A/N – To whom it may concern, yes I do happen to know there is a movie called She’s the Man, starring Amanda Bynes. However, I find the title fitting for such a story seeing as how the main character (who is a she) turns into a he. Not through surgery, but through fate. Well, you’ll see what I mean. My friend Erica and I put our messed up minds together and came up with this beautiful creation. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

NO ANGELS WERE HARMED DURING THE MAKING OF THIS STORY.

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She’s the Man: Chapter One

The girl sighed happily as she sat behind her desk. She was sitting in her last class of the day. The teacher droned on, but she paid no attention to the lecture. Her blue eyes studied her surroundings even though she was all too familiar with them. It wasn’t her surroundings so much she was studying. It was more like the young boy that was sitting in front of her. The girl sighed once more and tucked a strand of her short, light brown, wavy hair behind her ear. This particular creature she was so intently staring at turned out to be the object of her one-sided attraction. The boy had his back to her, but she knew his features all too well.

The boy was Colton, she had learned from much well devised stalking. He just happened to be well known in their high school. He was fifteen, just like her. His hair was a shiny jet-black color. As for his hairstyle, it seemed to spike here and there. His hair ended near the middle of his neck. It was his eyes that she liked the best. His eyes were a forest green color that she could just drown in. It was unfortunate for her that Colton never turned around in his seat so that she could stare into his green eyes. He was tall and well built. He was an athletic person, so it was no surprise just who his best friend was.

Speak of the devil.

Her eyes were fixated on Colton’s black hair again when something flew past her head. She glanced over her shoulder only to see Colton’s best friend shooting spitballs in random directions. She couldn’t help herself but scowl. Why was he even in her class?

The spitball shooter’s name was Tommy. She wasn’t the type of high school student who hated people. She was actually acquainted with a lot of people in her sophomore grade. A few who were affiliated with the “popular crowd”. Anyone who knew her could say they liked her. Anyone she knew she said she liked them. All except for Tommy. It’s not that she hated Tommy, it was just that she couldn’t stand him. And she didn’t know why anyone else could. The only positive thing about Tommy was that he was the captain of the school’s soccer team. The boy was rude, loud, irritating, and certainly none too bright. Pretty much, he was the exact opposite of her.

She herself admitted she wasn’t the smartest kid in school. But she did have a useful ability of keeping her grades up. She was a mellow-tempered girl who never raised her voice when it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t like to attract attention to herself. Because she could always keep herself so calm, she wasn’t annoying or even immature. In fact, she was even a bit innocent. Not so much innocent exactly, just uneducated in certain subjects.

She couldn’t figure out why Tommy and Colton were best friends. They were nothing alike. Tommy was immature, Colton was mature. Tommy was loud, Colton kept to himself. Tommy was annoying, Colton was cool. Tommy was weird, Colton was cute. At least he was in her eyes. She was certain every other sophomore girl thought the same thing about Colton since he was popular. She had had a crush on this boy since middle school, and she never even talked to him.

Just as she was cursing the fact that she had this class with Tommy, another spitball zoomed past her head and hit Colton in the back of his head. He turned around looking slightly annoyed. He looked past her at Tommy.

“Don’t even think about using me for target practice,” Colton warned with a chuckle somewhere in his voice. Even though he looked annoyed with what Tommy was doing, he gave his friend a smile. Tommy just scoffed and went back to shooting spitballs everywhere. The girl figured Colton would turn back around without even looking at her. To her surprise, he actually did look at her while still smiling. “He’s so annoying isn’t he?” he asked her in a whisper.

Her heart had skipped a beat and her face flushed. She pinched herself inconspicuously to make she sure she wasn’t dreaming. She looked directly into Colton’s green eyes and replied with a shrug, “Boys will be boys.”

Colton smiled at her again and turned back around in his seat.

She sighed dreamily as her mind wandered off into La La Land. Right when she started picturing her and Colton’s wedding she was hit in the back of the head with something. She groped the back of her head and looked at what hit her. In her palm was a wet spitball. She frowned and flicked the saliva-covered paper wad off. She looked over her should in time to see Tommy snickering to himself. She sighed once more, looking back forward.

A folded up note landed on her desk in front of her. She jumped from surprise. She scooped the note into her hand and unfolded it underneath her desk. She made sure the teacher wasn’t watching as she started reading the note.

