Summary: Time for an unexpected field trip!
I walked up to the school entrance with an armload of books. This morning the bottom broke in my veteran backpack, and there was no duct tape in the house, so I was stuck carrying all of my junk. Holding my laptop every day is bad enough, but all of this stuff was a pain. I made plans to buy some duct tape after school.
While I was struggling to get through the door, someone tried to rush by me. Their foot somehow got caught in mine, and I ended up falling to the floor. My stuff flew everywhere, but I still managed to save my laptop. The girls around me laughed.
“Sorry,” I heard a voice say.
Remembering that I fell while wearing a skirt, caused me to sit up quickly. I sat up just in time to see who it was that tripped me. It was some guy. All I could get from where I was sitting was that he had a head full of blond hair, and he was wearing a sky bluish suit. It was more like a uniform.
I slowly stood up and began to pick up my stuff.
“He didn’t even offer to help me pick up my papers,” I mumbled under my breath. “What a jerk.”
I walked to my locker and began stuffing some of my stuff into it. My thoughts about how rude he was were interrupted by another thought.
That was a guy. And this is an all girls’ school.
I slammed my locker door closed. A guy coming here is almost as bad as a man sneaking into a convent. I had to do something, but what? There was only one person I could go to with a problem as serious as that.
I stormed into Dr. Sterling’s office in classic Rinehart style.
“Dr. Sterling!” I said loudly as I ran up to his desk. “You won’t believe what just happened to me. While I was in the hall I was tripped by some—”
I caught movement in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to find the young man that ran into me. He stood there by the bookcase in Dr. Sterling’s office. He had to be about sixteen or seventeen. He kept a completely serious look on his face, even in the middle of my invasion.
I moved my eyes back to Dr. Sterling. He had a wry smile on his face.
“Lila, I would like for you to meet my son, Levi.”
He walked up to me from the bookshelf and shook my hand.
“How do you do?” he asked elegantly.
“I’m doing okay,” I fumbled, not sure if that was the right answer. “Uh, nice to meet you…Levi.”
I was a bit embarrassed that I was going to complain to Dr. Sterling about his own son. It felt strange saying his name. Usually when I think of Levi, I think of a pair of blue jeans.
He moved back to his place among the books.
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to tell me, Lila?” asked Dr. Sterling tiredly.
“No,” I replied putting a large smile on my face. “Nothing important. I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted anything.”
Dr. Sterling nodded his gray head, almost sadly. I humbly turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind me. After the door clicked, I stood in front of it for a little while. I could hear voices coming from behind the doors. I began to step away from the office. Something must be wrong. They both looked so serious. I don’t know about his son, but I know Dr. Sterling usually smiles once he sees me enter his office. Today he didn’t. Even when he did smile at me, it seemed like a forced smile. I suspected something was wrong. I just wished that I knew what it was.
This day was very unusual. During study period there was an announcement over the intercom. Until then, I didn’t even know that there was an intercom at this school. It was obvious that Dr. Sterling was the one speaking.
“All members of The Five, meet in the Avila Room on the fourth floor promptly after school.” The message ended with a click.
So much for going out to buy duct tape.
My habits haven’t changed much for study period. Once and awhile I sit with The Five, but I usually sit with Julie and her friends.
“Do any of you guys know where the Avila Room is?” I asked. They all shrugged.
“Only seniors go to the fourth floor,” said Marcie.
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but for the seven months I’ve been here, I had never gone up stairs. The freshmen classes are on the second floor and the juniors are on the third. I don’t have a clue why the sophomores are stuck on the bottom. Everyone in The Five are sophomores. It seemed like there should be at least one senior in the group.
I had never heard of the Avila Room before, and I guessed no one else had either. Almost no one.
After school, I walked from gym class with Linzie.
“Yeah, I know where the Avila Room is,” said Linzie, “but I haven’t been there for a while. I think the last time was in my freshman year.”
“I wonder why Dr. Sterling wants to see us?” I began to walk faster so I could keep up with Linzie.
“Well, The Five was his idea. I guess he should be able to ask to see us whenever he wants to,” she said.
