Maisie 'Baby' Bronze

13. Security Guard

"No way did you get us first class!" I squeal excitedly as mum reveals this to us. 

"Best seats for the best girls" Mum smiles, catching Keira and I as we jump onto her.

"Ok, no, that's just cheese" I cringe, pushing her back.

"Careful or I'll bump you down to ecom again" She laughs, "Well boarding opens in half an hour so shall we go wonder the shops?" We'd just all brought coffee after going through security, and were now lounging around in the boarding area. Not only had we all managed to get through security with no hiccups, our flight had also had no details or cancellations, so it was going smoothly so far.

Spoke too soon. 

"Oh My God, are you Lucy and Keira?" An excited girl tugs at mums sleeve, talking extremely loudly, gaining the attention of everyone around us in the shop. Me and Keira exchange amused glances at each other, both  fully aware of what was about to happen. 

"I'm sorry, I think you may have the wrong people" Mum sweetly replies, smiling apologetically. 

"What, no, you are" The girl refuses, frowning. The main reason for Mum's denial is purely for our safety. It's something Mum has always told me to do- if someone ever asks you who you are when you're away, you're always not the person they say. If we were to tell this girl who we were, the whole airport would know about it by the time we get on the plane, and by the time we landed, the whole world would. Not only did this alert people to our empty house, it also told people where we were in the world, and when you have an influential role in society, it was best to keep these things to yourself. 

"I'm really sorry, but I'm not sure who Lucy is" Mum replies, with a slight tint of anxiety in her voice.

"Oh ok then" The girl drops her shoulders and turns and starts walking off.

"Shit, I hate having to do that" Mum whispers to us, when the girl has gone, "she was so cute as well"

"Yeah but better that then going home to a burgled house" I joke, earning stern looks from Mum and Keira. "I'm sorry" I hold my hands up in surrender. 

"Don't even" Keira says sighing. 

"Alright, alright" I laugh.

After a grueling 11 hour flight, I'm woken by an announcement being made- "We have now landed in San Francisco, we hope you had an enjoyable flight, and please exit at your nearest exit, thank you" 

Quickly packing my things back into my carry-on bag, I pull open the board, spererating my seats from Mum's and Keira's. "San Francisco Babyyy" I call excitedly, "Ok, first bets, how hot do you think it is here?" I ask, pulling up the weather app on my phone, "My guess is 22c"

"25"

"23"

"All wrong, it's 24 degrees" I chuckle, standing up and stretching.

"Boom, so I won, I said 23 degrees" Mum smiles confidently.

"Um no, I said 25 so we drew" Keira replies

"What, no"

"Er, yes I did, didn't I Maisie"

"I'm going to leave you two to argue about who's closest, and go actually get off this plane" I joke, moving to go down the isle.

"Alright, hang on, we're coming" Mum calls after me, hurriedly tidying her stuff away.

I waited by the top of the stairs, knowing about our little tradition, but also wanting to make mum think I was just going to get off alone.

June 2015- Age 8

"Maise, come on" Mum calls to me as I scramble over Steph's lap into the isle of the plane, carrying my little Man city rucksack which was stuffed with numerous cuddly toys, snacks and colouring books. I run along the isle, high fiving Jill Scott as I run past, catching up with Mum, who was waiting for me by the exit.