Summary: In dark times, Lila finds unexpected support.
I tried to sleep that night, but I couldn’t. At six came the artificial morning. I am now Lila Collins, student at Omni High School for Girls, and ex-member of The Five. I guess they can go back to calling themselves The Four.
Breakfast was brought up to my room, but I couldn’t eat it. Not when I knew all the people outside of my room were starving. The protests were becoming louder, and Ms. Rinehart’s speeches became fiercer. I can’t believe that Cheryl had gotten mad with me just because I was trying to help. Someone had to do something, and we weren’t getting anywhere before. How could she let her ego get ahead of what is truly important? This is the absolute worst time to kick someone out of the group. Everyone is needed.
But, I knew how she could have done it. Because I’ve done the same.
Because of my ego, I kicked the best friends I’ve ever had out of my life. I was scared to talk to Jamie and Terrell because I felt above that, as if going to Omni made me better than them. But this morning, I felt less than ordinary.
I put on my uniform and looked at myself in the mirror. My hands looked naked without the ring I’ve worn for about four months. So much has happened in the last four months. Even more has happened in the last six days. This is the last full day I have to save Dr. Sterling.
I went down to the bottom floor. Everything was so quiet.
I slid on the marble floors like an ice skater in my striped socks and wet my fingers in the marble fountains. I walked through the large, orderly kitchen, looking at my reflection in the pots and pans. Then I came to the room that I had wandered into on my first day here. The statue of the horse still stood there. I ran my hands over its stone mane and smooth nose. I looked at the leather sofa. In the seat rested a remote control. I sat on the sofa and crossed my legs in the chair like I was at home. I took the remote and turned on the TV.
Pictures of protesters filled the screen. They yelled fiercely and waved their fists in the air. Ms. Rinehart stood on the steps.
“Do you want freedom?” she yelled.
The crowd roared.
“Do you want respect?”
“Yeah!” the crowd answered as one.
“Then after Emperor Sterling’s fall, I will give you freedom and respect!”
The crowd cheered.
“Horrible, isn’t it?”
Dr. Sterling entered the room. I hadn’t seen him since the meeting we had the second day here. He looked tired and much older. He sat down next to me on the sofa. I turned off the TV.
“You didn’t have to turn that off—” he started to say.
“It’s okay. I was going to turn it off anyway. Dr. Sterling, I have a question.”
“Yes, Miss Collins?”
I could feel that I was about to ask a scarily honest question.
“Did I…really get a perfect score on that test?”
He sighed.
“Yes, Lila. You did. You did it without my meddling or anyone else’s. Passing that test is one of the reasons why you are here. You’re the second person to ever get a perfect score on it.”
“Oh.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. Then Dr. Sterling went on, “Lila, I don’t know what to do. I can’t sleep at night from the noise of the protesters and the constant haranguing of Ms. Rinehart.”
Haranguing. Another unfamiliar word. I have to look that up later.
“She can’t really kick you out, can she?”
“Yes, she can,” he said sadly. “Even though I’m an emperor, it doesn’t mean I have ultimate power. I have set up a board of counselors that looks over every decision I make. I wanted to make everything a little more democratic, you see. And I didn’t do it for myself. Setting up a counsel severely limits me, but I did that also for the future. I will never know who will come along after me, and I would hate to think that chaos would ever be. However, it looks like now it’s here. Ms. Rinehart is the Head of Counsel. I guess…I’ve made a mistake. I may even have to close down the school—”
“Dr. Sterling—please don’t say that.”
“I’m going to have to if things get bad enough,” he said, giving me a stern look. “Lila, you have little knowledge of the torture I’ve been through for the last few days. I’ve even received a threat on my life within this palace.”
“A death threat,” I said, having flashbacks in my mind. “Dr. Sterling, where did you get that from?”
He shrugged. “My son told me.”
What? Levi told him about the note after making that big scene and ripping it up and threatening me? Oh, he’s so going to pay.
“Why did he tell you?”
“He’s my son. What else did you expect him to do?”
He had a point there, but still…
Along came another misplaced silence. Then Dr. Sterling put his hands on his knees and stood up like an old man.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going back up to my room.”
