Rated: M

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like writing about them

Precious

Jason pulled the truck into the parking lot, noting the other expensive family cars that were dropping off kids then driving away. He cut the ignition and turned to Lila who sat in the passenger seat quietly. He was still unable to believe the change from the talkative girl he was accustomed to, with her bright shirts and jeans to the solemn young lady wearing the blue and green plaid skirt, the white shirt and blue tie beneath the blue vest. Instead of her normal messy ponytail, her hair was pulled neatly into a single braid and hung over onto one shoulder.

His sweet, sarcastic Lila was a pod person. What had he done?

She even carried one of those backpacks that all the other kids her age carried, and one of those smaller backpack purse things that matched her uniform. When she looked over at him, he wanted to tell her he had changed his mind. If she wanted to go to public school, it would be his pleasure to go walk across this carefully manicured lawn into the huge building, pick up her records and drive her over to PC Elementary. And the first thing he would do would be to burn that prison uniform she wore.

"Do I look okay?" She asked tentatively, and he simply nodded feeling his stomach tightened painfully at her apprehension. Damn it, she looked just fine, she had no reason to worry about something like that.

"Because Grandma Monica said that it was important to make a good first impression," the words spilled out as she twisted her fingers nervously in her lap. "But Carly said I shouldn't care what they think about me, because I'm fine just the way I am." She trailed off and bit her lower lip as if thinking. Before he could think of something to say she asked, "Which one of them are right?"

How was he supposed to know? Normally he didn't care what anyone thought of him. Only he didn't think that was the right answer to give an eleven-year-old girl who was faced with an unfamiliar school. He swallowed, bracing his hands on the bottom edge of the steering wheel and tried to come up with the correct response. Was this how it was going to be? He thought Michael had hard questions, but Lila was a girl with an entirely different set of worries that he hadn't really considered.

She had Carly and Monica for most of the girl stuff, like those little bra things that he preferred not to think about. Yet she was going to look to him for answers and he didn't know the first thing about eleven year old girls. Not really.

So far it had been easy, but now that the school year was starting she was bound to make new friends, have new problems. Was he going to have to deal with large groups of girls over at the penthouse? He knew Michael liked to have friends over, so it was only natural that Lila would want to as well. And what about boys, did she like boys at her age?

He would shoot some little snot nosed punk sniffing after her.

No, no, he repeated to himself, he couldn't shoot some eleven-year-old kid. Right?

"Jason?"

"Yeah?" he looked up at her expectant face and realized he hadn't answered her question. Instead he was going to give himself an aneurysm over something that hadn't even happened yet. "Um, I think they're both right."

"They can't both be right," she rolled her eyes sounding much more like the girl he loved.

"Yes they are. Look, Monica isn't saying that you should pretend to be someone you aren't. What both Carly and Monica mean, is that you should show everyone the good kid that we all know you to be. You don't have to impress anyone because you're just fine the way you are. The real friends you make, the teachers, they'll see the Lila Morgan that we love and they will like her too."

She tilted her head to the side, a small smile touching her mouth, "You really think so?"

"I do," he answered honestly, "That's not to say there aren't cruel people at this school. Not everyone is nice, but I think you already know that."

"Yeah, like that Alexis woman who called you a thug," she nodded understanding what he meant.

He smiled softly, "Something like that. What I mean, is that the people who are genuinely your friends will like you just the way you are. You don't have to impress anyone Lila, and you don't have to be ashamed to be smart. I happen to like Lila Morgan just fine."

"Even when I'm being a smart-mouth like Grandpa Edward always calls me?" she giggled, knowing that Edward adored her.

It was the common ground that he had never expected to find with the cantankerous old man, their love for Lila Morgan. Edward took one look at Lila and was firmly wrapped around her little finger. Even when he started in about inheritances, Jason could hear the man's affection. Besides Lila could handle herself just fine much to the surprise of the other Quartermaines.

"Even then," Jason assured her. "So, do you want me to walk you up?"

"No," she shook her head, eyes wide as if he had committed a heinous crime. "Right here is fine." She reached for the door handle but he stopped her before she could get out.

"Max is on duty today," he reminded her, "He'll pick you up right here at three thirty."

"Okay," she nodded.

"You mind if I go meet you teacher at least," he asked, knowing he would anyway, but not wanting her to be surprised if she should see him inside the building.

"Sure," she shrugged, "See you later," she waved her fingers slightly and smiled changing yet again from the normal girl he was used to, to the shy adolescent from before. He figured once she settled in she would be fine.

His daughter had a brave heart.

