Disclaimer: This story is fan fiction. It is not true in any way, shape, form or fashion. None of the characters, personalities, actions or words are true. I do not know any of the members of B2K, Imx, or any other celebrity that may happen to appear in this or any other story that I write. However, I do own my characters and their mannerisms and will express them in the way that I choose. This story is an original idea derived from the mind of yours truly. I do not intend to offend anyone with the content or issues of the story if that is done, I apologize wholeheartedly. Please enjoy the story and feel free to send me feedback, comments and/or suggestions at MzOIG@aol.com

Summary: Tomboy Tristen Carter has spent her entire life being treated like one of the guys. From balling on the court to wrestling in the grass, she has always been looked at the same way, until she met princess Breezia Hillard. Over one summer, Tristen makes the transformation from Nike to BabyPhat, to catch the eye of one special guy. But will haters and jealousy get in her way or will she realize that all she needed to do was be herself? This is the story of a girl, a lady, a woman.

The Players

Tristen Carter: 5'3", caramel complexion, short and thick about 125 lbs. Shoulder length black hair which is almost always cornrowed and dark brown almond shaped eyes. She is a tomboy, wears big baggy sports clothes and no makeup or jewelry. She is quiet and shy, and nervous when it comes to guys. Loves basketball and rap music. Romantic Status: single, crushing on De'Mario Thornton

Breezia Hillard: 5'2", dark brown chocolate complexion about 120 lbs. Long jet-black hair that stops about mid back, big round honey colored eyes. She is a girly-girl, captain of the cheerleading squad and is smart as well. She is outgoing and very talkative and funny. She is flirty, but doesn't want a boyfriend, unless it is that one special guy. She loves shopping and B2K. Romantic Status: recently separated, openly likes Dreux Frederic

Nisha Dandridge: 5'3", high yellow complexion, about 115 lbs. Naturally curly black/brown hair, but straightens it out, slanted hazel colored eyes. She is a also a girly-girl and is best friends with Breezia Hillard. She is on the drill/dance team is an average student. She is talkative and crazy. Somewhat aggressive and a little stuck up when she wants to be. She loves dance. Romantic Status: single but very close to hooking up with Jarell Houston

Tierra Turner: 5'2", light tan complexion, about 125 lbs. Dark black hair with golden highlights that stops a little past the shoulders, she has dark brown almost black round eyes. She is on the cheerleading squad with Breezia and is smart as well. She is quiet and observant until you bring her out of her shell. She is very nice and sometimes taken advantage of because of this and extremely smart. She loves to read and write poetry and songs. Romantic Status: asked out once by Omari Grandberry, turned him down but the two remained friends.

De'Mario Thornton: 5'8", light colored complexion, football player build, brown eyes, and big luscious lips. Very nice and outgoing, has been linked to the playa reputation, and can have any hoe that he wants, but is really just looking for that special girl. Is very smart and is one of the best football players in the state. Loves football and music. Romantic Status: single as a hit song, but not for long.

Dreux Frederic: 5'9", high yellow complexion, tall and slim but built. Dark brown eyes, slim but full lips and nice wavy hair either brushed in a ponytail or braided. Quiet and shy when out of his comfort zone, but is a freak to the core. Is an average student and on the varsity basketball team. Loves to rap and the ladies. Romantic Status: sprung over Breezia Hillard

Jarell Houston: 5'7", caramel complexion, tall and skinny, but cute. Has big brown doe eyes, nice lips and high cheekbones. He is loud, talkative and crazy. Plays varsity baseball and loves to dance. Romantic Status: single with someone in mind

Omari Grandberry: 5'8", chocolate complexion, tall with muscles. Has deep brown eyes, and full, lush lips, and always has his hair in tight braids. Isn't that into sports as his boys, and prefers writing music or poetry. Loves music and honeys. Romantic status: still crushing on Tierra Turner

Other Characters who may appear later on:

Orlando Stone, Claudette Elliot, Rashaan Minor, Brystina Hillard, Bryce Hillard, O'Ryan Grandberry, Marques Houston, Jerome Jones, Kelton Keesee