Hey Tara. You okay? You keep staring at the back of Colton’s head. If you keep that up everyone in class will know you like him.

Tara looked up with a smile. She glanced at her best friend sitting in the desk close to her. The fire-haired girl noticed Tara was looking at her and sent her a small smile.

Tara loved Roxanne, her best friend, because she was too sweet for her own good. Roxanne was a quiet, shy girl who was probably one of the nicest people Tara knew. This was why the two had been best friends since elementary. Sometimes, though, Tara thought Roxanne could be too sweet. The redhead never defended herself in fear of getting on people’s bad side. Because of this, Roxanne allowed everyone to walk all over her.

Certainly not the Irish in her.

Tara laughed at her own thought, earning her an odd glance from Roxanne. Indeed, Tara’s best friend was proud of her Irish blood. But since Roxanne hardly ever socialized with people, not many knew that she was even part Irish. It was because of Tara that Roxanne even had any other friends.

Though Roxanne’s Irish heritage showed in her physical features. Roxanne had auburn hair with hazy blue eyes to accompany her hair. Roxanne was slightly freckled and fair skinned. The girl easily burned if out in the sun for too long. She was slender and had the figure of a dancer. Roxanne was light on her feet, but sometimes was just a bit clumsy.

Tara quickly scribbled something down on the note. She reread it to see if it was note worthy.

They’ll find out if you keep writing notes about it Roxxie.

Tara folded the note back up and tossed it in Roxanne’s direction. A moment later the note returned on Tara’s desk. She opened it and read it. Roxanne had written:

Eep! I’m sorry!

The brunette sighed to herself. It was just like Roxanne to apologize for something she didn’t do. A shadow suddenly loomed over Tara. She heard Roxanne gasp from her desk. Tara was reluctant to look up. When she did she saw the teacher scowling down at her. The girl forced a smile for him.

“And what’s that you got there?” the teacher rhetorically asked as he crossed his arms. “A note?”

“No,” Tara lied, crushing the note in her fist.

The teacher snatched the note out of Tara’s hand. All the students were watching her, Colton and Tommy included. Tara watched the teacher with begging eyes. She prayed that he wouldn’t read it to the class. The last thing she needed was the entire classroom of students to find out about her crush on Colton. The teacher stuffed the note in his pocket and looked back down at Tara.

“Why don’t you tell Colton exactly why you keep staring at the back of his head Tara,” the teacher suggested as he smirked smugly.

At this, Tara turned pale and gulped. Colton raised an eyebrow in curiosity. The girl looked back and forth between him and the teacher. When she refused to say anything the teacher sighed and walked back to the front of the classroom.

“I suggest you pay attention in class,” the teacher said sharply. “Instead of gossiping between you and Roxanne through notes.”

Tara only nodded in fear that he would reveal the contents of the notes. Colton sent Tara an odd look before turning back around in his seat. Tara groaned and placed her head on her desk, thus covering her head with her arms. She could have sworn she heard Tommy snicker behind her.

She frowned. Tara couldn’t stand anything about him. His ruffled brown hair. His equally brown eyes. The way he played soccer. His sense of humor. His scrawny and yet somewhat athletic figure. His lack of effort in school. Anything. She couldn’t stand anything about Tommy at all.

Time slowly passed by in Tara’s last period class. Just when she thought the end would never come, the bell rang. School was finally over. Just like that, the students jumped from their seats and dashed out the door. Tommy cheered and ran out of the room. Tara left the school with Roxanne by her side.

“Sorry about the note thing,” Roxanne apologized.

Tara only laughed. “Don’t worry Roxxie. At least the teacher didn’t read it out loud.” Her expression changed. “I would have died if Colton found out I liked him!”

“Did I hear my name mentioned?” a voice suddenly asked from behind the two girls. Both of them yelped and turned around. Colton and Tommy were behind both of them. Colton had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans while Tommy was smirking. Tara’s hands shot to her mouth. Roxanne stared at Tommy and blushed.

“I…um…” Tara tried communicating. But no words came out of her mouth. Colton just laughed and walked past her. Tommy followed after his friend. He made sure to make kissy faces at Tara as he walked past her. Roxanne’s eyes followed Tommy.