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Sam glanced around the spacious classroom, marveling at the differences between her previous school and Shelton Academy. Wasn't it amazing what money could do? Back in South Carolina, her kids had to leave the class and walk to the second floor for computer work. Here, lining the back of the walls were fifteen brand new, up to date Dell Computers. That was just one of many differences that she could barely believe.

Normally she was used to teaching a class of at least twenty-five, now she only had fifteen students. One child for each computer, she snorted silently. The desks were nice and clean. Brand new books lining the side wall to be passed out at the beginning of class, unlike the used books her previous students used.

If she wanted media and visual items for her class back at Bailey's Beach, she had to purchase most of them herself. The teachers of Shelton actually had a budget for those things, so she was able to decorate her class exactly how she wished. There was even a television and VCR/DVD player in one of the wall closets for class use. And it wasn't just her classroom that was so noticeably different. The entire school screamed money.

The Olympic sized swimming pool, the large gymnasium, the baseball diamond and the soccer field. The huge cafeteria, where she knew these kids didn't get those funky lunches that the public school kids received. The auditorium, the music and theater area where the band, chorus, dance and drama departments resided were state of the art. The damned school looked better than some of the high schools she had seen.

She had to wonder if Alexis had pulled some strings to get her a job here. It wasn't that she did have the qualifications to teach here, she was a damned good teacher, but she sure as hell didn't fit in here.

Sam brushed a hand over her stomach, straightening the navy blue pinstriped Farmington jacket that she wore over a crisp white blouse and wide-legged cuffed trousers. She looked fine, she assured herself, resisting the urge to touch the neat twist she pulled her hair into. The school had a strict dress code for both teachers and students.

She had run out to Wyndam's Saturday afternoon to buy several dark blue suits to be combined with her regular wardrobe, including six pairs of neat conservative high heels. Her budget for the next six months took a nice hit, but she figured that when her second paycheck deposited into her account, everything would even out nicely.

Knowing anxiety would have her nauseous before class even begun, she stood to adjust the periodic table of elements chart she hung on the side wall, that didn't need adjusting. Before she could make it across the room however, there was a knock on the door, then it cracked open slightly and her stomach lurched for an entirely different reason.

Azure eyes locked onto hers, and then a slight smile curved a very sensual mouth.

"Good morning."

How was it possible that Jason Morgan looked even more mouth watering than the first time she saw him? "Good morning," she smiled back feeling a shimmer of heat waft through her body. "What are you doing here?"

"This is room 56, right? I'm here to meet my daughter's teacher," he paused and looked down at the floor, and then back at her with a larger smile, "I guess I just didn't connect the Ms. McCall to the Sam McCall who fell asleep in Kelly's."

Heat filled her face, as she realized of course that was why he was here. Why on earth would she think that he had come to find her? They barely knew each other and from Alexis' reaction, she couldn't blame him if he thought she was exactly the same. "Jason Morgan right?" He nodded in answer, "Come in," and she waved him in nervously, walking forward to meet him, "I'm sorry, I should have realized."

"It's fine," he assured her, but moved no further than the door as he leaned to the side. "I only have a moment. I just wanted to speak to Lila's teacher privately before class started."

Trying for a little professionalism, she walked to her desk, looked through her files to M, and removed Lila Morgan. It was very thin, containing only test results and paperwork from a tutor. Sam immediately noticed the high scores then she glanced at the age and looked up at him in shock, "She's only eleven?"

"That's why I'm here, she's a little nervous about that."

"No it's fine," she reassured him, though she had never seen such high results from a child so young. "You know she could have gone on to eight grade?"

He nodded once, "I figured one year age difference was enough for her to handle right now. She's had a hard time, and I thought I would at least give you a heads up on her attitude." He lifted a shoulder slightly, "She has a bit of a smart mouth and with the new school, I know she's going to cut loose a few times."

Sam smiled, hearing the love for his daughter in his voice, felt her heart sigh a bit, and then had to catch herself. Jason Morgan was the father of one of her students. If this school had rules about the length of skirt she could wear, they sure as hell had a policy against dating parents.

Wait, who said anything about dating?

"She'll be fine," she reassured him, "But I'll keep that in mind. When I was her age, I had a bit of a mouth too." Growing up with Cody McCall and all the scams he had pulled, she had needed to know how to survive. She didn't want to admit that she knew that he was adopting Lila, since there was nothing in her file to show that information. It was probably in the main file in the office though, but the only reason she knew was because Alexis had found the information.

"Hmm," was his only reaction, then he tilted his head to the side shoving his hands deep into the pockets of those dark jeans he wore. The long sleeved pine green t-shirt stretched across his wide chest making her swallow back a moan of appreciation. "You're new to Port Charles right? I've never seen you around before, that's why I ask."