Girl, Lady, Woman
Chapter 1

Tristen's POV

It was the last day of my Junior year at Simmerson High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, we had just finished the third of six finals and were free to go to lunch. I, Tristen Carter, was walking down the hallway, with a Spalding basketball in one hand and an Algebra II book in the other. It was a ritual, everyday during lunch, if I wasn't hungry, me and my boy, Orlando would go play basketball in the gym, if the gym was full, we'd go outside. It was the way of our world. Basketball was my thing. You see, I'm what some people call a tomboy. No I'm not a lesbian, I'm not butch, I'd just rather wear b-ball shorts than some daisy dukes. I prefer du-rags and cornrows over the hairspray and butterfly clips. It was just my style. It'd been this way since I was about 8. Before then, my mom would pick out all my clothes and shoes for me, and everything would be pink and lacy. And I hated it, by the time I was 8, my mom let me pick out my own clothes and to save money, I'd just go through my brother's closet. I started to like it, I was comfortable. And for a while, baggy was in. Everybody was wearing it, guys and girls. Then it went out, but I didn't. So here I am today, decked out in Nike and feeling completely comfortable. My thoughts were interrupted when I almost bumped into 3 girls coming out of the bathroom. All 3 of them were in matching BabyPhat short sets, with matching purses and uptowns. They had their hair in those little styles straight out of the Hype Hair magazines my brother's girlfriends read and smelled like a pile of free perfume samples. They all stopped to give each other gum and mints and then put their backpacks in their lockers. I call them the Label Girls, cause they wouldn't be caught wearing anything that didn't have a visible designer label on it. One piece of their entire ensemble cost more than my whole outfit including my shoes. But to everybody else, they were just Tierra Turner, Nisha Dandridge and Breezia Hillard, the leader. She was very pretty and had that perfect, even dark complexion like my mom that I always wanted, but never got. She was one of the most popular girls at our overcrowded school, and every guy wanted to be with her, and every girl wanted to just be her. But not me. They went over to their usual spot and the Final Four, as they were called, walked over. They were probably the cutest juniors in the school: Dreux Frederic, Jarell Houston, Omari Grandberry, and DeMario Thornton. Out of all of them, I thought DeMario was the cutest. He was about 5'8", with a football player frame. He had light sunbrushed skin, sexy brown eyes that glimmered everytime he talked or laughed, a body out of this world, a sexy smile, and a pair of the most luscious lips. I've known of him since the 7th grade, and even sat across from him in American Literature class this year, but nevertheless, I've never talked to him. He probably knows of me too. I'm known a little around here. I was on the JV Girl's B-ball team, and we went to state this year. But anyway, bottom line, I'm sure he's heard of me, too. My thoughts were broken as my dawg, Orlando, came up to me.
"Ey, you gon ball wit me, or you just gon stand there lookin lost all lunch?" he asked as I realized we were 2 of the only people still standing in the hall
"Oh, aight, here I come," I said as I threw my stuff in my locker and grabbed my b-ball shoes
We were on our way to the gym, but they locked the doors to the outside, meaning we had to walk through the cafeteria to get to the gym. We were on our way to the cafeteria when I looked through the window of the lunchroom. I saw DeMario, his boys, and the "label girls" sitting at a table near the gym entrance
"Do I look okay?" I asked Orlando, who looked at me like I spoke in Japanese
"You look fine," he said as he ran his pic thru his afro
"Are you sure?" I said examining my below the knee b-ball shorts, oversized Nike tee, and AI's
"Yea, I'm sure." He said opening the door "Why you care anyway? Ain't nobody looking at you." He said insulting me and I didn't know it. I ran my hands over my cornrows and walked in next to Orlando. We were almost to the gym when I bumped into someone
"Excuse me," the raspy voice said as I looked up and saw none other than De'Mario Thornton
"I'm sorry," I said lowly
"Ey, you're in my Lit. class, right?" he said as I looked at him
"Yea, well, not anymore," I said referring to the fact that today was the last day of school
"Oh yea, that's true," he said smiling that gorgeous smile "I'm De'Mario," he said to me
"I know." I said with a small laugh "I'm Tria€¦" I began to say
"Tristen. Tristen Carter." He said, as I felt surprised that he knew my first and last name
"Yea, that's me," I said with a smile
"Well, Tristen, maybe we'll get a chance to talk more next year." He said as he licked his lips and bit the bottom one
"Maybe, that'd be cool." I said as he nodded
"Yea. I'll see you," he said as I said bye and he went back to his table and I walked on my to the gym. I saw one of the girls at the table give me a look, but I shrugged it off.
"What was that about?" Orlando asked me in a parental tone
"What?" I asked nonchalantly as I snatched the ball from him and joined the other guys on the court

