Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN OTH…or SHE’S THE MAN, which this is kind of based off of, in case nobody picks up on that after, like, the first chapter. But, you never know…some people are really slow. ANYWAY, have fun reading!!!

Hey. I’m Peyton Sawyer. And the guy who’s about to ditch me to go join the army? That’s my brother, Derek.

“Dad’s not gonna be happy,” I singsong. Derek ignores me, finishing up the rest of his packing.

“So,” Derek stuffs the last of his clothing into the suitcase. “Are we clear on the plan?”

Ugh.

I nod.

The plan…the plan is very complicated. So I’ll try to make it a lot simpler; basically, Derek plays basketball, and he’s really good. REALLY good. So good, in fact, that he got a basketball scholarship to this really great school called Weston. The only problem is that Derek just turned nineteen a couple of months ago, and he’s set on being a marine. Derek has been has been going to Duke for a year, and just now, he’s realized that instead of pursuing basketball, he wants to be in the army. He needs me to replace him at school.

So that’s Derek’s problem. My problem is slightly different.

“Look, Peyton, this is really important to me. Dad already paid for everything that the scholarship didn’t cover. I can’t just not go to school,” Derek points out.

That’s where I come in.

Weston is very far away from where I live. It’s in Tree Hill, North Carolina. I can’t stand being at home. Dad is always away on business, and Mom died when I was seven, so I have pretty much no attachment to Los Angeles (that’s where we live).

I’ve just finished high school, and I want to go to a college very far away from home. Weston is the perfect place. It’s got a great art program where I can pursue writing, my interest in music, and most of all, drawing. Drawing and painting and sketching.

I’m very artsy.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I wait for the hug, and it happens.

Derek’s muscle-y arms wrap around me, and he thanks me over and over and over until I’m just about ready to smack him.

“Okay,” Derek grins, and tosses me an empty suitcase. “Start packing,” he suggests.

I smile a little.

Goodbye LA, hello Tree Hill, North Carolina.

“All right, let’s go over exactly what’s going to happen,” Haley says, while Bevin fits my new wig on top of my head. Just to make it more realistic, Bevin also adds some sideburns, which come right off if I pull them hard enough.

Theresa slaps my hand when I reach for a mirror.

“Almost done,” she mumbles, clipping my fingernails, because apparently guys don’t have long fingernails.

Who’da thunk?

“So, we make you look like a guy,” Haley starts.

“Then you go to North Carolina,” Bevin continues.

“Oh! And then you make sure that your roommates are really hot,” Theresa whispers, hoping that Haley won’t hear.

Haley does, and frowns.

“Um, no. Actually, the next thing you do is get situated. Put all of your stuff in the dorm room, but leave anything girly in your suitcase. The guy-stuff that I gave you, like the posters, is what you should hang up. We don’t want anybody suspecting anything.” Haley reminds me.

Yeah, yeah, I’ve gotten this speech before. Basically, I have to avoid showering with any of the guys, hide my girlish side, try to make my voice sound a little lower when I talk to people, and go by the name Derek. Oh, and I have to wear really loose jeans and pants all the time.

“Ooh! Are you going to join the basketball team?” Bevin asks, giggling.

Shit. I forgot all about that.

Derek only got the scholarship because he plays basketball.

But I suck at basketball.

God, I hate Derek. Why’d I let him talk me into this?