"Yeah, I just moved here from South Carolina," she answered softly.

A smile curved his sensual mouth then, "That's the accent."

A nervous laugh made her relax a little, "And I work so hard at concealing it."

"There's just a hint," he told her, "And it's not really noticeable. Just when you first woke up back at Kelly's."

"Oh," she set the file down, sitting on the edge of her desk and watched his eyes light with appreciation. Now that was definitely good. She wasn't the only one feeling this attraction. If only she could act on it. As a sharp reminder why she most certainly couldn't jump this man, the bell rang announcing the start of the school day. "Well," she started.

"Yeah," he straightened, nodding once in acknowledgement, "Your class will arrive soon, and I have to get to work."

"It was nice seeing you again Jason," she told him. It was the truth, she really wished there would be more, but nothing could come of these tempestuous feelings racing through her body.

"You too Sam."

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Lila walked down the hall with the girl she had made quick friends with out front. Other than the blonde hair pulled into two ponytails that hung on her shoulders, they were dressed almost exactly alike, even carried the same backpack and everything. She had been sitting with two other guys talking and Lila knew instantly there was something different about her. Definitely unlike than the other Brittney Spears, Jessica Simpson wannabes that she heard chattering on the front lawn.

When she had walked past the group of stones they were sitting on, one of the boys had nodded in her direction and said, "What's up?"

Lila stopped, giving him a quick once over, he was dressed similar to the other boys, except the tails of his shirt hung over his blue pants from beneath his vest and he wore no tie. Dark brown hair was scattered messily around his head, but he had the prettiest grey eyes she had ever seen.

"Nothing," she lifted an eyebrow in response, folding her arms over her chest, figuring that was how Carly would respond to some guy she didn't know. "What's up with you?"

He nodded, a small smile touching his mouth, "Nothing." Then he waved her over, "You're new here aren't you?"

"Yeah, so."

"So nothing," he shrugged, "I'm Jude Quillian," he nodded to the boy beside him, a dark blonde boy with bright green eyes, "This is my cousin Shamus Macgregor."

"Shay," the other insisted shoving Jude in the side. "No one but Pop calls me Shamus."

The girl standing in front of them turned around, looked her slowly over then said, "I'm Lulu Spencer."

"I'm Lila Morgan."

"Hey," they each said, as if they had just been waiting for her to join them all along.

So Jude was in seventh grade, but in a different class from her and Lulu and Shay were both in sixth grade. The three of them grew up together but they didn't make her feel left out at all. They didn't even make a big deal about her being in seventh grade. Jude just shrugged and pronounced it cool.

It turned out that Lulu's class was just down the hall from her, so they walked together. The four of them were supposed to meet up in the cafeteria at lunch since they all ate at the same time, and that was a very big relief because Lila knew that sitting alone in a lunch room was just asking to be picked on.

Four older girls, eighth graders, walked ahead of them, giggling about something, and Lila figured these four were really taking the Brittany Spears thing too far. Lulu occasionally rolled her eyes and silently mimicked the tallest one, who was the obvious leader of the group. Lulu's faces would make her giggle and every so often one of the girls would look over her shoulder and roll her eyes at them. This would just make Lulu act even worse.

"Oh my God, look at him," Lila heard the leader squeal, "He is so hot."

Lulu frowned at her and Lila shrugged, figuring they were talking about some boy walking down the hall. "He looks like Ryan Philippe," one of the others sighed.

"No he doesn't," another sneered, "He's too tall."

"What's that guy from that movie," one of them snapped her fingers and they all looked at her, "You know which one?"

"No I don't," the oldest rolled her eyes and Lulu almost made them both fall as she snickered and fell against her.

"I know who he looks like, that guy who played in that movie, Taken, that came on the Sci-Fi channel last month. You know with Darla from Angel." One finally said.

"Ohh, he does," they all agreed instantly. "He is soooo cute. I wonder who he is? He's not a teacher because they all have to dress according to the code."

The girls all stopped at once, forcing her and Lulu to stop as well or crash into them. And Lila finally got a look at the guy they were all talking about, it wasn't some boy like she thought and she had to grip Lulu's hand so she wouldn't laugh. He raised a hand, and she waved back as he continued down the hall toward the exit.

"You know him," one of the girls asked after he was some distance away and Lila just shrugged.

"Yeah," she pulled Lulu to the side so they could go around but the others wouldn't let her.

"Who is he?"

She rolled her eyes, ready to shut them down with a sarcastic comment, "That's," she stopped, and looked back over her shoulder to watch him walk out the door, then turned back to the four girls who waited for an answer. A nice warm feeling spread through her stomach, lighting a smile across her face as she realized how true her realization was.

"That's just my Dad."