Later that day

The school day had finally ended and everybody was cleaning out their lockers and turning in their books. I looked in the mirror that hung up in my locker and saw my self. Cornrows, and no makeup. Nike and AI's, I dressed like a boy and looked like one, too. I needed help and was determined to get that help. I turned in my books, got my clear slip and was on my way out the door when I made a stop
"Hey," I said to the girl
"What's up?" she said in a bubbly tone, turning around as her hair swung
"I need your help." I said in a hushed tone
"Huh?" Breezia said kinda confused.

Breezia's POV

It took me by surprise and I couldn't think of nothing else to say
"Excuse me?" I said still confused
"I need your help." The girl repeated in a louder tone
"I don't mean to be rude, but do I know you?" I said with furrowed eyebrows
"I'm Tristen Carter," she said introducing herself
"Breezia Hillard. Pleasure." I said extending my hand as she did one of those guy dap/handshake things as I stood there confused
"Oh, my bad." She said as I walked to the bookroom to turn in books, while she followed.
"You see, I have this problem. There's this guy and I really would like it ifa€¦" she trailed off telling me the whole story as I got my clear slip
"I'm sorry, I can't." I said as I turned to exit the bookroom
"What? Why not?" she said following me back out
"Because, it's obvious you need a lot of help and I just don't have that much time," I said as her lopsided grin faded
"But, Breezia," she pleaded as her sentence was cut off by my peeps coming up to us
"Ey, Bree, you going to my party tonite, right?" Jarell asked as I looked at him
"Oh, you know this." I said as I looked over and saw De'Mario making small talk with Tristen. It was then and there that I realized why she wanted my help and who the guy was that she was trying to impress. Me and the guys made conversation for a while before I decided to go.
"Aight, y'all. I'm rolling out, see y'all tonite," I said as I grabbed my purse and closed my junior year locker for the last time and walked out of the building being sure to give delicious Dreux and extra switch in my hips. I was sitting in my Pontiac Sunfire, when I saw the boys walk to their cars and drive away. I didn't see Tristen with them and could only think of one place that a girl like her would go. I rolled up to the gym and saw her shooting the ball into the hoop by herself. I didn't wanna scare her, so I waited until she was done.
"Good game," I said as she picked up her ball and turned around
"No game, just shooting some 3's," she said as I stood up from the bleachers
"Oh, anyway." I said as she bounced the ball some more
"So, you thought about what I said?" she said as I looked over at her
"Yea, I have," I said as she shot the ball in the basket
"Anda€¦" she said urging me to continue
"Anda€¦I'll help you," I said as she smiled
We exchanged numbers and addresses and I agreed to pick her up next week and begin the transformation process. We walked out of the gym and I was getting in my car when it came to my attention what I had gotten myself into and how much work it needed.