I stopped walking.
“Wait a minute,” I said, standing in the hallway. “The rings, the community service, this whole group was thought up by Dr. Sterling?”
“Yeah,” said Linzie impatiently. “Now we better keep walking so we won’t be late.”
We walked until we came to the elevator. I’ve seen it before, but I’ve rarely seen any students use it.
Linzie pushed the button, the elevator opened, and we walked inside. The inside was a nice light blue. It was comforting to the eyes. Inside were clear buttons with the numbers of the floors. The number four button lit up when Linzie pushed it. As the elevator began to go up, and I felt the weird feeling in my stomach, I began to think again. I’ve always thought that Cheryl was the only one with a say. I’ve never thought of Dr. Sterling having anything to do with this.
The elevator door opened to the fourth floor. I was expecting the fourth floor to look completely different, but when we walked out the elevator, I was stunned to see that it looked almost exactly like the bottom. The only difference is that there are windows that students can look out of to see the beautiful land that surrounded the school.
I watched my reflection on the floor as we continued our journey. Then I looked back up at Linzie.
“Why is he having us meet up here instead of in his office?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Lila,” said Linzie, annoyed. “You ask too many questions.”
Then we came to the Avila Room. The words were printed on the blue tinted glass doors in bold white letters. I pulled open the metal handle and opened the door. I gaped with awe. This room is completely different from all the others.
Everything was a sky blue; the walls and the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a clear blue conference table. Underneath the clear table, in the middle, was an aquarium with fish. The fish would swim up to the surface of the table and slowly sink back down. Around the table were six clear, blue, egg shaped chairs with cushions. Lydia and Bridgett were already sitting in two of them.
“Great isn’t it?” exclaimed Bridgett as she swiveled in her chair. Linzie hopped in another chair across from Bridgett. I still stood at the door, paralyzed like a kid walking through the gates of Disney World for the first time.
“Lila, just don’t stand there,” Linzie called to me. “Find your seat.”
I walked cautiously to the table. My shoes clapped like I’ve never heard them before. I looked down. The floor was made of white marble with light blue swirls. This must be the most expensive room in the whole school.
I looked at the clear blue table. It had our names etched into it at each spot where we were supposed to sit. I found my name and sat in the chair across from Lydia. It was the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat on. It seemed to adjust itself to my body. It was perfect. Not only that, but it spins. I spun myself around; the room blurred and began to run around me.
Light flooded into the room from the beautiful arched windows. They gave a view of the sky and the grand oak trees on campus. The room felt as if it was part of the clouds.
On another wall there were clear glass shelves filled with rows and rows of DVDs. There weren’t any movies that I’ve seen before. All of them were in clear blue cases with titles like “The Twisted Forest,” and “The Minimizing of Air Pollution.” The second one didn’t sound too exciting to me.
A few minutes after Linzie and I arrived, Cheryl came in. She took her spot at one end of the table. Then Dr. Sterling came in and took a seat at the head. He looked very somber, like he did when I entered his office earlier.
“I called all of you here today,” he began with authority, “to inform you of a special trip you will be going on. All members of The Five are expected to leave for the Philippines on the fifteenth of May. I will go with you. You are to work on an ‘oceanography’ project on my private island. You will return home on the twenty-seventh. That’s about two weeks, the last day of school. Any questions?”
I looked at the others. They didn’t seem to have any, but as usual, I had one. I raised my hand.
“Yes, Lila?”
“Dr. Sterling, I have a few concerns. How much would a trip like this cost?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said casually. “Everything will be paid for by me.”
“Okay, but I have one more problem. I don’t think my parents will actually let me go on a two week trip to the Philippines.”
“Lila, I will call your parents and talk to them about it.” He tapped his fingers on the table.
I looked down at the fish swimming up to the surface.
“How are we going to get there?”
“By plane, of course.”
“That’s another problem. I’m terrified of airplanes.”
Dr. Sterling must have told my parents some great things because by the time I had gathered up the guts to tell them about the trip, they didn’t seem to mind at all.
On Monday, the fifteenth of May, the family car was finally fixed, and my mom drove me to the airport. I was jittery and the butterflies swarmed in my stomach.
