Disclaimer: Not mine! All the characters you recognize belong to JE, I'm just playing.

Warnings: While this is an AU story, it has the potential to possibly spoil or mention something from any of the books 1-18.

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at an AU story. I absolutely love the series, even though I wish JE would pair Steph and Ranger together and leave it that way. I just wanted to have a little fun and pretend they are the same, but different. I hope you enjoy my fun. Thanks to Cristi0819 for previewing this chapter for me and checking for mistakes. And thanks to Margaret Fowler for encouraging me to write another story. I hope you all like!

Ch. 1 – Fate by Design

Early August, 2000

The end of the month could not get here fast enough. My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm 5' 7", about 120 pounds and I have shoulder length brown hair that is crazy curly with piercing blue eyes (my best feature in my opinion). I'm 18 years old and just graduated high school this past May. At the end of the month I'm starting college at the University of Miami and I couldn't be more excited.

High school was okay, but I couldn't wait to get out of the Burg. The area of town I grew up in, Chambersburg, NJ, fondly referred to as the Burg is like a small town within a large city. Everyone knew everyone and made it their business to know everyone else's business. I've experienced my business being everyone else's my whole life but never had it been more humiliating than when I lost my virginity on the floor of the Tasty Pastry after hours when I was 16 years old. Joseph Morelli sweet talked me out of my panties and then proceeded to write about it all over bathroom walls before taking off for the Navy. The big jerk!

I was grounded for 3 months and because of some unspoken rule, I hadn't had a date since. Apparently I belonged to him…whatever! Now, I'm just weeks away from heading to beautiful, sunny Miami. I chose a college that offered a variety of programs because I was still completely undecided in what I wanted to major in, but knew that I wanted to be close to the beach. I also knew I wanted to be more than a comfortable drive away from my parents. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, I do. But they drive me nuts. My Mom has been "encouraging" me to become the traditional Burg woman practically since birth. And I have been avidly avoiding it since then as well. Doing things like playing softball instead of taking ballet and jumping off the garage roof trying to fly, to try to make my mother understand that I wasn't traditional or Burg, at least not in the way that she wanted me to be.

I thought my mother was going to blow a gasket when I told her I had been accepted to the University of Miami, but thankfully that bit of news was overshadowed by the fact that my older sister Valerie had just gotten engaged to Steve and they wanted to have the big Burg wedding at the end of the summer. With only a few months of planning, all thoughts of where Stephanie was going to college quickly went away and the piles of wedding magazines became the focus. Daddy acted a little out of character, wrapping me in a big hug and whispering, "Proud of you, Pumpkin" in my ear before heading back to the living room to watch spring training on the television. I just grabbed my glove, a bat and headed down to the park. There were always pick up games on the weekends and I couldn't think of anything better than losing myself in a game of softball.

I spent a lot of time at the park that spring and summer, avoiding wedding planning chaos. I tried on my bridesmaid dress when requested and offered my opinion on the hideous shade of green that my sister chose, but when I was met with the Burg glare from both my mother and sister I decided to keep my opinions to myself. Smile and nod became my motto. Everything would have gone well if I hadn't gotten a black eye being tagged at home plate two days before Val's wedding. Of course, I was safe, but my mom and sister didn't seem to care about that. All that mattered is that I would ruin the photos for my sister's big day. It didn't matter that I had covered the black eye completely with make up and no one could even tell. My mother knew it was there and that was all that mattered.

I was afraid all the attention would turn to me and the fact that I would no longer be living in New Jersey as soon as the wedding was over, but then Val and Steve announced that they were moving to California because Steve had gotten a job at some big finance company. My mother was devastated and didn't put down the iron or the Jack Daniels for a month straight and after that, didn't seem to care that I was leaving soon.

Two weeks later…

The day has finally arrived! Moving day. I had loaded up everything I could fit into my P.O.S. Ford Escort, which was surprisingly quite a lot, and headed out. The Escort was all I could afford, because the money that my mom had promised to me for help with a car went to the photographer for Val's wedding. Grandma and Grandpa Mazur gave me what they could, and that helped me purchase the Escort. Oh well, I was pretty sure it would get me to Miami and after that, I didn't much care. I kissed and hugged my Grandma and Grandpa Mazur goodbye. Grandma whispered in my ear to enjoy the eye candy for her too, and Grandpa told me to study hard before heading back inside their house. They were the most in love couple I had ever seen and I was going to miss them the most.

I would miss my Daddy the second most. He was always in my corner. Mom handed me a brown bag with some lunch in it, told me not to embarrass her and headed inside. Dad told me to ignore her, that she was still in mourning because her one chance at a perfect Burg daughter was now "living it up in Hollywood" and she was still a little depressed. I couldn't suppress the laughter. Val was living in San Diego, not Hollywood, but I guess the sentiment was still the same. She wasn't there for Mom to brag about and show off to everyone what a great job she had done mothering her. Maybe one day they would return to Trenton and all would be right in the world. I gave my Dad one last quick hug and kiss and jumped in my car and headed toward Miami and my future. Whatever that future was, I knew one thing for certain…it wouldn't be the Burg.

TBC…

Author's Note: Ok folks, what do you think? Are you interested? Want me to continue? Let me know what you think.