AN: Sophi20 decided she could no longer continue Because You Live, so she sent me everything she had written and I am going to take it over, although she is going to help me with it some. I was hoping to get more caught up in my reading, but I have put Sophi20 off too long already. I am going through each chapter and making any corrections I feel necessary, but the first several chapters will be largely how she wrote them originally. This is a Liley story, don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hannah Montana or its actors, actresses or characters. If a relationship between and adult 24 and a teenager 17, both female, bothers you, please do not read.

Chapter 1

Lilly was looking at her schedule for the new semester. She had just moved to sunny California in Culver City. She loved the warm days in comparison with New York. Now she was looking forward to having new students and, hopefully, being able to inspire some creativeness in her young pupils.

"Mommy, Mommy!" A little toddler with pig tales, brown hair, and big blue eyes, came running to the sofa where Lilly was sitting.

"What is it Molly?" she asked, picking the little girl up and placing her in her lap.

"Mommy, I'm scawed."

"Oh honey, why are you scared?"

"Becwas daddy not here."

"Oh baby we talked about this, daddy is in heaven with God and the Angels."

"But why?"

"Mmmh… arg… well, he was killed in the war, hun. He isn't coming back, my darling," she said, with tears gathering in both sets of eyes. Lilly cradled the little girl, humming a soothing tune to calm both their nerves.

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby?"

"Will daddy wash me?"

"Of course, darling. He will be watching over both of us. In fact, I am quite certain he is our guardian angel."

"Wow, he's an Angel!"

"Yes I am quite positive about it." She gave her a kiss on her head.

"Yay! Momma, can we go to the beech tomawow?"

"No, not tomorrow, because I have school and you, dear, have day care."

"Oh, will you be thea?"

Lilly smiled. "Yes, I'll be right next door."

"Okey."

"Now let's get you your bath ready."

Lilly picked up her daughter and headed upstairs to prepare the bath, as well as pick out both pajamas and clothes for tomorrow.

Once Molly's bath was done, Lilly read her a story, and then she put her to sleep. After one last kiss on her forehead, she headed to her room.

Lilly took a shower, got ready for bed, and, before she went to sleep, took the picture next to her bed stand and gave it a kiss.

"Good night Oliver, we sure miss you."

With that last thought she fell asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lilly was just looking over her new classroom. Soon the kids in her first period class would be coming in. These would also be her homeroom kids, but only because the teacher who was supposed to be their homeroom teacher was going through treatment for cancer, so she could not be there in the mornings. However, no student was to be informed of this until Mrs. Fern was able and ready to share it herself.

"Well, I hope this goes well," Lilly said to herself. Just then, the second bell rang and kids started coming in.

They all stopped at the door, shocked to see a young teacher there and not their previous teacher, the ancient Mrs. Apple.

"Who are you?" a young man with blonde, sandy hair asked.

"Oh, I am your new art teacher and, for the time being, your homeroom teacher as well. But please take a seat at one of the tables and we will get to know each other."

The kids did as the teacher asked. Once seated, they all looked at her intently until one boy raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Ok, so where is Mrs. Apple? Did she die?"

"Um, no, she retired and I took her place."

"Oh. So what is your name, Miss…?"

"Right, my name is Lilly Ok...Truscott, but you can call me Ms. Truscott or Ms. T, although outside of school Lilly is fine, as long as it isn't a school outing, but I, well, you get the idea," she said, blushing just a tad.

"Oh, okay," all the kids replied.

"Now, as you can see, there are index cards in front of you. I know you're probably tired of always doing this at the beginning of every school year, but I must ask you to fill it out like this. First, put your name at the top with last name first then your first name followed by your middle initial, if you have one. Second, write your e-mail, but not your personal one, only your school e-mail. Third, list your cell or home phone number. I know that sounds weird, I thought so as well, but they want it in case of an emergency or something like that. Fourth, write your favorite painter or artist, and, lastly, your favorite piece of art work."

All the kids nodded their heads and did as instructed.

One girl raised her hand. "Yes?" Lilly asked.

"Um, how do you spell your name?"

"Oh, right, silly me. I'll write it on the board." She did just that, walking to the small black board at the back of her desk and she wrote her name.

Once all the kids were done with their index cards, Lilly proceeded to talk about what the class would entail.

"Ok, this is my third year as a teacher, number one. Number two, I taught at a really bad public school in New York before coming here, meaning I have seen it all. And some students tried to pull a bad stunt when I was seven months pregnant, which means, if I hurt them, I am definitely not afraid of any of you. Third, I do want to learn your names, so pass the index cards forward and I'll pick them up. When I call your name, please just say who is your favorite artist and why, and there is a reason why I am asking this in particular."

They all gulped and passed the index cards forward.

"Mikayla Gonzales?"

"Here," Mikayla said as she raised her hand.

"Nice to meet you. Now, who is your favorite artist?"

"Um, I'd have to say Monet."

