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."
"Thanks for answering, Anthony!" Laila smiled at him, then shot Jace a pointed look because he had purposely ignored her.
"We're here," Cam pulled into the nice parking lot of a huge hotel. It was surprisingly close to the venue where they'd just performed.
"Whoa," Laila peered out the window at one of the fanciest hotels around. She'd never been to this one, but she'd always wanted to see the inside. She watched as the guys piled out, taking various duffle bags but leaving the instruments inside. "You're not taking these in?" She asked curiously.
"We don't need to. That's a lot of shit to take with us," Dominic shut the passenger door as Laila climbed out of the back. "The van's tinted. No one will know it's in there," He shrugged and came over to shut Laila's door. She was the last one out. She looked around to see everyone else already heading for the hotel.
"This is so fancy," She murmured, trailing slightly behind Dominic. He chuckled from up ahead.
"You've never been?"
"No," She shook her head, following him through the slowly turning doors.
"I'll be back," He veered off toward the front desk, where Cam, Skip, and Anthony were already talking to the clerk.
"Okay," Laila glanced around, wondering where Jace had gone. She finally spotted him in the small souvenir store beside the front desk, which was near the bar and restaurant. She wandered over, curious to know what he was looking at. "What're you getting?" She came up beside him and looked over his shoulder.
"I figured you'll want things if you're staying the night," He answered. He was currently looking at the food and snacks.
"Whoa, no, no I'm not," She protested, immediately panicking. There was no way in hell she was staying the night with a bunch of guys. Especially Jace, of all people. "Well, maybe... I don't know," Her gaze landed on a toothbrush off to the side. Would it really be that bad?
Jace smiled to himself, amused by the obvious conflict in her head, and grabbed the toothbrush along with a salad and a container of sliced fruit. "You can have rabbit food. We want pizza." He turned to look around. "Is there anything else you want?"
"No. Thank you," She smiled at the fact he'd thought of her in the first place, let alone vegan food so she wouldn't starve while they ate pizza. But then his eyes landed on something behind her, and the following smirk made her stomach flip. "What?" She slowly turned around to see what he was looking at. "No!"
"No?"
"No. No, I am not getting in a pool with you," She crossed her arms as he walked away, then thought better of it and followed him to the swimsuits lined against the wall.
"Yeah, let's swim," Jace began pushing bikinis aside, presumably looking for one that would fit her.
"So you can drown me?" She asked incredulously.
"Something like that. What size are you?"
"I'm not telling you," She re-crossed her arms indignantly, watching him sort through different colors and sizes. "I'm not going swimming."
"Would you rather go in your knickers?"
"No!"
He laughed and grabbed her exact size, "It's nothing I haven't seen through your window before. You're never in clothes," He smiled before heading for the register.
"How do you know my size?" She took the dark bikini from his hand, reading the exact number she always wore.
He shrugged, "You're not the only observant one." He took the swimsuit back and placed everything on the counter.
Laila's mind was racing as he paid for the items.
What in the world did that even mean? Does he check me out when I don't notice enough to actually know my clothing sizes? Does he know my size in everything? I've never even worn a swimsuit around him-
"Hey, what're you guys doing?" Anthony walked up, followed by the others.
"Buying things. Nothing important," Jace shoved the bag into Laila's hands before walking away.
"Thank you!" She called after him. She once again trailed behind as the guys led the way to the elevator. The doors dinged open, and she patiently waited for everyone else to enter. Only they didn't budge.
"Ladies first," Cam held a hand out, gesturing for her to go inside.
"Aw, thanks," She smiled brightly as she led the way.
"We're not all rude," Anthony quipped, shooting Jace a look. Jace completely ignored him.
Laila zoned out as the elevator went up. She went out first, then silently followed while Cam led the way to their room. She was slightly distracted; the room was on the fourteenth floor and she had never been a fan of heights. She finally snapped out of it once they entered the room and she looked around.
"Holy fuck," She breathed, "this is huge!" She wandered from room to room, excitedly taking everything in. It was an entire suite, complete with a kitchen, dining room, living room, large bathroom, and multiple bedrooms. "How did you guys afford this?" She finally asked, coming back into the main room.
"Concert money," Skip grinned as he began pulling bottles from his bag. "We make a lot. Tickets, being paid for the gig, merch we sell, whatever. It adds up," He shrugged and set the fourth and final bottle down, then began pulling out cups and mixers. He took the bag she was holding and put her food in the fridge.
"Must be nice," She murmured, still staring in awe. She wandered to the floor length window, only to realize it led to a balcony. She slid the door open and stepped outside, taking in the view. It was equally beautiful and terrifying. Everything was so far down, she couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid that the structure would crumble and she'd fall to her death.
Suddenly something grabbed her from behind; she shrieked and spun around, nearly jumping from her own skin.
"Scared?"
"Jace!" She hit his chest as he started laughing. "Don't do that! I'm scared of heights."
"You're actually scared of something?" He raised his eyebrows, seemingly intrigued by this news.