“Don’t worry, Lila,” my mom said, trying to comfort me and kissing me on the forehead. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“That’s what you’ll say until I crash into the ocean.”
“Now Lila, don’t talk like that. Hurry up and get your stuff out of the trunk so you can get on to the plane.”
My mom popped open the trunk of the car so I could get my luggage. I was forced to buy a new backpack. Guess what color it is? It’s a light blue, just like my uniform. The only clothes I was told to bring were my uniform and one pair of regular clothes, but I also bought my suspenders and striped socks.
Today I wore my beret hat and white knee high boots that I had bought. I wanted to bring my guitar too, but that would have been too big of a pain to carry around. My mom stepped out of the car and hugged me.
“Do you want me to go in with you?”
“No, it’s okay, Mom. I think I can find everything.” (Even though I’ve only been to the airport once in my life.)
“Okay. Well I guess I’ll see you later, Lila.”
“Bye, Mom.”
I watched her get back in the car and pull away. I was all alone, and I didn’t have an idea where to go.
I walked into the crowded airport. People were walking everywhere with suitcases and bags over their shoulders. I looked around, lost in the swarms of people. I began to panic. Where do I go? Do I stand in the ticket lines? But I can’t; I don’t have enough money to buy a ticket. Dr. Sterling is paying. I walked on a little more. People rushed by me, turning me around so much that I didn’t know where I was or where to go. Then the crowd parted some, and I spotted the women’s bathroom.
I walked briskly fighting my way through the crowd to the bathroom. Once I was there, I set my suitcase on the tile floor and my laptop on the counter. I opened it up and began to type an E-mail to Cheryl.
I’m inside of the airport. Where are you?
I clicked send, not sure of when I would get a reply, but after two or three minutes, I got something back. It wasn’t from Cheryl, but Linzie. It said:
Lila, what are you doing in the airport? Come back outside. You’ll see all of us waiting in a limo.
A limo?
I didn’t have time to ask questions. I had to get out of there and find them. I closed my laptop and pulled it off of the countertop. With my suitcase and computer in my hands and my backpack on my back, I began searching for the way out. I saw the same ticket counters that I had passed before and some of the same people, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. I was going in circles. I was beginning to feel exhausted and irritable. So many people were running around me. It was impossible to find the way out. Then I saw the on duty security guard. He had to know how to get out of here.
“Excuse me, sir,” I said, running up to him. “Do you know how to get to the airport entrance from here?”
“Just walk up to those escalators, go left and keep walking straight. You should be able to find it from there.”
“Thanks.”
I had to get out and fast. I broke through the crowd, walking against the current. Relief came over me when I saw the automatic doors at the entrance ahead. I ran out the door and was outside again.
I began to look around for a limousine. I spotted down the street a sky blue stretch limo. That had to be it. I ran to it as fast as I could in my high heel boots. I knocked on one of the darkly tinted windows.
The window rolled down, revealing the faces of Cheryl, Linzie, Lydia, and Bridgett.
“Lila, where were you?” asked Linzie jokingly.
“You know where I was,” I replied. “Now open the door.” They opened it, and I slid in next to Linzie in the spacious back seat.
“This is nice,” I said as I smoothed out my skirt. “Does this limo belong to one of you?”
“No way,” said Bridgett. “It’s Dr. Sterling’s.”
“This is Dr. Sterling’s?” I said, looking around.
“That’s what she just said,” replied Linzie.
“He must be very rich.”
They all began to giggle.
I didn’t see what was so funny about it. Isn’t it kind of unusual for a headmaster of a school to be a multimillionaire?
Maybe he isn’t just a doctor by title. Maybe he’s an actual medical doctor. Probably retired. He may have owned a chain of practices and did many surgeries on people. That was the only reason I could think of why he had so much money.
We were driven to the runway where the airplanes were. I was not expecting that. The planes were so huge up close. A lump came in my throat. I’m actually getting into one of these. Are these huge hunks of metal actually going to fly? The limo stopped in front of a small plane. It was freshly painted and washed. It reflected the sky in its shiny coat of paint. I guessed that this was our plane, since it was light blue.
