aila berenice croke is the fourth child and oldest daughter of eric and alaina croke. after having two boys within the first five years of their marriage, eric and alaina wanted to try for a daughter. although their wish to have a little girl came true, their number of children had doubled. the little girl that they've waited so long for decided to take her precious time with her arrival, popping out an hour and three minutes after her twin brother. with another baby girl being born only a year after the twins, the crokes made the decision that five would be enough. aila had always been the child lurking in the shadows. because of this many assumed that aila grew to be naturally timid, when in reality she just didn't see the importance in talking just to hear the sound of her own voice. after all, the croke home certainly didn't need another source of noise. between the constant bickering amongst siblings, television in the background, barking from the family dog (kirby), or someone playing their music way too loud, the crokes had enough on their plate.

adelaide, australia was their home up until the twins were 13. it was then that eric and alaina had made the decision to move their family to staten island, new york where eric opened a veterinary clinic and alaina become an editor of a fashion magazine. change was something that didn't sit well with aila, so to have her entire life uprooted so suddenly led to bouts of resentment towards her parents. however, rather than acting out aila retreated back into the bubble that she had created at an early age. something that her family, save for her twin, never understood. despite the success of her parents and a happy household, aila never completely adjusted to living in the states.

learning to play the piano at just four years old, she fell in love. instead of going outside to play with all the neighborhood kids, she stayed indoors to practice. music was, and still is, aila's escape. other than her music, aila buried herself underneath piles of schoolwork and mountains of books. while the social aspect of high school didn't come easily to her - not many people warmed up to the unpopular opinions she held or her cold demeanor - academics did. highly motivated and ambitious, aila graduated high school with a nearly flawless gpa and went on to earn her b.s. in biology at temple university. with the main goal of becoming a research scientist and conservationist in mind, aila will be attending temple once again for grad school in the fall.