And he was right. I couldn't help but notice I was getting quite a few jealous looks from other girls. That was the thing with Frank. His looks and cheeky charm allowed him to get away with the most cringey of activities even stupid dancing.

Frank spun and dipped me again. As I looked back, I could see the stage upside down. And I saw Noah's face. Our eyes met instantly and Noah hit a bum note on his guitar. He looked furious. Frank pulled me back upright and I strained my neck to look at Noah once more. Our eyes met again and I could see hatred burning in his. He continued to play but gave me the most disgusted look before returning his attention towards his groupies.

I immediately stopped having fun.

"Let's stop dancing. I feel stupid," I told Frank.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough. I should probably go and find my mates anyway."

Shamefaced, I returned to Lizzie.

"Your mate Frank is actually pretty funny."

"He's alright."

"I think he likes you."

I shook my head. "Nah. It's not like that."

And we watched the rest of the set in silence.

Amanda found us just as the band was finishing. She excitedly made her way through the crowd, clutching Johnno's hand.

"There you are," she squealed, her black hair damp with sweat. "We've been looking for you for ages."

We both gave her a hug and nodded at Johnno.

"It's Poppy's fault," Lizzie said. "She made us late."

"Again?"

"Hey. I'm not always late."

Amanda pushed her hair back from her forehead and turned towards the band, who were raking in the applause.

"They were amazing, weren't they? I reckon they could really go places."

Lizzie and I nodded in unison.

"Really good," I agreed.

"Ruth's around here somewhere. We were chatting to her before the set started."

We turned and saw Ruth still in her spot at the front. Will was sitting at the side of the stage with Ruth clamped between his legs. They were kissing, their hands all over each other.

Lizzie wrinkled her nose. "Eww."

I nodded. "Double eww."

As the crowd continued to clap and cheer, I watched Noah. He was smiling again, surveying the crowd contentedly. My heart started to thump but I took a deep breath and managed to regain control.

Then, for the tiniest second, so quickly I could easily have missed it, I saw him look at me. He grimaced slightly. Then he held out his hand to the beautiful blonde girl in the front row.

Time went into slow motion as Noah plucked her from the crowd. Everyone stared as she took his hand and clambered gracefully onto the stage to join him. Then my heart sank as Noah wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her gently to him, and kissed her.

My eyes stung as I watched, unable to tear them away. The crowd, re-energized by the grand gesture, cheered them on and they kissed for about thirty seconds before breaking apart. Noah then took her hand and raised it into the air. Everyone screamed and clapped.

I felt sick.

"Who's that girl with Noah?" Lizzie asked, her gossip-hungry eyes on the new couple.

"Her name's Portia," Amanda said. "The band introduced us earlier. I think she's been seeing Noah the past week or so."

People had begun to leave. They were trickling past, bumping into us every few seconds as they exited into the cold night air.

Noah and Portia sat onstage next to Ruth and Will and started kissing again. The burning behind my eyes intensified and I focused on the sticky wooden floor.

"Is she nice?" Lizzie asked.

Johnno answered. "She went to my primary school," he said. "She was alright. Her family are minted though. She lives on Park Drive and goes to the grammar school. I think her dad invented Listerine mouthwash or something."

Park Drive? I could have been looking into her house earlier tonight.

"Listerine? Wow. I use that," said Lizzie.

I listened to my friends discussing what they would spend all their money on if they were a mouthwash heiress, while I focused on breathing and holding in tears.

By the time they'd finished, all agreeing a swimming pool would be the first purchase, the club was mostly empty.

I made myself look up again and saw that Ruth and Will had managed to disentangle themselves and were coming over.

"You came," she said, nodding towards me and Lizzie. "We thought you hadn't bothered."

"We just got here late," Lizzie said. "Couldn't find you before the gig started." She turned to Will. "Great set by the way."

Will looked like he'd won the lottery. He had his arm around Ruth proudly, like she was the top prize in a raffle. "Cheers," he said. "Well, I had Ruth to spur me on."

I remembered Ruth's stripper dancing and it lightened me a little. I tried not to smirk.

Lizzie was obviously remembering the same thing. "Yep, you definitely did."

"So what are you guys up to?" Ruth asked. "I think the band are heading to a late bar if you fancy joining?" She turned back to Noah and Portia, who were STILL kissing. "Well," she said. "If we can yank those two apart."

Ryan bounded over to join in the conversation. "Alright?" he said. "How did we do then?"

I tried to gulp down the enormous lump in my throat and act normal. "You did good." I said. "Very good."

His eyes lit up. "You think so?"

I nodded.

"Wow, thanks."

