Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake

Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake ~37~

“Oh, good! Laila’s here,” Ms. Garcia smiled at her before picking up a pen to adjust the roll call.

“Sorry I’m late,” She smiled back and quickly walked to her table. Unfortunately the only open seat was beside Jace. She slid in and across from Wes, who was beside Caleb. Amanda had taken the seat off to the side today, and Laila looked around in confusion. “What’s with the seat changing?”

“I saved this one specially for you,” Jace replied, smiling at her. It somehow managed to come across more menacing than anything, and she quickly looked away. She’d somehow managed to go all morning without running into him, not even while she was waiting for Caleb or getting pointe shoes from her locker before class. But apparently her luck had run out. She tried to scoot her chair an inch or two away without making it noticeable, because right now they were entirely too close for comfort.

“Am I making you uncomfortable or something?” He asked, smirking as she froze in her seat.

“No,” She lied. She stopped moving as he laughed and leaned back, assessing her with his cold eyes. So much for that plan.

“How come you’re late?” Amanda asked. “You’re never late.”

“I was talking to some girls in the locker room about Distression’s new cd,” Laila replied, hoping to get some type of reaction from Jace. He didn’t show the slightest response. It was like she’d never even spoken. But Wes, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted.

“You heard about it too?” He leaned forward in his seat in sudden excitement, nearly knocking Amanda over in the process. “I can’t fuckin wait! They’re awesome. I think they’re officially my favorite band.”

“Yeah?” Laila barely kept from laughing as she caught Jace smirking from the corner of her eye. Finally, some type of reaction. But it was gone as soon as it had come, quickly replaced by a look of distaste.

“I still say they’re rubbish,” He said brazenly, “Their lead guitarist is decent, but other than that their music is the worse I’ve ever heard. It’s absolutely atrocious.”

This time it took all of Laila’s willpower and acting skills to keep a straight face, but even then she couldn’t help but lightly hit Jace’s leg beneath the table. He shot her a mischievous smile, one she couldn’t return for fear of breaking character.

“Everyone stop talking,” Ms. Garcia cut in, standing up to get everyone’s attention, “Today we’re starting our first assignment of the year. I want a three page story. The story can be about a character you create or yourself, first person or third, a true life experience or complete fiction. Just be creative and make sure you keep it appropriate for class. I won’t be collecting these, but we will be presenting next Tuesday in class.” She smiled as a girl from the front row eagerly raised her hand. Laila recognized her as the same one Jace had made fun of the very first day of class.

“Can it be more than three pages?” The girl asked hopefully. Laila heard him stifle a laugh, and she glanced over to see him holding back a full on grin.

So he can keep from laughing when he pretends to hate his own band, but not when a girl asks a question in class, Laila observed, trying not to smile. She did have to admit, he was pretty entertaining at times.

“Three page minimum, five page maximum. Please don’t write any more than that or we’ll run out of time to present throughout the week. Any other questions? ” Ms. Garcia looked around the otherwise silent room. Not a single student spoke, minus a lone cough from the back of the room. “Alright, get to writing.”

Everyone pulled out paper and pens or pencils, and Laila reflexively looked to Amanda.

“You really need to start bringing your own,” Amanda tore out a page from her notebook and slid it across the table.