Girl, Lady, Woman
Chapter 2
Breezia's POV

It was Friday morning, and a week ago I had agreed to take Tristen and change her from Lisa Leslie to LisaRaye. I couldn't believe that it was summer vacation and I was up at 7:30, but I had a job to do, and I was gonna do it. I went to pick up Tristen at her house, and she came out in her usual basketball shorts and tee shirt. She got in my car and I pulled off while changing the CD from Ashanti to Beyonce.
"What is this?" she asked referring to the music
"Beyonce's new cd. She finally came out with one after Destiny's Child," I said as she frowned
"Who?" she asked in utter confusion
"Beyoncea€¦never mind," I said as we sat in silence once again
"So, where are we going?" she said as I looked at the road
"You'll see," I said as I arrived at the track behind the gym I work out at. We got out the car and walked up to the track "Come on," I urged as I sat down in the grass and began to stretch. I could tell that she wasn't really feeling this, but I just wanted to see what kinda shape she was in. We finished stretching and warming up and set out on the track, we ran 8 laps or 2 miles, ran the straights and walked the curbes. She was keeping up pretty well until about the 4th lap. She stopped in the middle of our running and stood there with her hands behind her head to reduce cramping.
"Damm, girl. You run like this everyday?" Tristen said in between breaths
"Yea, I thought you did, too." I said to her as she looked at me like yea, right
"Aw, naw. See, I ran like this for basketball, in the fall. Never the summer." She said as I looked at her in surprise.
"Are you serious?" I asked as she nodded while getting ready to drink some Gatorade
"Uh-uh," I said as I snatched the bottle away from her. "Here," I said handing her a bottle of Dasani as I took a sip of mine "Clears your skin." I said simply as she looked at me crazy
"What's wrong with my skin?" she said rubbing her hand over her left cheek
"Well, it'sa€¦uha€¦We can't have your face falling apart like Michael Jackson's is all," I said as she smiled
"I feel ya. But can you really do something about this?" she said referring to the hideous patches of zits on her forehead
"Well, I don't know if I can, but God works in mysterious ways." I said as I started to run again leaving her to think about that

3 weeks later

Summer was going by faster than I wanted or expected and time was running out. I had only approximately 39 days to get Tristen to full dime piece mode and keep her there in time for school. We had been running and hitting the gym for about 3-4 weeks now, and I had her on a strict veggie, bread and water diet. It was severe punishment, this I know, but this is the price she must pay and when she got all the attention she could stand from De'Mario, it would be well worth it. But now it was time to get down to the dirty work: appearance. We were one of the first people in the mall, cause we had a lot of work to do. Our first stop was my tailor, Giovanni.
"Hey, Giovanni," I said in an excited tone as the tall, skinny, gay man turned around. Giovanni was the prettiest man I knew. I ain't gonna get into physical description, but he was cute.
"Hey, girl." He said as we did the two cheek kiss thing
"Giovanni, this is my protC©gC©, Tristen," I said as they shook hands and Giovanni examined her up and down
"So, what can I do for y'all?" he said talking to me, but still trying looking at Tristen
"Oh, I just need to get her measurements, so I know what sizes to look for." I said as he got out his tape measure.
"Oh, no problem." He said as he took mine and Tristen's hand and leading us to the area with the pedestal to stand on and enough mirrors to make it look like a funny house. It was about 10 minutes later when they finished
"Well, looks like little Ms. Love and Basketball is a little brick house," He said putting his hands on his hips
"What do you mean?" Tristen asked as he put his tape measure away
"I mean exactly what I said. 36, 25, 34," he said snapping his fingers with each number
"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief
"Hell, yeah! And the girl got a booty that would put J-Lo to shame," he said as Tristen turned red from embarrassment and I just stared at her wondering how it was possible for her to have a body like that. We talked for a little while longer before we said our goodbye's and left. We hit up every store with cute clothes in the mall. According to Tristen, her parents were so happy about her makeover, they gave her $500 to go shopping with. We bought all the clothes, makeup, hair products and accessories we needed and were at my house performing the operation. I had waxed her eyebrows and lip, got her contacts, teeth whitening strips, earrings and my sister, Brystina, painstakingly took down her nappy cornrows and began to relax her hair. After about an hour of squirming, Brystina was finished styling and had Tristen under the hood dryer. I was laying out a cute RocaWear short set for her to wear. It was black and the top fell off the shoulders and the shorts would show off the so-called booty she had. The RocaWear symbol was in red and I had a matching red visor, a cute red purse and some red and black tennis shoes by Puma. Tristen didn't know it, but from now on, everyday was gonna be a fashion show. I gave her the outfit and let her use my room to change. Brystina had already done her makeup and I had already fixed her up with some cute jewelry. I nervously waited in the living room with my sister as Tristen yelled from upstairs.
"I'm ready!" she said
"Well, come on down," my sister said sounding like Rod Roddy on the Price is Right
"Are y'all sure about this." She said from upstairs
"Yes. Tristen, come on. Please." I pleaded out of pure anticipation
"Aight, here I come," she said as she slowly walked downstairs and into the living room looking like Kyla Pratt's long lost twin sister. She looked so cute. I couldn't even hate. My sister had styled her hair with braids in the front with crimps all over. The outfit was hot and the makeup looked good on her. We were standing in awe, interrupted by my brother, Bryce, walking in from doing whatever
"What's up, y'all," he said then noticing Tristen, "Dayyyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmm!" he said sounding like Chris Tucker and Ice Cube in 'Friday,'
"Bryce, this is Tristen Carter. Tristen, meet my sister's twin brother, Bryce," I said as he smiled at her looking her up and down
My brother was not ugly. He was tall about 6'0", dark chocolate skin, dark brown eyes and a cute goatee, he had straight, white teeth and cornrows. And everybody says that he looks like R.Kelly. Like I said, he's not ugly, but he ain't about to go there with Tristen.
"Hold up. Cartera€¦Carter." He said tinking, "Taryn's sister?" he said as he snapped his fingers
"Naw. We're cousins," she said shyly
"Oh, well you look good." He said as he kissed her hand and winked at her before disappearing upstairs while Tristen blushed, she was starting to do a lot of that
"Girl, that's the kind of attention you're gonna get now," Brystina said as I nodded in agreement
"Yea, but make sure it don't come from niggas like Bryce," I said as we laughed
"Come on, girl," I said as we all grabbed our purses and got ready to go out to eat. I watched in amazement at the new girl that Tristen had become, she really was beautiful.