“Dr. Sterling,” I said, clasping my hands in my lap. “I promise that things will get better and the food shortage will end.”
He stared at me with a hurt look in his eyes. “Lila, someday you will learn that there are times when promises cannot be made.”
He started to walk away.
“Dr. Sterling…”
He turned to me tiredly, now anxious to get away.
“Who was the first person to get a perfect score on that test?”
He focused his eyes squarely on me.
“Miss Hart.”
I went back to my room, aching to take some sort of action. I had to do something.
I sat on my bed, picking furiously at my nails. I had to do something to help Dr. Sterling. If only I knew where or who that motorcycle guy was. Then he could help me.
That motorcyclist and who he could possibly be has really been eating at me lately. Is he just a loyal citizen or is he more than that? Is it even possible that Dr. Sterling is him? The clues only fit to a point. The DVD he gave me was in a clear blue case, just like the ones at Omni. And what else could Dr. Sterling have been doing all this time besides planning how to solve the problems of his people? But then, Dr. Sterling is an older man. It’s hard to imagine him doing something like that, and if he were the motorcyclist, why would he be keeping it a secret?
I heard the voices of Cheryl and Linzie in the hallway. Their footsteps passed by my door.
There was nothing I could do. As long as I’m not part of The Five, I’m powerless. I buried my face in my hands, trying my best not to cry. Then I heard the door to my room open. I lifted my head to see who it was.
No one was there.
Confused, I got up off the bed and walked over to the door to see what was going on. When I was just about to look through the doorway, Levi’s head popped up unexpectedly from around the corner, causing me to scream.
“Don’t you just love automatic doors?” he said sweetly.
I took in deep breaths, holding my hand to my chest and fighting to get my voice back.
“So why aren’t you running around with the other girls?”
“None of your business,” I choked out.
“Could it be,” he continued, “that there was a little cat fight last night?” He pawed the air with his hand.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I heard a lot of yelling downstairs last night,” he pressed on. “Lila, if you were going to get into a fight, why didn’t you tell me? Then I would have been able to place a bet—I would’ve put everything I’ve got on you. I don’t think Cheryl would have stood a chance, especially if you were wearing those boots of yours…”
I could not take it anymore. I have had enough of his crazy talk.
“You know what? Last night, I was let go from the ASG. Now I’m trying to find a way to stop a famine, save your dad, and I have less than 24 hours to do it all by myself, and here you are talking about a catfight? How can you be so insensitive? Get out of here and leave me alone!”
“But—”
“I said, leave me ALONE!”
I pushed him out the door hard and into the hallway. The door closed automatically, and I turned the lock. I rested my head against it. My head felt hot.
The glass was cool to my skin. My eyes began to grow warm. I closed them and slid down to the floor, wrapping my knees with my arms and rested my head against them. One by one, the tears made their way down my cheeks. I wiped at them quickly.
I hate crying sometimes, but I couldn’t hold it in. I wished for my mom to come and wrap her arms around me and hold me. To rock me in her arms like a little girl and say that everything was going to be okay, but she isn’t here. I’m alone. The only person who can hold me right now is myself.
I sat there crying for what felt like hours. Then I heard voices in the hallway. I wiped my face with my hands, sniffing. I slowly got back to my feet and began to listen.
“We’ve found some good evidence against the emperor,” I heard Cheryl’s voice say proudly.
“I don’t know,” responded Bridgett.
“Yes, we do!”
“But Cheryl, the evidence is—”
I stepped out of my room into the hall. Bridgett stopped mid-sentence. Everyone looked surprised to see me. Cheryl’s face lost its color, like she was seeing someone who had been raised from the dead.
“You don’t have any proof. He didn’t do it,” I said.
“Stay out of this. You’re not part of the group anymore, remember?”
“I still think my opinion should be heard.”
She turned to the others, looking at a loss at first, but then she said, “Let’s go discuss this someplace else.”
She turned sharply, tossing her ponytail in my face. The others followed her as I retreated back into my room. I laid on my bed. I didn’t order lunch. My stomach wouldn’t be able to keep the food down.
I heard footsteps in the hallway and Cheryl saying, “Let’s check the greenhouses!”
