Lucy in the Sky

yours.’
    ‘Whatever…’ Nick mutters and heads off back down the path.
    Nathan and I haven’t kissed yet. In fact we’ve barely touched. Not since last Wednesday, up against the wall of the flat. We both know it’s inevitable but we just need the right time without any interruptions. The anticipation is making me nervous.
    ‘Meg, Nick and I are off down the High Street if you guys want to come?’ Tom calls from the front door.
    ‘Sure…’
    As we walk down the lane to join them I realise I should text Chloe, tell her I’m alright. But as I type a message my phone startsto beep and buzz, alerting me to various messages that have come in since I switched it off last night. Nathan and I look at each other, edgily.
    ‘I don’t want to speak to him,’ I say. ‘I’m deleting them all.’ I actually mean it.
    We wander along the street and around the village shops until eventually we end up in a pub. The five of us pull up chairs in front of the log fire.
    Just as I sit down, my phone starts to ring. I press divert. Seconds later it rings again. I’m about to switch it off when Tom pipes up: ‘You’re going to have to talk to him sometime, Lucy.’
    ‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ I shout at my phone.
    ‘What do you want?’ I ask coldly down the receiver.
    ‘Lucy! At last! Where are you?’
    ‘I don’t want to talk to you, James. Don’t call me again.’
    ‘Hang on! Baby, please!’
    ‘Don’t “baby” me, you tosser.’
    ‘Lucy, come on, this is all a big mix-up.’
    ‘Ha!’ I can’t believe he has the cheek to say it. ‘I mean it, James. We’re finished. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer about the flat.’ I look over at Meg, who’s trying to keep a straight face. I don’t actually have a lawyer. Well, not anymore anyway.
    ‘Lucy, wait!’ He’s desperate. ‘There really has been a mistake. Zoe was a nutcase. She’s been obsessed with me for ages!’
    ‘Oh, give the man an Oscar, for crying out loud.’ A thought suddenly occurs to me. ‘Were you shagging her on holiday?’ I ask. ‘In Spain? Is that why Jeremy said you’d all been having Sex On The Beach?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Was that his pathetic little in-jokey way of implying what you’d been up to? Shit, was that why there was sand in the bed?’
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Lucy.’
    ‘Don’t you bloody tell me not to be ridiculous. Were you shagging her when her boyfriend was there? Did he even cheat on her? You sick bastard!’
    ‘I haven’t been shagging her, for Christ’s sake!’
    I let out a brittle, hollow laugh. ‘It’s over, James, it’s over. You are an astoundingly good liar, but I have NEVER trusted you. And there’s a reason for that. The least you can do now is be honest with me so I can still have a grain of respect for you.’
    ‘I am being honest with you!’
    ‘Bull shit ! If you don’t respect me enough to tell me the truth– right now –then I never want to speak to you again. Ever!’ I wait, giving him a moment.
    ‘Lucy, I am telling you the tru—’ I slam the phone shut. Then I open the battery compartment and pull out the SIM card, Nathan, Nick, Tom and Meg watching every step of the way. Taking the tiny piece of plastic between my thumb and middle finger, I aim and flick it onto the fire.
    No point in wasting a phone, but if I never want to speak to the wanker again, I’m sure as hell going to need a new phone number.
    I turn and look at the faces around the table.
    ‘Fuck me, sis, way to go!’ Nick high-fives me. ‘Sorry, but I always thought he was a twat.’
    ‘I told you they never forgave him for the Big Feet debacle,’ I say to Nathan wryly.
    Nick laughs. ‘Nah, it wasn’t just that. I didn’t trust him. He was a bullshitter.’
    ‘I can go and pick up some things from your flat when I’m back in London, if that will help?’ Tom offers kindly.
    ‘Yeah, me too,’ Nick agrees.
    ‘Thank you.’ I smile at my lovely stepbrothers.
    ‘I think I need a joke after that,’ I say, turning to Nathan.
    ‘I’ve got one!’ Nick interjects.
    ‘Oh, here we go…’ I groan.
    ‘What’s the last thing that goes through a fly’s mind before it splats on your windscreen?’ Nick asks, before continuing. ‘Its arsehole!’
    ‘Eww!’ I laugh.
    ‘How do you make a hotdog stand?’ Meg shouts. ‘Steal his chair!’
    ‘What do you call a deer with no eyes?’ Tom yells. ‘No idea!’
    Nathan nudges me. ‘We’re in good company.’
    After the pub I take Nathan for a walk