We all stepped out of the limo. The plane was one of those small private jets. That scared me more than getting on a big plane.
Dr. Sterling appeared at the door of the plane. A staircase was rolled up to it. He waved for us to get on. A man in a golf cart came by and took our bags. Cheryl and Bridgett headed for the plane. I stood there looking at them. I couldn’t move my legs.
“I can’t go up there,” I said to Linzie, who was standing next to me.
“C’mon, Lila,” she said, linking her arm with mine, “It’s only an airplane.”
“No. I’m not going on that thing.” I broke free of her and walked over to the driver’s side of the limo.
“Driver, can you take me back—”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Linzie butted in. “Lila, we have to go. We’re losing time.”
“I am not going on an airplane!”
“Lila! You already promised, and Dr. Sterling has paid for all of us. There’s no going back.”
I noticed the faces of the others staring at me out of the airplane windows.
She took my arm again, and it took all of my willpower not to shake her off. I had to get away! I couldn’t let her take me to that vehicle of death.
But I had promised. My mom had already wished me a good time and left. I knew this was a part of the trip, but I couldn’t let go of that sinking feeling that only got deeper as I climbed the steps, and I couldn’t stop the tears from coming to my eyes.
As I was pulled inside, I couldn’t help muttering a choked and desperate, “I don’t wanna be on this stupid plane.”
The pilot was there to close the cabin door, and by that point, tears were streaming down my face. The others sat me down in a seat and tried to buckle me in, but once I heard it click, I promptly undid it and tried to escape. I would have gotten out if Dr. Sterling weren’t standing in my way.
“Dr. Sterling! Please get me outta here!”
“Lila, it’s going to be okay.”
My heart was racing. I could see it beating underneath my blouse.
“Just breathe, Lila. Breathe.”
I tried taking a few deep breaths. It calmed me a little, but I was still twitching all over.
“Lila, don’t be afraid,” he said softly. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’ve been on this plane many times.”
“Yeah,” Bridgett jumped in. “Besides, statistics say that there are more car accidents than plane crashes. You’ll be fine.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
A grim attempt at a smile sort of twisted on to my face. “Fine. But if you’re wrong, I am so going to kill you.”
I buckled myself in my seat and braced for take off. The plane began to taxi down the runway. Then it began to pick up speed. I heard the engines roar. My heart began to beat fast again. I wouldn’t dare look out the window. I felt the plane rise. Cold sweat broke out on my face. Soon we were in the air, and I was petrified.
I didn’t talk for the whole four hours. I couldn’t. I felt that if I said anything, the plane would suddenly dive into a dizzying spiral and land in the ocean. I sat there in my seat, tense and alert, aware of any change that the plane made. Soon I began to feel the plane descending. I turned towards Lydia.
“What’s going on? Are we crashing?”
“No, we’re just landing,” she said, laughing at me. “Look out the window and see for yourself.”
I peaked out the window. Outside I could see the runway coming closer and closer. Then I felt the wheels bump the ground. We were back on land. I relaxed and slid down in my seat. The torture was over.
When I stepped off the plane with wobbly legs, I found myself in lush green surroundings. There were beautiful green palm trees and little bushes by the runway. The airstrip seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There were no stores, hotels, or even an airport to go with the airstrip. There was only a lone control tower rising into the tropical sky.
“Is this it?” I asked Dr. Sterling.
“Yes, this is my island, but you won’t be able to fulfill your oceanography assignment out here. We’re going to have to go out to the dock.”
“I’m still confused about this oceanography stuff. I don’t really know anything about the ocean.”
“Don’t worry,” he said with a wide smile. “You will.”
A jeep came and picked the six of us up. The driver zoomed down the undeveloped roads. All the trees and bushes went by in a blur. Once and awhile, my eyes would catch an old shack or the remains of a building. It looked like people used to live here a long time ago. I wonder what happened to them? There were old barbed wire fences and abandoned pasture areas. A wild hog walked on the side of the road.