“Bye Tommy!” the redhead called as she waved enthusiastically at him.

“You don’t think he heard me…do you?” Tara asked, turning to her friend.

Roxanne shook her head, unsure as to how to answer that question. Tara sighed and hung her head. Roxanne linked arms with her and continued leading her down the sidewalk.

“How about I treat you to some ice cream at the quick mart?” Roxanne suggested. “It’ll cheer you up.”

“I love you Roxxie,” Tara droned, still not sounding too cheery. Her friend giggled and dragged her in the direction of the quick mart.

“How is this supposed to cheer me up?” Tara whined as soon as the two of them stepped into the quick mart. Standing at the counter was Tommy and Colton. Tara could feel herself blush.

“Let’s just go get ice cream and leave,” was all Roxanne had to say. They both picked out their own choice of ice cream and went up to the counter. They stood behind the two boys as they paid for what they bought. Tommy noticed who had joined them at the counter.

“Well if it isn’t those two girls,” he laughed evilly. Tara tried not to punch him. She glued her eyes to the floor.

“Hi Tommy,” Roxanne said in barely a whisper.

Colton turned around and his eyes landed on Tara. She was determined not to look up at him. Their moment, however, was interrupted when the bells on the door chimed. A masked man rushed into the quick mart. And he was holding a gun. Tara’s heart stopped when she realized this. She was suddenly unable to move as panic washed over her. The man rushed past the kids and up to the counter. He held the gun at the person behind the cash register.

“Give me the money now!” the gunman demanded harshly.

Roxanne gasped and stepped back behind Tara. Tommy froze where he was behind Tara as well. Tara couldn’t believe what she saw though. Colton, unlike the rest of them, rushed up and blocked the person behind the cash register from the gunman. Colton had this serious heroic look on his face, much different from the wide-eyed looks of terror on the other three. He was trying to be a hero. Despite the situation, Tara found herself more attracted to Colton than before.

“Get out of the way kid!” the gunman shouted.

When Colton refused to budge the gunman readied his gun. Tara’s eyes widened in horror as the realization sunk in. Colton was about to get shot. But not on her watch! Suddenly Tara was able to move again. Almost as if someone else was controlling her, she ran up in front of Colton and shielded him. The gunman shot his gun, but instead of shooting the boy he shot Tara. Pain seared through her body as she went crashing to the floor. All Tara could hear were the screams of her best friend and the cashier, the gasp of Tommy, the shouts of Colton as he tried urging Tara to stay in there and not die, and the cursing of the gunman. She could feel the blood seeping through her clothes. Her hand slowly reached where she was shot. She could feel the bullet hole on her stomach. She couldn’t help it. Her eyelids were just so heavy. Her vision was getting blurry as she saw the crying face of Roxanne and the worried expression on Colton’s face. Before she closed her eyes she saw the blurry image of blue and red lights from police cars right outside the quick mart. There was the distant noise of sirens ringing in Tara’s ears as it became harder and harder for her to hear. Everything went dark. Everything got eerily quiet. Tara was dead.

Tara’s eyes shot open when a sudden warm feeling cascaded over her. Her blue eyes widened. Just where was she? She was standing in front of a golden gate with people lining up in front of it. She gasped when she noticed what she was standing on. The floor beneath her feet was made out of nothing more than clouds. Her eyes flickered to her stomach. The shot wound was gone. There was no more blood. Her head snapped back up at the gate. One by one the people in the line were entering through the gate, all of them smiling excitedly. It took her a moment before Tara realized she really was dead.

“I never really thought Heaven was made out clouds,” she said to herself. She walked over to the line behind the last person and waited. And then it hit her. It hit her like a ton of bricks. It took a while for the realization to actually kick in. Tara was dead.

“Oh my…” Tara gasped. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no–!”

“Next!” the angel sitting behind a podium next to the gate called. She had a large book with golden pages in front of her. The angel looked bored. She had short, charcoal black hair that ended only centimeters from her shoulders. Her long bangs were brushed off to the side. She had a round, cute face. Her eyes were chocolate brown. Her eyes weren’t filled with any sort of happiness (which was strange, what with it being Heaven and all) but currently looked as bored as her facial expression. Tara’s eyes widened when she saw an extra feature of the girl. There were large, white, feathery wings protruding from the girl’s back. They flapped slightly as the next person in line stepped forward. “Name?” the girl sighed, placing her head in her hand.