Girl, Lady, Woman
Chapter 3

Breezia's POV

Summer vacation had come and gone like that and August 10th was less than 24 hours away. I spent the majority of the summer chillin with Tristen or practicing for cheerleading. Tristen was becoming more and more female everyday and I was proud. She had all the techniques down pact, but the ultimate test would be how she would act at school. We had gone shopping and bought matching jersey dresses to rock tomorrow and Brystina did our hair. It was about 10:00 at night and I was getting ready to go to bed. I finally fell asleep at about 12:30 after the thoughts and worries of this whole situation allowed my mind to shut down for the time being. 'Please let this work, God,' was my last thought and prayer as I drifted to dreamland.

Simmerson High opened up its doors for the first time in 3 months for the beginning of another school year. I was ready and waiting at school getting my locker and class schedule when I two-wayed Tristen. The plan was to make sure she came a little later than everyone else did so she could make an entrance. School started at 8 and it was 7:30. If I knew my people, they would roll over in 5 minutes. I was right. My girls, Nisha Dandridge and Tierra Turner rolled up looking cute in their J-Lo short sets. And about 1 minute later, the final four made their way down the hallway for the first time as single, sexy senior ni99as. Girls stopped, stared and whispered while they guys either gave dap or hated. The only thing missing from this scene straight from a movie was some groupie running up for a picture or autograph. They walked over and gave us all hugs and Druex made sure to make my hug extra long and tight. I could smell his cool water cologne mixed with the smell of Zest soap and I could feel his body heat through his throwback.
"I missed you," he said as I smiled and he kissed my cheek. We were in our own lil world when we noticed that everyone else was staring at us. We snapped back quickly as everybody looked at us suspiciously.
"What" me and Dreux said in unison as everyone continued talking. De'Mario excused himself to go get his schedule and not even a minute after he left did Tristen enter the building. She looked so cute, and everyone else noticed, too. Guys were staring and even a few tried to get her to come over and talk to them. Girls were murmuring stuff like "Who's that?" and "Is she new?" But she just glided on over with her head up high, a smile on her face, and a switch in her hips just like I taught her. She made her way over to our group and I hugged her and then turned to my peeps
"Tristen, meet the people. Nisha Dandridge, Tierra Turner, Omari Grandberry, Jarell Houston, Dreux Frederic anda€¦" I said as I got to De who had just come back, "De'Mario Thornton," I said as the two met eyes and she smiled "Everybody, this is Tristen Carter," I said as De's mouth dropped in shock
"Tristen?" he asked again as she nodded "What are you doing?" he asked as he examined her like she didn't look nice. Her eyes fell to the floor,
"Excuse me," she said pushing her way through Omari and Jarell and walking quickly to the restroom
"De, you so stupid." I said pushing him in the chest, as I ran after her
"Man. Why you do that for?" I heard Jarell say
"Yea, nigga you know she looked good," Omari said also
I followed after Tristen into the ladies' room, wondering if we had done the right thing.