I realized that it would be impossible for me to stay inside and keep my sanity at the same time. So I ventured out into the garden.
The flowers’ sweet scent filled the air as the butterflies fluttered around them. The grass gave way under my feet like a soft cushion. The marble fountains burbled. I walked along the rows of sunflowers and roses. The trees stood above me like all-star basketball players.
I strolled through a lane lined with Roman style statues that were intertwined with flowers. There was a dragon covered with lilies and a detailed statue of a young man in a toga holding a sword in his hands and looking thoughtfully at it. Roses grew up the pedestal and rested around his feet. I sat down and rested my head against the bottom of it.
I could see the grand porch that led back into the palace. I saw the girls in their blue uniforms walking past the huge glass patio doors.
I closed my eyes. The shade felt so good on my face. The aroma of the flowers left the air and filled my lungs. Leaves began to flutter across my face. I opened my eyes and looked up.
Everything was motionless. Only the statue stood above me.
I closed my eyes again. The leaves began to fall on my face again.
Annoyed, I stood up and began to brush the leaves off. I looked at the statue again. There weren’t any trees directly above me. My eyes moved around, looking for an explanation. Then out of nowhere, a pair of hands covered my face.
“Guess who?”
I really hate guessing games, but I had a pretty good idea of who it was.
“Levi, take your disgusting hand from over my eyes.”
He removed his hands and walked around in front of me. He wore a red t-shirt and a pair of jeans. That was the most underdressed I had ever seen him.
“That’s a nice statue,” he said, looking up at the young man with the sword. “I used to play on it when I was little, but then my father had the gardener plant some prickly roses on it, and my climbing days were over.”
I couldn’t figure it out. I thought I was the only person out here.
“Where did you come from?”
He shrugged.
I didn’t know what to make of it. I said the first words that came to my mind.
“You idiot! You were watching me the whole time, weren’t you? Why do you always have to pop up out of nowhere and be a nuisance while I’m pondering significant matters?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Whoa. Lila, am I hearing things or did you just use some complicated words?”
“Shut-up. I’ve been in this stupid place for too long, and you better be happy that I’m actually talking to you after those horrible things you said to me a few hours ago.”
I sat back down in my spot on the grass. He reclined next to me and said, “Today’s a nice day.”
“Every day here looks nice,” I complained. “I just want it to rain and rain. Maybe it could wash away my problems.”
The prince quickly cut his eyes at me. Then he shyly looked at the ground and began breaking blades of grass. He had a strange, childish look on his face.
“What?” I asked, sensing that something was bothering him.
“I’ve only been to the surface twice in my life,” he said in a way that wasn’t like him. He was very—low-key.
“…Once when I was little and then a few weeks ago, but both times I’ve been there, I’ve never seen it rain. I know this may sound like a stupid question but Lila, what’s rain like?”
I sat there thinking for a minute. I wasn’t quite sure how to explain rain since I thought everyone had seen it. I guess I was wrong.
“Well, it’s drops of water that come from the sky.”
“Kind of like a shower?”
“Yeah—that’s why they are called ‘rain showers.’ It’s like all these drops of water fall and roll down your face and the wind messes up your hair. Then, when there’s thunder and lightning, it’s even worse. I’ve been caught out in a thunderstorm once. It’s like being in a war zone without the guns.”
He was silent, taking my words in. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. You should come and visit again sometime.”
“Actually, I’m hoping to go to college there after I graduate.”
“What college do you want to go to?”
“Harvard or Cambridge,” he said matter-of-factly.
Figures.
I decided to make a suggestion. “There are schools here. Why don’t you go to college in Avila?”
“You sound like my father,” he said, adding a sour laugh. “He says that I should go to college here so I would know what the people I will be ruling over in the future are like. I mean, what’s the point of that? I’m as far away from those people as up is to down. I could never understand them, just as they could never understand me. Besides, I want to get away from here. Everywhere I look there is blue and water…”
We lied on the grass staring out into space. Then he asked unexpectedly, “Lila, are all the girls where you come from as crazy as you?”
The question made me feel a little embarrassed.