“Martin Smith,” the man said hopefully. He was a plump man in his late forties. He looked terribly out of shape, and from the way his voice sounded Tara could only guess how many years the man had been smoking. His head was nearly completely bald. He wrung his large hands together, awaiting permission to enter Heaven. The angel flipped through the book, studying the pages with each flip. Her eyes froze on a particular page. Her facial expression changed and she looked back up at the man. His own face fell at the expression the angel was giving him.

“Looks like you took a wrong turn when you died. I’m afraid it says here that you can’t get in, Mr. Smith,” the angel informed, actually sounding like she was enjoying this. “Turns out you didn’t live a very good life. Let’s see now…alcohol…drugs…took pleasure in prostitutes, oh dear…and what’s this? You didn’t seem to have a religious point of view. Oh my, a faithless man were you?” The angel smirked at the man. Tara was quite surprised by this. She was unaware angels could act so…malicious.

“But isn’t He supposed to be a forgiving God?” the man begged, sounding desperate to get in.

“Goodbye,” the angel chirped. She pressed a button on the podium. The cloud floor beneath the man disappeared. He screamed and went falling through the floor. The clouds returned when the man fell completely through. Tara winced. It must have been the button that sent a soul to Hell. Tara gulped, only having more pressure thrown on her already racked up nerves.

“About time I got to use that button,” the angel sighed happily. “Next!”

Tara stepped forward slowly. The last thing she wanted was to have the Hell button used on her. Actually, the last thing she wanted was to be dead. “Why did you do that to him?” Tara demanded.

The angel didn’t seem to hear her. “Name?”

“I asked you a question,” Tara said.

The angel rolled her eyes. She got up and walked out from behind the podium. Tara could finally see that the angel was wearing a red tank top and dark blue denim shorts, which were folded up slightly. Tara raised an eyebrow at the angel’s choice of clothing. She had always figured angels were supposed to wear white robes and halos (the angel didn’t even have a halo), not teen apparel. But the angel looked like a teenager. In fact, she looked like she was Tara’s exact age. The angel placed a hand on her waist.

“Look kid,” the angel sighed. “Do you want to get into Heaven or not?”

“Heaven?” Tara squeaked. “I don’t want to be dead! I shouldn’t be dead!”

“Oh no. Not one of them,” the angel muttered. She returned to her position behind the podium. “Name?”

“I can’t be dead! There are so many things I haven’t done!” Tara began rambling. Usually she wasn’t one to overreact. But she though this one moment would be an exception since she was dead. “I haven’t seen snow, or been in a food fight, or…or…or had my first kiss! I never told Colton I liked him! I haven’t even caught raindrops on my tongue!”

“You haven’t caught raindrops on you tongue?” the angel interrupted Tara’s ranting. “Even I’ve done that, and I’m an angel.”

“I haven’t done so many things in my life!” Tara went back to rambling. She suddenly felt sick. She wasn’t ready to be dead. Not yet. “I’m too young to be dead! There’s so much I have left to do!”

“Name?” the angel repeated for the third time, this time sounding more agitated than before.

Tara fell silent. She turned back to the angel, looking sad. Her blue eyes sent the angel a desperate look. And unlike before, the angel actually felt sympathetic. “Tara Marrero,” she finally told the angel.

The angel flipped through the large book in front of her again. She stopped on a page and read the name. She smiled up at Tara. “Say’s here you were a good person,” the angel informed happily. “Lived a good life. Apparently you were kind, generous, usually tolerant. Wow, says here you were a pretty faithful person. Believed in the big guy upstairs!” The angel’s eyes widened as she read the last bit of information of Tara. “And apparently you gave your life to save someone you really cared about. That’s extra points for you!”

Tara blushed at what was last mentioned. She died for Colton. She guessed that was a good way for her to go. Then again, she didn’t really want to be dead, so that kind of ruined the whole thing. The angel looked back at Tara and crossed her arms over the podium.

“Well Tara, name’s Ava,” the angel introduced. “I happened to be on gate duty today.”

