Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake

Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake ~53~

Laila looked around as the van started up and pulled out of the lot. "What're all these things?" She reached forward to touch a knob on one of the black things.

"That's an amp. Don't touch it."

"Sorry," She dropped her hand, glancing at Jace.

"It's basically a giant speaker. The knob you touched controls the distortion," He answered.

"Oh," She smiled; she hadn't expected him to actually explain. "What's that one do?" She pointed to another knob on his guitar.

"That's for gain," He replied.

"What's gain?"

"Am I gonna have to answer a million questions the entire car ride? I should've left you at the venue."

She sat back and pouted. "You're always so mean to me," She complained. "Thanks for the invite to the hotel, by the way. Why're you guys staying in a hotel instead of at Rose's house?"

Jace shrugged, "She won't let us drink." Laila's eyes widened, wondering if he had some ulterior motive. "Calm down, fairy. I'm not trying to get you drunk."

"Oh," She couldn't hide the relief from her voice. "I knew that. I didn't think you were," She lied. Jace chuckled and leaned back in his seat, giving her an appraising look.

"You're a horrid liar, you know."

"I am a great liar!" She said defiantly. "I'm a great actress. That translates into lying when I need to."

"Like when you need to tell Dario you guys are in love and engaged?" Cam asked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Exactly," Her competitive side was coming out now. She hated when people challenged her acting skills. "I'm probably the best liar you'll ever meet. I just choose not to. Except with that whole Dario situation, but that doesn't count."

"And what about everyone at school?"

"What about them?" Laila narrowed her eyes at Jace, crossing her arms. They were across from each other and she didn't like where this was going.

"Nothing," Jace shrugged an uncaring shoulder. She stared for a few more seconds, sure he was going to add some type of insult. "Why're you staring at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're in love with him," Cam laughed as Laila shot him a horrified look.

"I'm not!"

"Sure you're not," Jace smirked as he eyed her, "If the only person you lie to is Dario, does that mean you're being honest with all your friends? You know, when you say you love your boyfriend. The one who gave you that ring," He nodded toward the engagement ring on her finger, the one he'd given her.

"Are we almost to the hotel yet?" She was purposely trying to divert the subject because she could feel her cheeks heating up.

I am definitely not in love with him. I don't love him at all.

"Almost," Jace's lips were still turned up in a mocking smile. "Why?"

"No reason," She grumbled. He knew damn well why she was asking. She clearly wanted to escape his relentless teasing. "What're those for?" She pointed toward some things on the ground. If he could annoy her with teasing she was perfectly justified to annoy him with questions.

A minute passed while Jace stared back, apparently refusing to answer.

"They're pedals," Anthony finally spoke up. "They're used to capture a special affect or sound a guitarist wants. Those ones are Jace's."