Girl, Lady, Woman
Chapter 4

Breezia went into the bathroom and found Tristen in the next to last stalla€¦

"Tristen, don't even worry about De." Bree said to her
"He doesn't like it, and he's the whole reason why we did this," Tristen said in a hushed voice
"What does De know anyway?" she said trying to console Tristen
"We did it for nothing," Tristen said as Bree frowned
"Tristen, don't say that. Who cares if De doesn't like the way you look. You and I both know that you look beautiful and if De doesn't see that, oh well." Bree said as Tristen looked down at the floor
"Well, in that case, you better move." Tristen said to Bree who then said 'huh' "Cause I look too cute to be spending the first day of my senior year in this stank bathroom," Tristen said as she brushed herself off and fixed her makeup in the mirror. The two walked out of the bathroom and down the hall, walking directly past De'Mario. The bell rang and Tristen and Breezia parted ways to go to their first class. Breezia had World History and Tristen had Literature.

Literature Class

Tristen sat in quietly in her desk in Literature Class waiting for the last bell to ring. It finally did and immediately after it came a bundle of late students followed by the teacher who shut the door behind himself. Everyone took a seat as the teacher took his place at his desk and began to speak

"Good morning everybody, welcome to this year's Honor's American Literature class. I'll be your teachera€¦" he trailed off only to be interrupted by yet another late student
"Sorry," the deep voice said as the students turned their attention to the doorway
"Why are you late?" the teacher said as the student handed him his admit slip
"Cause I got here after the bell rang." He said being smart as the teacher cleared his throat to silence the small amount of laughter in the room
"Well, Mr. Thornton," he said reading his admit slip, "Don't let it happen again," he said as De'Mario went to the only empty seat left in the class and the teacher continued
"Okay. I'm your teacher, Mr. Allen, and I expect it to be a very interesting school year. Now, gather your things and stand up, I have a seating chart arranged," he said followed by "Aww man," and "hell naw"
He called out the seating chart and one by one the students took their seats everyone was seated and reading over the syllabus that the teacher handed out when De'Mario who got sat behind Tristen, tapped her shoulder.
"Here," he said handing her a folded piece of notebook paper, she unfolded it and found the words, 'turn around' written on the paper, she did as it said and found De'Mario with the biggest kool-aid smile on his face. He had another note he held in front of his chest that said 'I'm sorry,' and he turned it around and the other side read 'You really do look good.' Tristen smiled at him and then turned around to hide her blushing face. Class continued smoothly and the bell let out for next class.

School continued for about a week and a half and everything was going well. Breezia, Tierra and Nisha, were in gym class stretching before they ran laps around the track. Tristen had just got done changing and walked over to them.

"Hey, girl," Bree said to her as she said 'hey' to Bree and the others as well
"I can't believe school's been going on for almost two weeks and ain't nobody threw a party yet," Tierra said as Bree agreed
"I know." Bree said as they continued to stretch
"We should throw a party," Nisha said as they all said 'yea,'
"That would be tight," Bree said excitedly
"Yea, and we could play twister," Tristen said as they all got quiet in response to her corniness
"Strip twister!" Nisha said as they all laughed
"I'm in!" Bree said jokingly
"Foreal, though, when y'all wanna do this?" Tierra said as everybody calmed down
"How bout Saturday nite?" Bree said as everybody contemplated
"Yea, but where at?" Nisha questioned
"My brother's got a house uptown," Tristen said as they all looked at her
"You think he'll let us use his place," Tierra asked her as she shrugged her shoulders
"Well, he's out of town for about 2 weeks," Tristen said as their smiles all faded "But I have a spare key," she said as they all smiled again
"Aight, so it's on," Bree said as De'Mario walked in the gym with one of his boys, Shad. The girls caught Tristen staring at him and Tierra decided to snap her back to reality
"Don't worry, Tristen. De'Mario can come, too." She said as they all laughed and got up to go run.

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