"No," She lied. She hadn't meant to announce her one and only weakness. Besides a fear of failure, but that was a whole different issue.
Right then there was a knock at the hotel room door. Dominic answered it, and in came Wes.
"Wes!" Laila waved, pushing past Jace to escape before he could toss her clear off the balcony. He probably wouldn't do such a thing, but she could never be too sure. She heard Jace snicker as he followed behind.
"Hey guys," Wes smiled around the room as he entered. "Whoa, this is huge. Nice," He grinned and eyed the bottles. "Are we drinking?"
"Hell yeah. Grab a beer," Anthony gestured toward the table that had way more alcohol than it did before.
Now there were bottles of whiskey, tequila, rum, countless beers, and a few sodas.
"Don't mind if I do," Wes grabbed a beer and cracked it open, plopping down on the couch beside Dominic. Jace picked up a beer he'd apparently left open on the table, sitting on a smaller couch across the room as he took a long swig.
"You're not even gonna offer your lady a drink?"
Jace gave Dominic a bland look before dully asking, "Do you want a drink?" He watched Laila over the rim as he took another sip.
"No thanks, I-"
"She doesn't drink," Jace finished for her.
She stared at him before slowly nodding. "Yeah, I don't drink. I've never even tasted alcohol," She was trying to hide her surprise at how well Jace knew her. First her snack preferences, then the bikini size, and now her exact response to being offered a drink. She picked up a bottle as a distraction and read the fine print. "What does this percentage mean?" She asked, not looking up. It was 45 percent, but she had no clue what the label was even talking about.
"Aw, she's so innocent," Anthony mused, taking another sip of beer.
"Leave her alone. It's fine," Jace replied before Laila even could. She shot him a grateful smile, which he did not return.
"That's the percentage of alcohol, love. It shows how fast you'll get fucked up," Cam put in, answering her original question.
"Ohh, got it," She set the bottle back down amongst the others. "Yeah, no thanks." She switched her focus to Wes and Dominic, who were talking about sports, before she felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked around to realize Skip was sadly watching her from beside the fridge. "What?"
"Nothing. Just, I got this for you," He pulled out a six-pack of something pretty and pink, holding it up.
"What is that?" She asked curiously. "It's pretty," It looked nothing like the other six-packs of beer. The bottle shape was adorable and it was a soft pink, one of her favorite shades.
"I know," Skip grinned, "I thought of you when I saw it. I thought you might wanna try something, so I got this just in case. It's a rosé wine cooler and Jace says you like pink."
Laila glanced at Jace, who seemed annoyed with Skip for sharing that tidbit of information. "How much percent is that one?" She asked curiously, turning back to Skip.
"7.5," Skip read off the label. "Not bad at all."
"Hmm," Laila bit her lip, thinking the pros and cons over. Alcohol did affect the singing voice, that much she knew. But her Chicago auditions were over, and she wouldn't need to sing perfectly until at least Monday. Which was four days from now. That was plenty of time to drink tea and get her voice back to normal if anything did happen...
"Are you gonna drink, Laila?" Wes had stopped mid-conversation with Dominic to listen in.
"I don't know," She was still deciding.
"Let me guess," Dominic started, "Your mom would kill you?"
"Oh, no," Laila laughed at the mere idea of that. "She's been trying to make me try wine for like three years now. I never want it. If anything, she'll be mad I tried my first drink without her."
"This is why you're so weird. Your mom is mad."
"Stop saying rude shit about my mom," Laila didn't even bother to look at Jace before deciding, "What the hell, I'll try one. If anything happens you'll save me, right?" She asked Wes. He was probably the one she trusted most in this room.
"Of course! Nothing will happen to my favorite cheerleader on my watch," Wes playfully saluted as Skip brought her one of the frosty pink drinks.
"What about me?"
"What about you?" Laila shot Jace a mistrustful look as she sat down beside him. "You're the one who would probably try to drown me."
"Yes! Swimming?" Skip leaned against the counter, clearly excited by the idea.
"Man, I don't have anything to swim in," Wes said thoughtfully, looking down at his pants. They were definitely not meant for water.
"I have extra trunks you can borrow," Jace offered.
"Cool! Thanks."
"How do I open this?" Laila asked in frustration. She had been trying to get the wine cooler open for the past minute, to no avail. All it did was hurt her fingers and chip one of her sparkly black nails.
"Here," Jace took the drink from her and pulled his keys off a belt loop, then expertly popped the lid off.
"How'd you do that?" She asked as he handed it back.
"With my key," He said slowly, like she should already know.
"Oh. Okay. Thanks!" She'd never seen someone open a bottle with a key before, but apparently that was possible. She took a timid sip and winced.
"So?"
She looked at Skip, who was waiting expectantly. "It has a yummy flavor, but it burns," She took another tiny sip, which burned just as bad as the last. She took a third and her throat seemed to finally be getting used to it. "It's kinda good," She finally decided, causing Skip to smile proudly.
