. Thank you for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.

Curly left me alone over the weekend, which was a blessing and a curse at the same time. It gave me some good time to let me get on with my life – and it left me mulling over what had happened on Friday night. However, it did give me some time to paint. Over two months before, Lisa had turned nine, and I'd only given her something small, planning to paint something for her when we moved. Now, I finally decided to start on a painting for her – a picture of her with one of her friends. I had deliberated over who to choose, but eventually I decided on Phoebe (and just hope Helga didn't ever see it). On Saturday, I had to do a lot of sketching, though, to get it right. I'd never drawn Lisa in the clothes she'd started wearing after that shopping trip on the first weekend, and it took me ages to get Phoebe's face exactly right.

On Sunday, I'd finished the sketches and started painting, making mental notes for later outlines (like the pleats in Phoebe's skirt and a line to show where Lisa's shoes ended). By noon of Sunday, I'd finished the colours, and it was time to get some Indian ink to draw the outlines.

But the peaceful weekend was just two days, and then I had to get back to business on Monday. Luckily I'd emailed Tasha about my new situation and what was happening, and she'd answered on Sunday night:

Steph – stop thinking with your figure and use your head! Two words: Locked house. If he can't get in, he can't make you want him. And seriously, if this goes on – I'd call for a restraining order. Meanwhile, avoid him. At all costs. Get someone from fourth grade to distract him from you if you have to.

Curly stayed away from me for most of school hours, but he tried to get in that evening. I was chilling in my room when I heard a tapping on the window. I acknowledged it, but all I did was mouth get lost and then ignore him.

Five minutes later, Lisa poked her head into my room. "Curly's at the door again. How come he's still acting all lovestruck? Didn't you ask him to be just friends with you again?"

"Shut up about it, Lisa. Oh, and tell him to get lost, OK?" I said. "And while you're at it, remind him to start thinking with the part of his mind that isn't twisted and understand the technicalities that make the whole thing he wants wrong."

Evidently, he got the message, since I found another post-it note on my window that night: My angel, I'll be in the tree house until 10. I want to apologize."

It was nine o'clock by that time, so I decided to take the chance and climb to the tree house. After all, if I didn't take a chance, I'd never know.

I heard the whisper. "Steph? You're here."

"You wanted to apologize?" I prompted.

"Yeah." Curly admitted. "I handled that one wrong. Again. I should've remembered – a relationship isn't about the kissing, or the making out, or the fooling around. It's about the heart. And mine lost it for the moment." He pulled me close again, but did nothing, simply holding me. "I still insist that you don't know what you're missing, baby cakes," the old manic smile appeared in the gloom, "But I can't stand to lose you because I can't wait for you. Let's keep it cool again and just hang out. I can wait for you to be ready."

I pulled a face at the comment, but this sounded like this was as good as it could get. "Sure. OK."

Curly smiled back in a normal way for the moment, but then he added "So can I have a lock of your hair?" He laughed when I jumped. "Just because we're keeping things low-level doesn't mean my feelings for you are gone, my love. I'll try to lay off the physical stuff after this."

I decided that losing one lock of hair was OK. And to be truthful, it was.

Things went back to the way they were before Curly began crushing on me – to a degree. He still called me pet names, he still tried to get unnecessarily close to me, and he was still crazy as ever. But he didn't try to kiss me once, and he only hit on me once in the first fortnight (not counting all the names he used for me), which was a tiny amount when you consider how much time we spent hanging out.

However, I could still tell that his crush on me hadn't waned as much as he was suppressing it. Instead of trying to make out with me, or even kiss me, he settled for frequently giving me hugs that could have been mistaken for friendship if the embraces didn't last as long as they did.

Lisa, of course, decided to grill me about it. "So now you're just hanging out together like nothing ever happened? After all that stuff he put you through? Stephanie, can't you see that it's going to lead to trouble all over again?"

I laughed at her. "Correction, Lise, it has led to trouble. And now the trouble is over, so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts."

Lisa sighed at me. "Stephanie, you're so stubborn!"

"Look who's talking!" I retorted. "Who was it that wouldn't shut up about that talking Malibu Stacy doll and even went on the factory tour and found the original maker just to complain?"

"I was trying to help a generation of girls like me!" Lisa protested.

I shrugged. "Probably a bunch of girls in your class own Malibu Stacy dolls. Are they vapid beauties? Apart from Rhonda, that is. But somehow, I think Lila has a few original thoughts in her head, and Nadine has a unique interest, at least. Phoebe's obviously a brainbox, and Helga has absolutely no similarity to any girl I've ever met – although she'd probably rather write poetry than play with dolls. As for the older girls, the only vapid airhead is that sixth-grader Ruth. Even Connie has a brain."

"Anyway, we were talking about you." Lisa snapped. "Haven't you learnt anything from the last couple of weeks? I keep telling you, if you continue hanging around Curly, things will start getting serious. Honestly, if you don't, I'll tell Mom about how he blackmailed you."

"And you think she'll buy that?" I scoffed. "Please, Lisa. I can't stand Rhonda, but I don't tell you to stop hanging out with her. I'm not stupid, anyway. I know there are risks to hanging out with a crazy person. But if us as a family can survive that mob trying to kill us – you know, when Azure and Laura actively tried to kill me when Springfield was trapped in that dome – I think I can handle a crazy nine-year-old who's actually trying to be good about it now."

Is Stephanie right? I'm planning on doing another episode – a Season 5 one again. Anyone willing to take a guess?