"Good. Why?"

"Well, because I like the softness that he has shown in his work, at least the ones I have been able to see, anyway."

"Great, that sounds lovely. Um, Sarah Fallows?" Sarah raised her hand "And my favorite artist is Leonardo Da Vinci, and not because of the Da Vinci Code, because of his blue period and some other art."

"Well nice. Let's see… Jake Ryan?"

"Oh, you can call me JR, Ms. T. Um, my fave artist is Andy Warhol, because he was sure of himself and he took his own path. I mean most artists do, but he was the man back then."

"Alright I guess that is a good answer. Miley Stewart?" Lilly had to sort of hold her breath when she saw Miley, as she had the most beautiful eyes Lilly had ever seen, and her chestnut hair was lovely.

"Well, my favorite artist is Jackson Pollock. I just love his style, the whole thing of splashing paint over a canvas. It makes me feel good just to think about, it is liberating really. I also like how he was able to make something out of it, the scheme of the colors, just everything fit so perfectly together. Sad that he died, and how he died, like so many other artists."

Lilly soon learned the names of the other two students, Marissa Haggis and Jason Liberty. It was a small class, but she liked it more that way.

"Well, now I am going to give you the syllabus to the class. Don't be alarmed, this is just so you know what we will be working on during the whole school year. In case I'm not here, you will know what you must do. I am not saying that the substitute teacher won't get the itinerary, but, just in case."

"Wow, this is a lot of work for an art class," Jason said.

"Well, see, none of you have to work at the same pace, except for the written essay, the two tests, and the quizzes."

"You're kidding, right?" Mikayla asked.

"No, I'm not. There will be terminology, history, and other things you will need to demonstrate your knowledge of. Now, the essay is on your favorite artist, so it is good to know most of you have a clear vision as to why you like that specific artist. If you want to change your mind during the semester, that's fine. As you can see, the essay is worth half your grade, so that's why I asked what I did. It must be on someone you truly like and are familiar with. You will have from the beginning of April to start on this essay, and you will also be able to use your time from this class to work on it. We'll be going to the school's library for that month, and on May 29th you will turn in your project and I shall grade it by June 3rd. Any questions, and no funny remarks please?"

Miley raised her hand.

"It's Miley right?" At Miley's nod, she continued. "You have a question?"

"Yes, it says here we need a book."

"Well, yes and no. Yes, you'll be using a book, but I will be giving you copies of the chapters we will be discussing. Quite frankly, I do not see the point of you paying so much for a book that I can make copies of. You are lucky you're such a small class, though, otherwise you'd have to. Does that answer your question?" Lilly inquired, smiling a little.

"Yes," Miley replied.

"Ms. Truscott, why does it say here that every other Friday is free?"

"I am glad you noticed, Mikayla. Well, it means that on those days, if you have not finished a project, you have that time to finish it in time for me to grade it. If you are done by then, then you are free to do what you wish, within reason, of course."

"Cool!" All the kids said in unison.

"Now, to your right, well, the right of the class anyway, there is hot cocoa and donuts. This is a privilege I am giving you, since I know many of you don't get to eat breakfast. That way you can have something in your stomachs 'til snack time. You spill, you clean it up, and you are responsible for your area and the class room as well. Which means no paint fights or any of that stuff. Are we clear?"

"Yes Ms. Truscott."

"Good. Now relax, get something to eat, and enjoy. On Wednesday, we shall begin." With that she sat down at her desk and went through more papers for her next class, which began in 20 minutes.

Miley approached Lilly's desk. Lilly looked up and smiled at Miley. "Yes Miley?"

"Do you think, perhaps, you could... er… well, I could bring in a movie of Jackson Pollock that I have? You know, to show to the class?"

"Miley, that is a wonderful idea. We'll figure something out later, but for now, remind me every now and then. I'll try to figure out when it will fit in the schedule. You know, tell you what." She paused, thinking. "If, say, three weeks from now, everyone has finished their work by Wednesday, we can put it on free Friday. Actually, it would have to be four weeks, now that I think about it, but you get the idea. Is that ok with you?"

"Yes, that's more than ok. Thanks. I just thought it would be a good idea," Miley responded.

"Great. Well, who knows, perhaps it will encourage the rest of the class to do the same, and for them to finish their work on time," Lilly said with a smile, leaning forward on the desk with her arms crossed over each other.

"Thanks Ms. Truscott. You know, I hope I don't spoil this, but you seem like a cool teacher," Miley said sincerely with a small smile.

"Why thank you Miley. You seem like a cool girl, too. But I am a teacher after all, so there might be times I am not that cool."

"That's ok, it's all part of the job," Miley replied as she left for her next class, since the bell had just rung. Jake was waiting for her, draping his arm around her shoulders as she exited the room. They continued on in the direction of her next class.

AN: Hope you all like it so far. Review if you feel like it. Oh, and Molly's speech is purposely written incorrectly.