Lucy in the Sky

he doesn’t. Instead he goes over to Zoe. ‘Zoe, come on.’ He struggles to be serious with all the alcohol he’s consumed.
    ‘No, Jeremy.’ She shakes him off. ‘I’ve had enough of this!’
    ‘Calm down.’ He shushes her, rubbing her on her back.
    James is still holding me tightly around my waist and glaring at William. I glance over at Chloe; her face is tense.
    ‘James, let me go.’ This time I’m deadly calm.
    ‘Yeah, James, let her go,’ Zoe bitches.
    ‘Would you shut up!’ he hisses at her, and again Jeremy tries to pull her away.
    ‘No, I WILL NOT!’ she shouts.
    I’d probably pity her if I didn’t think she’d been shagging my boyfriend.
    ‘Why don’t you calm down?’ I turn to her, my voice firm.
    ‘ Don’t tell me to calm down!’ She’s hysterical now.
    ‘ZOE!’ James lets go of me and turns to Zoe, but she violently pushes past him towards me.
    ‘You don’t know how lucky you are with your bloody boyfriend and your fancy flat! You don’t know what it’s like for me!’
    ‘You don’t know me at all.’ I face up to her, even though she towers above me by several inches. ‘You don’t know anything about me so don’t you dare tell me how lucky I am!’
    Zoe laughs cruelly then visibly appears to compose herself. ‘You are lucky,’ she says calmly with an evil glint in her eyes. ‘In fact, the only thing I don’t envy about you is your flannel sheets.’
    She may as well have punched me in the stomach as the memory of that text comes back to me, word for word.
    HI LUCY! JUST SHAGGED JAMES IN UR BED. THOUGHT U SHOULD KNOW. 4 TIMES THIS MONTH. NICE SHEETS! XXX
    ‘Lucy,’ James interjects. I slap him hard, right across the face. Then I do it again. He stumbles backwards into William who pushes him off.
    James turns around and shoves him hard in the chest before raising his fist ready to punch. Jeremy drags James back as William squares up to him. I leave them to it. I don’t have a minute to waste. I’m dialling Nathan’s number as I push through the throng and out onto the pavement.
    ‘Lucy!’ Chloe runs outside a minute later. ‘Are you okay?’
    ‘Yes,’ I tell her. ‘I’m just glad I found out now. Before it’s too late.’ I hold up my phone. ‘Nathan’s coming for me.’
    ‘Thank goodness.’ She puts her arms around me and we huddle in a dark doorway a little further down the road. After a while we sit down on the step.
    ‘Christ, it’s cold out here,’ she says suddenly.
    ‘Where’s William?’ I ask.
    ‘He’s inside. It’s okay, I think he’ll calm things down.’
    ‘He was squaring up to James last time I looked…’
    ‘Don’t worry, he’s not the type to be violent,’ she insists.
    Five minutes later James bursts out through the door.
    ‘Lucy!’ he shouts. ‘LUCY!’
    Chloe pulls me back further into the dark doorway and squeezes me tighter. ‘Just let him be,’ she whispers.
    ‘ LUCY! ’ he screams, sounding more panicked.
    William follows and tries to settle James. The bouncers will be here next. This is a nightmare. What’s going to happen when Nathan turns up?
    I don’t have to wait long to find out. I see his Saab turn the corner and he pulls up and gets out. James immediately rushes over to him.
    ‘This is all your fault!’ he yells, as I break away from Chloe.
    ‘Lucy…’ James breathes with relief when he sees me, but I run to Nathan.
    ‘Get away from her, mate ,’ James says, maliciously.
    ‘Lucy, get in the car,’ Nathan tells me calmly.
    ‘Don’t you fucking tell her what to do!’ James shouts, shoving Nathan in the chest. William steps in but James turns to push him away too, then he spins around and swings at Nathan, hitting his temple with an almighty thud. Nathan stumbles backwards.
    ‘You’re a fucking whore!’ James screams at me.
    Nathan gathers his senses and punches James hard in the face. Blood trickles down from James’s nose as he staggers and touches his fingers to it with surprise.
    ‘I think you just broke my nose,’ he says, shocked. Then two burly bouncers spill out onto the pavement and drag James back. I quickly climb in the car and yell for Nathan to do the same.
    ‘I’ll call you!’ I shout at Chloe as Nathan starts up the car and drives away.
    ‘Pull over,’ I tell him when we’ve gone half a mile down the road. He flicks his indicator on and slows down until he comes to a standstill on a single yellow line.
    ‘Are you okay?’ he asks me.
    ‘I was going to ask