Familiar | Kajemac

Chapter 10

KJ's POV

"Introducing your new student body president!"

Following her self-announcement, Tiffany steps through the door to Erin's house and takes a bow, her coily hair flopping over as she does. She stands back up with a big smile and hangs up her coat on the rack with my pink and black jacket. 

"You won?" I say. "That's awesome!"

"Student body president today. President of the United States tomorrow."

"Well, you're going to have to run against me," replies, "because I plan on becoming president."

"It's an 8-year term maximum. We can both be president."

"Yeah, please don't run at the same time," I say. "I can't pick between you two."

We share a laugh, and Tiffany comes over to join us in the living room. 

"So..." Mac begins. "You got food here?"

"Oh, yeah," Erin remembers. "There are chips in the pantry."

"I'll grab those."

"Then we can head down to the basement to watch the movie. Oh, and I have soda in the fridge."

Mac gives a little salute, and I walk over to join her too, saying, "I can bring that down."

"Cool," Tiff says. "I'll bring my sleeping bag up to your room."

Tiff steps back out to the front step and lugs in the sleeping bag along with a backpack. 

"Here, I can help," Erin offers. 

Erin and Tiff haul the items upstairs while Mac and I head into the kitchen. While I retrieve the cans of Dr. Pepper from the fridge, Mac has to jump to reach the chip bags in the pantry. It makes me giggle a little.

"Need help?"

"Nope."

She snatches two bags and pulls them down. Proudly, she comes over to meet me at the island, dropping the chips down next to the pop. 

"So what movie did you bring?" I ask. 

She reaches into the inside pocket of her jacket and takes out a VHS tape of a movie called Back to the Future. 

"I've never heard of that one."

"It came out in theatres a few years ago," she explains. "my brother took me to see it."

I smile at that, and my eyes flitter across her freckles, admiring the sight. When I get the urge to kiss her, my thoughts are intervened by the fact that we're in the house of our best friend who still doesn't know we're a couple.

"So," I whisper, "when do you wanna...you know?"

Mac bites the inside of her lip as nervousness flushes over her face. "Uh, after the movie. I don't want to make it weird before we watch."

I nod. "You know," I add, "this is about the scariest thing we'll ever do."

"Maybe for you," Mac scoffs. "I want to try skydiving."

I laugh. "You, Mac Coyle, are very brave."

"I'm not a pussy."

My smile grows the longer I stare at her, and pretty soon I can't resist her any longer. I do a quick glance toward the stairs to check it's all clear before I step in, pressing a brief kiss to her lips.

"Shall we go join the others?" I ask. 

Mac smiles and follows me down to the basement. 

The movie consists of a guy in a winter vest time-travelling to the past—not to the future. I don't really understand the name, but all four of us note that we feel a strange sense of deja vu from the whole plot. What's familiar about time travel? No clue. Along with paying attention to the screen, I have to remind myself not to put my arm around Mac every time I get the instinct to cuddle. Still, she subconsciously plays with my hand every now and then, linking her fingers around mine and tracing my vein lines. Erin and Tiff stay on the other end of the couch from us, too invested in the film to notice.