So, I recently found a series (Roswell) on Netflix based on some books I read a loooonnnggg time ago and all that teenage drama got me thinking: What would have happened if Stephanie and Ranger met before Morelli had a chance to seduce her behind the éclair case?

If the teen version of our fave characters doesn't appeal to you, that's okay. I'm working on finishing up Brighter Than The Sun and updates for Mañoso and Torn;)

Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE.

Joe's POV

"Dude!"

My brother Tony's whine made me tear my eyes away from my target. "What?" I snapped at him, annoyed with his interruption. I quickly snapped my gaze ahead of me once again, but she was no longer in sight.

"Forget it." Tony said with a shake of his head.

"What?" I growled this time, wishing he would just shut up or go away.

"That's Stephanie Plum." He said by way of explanation. "Forget it. She's not going to put out."

"I didn't say anything." I hid my grin, because if he saw it he would never let me live it down. To be honest, Stephanie is really cute. Her usual outfit consists of a stretchy girly tee, jeans and Chucks. Her brown curly hair is usually in a ponytail when she's working at the Tasty Pastry, but at school she usually lets the curls frame her face. And her eyes? I bet they turn a deep blue when she's turned on. That got another smile out of me, but despite my best efforts to hide it my brother definitely didn't miss it.

"It's not gonna happen." Tony teased and when I lunged for him, he scattered away.

My eyes scanned the tables around me one more time until I found her sitting on a corner to my right. "We'll see about that." Tossing my trash, I stood and stalked towards one Stephanie Plum.

S&R- Stephanie's POV

"Hey." A sweet male voice greeted. When I looked up I found Joe Morelli grinning at me. For a moment I thought he was headed my way, but at the last moment he passed my table and sat with a group of guys two tables over.

"Oh. My. God." My best friend shrieked in my ear.

"Mary Lou!" I protested, scooting an inch or two away from her. "What was that for?"

"Joe Morelli just 'hey'ed you." She said, deep scowl in place. "You have to be careful. He's a virgin vampire."

I blushed, immediately focusing on the half eaten sandwich in front of me so I wouldn't have to look at her. "I don't know what you're talking about." I fibbed, stuffing a piece of bread in my mouth to keep me busy. "Besides, I'm not even his type." I shrugged.

"Every member of the female species is his type." Mary Lou was obviously not going to drop this. "Besides, he and Terry Gilman have this weird on again off again thing going on." Unsaid went the fact that Terry's family is very old school mafia.

Thankfully for me the bell rang and I was only too eager to get my butt to class.

"This isn't over." Mary Lou made me promise I'd call her as soon I got home after my shift at Tasty Pastry.

"Fine." I gave my best friend a brief hug before I hurried off to Spanish Class.

My school days are pretty standard. I wake up, go to my classes, have lunch with Mary Lou, work at Tasty Pastry after school, go home, eat dinner, pretend to work on homework, occasionally sneak out through the bathroom window and eventually go to sleep. And the cycle repeats itself over and over. I took my assigned seat in the third row, towards the back just as the late bell rang.

"Check out the new guy." Lula, a good friend of mine, cocked her head to the front of the classroom.

"Oh." A tall Latino was talking to Mr. Castillo. The new guy, as Lula put it, was not only tall, but even through his T-shirt his muscles were outlined. His dark hair was cut short and my hands suddenly itched to touch it or any part of him I could get my hands on.

"Okay, settled down." Mr. Castillo hushed the loud group before introducing the new guy. "Class, this is Ricardo Mañoso…"

"I prefer Carlos." The new guy added before Mr. Castillo had a chance to finish.

Mr. Castillo nodded in acknowledgement before he instructed Carlos to take the empty seat in front of me.

I can't be sure what class was all about, because I spent it staring at the back of Carlos's head and intoxicated with the citrusy scent that wafted my way.

S&R- Ranger's POV

"How was your first day?" My mother asked once we got home. My sisters were quick to reply, easily chatting her up. "What about you, m'ijo?"

"Okay, I guess." I shrugged. My mother just smiled, already knowing I'm short on words.

Moving from Miami to Trenton was a big change and perhaps what I'm going to miss the most is going to be the tropical climate. Before I had too much time to start feeling nostalgic, my mother assigned us our daily chores. Great.

After dinner my father was craving something sweet and his confession roused up the others. "I saw a bakery not too far from here." My mother stated. "Celia, is it one or two blocks away?"

"I think it's more like three." My sister said before she disappeared into the kitchen to work on the dirty dishes.

"I'll go." I volunteered, mostly so I could have a chance to explore the neighborhood.

"Here." My father handed me a twenty and I was gladly on my way.

It didn't take me long to walk to Tasty Pastry and even before I was inside the bakery I realized that it was highly unlikely that I would find the type of sweet bread my family was craving. As soon as I went inside I spotted a guy, who looked like he was in desperate need of a haircut, trying way too hard to charm the girl behind the counter. There was no doubt in my mind that the schmuck wanted to get into her pants. Or get her out of them in any case.

"We're closed." She said to the guy before turning to me to tell me the same thing.

She seemed familiar and it only took me a moment to realize we had a class together. I scanned my eyes over her uniform, looking for a name tag. "Stephanie, give me a box of whatever you have left."

She blinked big blue eyes at me as recognition dawned on her. Swallowing hard, she nodded as she reached for a pink cardboard box. I kept my gaze focused on the glass counter in front of me, pretending like I was busy perusing its contents. From the corner of my eye I caught the frustrated look the guy shot my way before he exited the shop.

"You're new here." Stephanie was obviously as much of a Chatty Cathy as my sisters were. "Carlos, right?"

I nodded as I took the box from her and handed her the twenty.

"Here you go." I pocketed the change she gave me and headed for the door. "Have a good one." Stephanie said as she opened the door for me.

"…" Once I was outside I turned around with the intention of saying something nice back, but she shut the door on my face. After locking the door, she moved away and started turning off lights. Damn. I was such an ass.