We came out of the jungle and onto the shore. The sand was bright white and the water washed up in little waves. I looked back at the wooded area that we had left. The tops of the trees swayed in the cool breeze, and the sky was almost a perfect blue. In the distance I could see a little trail of smoke. I turned to Bridgett who was sitting next to me.
“Where is that smoke behind us coming from?”
Bridgett turned her head. The jeep hit a bump, tossing all of us.
“Oh, that’s just the power plant,” Bridgett sputtered out.
After a while, the driving got smoother again and we came to a dock. The driver stopped the jeep and put it into park.
“Thank you,” said Dr. Sterling, stepping out of the jeep. The driver gave a single nod. All of us jumped out. I hated getting sand on my white boots, but I still liked the beachy atmosphere.
“Wow. It’s really pretty out here,” I sighed.
“Yeah,” Lydia agreed dreamily.
“Hurry up, girls,” yelled Dr. Sterling, already half way to the dock. “We don’t want to keep the captain waiting.”
The dock was very long and wide and made of concrete. At the end was a large building. Inside people worked everywhere. Some carried luggage, while others in a separate area welded metal parts.
A man dressed in a light blue uniform with medals and stars all over it came up to us. He was the captain that Dr. Sterling was talking about. He gave Dr. Sterling a quick bow, clicking his heels. The headmaster returned the gesture.
“The submarine is ready for you, sir.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s being held in the special deployment area. One of my men will take you there. Johnson!”
A middle-aged man came running up to the captain and gave a salute. The captain saluted him back and the man became at ease.
“Johnson, I want you to show Commander Sterling where the submarine is.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hold up. Dr. Sterling is all of a sudden a commander? He didn’t seem like the commanding type to me, but it was a good reason for all the strange special treatment he was getting.
The captain left, and Johnson turned to us.
“Follow me.”
We followed him down the narrow corridors of the building until we came to a door. He held it open for us, and we walked in. There was little light inside the room. All that could be seen was a metal staircase leading downwards to a pool that held a submarine. The lights in the pool caused the water to glow, and the hypnotic patterns it made reflected on the walls. We followed the man down to where the submarine was at the edge of the pool.
“This is it,” he said, opening the hatch. “I hope you find that everything’s in order.”
Dr. Sterling stepped into the small submarine causing it to bob up and down. He turned in a little circle, examining the equipment inside.
“It looks fine. Thank you.”
“I’m glad to be of service to you, sir,” said Johnson. He gave a quick bow, ran up the metal steps, and closed the door behind him.
“Okay, girls,” said Dr. Sterling looking up at us from the submarine. “Hop in.”
Everyone worked their way down into the vehicle. I was skeptical.
“Are you sure there’s enough room for all of us in that thing?”
“It will be a squeeze, but we all should fit.”
“Well, okay. If you say so.”
I slid down into the submarine. Linzie pulled down the hatch and twisted it shut. He was right. It was a tight squeeze. I ended up sitting next to a window, and I thought riding in the airplane was bad. At least in the plane I had my own personal space.
Outside the window I could see little air bubbles and the walls of the pool. Everything looked distorted.
“Are you ready to dive?” asked Dr. Sterling, seating himself at the computer that acted as a control panel.
“Ready,” said Cheryl, pushing some buttons located over our heads.
“Okay.”
He pulled some levers and typed in some stuff, and we began to go down. At first, I couldn’t see how we were going anywhere since we were in a pool, but then the walls of the pool opened up, revealing the ocean.
Whoa, I’m so not ready for this, I thought.
The submarine slowly floated to the opening. All was silent as we went out into the ocean and began to descend.
Dr. Sterling flicked switches like he knew what he was doing. He must have driven this thing before. Maybe he really is a commander. He leaned back from the controls.
“Well, that’s that,” he said, stretching his arms as far as he could stretch them. “We are going to have to descend for about an hour or so. After that I’m going to turn on the rudders again.”
I looked out the window. I didn’t see as many fish as I thought I would. Actually it was becoming harder to see anything because the water was getting so dark.
“What are we looking for?” I asked, thinking that since this is an oceanography project we should be looking for underwater volcanoes, trenches, whales—stuff like that.
