Noelle glared up at the sky - it was completely cloudless, a brilliant shade of blue. It made her eyes water. It was hot. Too hot. It was March, for Christ's sake. And she was in Droylesden. Droylesden was always overcast and grey, even when the rest of the country was slapping on sun cream.

Surely Alex should have been here by now. She'd been sat on this bench -where they always used to meet- for about ten minutes, and the heat seemed to stretch the minutes into hours. Alex, Noelle's best friend, had changed a lot recently. She dyed her hair that weird purpley-red colour everyone seemed to be obsessed with and started talking to boys and going to parties. They went to different schools, so it was no surprise that she hung around with a different sort of people and had new friends, but lately Noelle felt like she was being left behind.

Noelle's phone dinged. This is probably Alex now, she thought, telling me she's going to be late. She opened the message.

'sorry bbe can't make it today xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Noelle felt betrayed. Was she not even worth an excuse now? And since when did Alex send kisses? She felt angry, then pathetic, then angry for feeling pathetic. She stood up and stuffed her phone back into her pocket, marching back the way she had come. Once she was past the supermarket, she had decided she didn't need Alex anymore. When she crossed the bridge, she made up her mind to ignore her. By the time she was almost home, she felt like crying.

And then she spotted it. A lizard. It was quite large, up to her knee, and it balanced on it's hind legs. It had a long tail that swayed as it walked, searching through the overspill of a bin. An actual lizard. She watched it for a while, trying to work out what to do. Had no-one else seen it? The street was empty, not a person in sight. She looked back down to where it had been. And just like that, it was gone. She looked up and down the street before catching a glimpse of a tail as it scurried down a ginnel.

She ran after it, wondering what she would do if she actually caught up. She had never seen a wild lizard before, not in England. Not outside an enclosure. What if it was carrying some foreign disease? What if it was someone's overly expensive pet? Should she catch it and call the police? The ginnel twisted and turned as it weaved between houses, and all the time she would just see a tail flick it's way around a corner. It was fast. She was always about four metres behind, despite her obvious height advantage.

The ginnel lead to a unkempt football pitch, and she soon lost the little lizard amongst the tall grass.

And then she heard it. 'Aha! Got you, you absolute beauty.' It was a man, holding up a net with the lizard tangled inside it. He was dressed kind of weird. Too formal, for one. Sure, she only had a view of the back half of his body, but braces? Seriously?

She watched for a moment or two before curiosity got the better of her and she decided to head over. 'Look at you.' The man crooned, poking his finger into the net. The lizard snapped at him, and he pulled his finger away just in time. 'Oi, none of that.'

'What is it?' Noelle said, when she was close enough.

The man looked at her for a second then back at the lizard. Then he did a double take. He hid the net behind his back. 'Nothing.'

'Doesn't look like nothing.' She tried to step around him, but he moved with her.

'Then you're looking wrong.' She tried again, stepping sideways, and he turned to face her. She tried to run around him, but he spun on the spot.

'Fine,' She said. 'I've already seen it anyway.'

'You have?'

'I have. It's a lizard.'

'No.'

'No?'

'It's not a lizard.'

'Then what is it?'

He was quiet for a second, then leaned forward. 'Can you keep a secret?'

Noelle frowned at the man. What was he, five? 'Tell me.'

'Pinkie promise?' He held out his little finger. She looked at the man's face, then down to his finger. He was strange, sure, but what was the harm in it? Besides, she really wanted to know. She wrapped her finger around his.

He pulled the net from behind his back.'Compsognathus Longipes.'

'A what what?'

'A small dinosaur.'

Noelle snorted. He was nuts, then. She should have known. Who wore bow ties these days, anyway?

'You don't believe me?'

'Yeah, not quite.'

'Well, that's probably for the best.' He patted her shoulder and started to walk away.

After a second of hesitation, she chased after him.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Well, if you don't believe me, I don't have to prove it, do I? And that saves me some trouble and keeps you out of danger. Two badgers, one stone.'

'I think it's a bird.'

'I told you, it's a dinosaur.'

'I meant - never mind. Danger?'

'Well, of course. Late Jurassic period, you've got your diplodocuses stumbling about. Could get squashed. A messy way to die, really. Most unfortunate.'

'You're mad.'

'Of course. But I'm not a liar.' The man stopped walking and Noelle bumped into him. 'Well... I'm not lying now anyway.' He carried on. Noelle watched him go, the net swung over his shoulder. He was obviously delusional. Very probably unbalanced. It would be mad in itself to follow him still.

She ran up to him again.

'So you don't believe me?'

'No.'

'And you're still following?'

'I'm intrigued. And I'd feel partially responsible if you hurt yourself.'

'And why would I do that?'

'Well, not intentionally. Maybe you could get squished by a diplodocus.' She smiled at him, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled back. When he looked up again, his face lit up.

'There she is.' He said, beaming. 'My spaceship.'

She followed his gaze. He gestured to a blue box, stood on the road facing the field. 'That wasn't there before.' She said, mostly to herself.

'That's what you're questioning? I did just call it a spaceship.'

'Yeah, but that's crazy talk. I know that wasn't there before.'

The man turned and walked backwards for a few steps, wiggling his eyebrows. 'It moves through time and space. That's why it's called the Tardis.'

She frowned.

' T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.'

She followed him across the empty road, looking up at the blue box. 'Well, it says it's a Police Box.'

'It's a disguise.'

'It's not a very good one. Stands out like a sore thumb.'

The man stroked the blue door affectionately. 'It's okay, sexy, she didn't mean it.'

Noelle took a step back. 'Well I should probably go.'

'You don't want to see if it's true then?' The man said, pulling a key out of his pocket.

Noelle watched, uncertain. 'I should probably go.' She repeated, still not moving. The man smiled at her, and put the key in the lock. To Noelle's utmost surprise, she heard a click, and the man pushed the door open. It actually worked. He had unlocked the door. So, did that make some of it true? No, of course not. It couldn't be true. Don't be stupid, she chastised herself.

With one last smile and eyebrow wiggle, he disappeared inside. Noelle stared. How on earth did he fit with that net on his shoulder? She looked at the door. Did she dare? Well, she had followed him this far. No point in going back now.

She pushed the door open and peeked inside.