"Who wants a shot?" Cam shouted. A chorus of 'hell yeah' and 'me' and 'fuck yeah' went up around the room; Laila couldn't even tell who'd said what.
Everyone but her went to the table as Cam started pouring shots of the different alcohols. She watched intently as they did a cheers and then downed the strong drinks. She laughed as Anthony winced and Dominic dramatically shook his head.
"Aren't you supposed to have a chaser with that?" Laila didn't know much about drinking, but she did know that chasers and possibly lime slices usually followed a shot.
"Chasers are for bitches," Anthony muttered, slamming his shot glass down.
"I'll chase this shot with another shot," Dominic added.
"Another?"
"Fuck yes," Cam started pouring more. "You want one?"
"I'm good with this," Laila smiled as she took another small sip of her increasingly yummy drink. She was starting to get used to the burn, and she was even beginning to enjoy the flavor.
"Are you good?" Jace asked her. She smiled and nodded.
"Go ahead. I'm fine," She assured him. She was perfectly content to watch their antics and had no objection to Jace joining in.
He turned back to his friends in time to be handed another shot. Laila watched in amusement as they downed those, and then moved onto a third round.
"Are you gonna babysit that all night, Laila?" Anthony called from across the room.
"Babysit what?" She looked around for whatever he was talking about.
"That," Wes laughed and pointed to her drink, "Taking forever to finish a drink is called babysitting. You're babysitting yours."
"Oh," She held hers up. She'd only drank about a fourth of it so far, and it had been quite a while now that he mentioned it. "No. I'm a beast at everything. I'll be good at drinking, too." She grinned as Jace gave her a droll look.
"Really?"
"Really," She agreed, knowing full well he was being sarcastic.
"You're not good at everything. It's your first drink. Drink it slowly," He advised.
"Nope! I do what I want," She ignored his advice and brought the drink to her lips, chugging as the others cheered her on. It was starting to burn again and she was getting a bit dizzy, but she was determined to prove she was great at everything she tried. A few seconds passed before she finally finished and felt a head rush. "That was more than I expected," She murmured.
"Yeah," Jace agreed, a bit patronizing.
"Do you feel it?" Wes asked.
"I think a little? I don't know."
"That means you need another," Cam pointed to his brother, who was closest to the fridge. "Dom! Bring the lady another drink."
"Gladly," Dominic pulled one from the fridge and promptly brought it over. "Jace, do your thing."
Jace reluctantly walked over and took the bottle from his friend. He pulled the keys off his belt loop again and popped the lid off, then handed it to Laila. "Don't chug this one," He warned her.
"I do what I want," She repeated.
"Really, fairy. There's nothing wrong with babysitting. No one's judging you," He waited to make sure she took a small sip rather than a chug before walking away. He joined his friends, who were pouring a fourth round of shots.
Laila rolled her eyes as she slowly drank her much weaker wine cooler.
Since when does he care what I do?
"Pool!" Skip shouted it almost the second the cup left his lips. "Let's swim. I wanna swim. I love swimming," He excitedly went to his bag and started throwing clothes out, searching for his swimsuit. Apparently they'd all come prepared to swim.
Laila watched in contentment as Jace went to his own bag, crouching down to sift through it. She watched the muscles of his back and arms as he moved things aside, finally pulling out two pairs of swimming trunks. His black shirt fit him great. It wasn't until he looked up and their eyes caught that she realized she had been staring. She tried to avert her eyes but failed miserably, causing him to laugh.
"I think you're a lightweight," He observed, clearly entertained. "Are you gonna change?"
"Yeah," She quickly finished her second drink and hopped up. "Where's the bathing suit you got me?" She barely managed to move in time as it came flying at her. "Thanks," She smiled even though he'd nearly knocked her over with the thing. She reached down to unbutton her skirt, then started unzipping before Jace stopped her.
"What're you doing? Go in the bedroom," He came over to move her hands from her half undone skirt.
"Why? I thought it wasn't anything you haven't seen before," She said, using his words from earlier.
"Just go change. In there," He took hold of her arm and led her toward one of the other rooms while she giggled. All the other guys were still in the main room sipping drinks and going through their bags for a change of clothes.
"What's wrong? You don't want your friends to see?" She teased.
"Just go change," He pushed her into the room and shut the door directly in her face.
"Somebody's jealous," She sang loudly through the closed door. She could hear his footsteps fading away, going toward the voices of his bandmates and Wes. She finished stripping so she could change into the the black swimsuit Jace had bought her, quietly singing Velma's part from Chicago as she did so. She wanted to see if her voice still sounded normal despite the alcohol. "So far so good!" She continued to sing as she tied the last string on the bikini, then nudged her regular clothes to the side of the bed. She finally pulled the door open, ready to swim.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you SO much for the patience, my loves! I kow it's been literally forever since I updated this story and I appreciate you guys sticking it out so much :) I'll be updating more regularly again from now on. I realize this part is short, but I wanted to get it out sooner than later! Hope you guys enjoyed! <3