Chapter 2

Needless to say, Tina has been calling every three hours of the day asking if Boo

Boo had arrived yet. We'd told her he wasn't getting here until Saturday morning, but she continued to call everyday. She nearly passed out on our video chat when Mom told her he would be staying in her old room, which I couldn't believe. I had come to understand that Tina was over Boyz 4 Now since they broke up six years ago, but apparently she still has a spot in her heart for them. Ew. Boo Boo was the reason they had broken up, you would think she would hold that against him, I guess she was just so happy to have someone famous living in our house for ten months. Ten months, that was such a long time.

A part of me was actually nervous about Boo Boo staying with us. He would be in my house, he'd be eating our food and touching my stuff. I made sure to get a new lock for my door. He was accustomed to a certain lifestyle, his third album went platinum for crying out loud! How would he react living with the Belchers? I'll be the first to admit my family is weird and annoying, but now there would actually be a non-Belcher living with us. It's not that I cared what, "Brendan B Smith" thought about my family, I couldn't care less about him, I just know that Mom cares what people think, and she must have been telling all her friends that a celebrity was staying in our house. Even if he was a washed up one at this point.

Boo Boo hadn't released any music in three years, some people said it was because he was taking the time to focus on school, but that was a load of bull. Boo Boo didn't have any sort of social media accounts, that was something we shared in common, and he was rarely seen in pictures. At one point, I even thought he might have died, but clearly he wasn't. I stopped really thinking about him once he was out of the spotlight, happy not to see his hideous beautiful face. It was different now though, I was completely over the old chump.

I heard the door open downstairs and I knew that meant Dad was back from the airport with him. I jumped out of my bed and took a quick look in the mirror before I went out. I looked like a hot mess and securely placed my bunny ears over my bed head. I opened my door and could see three large suitcases in the living room and a couple of boxes, I didn't even know you could carry all that on a plane. How did the kid lug that here anyway?

"Louise!" I jumped at the sound of Mom's voice coming from the stairs. "Come say hello to Brendan, he's very excited to meet everyone."

I walked over to the top of the stairs where Mom stood. Making his way up the third to last step was Brendan himself. Puberty did him good, I will admit that. He looked similar to his headshot I saw, only now his blond waves were hidden in a burgundy beanie. He wore black track pants, a white scoop neck shirt, and to top it all off, a black leather jacket over it. I've found that I have a pretty good sense of self control, this was one of the situations where I was sure. It took me a lot of effort not to laugh at his ridiculous outfit, what did he think this was New York fashion week? Sure he looked great in it, but this was the Belcher residence, who was he trying to impress?

"Hi there," he said with a slight smirk. His voice was much deeper than when I last saw him and his smile infectious, but I didn't let him see that. He took my hand and had the audacity to kiss it. I saw Mom smiling from the corner of my eye, and I quickly took my hand back.

"Don't ever do that again," I warned him. "I'm Louise, not the Queen of England."

He chuckled. "Hello, Louise, you're funny." He was standing awfully close for my taste. Mom didn't say anything, so it must have just been in my head. "My name is Brendan, but you can call me Boo Boo."

"I know who you are, Pretty Boy," I said taking a step away from him. "I don't live under a rock."

I didn't dare tell him I'd met him before, multiple times for that matter, both of those encounters involving my hand and his face. I won't lie and say I didn't want to slap him then, his face looked soft and slappable. I resisted that urge though, I had to save that for a special occasion.

"Louise," Dad called from the stairs. "Could you help Boo Boo to Tina's room? Wake up Gene if you need help."

I did as he said and hauled his suitcases into my sister's room. We took down all her belongings and put them in the basement, so now it was completely empty. "Alright Boo Boo, this is your room. Glad I could help. Breakfast is at ten. See you never. Don't forget to write." I tried to escape the room when I heard him say-

"Wait," he paused. "I'm sorry, I can't stay here."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"There's a window in here."

"So?" I demanded.

"So I can't be woken up by the sun, it's not good for my eyesight. I really need a room with no windows."

I took a breath. "Newsflash, we don't have any rooms with no windows, all rooms have windows!"

"LOUISE!" I heard Mom yell.

I took a big breath and exhaled. I had promised Mom I would make Boo Boo feel comfortable here, and I actually didn't want to let her down, mostly because she promised me a GoPro for my birthday. I looked over at her, she was in the doorway now watching us.

"Well, Honey if you really can't stay in this room, how about Louise's room, it's a lot smaller than this, but it doesn't have any windows."

My eyes widened in horror. I was not going down without a fight. "No. No. No. No1" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Don't you dare take away my room or so help me God I will jump out that window!" I pointed at Tina's window.

"Louise, stop it!" Mom fought back.

"Never!"

"BOB!" Mom shouted.

Dad ran in panting from the ten feet jog. "What's going on?"

"Look at your daughter. I told her we should let Boo Boo stay in her room instead and she went bananas on me." I glared at her intensely. "But we will give Boo Boo the room and that's final."

"Then you leave me no choice," I said calmly. In a blink of an eye, however, I was stringing into action. I ran to the window and quickly opened it wide enough for me to get in. I had one leg out when Mom ran up and started grabbing my arm, pulling me back. I tried fighting her as much as I could but before I knew it Dad was taking hold of the other arm and the two of them pulled me onto Tina's bed.

"That is enough, Missy!" Mom said. "You are going to stay in this room and you are going to like it. Now you march into your old room and move your things in here. Boo Boo is our guest and we will treat him with the utmost respect, or it's not fancy camera for you."

"But Mom-" I protested.

"-No buts!" She cut in. She pointed out the door. "March!"

As I walked out the room, I almost forgot about Boo Boo who was watching the whole encounter with wide eyes. He looked at me as I walked out and I stared back at his big beautiful gross eyes. He might have won this round but I was smarter than him, and I would get my revenge.

As I was gathering my clothes to move into Tina's room Gene was aiming spitballs at the back of my head. I was in no mood to join him so I just continued packing. It didn't take too long considering I lived in a closet, but it was still home. Tina's room was so much bigger than mine and it would just make me feel small. I hated Mom for making me move, but I couldn't do anything if I wanted that camera.

"Hey."

Boo Boo was standing by the door with some of his things behind him. He wouldn't look me in the eyes, but I could tell he wanted to. "What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry about kicking you out of your room," he apologized, sincerely for what I could tell, but I wasn't taking it.

"Whatever," I mumbled.

I stood up with my last box of things but he was blocking the door. I looked over his shoulder, but Gene had already left his spot on the couch. I tried to move away from him but he blocked me every chance he got.

"Get out of my way," I demanded.

"Look I moved across the country with strangers, the least you could do is give me a chance."

I rolled my eyes. This kid thought he was going to be adored by everyone in this stupid New Jersey town just because he was famous. Yeah right. Not me. I may have fallen for his charm and mediocre looks when I was nine, but that would not happen again.

"You already blew your chance, Kid."

I pushed him out of the way and left my room. I left a few things behind such as a jar of Gene's farts which I hoped he would open, and a dead fish under the mattress. Brendan would be begging his parents to take him back in 36 hours tops, and I would be his grand escort out.