Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake

Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake ~38~

Laila purposefully strode up the walkway to Rose’s house, not even bothering to go to her own to drop off her bag or change her clothes first. She was on a mission, and she wanted to talk to Jace. She came to a stop on the porch and rang the doorbell. The response was almost immediate.

“Laila,” Rose greeted happily, stepping aside to let her in. “I was just on my way out. I’m seeing a movie with your mom.”

“Shouldn’t she be at work still?” Laila asked, looking around as she walked inside. She was really searching for Jace, but so far he didn’t seem to be downstairs.

“We’re playing hooky,” Rose smiled mischievously, “Don’t tell anyone.”

“I swear you guys are younger than me,” Laila said, smiling at their immaturity. “Is Jace home?”

“Yeah. He’s upstairs,” Rose answered, “But I gotta go. I have to go meet your mom before my boss notices I’m gone and starts calling me. Make yourself at home! You already know where everything is,” She gave Laila a motherly hug before leaving. Laila locked the door before turning to the stairs.

She briefly wondered if she should just leave it alone and go home, but her curiosity quickly overtook her doubtfulness, and before she knew it she was heading up them and toward his room. To her surprise the door was open this time, and she paused to the side of it to knock on the frame.

“What?” 

“It’s me,” She couldn’t see him, but she could tell he was somewhere past the usual view from her window.

“What do you want now?” He asked bluntly. She took a couple steps inside and stopped just past the doorway

“I just wanna talk. You ran away before we could,” She somewhat nervously ran a hand through her hair, which she’d taken down from its usual ponytail during the car ride home. Caleb had talked her into it, something new she should try as a part of her potential re-imaging.

“Because I didn’t want to and I still don’t,” His response was much the same as before, only this time it also insinuated she was too dumb to keep up. “How’d you even get in here?”

“Rose let me in. Can I sit down?” She asked bravely, pointing to the black couch right past the desk he was sitting at. 

“If you really have to.”

“Thanks!” She ignored the hostility in his voice and started across the room.

“Who’s in your room?”

She stopped and looked around at the sudden and unexpected voice. Whoever it was had the same accent as Jace. She didn’t see anyone else in the room, and she furrowed her brows as she tried to find the source of the noise.

“Yeah,” A second chimed in, “Who’s the girl?”

“No one,” Jace replied. He was staring right at her, watching in amusement as she tried to figure it out.

“Aw, she’s so confused,” A third voice spoke up, and she finally realized they were coming from the computer. She walked up beside Jace and bent down to see into the camera, then smiled at the four guys on the other side of the Skype session.

“Hi! I’m Laila,” She waved happily, wanting to introduce herself even though she had no idea who any of them were.

“Oh, so you’re Laila!” A guy with two lip rings exclaimed. They weren’t snakebites because both studs were on the same side, and surprisingly she liked them.

“Hey mate,” The one in the middle nudged the guy beside him, “It’s Laila.”

“She’s so friendly,” The second one observed, and she quickly realized they were identical twins.