“Um—well, I don’t think there are many quite like me. There may be a few, but not many. That’s the thing about people. Everyone’s different, and there’s only one I know of that is named Lila Collins. But there are probably others.”
The Prince of Avila smiled at me and shook his head. “Lila, you are always so confident.”
“Confident? That’s the last thing I am right now,” I replied with a sigh. “So little time is left—I’m afraid I might fail.”
“You won’t fail. You never have, and I think you never truly will.”
His words and his voice stuck in my mind. Something was different. I never thought I would see the day when I would be sitting down and having a normal conversation with Levi. What’s even more amazing is that he wasn’t annoying me. He was even—dare I say it—making sense.
I wished that things could stay that way, but it all disappeared when he sat up and said, “You know what? I think I will go to college down here. The people on the surface are too weird for me.”
“Too weird? I guess so. People up there don’t seem to just appear out of nowhere.”
“Oh,” he said in his usual manner. “That’s just a hobby of mine.” He looked back up at the statue. “Sometimes I wish I could be marble so that the butterflies could land on me. Don’t you, Lila?”
“Yeah, don’t we all,” I replied sarcastically. I know who the real weirdo is around here.
He stood back up.
“Lila, what would you think if I had a statue made that looks like me?”
“I would think that the artist made it in the dark,” I kidded. “You’ll be better off making a statue of me.”
“I could have one made of you if you want—”
“No, it’s okay. I was just playing.”
“Oh,” he said with a polite nod. “Well, I’m going over to the porch so I can take in a good book.”
He walked away. I glanced over at the patio. Cheryl stepped out one of the doors and was walking in my direction. I saw Levi make himself comfortable on the patio furniture and pick up a book. Cheryl walked past him and up to me. I stared at her blankly, not sure of what she wanted to tell me. She smiled like a hungry tigress.
“I can’t believe you’re still here,” she said. “I thought you would have asked Emperor Sterling if you could leave Avila, since there isn’t a use for you here now.”
I had enough of her cutting me down and telling me things that aren’t true. Some people need to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around them.
“So I guess what I’ve heard is true,” I said bluntly. “You are Ms. Rinehart’s daughter, aren’t you?”
She took two quick blinks and stepped back, clearly stunned.
“So, it isn’t going to make a difference how much help you pretend to give,” I went on. “You’re still going to make sure that Dr. Sterling is overthrown and that Ms. Rinehart will get the glory.”
“But she deserves it!” yelled Cheryl. “She worked hard at the school and as head of the Avila counsel, but what has she gotten? Nothing! My mother can make a difference, and know what he did? He. Fired. Her. Sterling has done nothing to help the people!”
“He didn’t fire her, she quit. Besides, you think he doesn’t care? Look at the man—he’s falling apart.”
“I don’t care what he is now!” she shouted, stomping her foot. “There’s nothing you can do. You have less than twenty hours—It’s impossible. Go back home, Lila. Where you belong.”
At that, she left and walked briskly towards the palace. I knew she was a mama’s girl.
Usually, I would have been aching to get back at her, but instead I found myself standing there thoughtfully. She did say she was going to the greenhouses, didn’t she? Maybe while she’s gone, I can go out to the labs. But she’s going to be taking the car with the keys in it. Where could I get another set of keys?
I looked again to the patio. Levi reclined there peacefully, reading his book. I dashed over to him and yanked him out of his seat by his shirt, causing him to drop it.
“And what’s the meaning of this?”
“Give me the keys!”
“What keys?”
“The keys to the car! Boy, hand them over.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t rip my shirt.” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of keys. He handed them to me. “Don’t you think you’re going to get away with disturbing me and Dickens!”
“Thanks!” I said, ignoring his little speech. I sprinted back to my room with a plan. Maybe I’m not so powerless after all.
Author’s Note: OMG, I love this chapter so much. For one thing, it fits so perfectly with The Garden, it blows my mind. Also after reading this chapter, I totally see how I couldn’t resist writing Miraculous fanfiction 20 years later. It’s uncanny.
To be honest, I could write a whole separate blog post about my thoughts on this chapter.
Note to my 14-year-old self: Dear mini-me, Levi is both the young man and the dragon. But maybe you sensed his leviathan-like ways all along?