"Where you heading now?" I asked him. I figured distracting myself from Noah's new conquest was the only way I'd be able to get through the next ten minutes.

"Going for a few celebratory pints if you fancy joining?"

I shook my head. "I've got to get home," I lied.

His face dropped. "That's a shame. A whole load of us are going after we pack up."

"Who's that then?" Lizzie asked.

"Erm. Just me and the rest of the band. I think Noah's bringing that Portia girl he's with."

Well, I definitely wasn't going to go now, was I?

Lizzie looked at me. "Sounds fun. You in?"

I fake-yawned. "Sorry. I'm knackered. Ruth's going though, isn't she?"

Lizzie wanted to stay out with the others but Amanda and Johnno wanted to get home, so I decided to go with them. Any excuse to get out of the place. We said our goodbyes and started towards the door. For some stupid reason I made myself look back at the stage and saw Noah and Portia had stopped kissing. She was leaning towards his ear, whispering something suggestive, no doubt. But he was staring at me. He caught my eye and I saw him smirk, in an annoying self-satisfied way. It was too much. The tears I'd been holding back began to spill down my face.

I cried silently on the way home next to an oblivious Amanda and Johnno, grateful the dark was hiding my embarrassment.

The next day I felt different.

Maybe it was the healing power of crying-induced sleep. Maybe the logical part of my brain was finally winning over. Or maybe enough was enough and I just wanted to be Poppy again. Either way, when I woke up, I had only one thought. Get over it.

I'd cried too much over Noah. It was suddenly clear. I'd wasted tears and hours of anxiety on what? A boy. A stupid boy. That wasn't who I was. I remembered that day on the common when I'd promised myself not to get involved and was annoyed at my lack of resolve. I hadn't shut him out. And now, as predicted, I felt terrible. It served me right really.

When I remembered him kissing Portia my body responded unfavourably to the memory. My chest tightened and tears welled up. But I took a deep breath, exhaled and let the emotion leave my body.

"I will not let that boy make me feel crap ever again," I said aloud. And I believed myself. Finally, after all these weeks, I had gained some perspective and felt strong. I was sure if I were to see him again, my body wouldn't respond as it had before. It had only taken weeks of torment and constant crying. Not great. But I'd got there in the end.

Feeling better than I'd done in ages, I skipped downstairs to greet Mum and Dad for breakfast. Mum was stirring something on the hob and Dad was already buried in the weekend paper.

"Mmm, something smells good," I said, announcing my arrival.

"Eggs in five minutes," Mum replied.

"Yum. Thank you."

I got out some of the posh orange juice we're only allowed on weekends and poured myself a generous glass, before sitting next to Dad.

"So what's going on in the world?" I asked, taking a large gulp.

"You know. The usual. Complete misery." His stock answer.

"Wars and bombs?"

"Nope, not today. More politicians ruining everything."

"Same old then."

"What are you up to today?" He turned over a page of his paper.

I thought about it. "I might go for a walk. It looks pretty nice outside. Then I've got some Psychology coursework." I made a face.

"Learning anything interesting?"

"Not really. Psychology sounds a lot more interesting than it actually is."

Dad looked at me over the paper. "I'm afraid that's the same with most things in life."

Mum arrived at our sides, brandishing plates piled high with luscious yellow scrambled eggs.

"Oi," she said, putting a plate down in front of my father. "It's far too early in the morning to be so pessimistic."

"But it's true!" I said, taking a bite of toast.

"That's no excuse. You're supposed to be happy and positive when you're young, then learn from our mistakes and not make them again."

"That's not how it works. We just relive your mistakes, try and ensure our children don't do the same, but they end up like us anyway."

Mum turned to Dad, frowning. "It's your fault she's so cynical," she snapped. "Where else would she get this from?"

He just took a mouthful of egg and retreated back inside the paper.

It was a nice breakfast. Not just the food, but the vibe. I felt good after my Noah epiphany and Mum seemed to sense I'd come out of whatever "phase" I'd been going through. She didn't even mention Dr. Ashley and, for once, things were how they were supposed to be. After I'd helped clear the dishes, I ran upstairs to chuck some clothes on.

The house phone rang and I picked it up on my way out.

"Hello?"

"Poppy, how are you? I've not seen you in ages."

It was my sister, Louise. Just hearing her voice made me smile.

"I'm good. Same old exciting Middletown."

"Ahh, it's not that bad."

"It's alright for you, you've escaped."

She laughed. Louise met her husband at uni and they got married straight after graduation. Maybe that's romantic. I wasn't sure. Sometimes I wondered about what would have happened if she went to a different uni, would she have met and married someone else? Or would she have bumped into Dave, her husband, another way?

"Is Mum in? I need to discuss Christmas with her."