“You’ll see soon,” said Lydia quietly.
Everyone seemed quiet and in expectation of something. Their faces were washed in the color of the red light that came from the controls. It seemed like everyone had been here before, and I was the rookie. They knew something that I didn’t, and I don’t like being left in the dark.
I tried to start conversation. I tried talking about school and things I liked to do, but nothing seemed to catch on. I ended up sitting silently, looking out of the thick window of the submarine. There wasn’t anything to look at except darkness. After one long hour, Dr. Sterling turned on the rudders. They hummed quietly, propelling us forward.
“Lila, look out the window and tell me when you see anything.”
I sat there and looked out into the darkness, not sure of exactly what I was looking for. For about fifteen minutes I saw nothing but the little air bubbles that formed on the window.
When I began to think that I wasn’t going to see anything, a wash of light came over the window. I could actually see something, and I couldn’t believe what I saw.
“Everyone, come look at this!”
Everyone, even Dr. Sterling, rushed towards the window. Outside there were gigantic bluish tinted domes that stood among the seascape like a grand empire.
The fish swam around the domes, minding their own business, Light came from them, and I could see tall buildings standing inside one of them.
“Welcome to Avila.”
“Avila? Is that the name of this place?” I said turning to Dr. Sterling. “It should be called something mystical like Atlantis or Atlantia or something cool like that.”
“It was named after my great-great-great grandmother.”
“Oh-well, Avila is okay.”
He moved back to the computer. We hovered over the underwater city. In another dome I could see trees, and in the one next to it I saw a single large building that stood out among the rest. Everything had a bluish color to it. The submarine flew past the underwater city to an underwater cave not too far away.
As we came to the mouth of the cave, I began to feel nauseous.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I asked. I got no reply. I guess they’ve had enough of hearing my worries about safety.
We drove through the mouth of the cave, and the engines were shut off. A current rushed in, and we were pulled forward through the cave. My heart began to knock at my ribcage as we were rushed through the cave in complete darkness and at the sight of Dr. Sterling lounging at the controls not pushing anything. I was sure we were going to die. Then suddenly, we slowed to a stop. Dr. Sterling pushed another button. The submarine began to rise to the surface.
Out of my window I could see the line where the surface ended and the water began. Linzie opened the hatch, and we all climbed out onto a platform.
The room was full of similar pools with people stepping into and out of submarines. There were more people stepping in than stepping out. We were at a submarine port. The water reflected off of the white walls and the white uniform that the man who walked up to Dr. Sterling wore.
“It’s great to see that you arrived here safe and on time,” he said heartily to Dr. Sterling, shaking his hand.
“It was no difficult journey,” he replied in his casual tone and looking back at us.
“Emperor Sterling, we have your limousine waiting outside.”
“Thank you,” he said with a large smile underneath his mustache.
Wait a minute. Did he just say he was an emperor? He’s the one who makes the rules of this place?
All the clues began to come together in my mind. He did say the city was named after his great-great-great-grandmother, and he was called a commander (more like commander in chief). What other explanation is there for him having so much money? The headmaster of Omni High School is actually the emperor of the underwater nation of Avila.
*Note to my 14 year old self*: Oh my gosh, sweetheart! Let’s take a look at these names again. I know you picked them randomly but still…
As mentioned before, Lila basically means cosmic play. But now we also have…
Levi, which means joined or attached. Signifies community or connection. Joined in harmony.
Sterling means little star, starling, and excellent. Fitting for someone who gives instructions to The Five. The five girls are like the five points of a star. And with Lila meaning cosmic play, no wonder he singled her out. And technically his name is Sterling Sterling, “little star, little star”–like a song. Or a wish.
Also as a side note dear younger self, Dr. Sterling feels more like a professor or a doctor in the sciences than a medical doctor.
Avila means desired, wished for, water, island. Also connected with the Spanish town, Avila, which is connected to the birth place of St. Teresa of Avila. In this story, Avila is literally like the blue pearl, crystal and glass city within the heart.
So much meaning, although I know you had none of this in mind at the time. You were just having fun, which is really all that matters. 🩵