Sweetest Sin

PG-13

Lily/River

Chapter One

Note: We're going to change the ages around a little. River's a senior, Lily's a junior. River's 17, Lily's 16. It's legal, shuttup. Also, I blame the new tape-over-mouth previews for this. I haven't actually seen them, but—it's artistic license.

Summary: Lily and River make their dreams come true.

Lily rests her head on her hand, gazing at River while he works an advanced math problem on the board.

Intermediate algebra. When Lily's counselor talked her into this class, she dreaded it. It's college math, without the college credit. But she figured it was better than pre-calculus.

But on the first day of school, Lily's whole opinion of math changed when she realized River Pierce was in the same class. For once, Lily was thankful her mind thought in terms of numbers just like words.

Sure, Lily's had boyfriends. Ray, Travis—whoever. But River is like some untouchable guy. He's the guy you'd tell your kids about—the 'conquest' of her high school days. While she'd never really admit it to anyone, especially not her fellow RFR DJs, Lily had it bad for River.

She used to tell them about her dreams with foggy halls and mystery men. Kissing River? Innocent. But then her dreams changed. They weren't innocent. Lily knew they were normal and healthy, but they were still embarrassing.

Can you imagine us making love
The way it would feel the first time that we touch
Can you think of it the way I dream of it
I want you to see it like I'm seeing it
It's a picture of perfection
The vision of you and I

River smiled his award-winning smile at his Algebra teacher as he finished the inequality on the board and returned to his seat, jostling a girl's notebook. Chuckling at himself, River bent down to pick up the renegade notebook and return it to the desk—Lily Randall's desk.

River mouthed "Sorry" at Lily as the teacher resumed giving notes, then took his seat a row behind her.

Lily Randall.

He knew about her. He'd heard her music, he'd heard about her defiant run-ins with Waller through Kim. He'd seen her at Mickey's with other guys, and he'd always been drawn to the way she smiled, the way she laughed, and the way that she was so earnest. Her songs were real, even her answers in class seemed genuine, and she was reciting the laws of math that were older then Waller.

River knew that going after a junior was not a good move. Besides, he could date any senior girl he wanted. But instead of dreaming about his hot new science teacher or Angelina Jolie, Lily Randall was haunting his not-for-young-viewers dreams. Lily had caught his eye, and he was going to have to do something about it.

Your lips upon my lips
Can you just picture this?
Your fingertips on my fingertips.
Your skin upon my skin
Would be the sweetest sin