“I can’t be dead,” Tara whispered. “Not now anyway. There’s a lot I haven’t done yet…”

“You mean like confess to this Colton kid?” Ava teased. Tara’s face turned a darker shade of red. “Honey, this is Heaven. Don’t act so surprised that I know this.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Tara begged. “Anything to bring me back to life?”

Ava laughed. “Tara, I’m only an angel. You don’t honestly expect me to have that kind of power do you?”

Tara cried and hid her face behind her hands. Ava sighed and hung her head.

“Tell you what,” the angel spoke up. Tara peeked between her fingers. “I’ll help you out with your being dead problem. I might be able to do something.”

Tara’s face lit up.

“BUT!” Ava emphasized. “Here’s the deal. You can only be alive for so long. At least long enough for you to complete your list.”

Tara tilted her head. “What list?” she asked curiously.

“Your list of things you haven’t done in your life,” explained Ava. “You know, your first kiss, catching rain on your tongue. Your list consisting of that sort of stuff.”

Ava snapped her fingers suddenly. A long, rolled up parchment of paper appeared in front of the angel. She plucked it out of the air and studied it. She handed it to Tara. She took the list from the angel.

“Looks like it’s a long list too,” Ava chuckled. “I’ll allow you to be alive long enough to finish that list of yours. Of course, there’s a catch to this whole deal.” Ava laughed to herself as the thought of that catch swam around in her head.

Tara raised an eyebrow. “Whatever,” she said. “As long as I’m alive again.”

“You won’t stay alive,” Ava told. “Only long enough for you to do the things you never got to do before you died.”

“I guess that’s fair…” Tara fibbed as her face fell. She really wanted to stay alive. But at least her list was long. Maybe it was long enough to keep her alive for quite some time.

“Are you ready to live again Tara?” Ava laughed. Tara nodded her head quickly. “Now just remember, whenever you need help just call my name and I’ll find you in a jiffy.”

Ava cracked her knuckles and stretched out her arms. Tara closed her eyes. The angel waved her arms and pointed her hands at the girl. Tara felt a sudden jolt. She could feel the floor beneath her materializing away. There was a sudden suffocating feeling, and then everything went black. Tara could feel the warmth of being alive again as she fell into a deep slumber.

Something next to Tara’s head was beeping annoyingly. She groaned and shut the alarm clock off. She slumped out of bed. She was still too groggy to take in her surroundings. It didn’t matter to her though. She was alive. She walked past a table that had a rolled up parchment sitting on top of it. Tara felt a little strange today. She felt more muscular than usual. She left her room and walked out into the hall. She made her way to the bathroom. Tara yawned and stretched. She stared into the mirror. She had been expecting to see her original face. Short brown hair that was always wavy, large blue eyes, and a feminine face. Instead she was staring at the reflection of Tommy. Her hand shot to her face. Why was Colton’s best friend substituting for her reflection? That wasn’t her hand touching her face! It was Tommy’s hand and face! Tara gasped. She was Tommy.

“OHMYGAWD!” Tara shrieked. She stumbled backwards and tripped. She fell into the bathtub and ripped the shower curtain off. She landed in the tub, completely wrapped in the shower curtain. She started struggling and yelling as she wondered how this could have happened.

Downstairs, Tommy’s parents were sitting at the table in the kitchen. They stared at the ceiling as Tara kept screaming in Tommy’s voice. Tommy’s mom and dad sighed.

“He fell into the tub with the shower curtain again,” Tommy’s mother sighed.

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A/N –

Tara: No angels were harmed in the making of this story huh? What about innocent brunette girls?

Little Miss Whatsherface: It’s not my fault that you went all lovesick and saved Colton’s life.

Tara: Yes it is! You’re the author for crying out loud!

Ava: I like the part where angels were not harmed in the making of this story.

Tara: What about me? I died AND turned into a boy!

Little Miss Whatsherface: Aren’t you supposed to, you know, not overreact to stuff?

Tara: I think it’s okay to overreact when a person dies and turns into the opposite gender!

Ava: Hey, you wanted to live again.

Tara: You said nothing about turning into a boy!

Ava: Yes I did. I said there was a catch.

Tara: How was I–

Little Miss Whatsherface: So here’s the first chapter. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? If you like it, you can thank me. If you hate it, you can blame my friend Erica. So review or whatever and maybe I’ll update.

Tara: I’m not finished! Get back here! Hey, are you listening? Hello!