The Mac Effect

Chapter 8

Mac and I wake up to his alarm entangled in each other. The sky is still dark and we both struggle to get out of bed.

"Come on, Mac. Can't we just stay here a little longer." I groan trying to pull him back down into bed. I am NOT a morning person, but apparently he is.

"You know we'll end up falling back asleep." He chuckles out as he rips the blanket off of my body. I sprawl out on my back and groan. He gets back on the back and hovers over me. His lips come down and begin to move against mine passionately. My arms wrap around his neck as i begin to deepen the kiss. After a about a minute, Mac cuts the kiss short, hops off the bed, and opens his closet to look for an outfit for the day.

"Mac! You can't just tease me like that!" I whine out as he chuckles and throws on pants and a shirt.

"It woke you up didn't it?" He asks raising an eyebrow. I roll my eyes and get up to get ready and change. After putting on my comfy outfit of leggings and t-shirt, i realize i forgot a jacket. Considering the fact that each day has been colder than the last, this is an issue.

"I'm stealing one of your sweatshirts; Iforgot one." I say walking to his closet. I opt for a maroon one and start to unfold it before he take it out of my hands.

"Wear this one instead." He says handing me a different one and kissing me on the cheek as he walks into the closet to return the maroon one to its original place. I unfold the blue fabric and see that it's his football sweatshirt. The front dawning the "Panthers" logo and the back and sleeve inscripted with his number, 7, and last name, Walters. I turn to him with a questioning look. "What?" he shrugs, "I don't want those other guys hitting on you." he winks and I laugh. "Now hurry up or we'll miss breakfast." he speaks while slinging his backpack on one shoulder and mine on the other as he disappears down the stairs. I give myself one last look in the mirror, tightening my high pony, and walk down the stairs.

"Good Morning!" Mrs. Walters exclaims as she flips one last waffle out of the maker and unplugs it. Wow. Now I see how Mac is a morning person. "Grab a seat and help yourself." She gestures to the chairs along the island, which is topped with waffles, fruit, and orange juice.

"Wow Mrs. Walters. This is great. Thank you." I express with delight as I plop a waffle onto my plate.

"See, Mac." She says giving him a look and turning back to me. "Mac tells me every morning that I go too overboard, but I think it's important for him to have a good breakfast, especially during football season."

"It is going overboard, Ma." Mac groans out. I smack his shoulder. "Ow!"

"Shut up, Mac! Appreciate your mother!" I laugh out as he rubs his shoulder in fake pain.

"I knew I liked you, Stella." Mrs. Walters proclaims with a smile. I smile back at her and we finish our breakfast.

"Thank you for everything, Mrs. Walters." I say as I give her a hug.

"You're welcome, honey. Remember what I told you. You're always welcome here. In fact, I expect you to visit me!" She lets out with a chuckle.

"Of course i'll be back! As long as that's okay with Mac." I exclaim with a wink in Mrs. Walter's direction.

"Well it better be okay with him or he can go stay with Topher!" We both chuckle at her response as Mac rolls his eyes.

"I don't know..." Mac says with a sarcastic tone. "You two are trouble together." We all laugh. "Love you, Ma. I'll see you later." Mac says giving his mom a kiss on the cheek. He grabs both of our bags as we walk to his Wrangler.

"Your mom is great. She loves you so much." I gush with a sincere smile.

"I'm glad you two get along so well. There's nothing better than seeing my two favorite girls laugh like that." He admits giving me a tender kiss on the lips before backing out. A few minutes later, we pull into my usual parking spot just as Topher and Carson are exiting Topher's car.

"Did you two kiss and makeup?" Carson questions eyeing our intertwined hands as we walk up to them.

"Yeah, plenty of times actually." Mac semi-jokes with a smirk.

"Good because I don't think I could deal with you moping around any longer." Topher groans referencing to Mac's previous state. Mac awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. "Dude is that a hickey?" Topher exclaims eyeing the dark mark peeking out of the collar of Mac's shirt.

"Oh my god! Stella has them too!" Carson blurts as she looks down my sweatshirt. I swat her away.

"Shut up!" I retort. Mac wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

"I told you we did plenty of kissing." Mac snickers out placing a sweet kiss against my neck. We both laugh as Carson and Topher roll their eyes at us.

"I kind of liked it better when you two pretended that you didn't have feelings for each other." Carson jeers rolling her eyes as we begin walking into the school.

"You know you love us, Car. We don't have to third wheel with you anymore. Now we can double date." I tell her matter-of-factly. As we walk down the hallway, I feel a set of eyes on me. I look to the side and see Marcy throwing daggers in my direction. She begins to walk our way. "Watch it, Car. A cold front is coming in, 3 o'clock." Carson turns and catches my line of sight to the moving Marcy.

"There you are, sweetie." Marcy speaks directed toward Mac.

"Come on, Marcy. You know we've been over for a while." Mac groans out securing his grip on my hand. Marcy's eyes shoot down to our intertwined hands and fire flashes in her pupils.

"So you're just gonna leave me for her? What are you dating now?" Marcy sputters out enraged.

"Shut it, Marcy before I make you shut it." Carson spits out stepping in front of us. Marcy huffs and sends us a glare before stalking away.

"Thanks Carson" I breath.

"No problem, babe." she responds as we continue to class.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Halfway through the day and it's finally time for lunch. I exit my history class and walk to my locker to exchange my books for the ones necessary for the second half of the day. Mac is already there, leaning against my locker and on his phone. I smile as I walk toward him and his head pops up.

"Hey babe. How's your day been." He asks slipping his phone into his pocket and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Besides everyone staring at me?" I question and he sighs. "This is so strange. I didn't think people were so concerned about your love life." I chuckle out.

"I know. I wish they would just mind their business." He groans out, his face buried in his hands out of frustration. I pull his hands away from his face and hold them in mine.

"Something Marcy said earlier made me think." I state and he gives me a confused look. "What are we Mac? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend? Are we just in the dates stage right now? Are we exclusive? Because i'm not really sure." Mac chuckles at my spastic ramble.

"Listen, I know we haven't really established what we are yet, but I promise we will soon. Trust me." He says kissing my cheek and squeezing my hands. "And for the record, I only have eyes for you, no one else." I grab his face and kiss him right there, in the middle of the hallway.

"I feel exactly the same, if you didn't get that from the kiss." I chuckle out. He laughs as well and gives me one last quick kiss and we walk hand in hand to the cafeteria to eat. Once we arrive to our table with food in hand, already occupied by Carson and Topher, we sit and begin to eat, beginning to converse.

"Hey Stell, your parents are back in town next week right?" Carson asks me.

"Yeah! They come in on Sunday, but back out on Thursday to Puerto Rico." I say excited at first and then sad. Topher and Carson acknowledge my statement and begin their own conversation. I lean over to Mac and place my hand over his which is resting on my inner thigh. He turns his attention toward me.

"Do you think you might want to meet my parents while they're in town. They're kind of hard to catch and I really want you to meet them but if you don't feel ready-"

"Yes Stella, I'd love to meet your parents." Mac states squeezing my thigh and interrupting my psychobabble. I smile and give his a quick kiss on the lips.