Layla Samspon is one of the three main characters in the Guardians of the Portal series. Here is Layla’s backstory, spoiler-free.
Early Life
“Haven’t I seen her on Chasing Life?” Yes. You have. Aisha Dee is the closest actress I could find to the Layla who lives in my head. However, Layla has gray-green eyes and is quite tiny.
Layla was born on June 1, 1998, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Frances (Frank) Sampson, a middle school music teacher, and Patti Jackson, a nurse. Frank is Caucasian; Patti African American. The couple had three children, each of whom was named for Frank’s obsession with music. Quincy Jones Sampson (b. 2001) was named for the famous music producer, Quincy Jones, and Frank originally wanted to name their youngest son “Thelonious Charles,” for jazz greats Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus. However, when Patti’s father died shortly before she gave birth, she insisted upon giving her third child her father’s name, Jeremiah (b. 2006). Frank agreed and compromised on “Jeremiah Thelonious.”
The Meaning Behind Layla’s Name and Her Parents’ Divorce
Layla’s full name is “Layla Ella Sampson.” “Ella” is for Ella Fitzgerald; “Layla” is for Eric Clapton’s love song of the same title. What Patti didn’t realize until years later, however, is that the song “Layla” carries a particularly loaded meaning: Clapton wrote the song as a plea to his lover, Pattie Boyd, who at the time was married to Clapton’s good friend, George Harrison.
The meaning of the song spoke to Frank, who was unfaithful to Patti from nearly the beginning of their marriage. When Patti announced her pregnancy, Frank had been preparing to leave Patti to be with his mistress. The pregnancy brought him back to the marriage, but he expressed his anguish by naming his first-born after a song about star-crossed lovers and infidelity. It was into this difficult family environment that all three Sampson children were born.
Frank continued to have other affairs during his relationship with Patti, until one of his mistresses, upon seeing the family of five at a restaurant, confessed the truth to Patti. Patti divorced Frank almost immediately and moved with her children to Mecksville, where her best friend Ellen Parker lived. Layla was eight years old at the time.
The children did not initially see their father; it was only three years later, when he took a new job in Little Rock and remarried that Patti permitted him to see them again. Since that time, they spend occasional weekends and holidays with Frank.
Layla’s Role Within the Family
As a single mother, Patti relied heavily upon the precocious and level-headed Layla even when Layla was quite young. By the age of ten, Patti would ask Layla to babysit the boys for short periods of time while she ran errands or shopped for groceries. Layla thus learned to be responsible and fiercely independent quite early.
By the time Layla entered middle school, Patti took a position as a second-shift nurse for the Ozark Community Hospital. Although her new schedule gave her more weekends at home to spend with her children, her shift started at 3pm most days, meaning that she was not home when the children came home from school to help with homework, cook meals, and put them to bed. Layla took on these duties without complaint, cooking and otherwise caring for her two younger brothers. Despite the fact that they resisted her as a surrogate mother, Quincy especially, Layla felt maternally protective towards both of the boys. She found that caring for them gave her a sense of predictability and stability that her life otherwise lacked.
Layla at School
While many children find school to be oppressive and home to be a place of freedom, Layla’s real outlet was in her schoolwork. Knowledge and learning became her escape and her one opportunity to focus on herself rather than her family. A naturally gifted student imbued with a maturity and responsibility that most girls her age lacked, Layla was always a teacher’s favorite. Good grades and academic accolades came easily to her.
Layla entered high school the same year that Quincy turned twelve. After some negotiating with Patti, Layla and Quincy were able to convince Patti to let Layla join a few school clubs — namely, the debate team and student newspaper. The clubs meant that Layla didn’t get home before the boys every day but arrived an hour after they did two to three days per week. On these days, Quincy was made responsible for watching Jeremiah until Layla returned home.
Layla’s Relationship with Timothy Eckard
Layla has had one boyfriend, a shy friend of hers named Timmy Eckard. Timmy is perpetually overshadowed by his sister Ginny, who is a little more than a year older than him and one of the most popular girls in Mecksville High. Ginny is social and athletic, with roles on the school’s cheerleading squad and soccer team; Timmy is quiet and awkward, more comfortable playing video games than playing football. Their differences have only ever served to embarrass Ginny, who is responsible for most of her younger brother’s bullying.
Timmy had a crush on Layla from middle school, but it took until the freshman “Spring Fling” dance for him to work up the courage to ask her out. Flattered and unused to attention from boys, Layla immediately said yes. The two dated from the dance through the summer, but Timmy’s timidity eventually led her to realize that they were incompatible as a couple.
That is roughly where book 1 picks up.