American Princess

{Underground}

The door slides shut behind us, and the guard turns on a flashlight.
"What's your name?" he asks me.
"Layla."
"Okay, Layla. My name is Oliver. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No.What's going on?"
"We are in a bomb shelter underneath Buckingham Palace. We need to go down," he gestures with the flashlight.
"Why should I trust you?" I ask skeptically.
"Because I'm trying to save you."
"Why?"
"Because if I left you out there you would have died. You were the only person close enough to the Palace to save," he replies.
I nod.
"Do you want to stand here all day, or would you like to go down to safety?" he asks me.
"You first. You have the flashlight," I point out.
"Okay then."
I move to the side, and he slides past me.
I start to follow him down the stairs.
After walking for about two minutes, the stairs end and we are on flat ground. The whispers I heard from above are louder now, and they grow into real voices when we get half way down the hall.
Oliver types in another code on a glowing key-pad, and a door slides open.
My eyes adjust to the light in the big room.
"Come on," Oliver touches my back and guides me through the door, which slides closed behind us.
The voices go silent, and all faces turn to me.
My eyes go wide in shock as I recognize each one of them as a member of the royal family.
"Captain McAndrews, who is this?" a man asks, walking up to us.
I realize it's Prince William.
"Her name is Layla. She was alone by the Palace gates when the bombing started. I'm sorry, Your Royal Highness. I didn't think it would be right to have left her there alone."
"You're very right it wouldn't have been," the Duchess of Cambridge says, walking up besides Prince William. "Hello. My name is Kate."
The Duchess sticks out her hand.
"Layla Casey," I respond, awkwardly taking her hand and shaking it.
"An American?" William asks.
I nod.
"Well, we're not going to send you back up now are we? Might as well get comfortable and acquainted," William says.
Oliver nods and the three of them lead me to a large seating area.
I look around the room, which looks more like a large living room than a bomb shelter.
"Captain McAndrews," the queen says.
Oliver clicks his heals and salutes.
"Your Majesty."
"And who is this?"
"Layla Casey," I respond. "Your Majesty." I add awkwardly to the end.
She smiles at me.
"Hello Ms. Casey. I assume it was Captain McAndrews who brought you down here?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," I respond.
"Very well. He was right not to leave you out there alone. Please, take a seat."
The Queen gestures to the couches lined in an open square; the coaches and an open side.
On one coach sits William and Kate, holding baby George. On another sits Prince Harry. And the King sits next to the Queen
The other Royal family must not be here in the palace.
I awkwardly take a seat on the the coach next to Prince Harry.
We sit there in silence until the Queen finally starts talking to King Phillip, and Kate whispers to William.
"So, where are you from?" I hear a voice say.
I turn and see Prince Harry looking at me expectedly.
"Oh. California," I reply.
"You're quite a long way from home," he points out.
"Yeah. I'm on a trip with my class," I explain.
He nods.
We sit in silence for a few minutes.
"So how long do you think we will be down here?" I ask.
"A while, probably. At least until the bombing has stopped."
"Oh."
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"So your parents should be worried about you. Would you like me to see if there is any way to contact them?"
"That would be amazing," I say gratefully.
"Captain?" Harry calls.
Oliver walks over.
"Is there any way Ms. Layla can contact her parents to let them know that she is okay?"
"There is an emergency phone, Sir. Though I'm not sure it will make calls to the United States," Oliver explains.
"Well it's worth a try," Harry says, more to me than the Oliver.
I thank him, and once again follow Oliver. He leads me to the other side of the room, where there is a little black telephone.
Oliver nods to me, and I go dial my home phone number.
My heart skips a beat as it starts to ring, and my mom picks up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Mom?"
"Oh my god, Layla. Sweetie are you okay? Oh my god," my mom hysterically speaks through the phone.
"Yeah, mom. I'm fine. I'm safe. I just wanted to call and tell you I'm safe."
"Oh thank god. Okay. We are coming over there."
"No. Mom, you stay there," I demand. "They probably aren't going to let any flights in and anyways it's too dangerous. Stay in California, and I'll be home as soon as I can, okay?"
"But-"
"Mom. I'm going to be okay. I promise. I have to go, but I love you, okay? I love you."
"I love you too."
Then she hangs up the phone.