Summary: The sequel to The Story of Us. It's been about a year and four months since Jack and Kim went on their first date. A year since Kim left Seaford for New York City. Ten months since anyone last heard from Kim. Two days since she finally returned home to Seaford.

Now, Kim, Jack, and the rest of the gang are entering into their senior year at Seaford High. This last year of high school will be filled with drama, heartbreak, stress, friendship, and trials. Not only that, but though Kim's a different person now, she's not the only one who's changed. Jack, the gang, even Seaford High- Everything Has Changed.

Hey, guys! First off, this story is the sequel to The Story of Us. If you haven't read it yet, you can find it on my profile! If you read it, you're probably going to understand this story much better than if you don't.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Kickin' It. It would be nice if I did, but I don't. Also, this story is fictional, meaning that any resemblance between characters and real life people (excluding the cast of Kickin' It) is coincidental, as well as any resemblance between places in the story and in real life.

So.. now that all that's over with, I give you the first chapter of Everything Has Changed! (yeah, I know, I'm overdramatic. It's just a me thing, haha!)

Kim's POV

Around me the house is quiet: the kind of blissful silence that makes me feel as if all is right with the world. My parents haven't come home from grocery shopping yet, and so I'm alone. I take a deep breath, and even after an entire year empty this house still smells like it used to- it smells like home, my home. It feels so great to be back in Seaford again; I missed this place so much you wouldn't believe it even if I told you. There are things that can be described with words, and then there's this feeling.

My sock feet muffle my steps as I push open the door to my room and walk over to the blue-curtained window. When I try to lift it open, the latch sticks.

"Come on," I mutter to myself and pull at it. Finally it gives, and I swing the window open. A light California breeze flows into the room, and I hear the sound of small birds chirping and twittering nearby. That's a sound you don't hear often in the big city, I think with a wry smile. After so long listening to cars honking and the low rumble of engines all day every day, the sound of birds is like a gem. I look around at the heavy brown moving boxes scattered on the laminated wooden floor, then I sigh and begin to unpack.

I plop down on the hardwood floor and open the box closest to me, I rip the packing tape off the top in one sharp motion and find that it's the box I sealed over a year ago, the box I couldn't bring myself to unpack even once while I was in New York. The box that sat under my bed for an entire year gathering dust, the box full of the things that were meant to comfort me and remind me of home. I move to turn it upside down and dump its contents on the floor, but then realize that, knowing me, there's probably something breakable in there. So instead, I reach in.

Then I pause for a moment, for some odd reason, with my hand already on its way into the box. I squeeze my eyes shut and I thrust my hand into the box to grab the first thing my fingers brush against.

I pull it out, opening my eyes. It's…. oh. Before I realize what's happening, a lone tear has escaped my defenses, running down my cheek. The object I hold is an intricate silver picture frame with two photos in it- on the left is a picture of Jack and I playing in the dirt together way back when we were little, and on the right is a photo taken the day I left Seaford. Jack's arm is around my waist, and I'm snuggled against his chest.

Milton had been the one to take the photo. "Holy Christmas Nuts. You two are so copper and tellurium."

We stared at him blankly. "We're what now?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Never mind. I should've known you wouldn't get it," he mutters.

I study the picture. Neither of us is focused on the camera- I've got my eyes shut tight, savoring the moment, and he's looking at me with eyes full of utmost adoration. It's been a long, long time since anyone last looked at me the way he used to. I don't think I knew how lucky I was back then. How many girls get smiled at like that, like they're beautiful, like they're worth more than all the stars in the sky? I put the photos aside and reach into the box again, hoping to grab something less… important to me.

No such luck, though. It's another picture frame. Without looking, I stuff it back in and grab another box. I'll deal with that one later, when I'm a little less… emotionally unstable.

I open this box and turn it upside down, spilling the contents on the floor. They scatter, clattering and clunking. Oops, they're not clothes like I thought they were. I sure hope I didn't break anything. Oh, wait. I pick small, familiar-looking book with purple pages that has fallen open and is lying right in front of me.

I flip to the first page. It's my old diary, the one I used to write in all the time. I flip to the middle, my eyes falling on the open pages.

August 14, 2012

Today, I walked into the kitchen to make dinner, and guess what? I was hit with the smell of cooking. Yes, that's right, I said real cooking. I couldn't believe it at first, and it got even weirder when I noticed my mom and dad both sitting at the table, waiting for me to come in. Since when does my mom cook, and since when do we eat dinner together?

So I sat down, right?

There was lasagna on the table. I scoffed. It was probably one of those ready-to-bake lasagnas. I spooned some on my plate after noticing my parents both had food on theirs already.

"Thanks for cooking, mom." I said.

"You're welcome, hon."

Then we ate in silence for a while.

And then my mom was like, "Kimberly, honey, your father and I have some news."

My mom always calls me Kimberly. I hate it, but I don't say anything, because, well, she's my mom.

So they told me that my dad had been promoted and we were moving to New York City in a week.

That was pretty much what they said- "Your dad has been promoted, and we're moving to New York City in two weeks."

I sat there with my mouth open for a while. My fork paused halfway to my mouth.

"You just said what now?" Was all I could manage to say.

"We're moving to New York." My dad said, like it was just that simple. We're moving to New York, yeah, no big deal. It's not going to be a life-changing thing or anything.

"Do we have to?" I hated that I sounded like a whiny little kid.

"Yes, we do. You have no say in the matter. Start packing." My dad got up and left the table.

I glanced at my mom, who sighed and got up without a word.

I finished my lasagna alone.

When I got to my room, I just sat there on my bed, and looked around. In two weeks, I'm going to be thousands of miles away from here.

I skip a few pages and continue reading, eyes skimming the pages restlessly.

August 21, 2012

I'm leaving today. My parents have allowed me to go to the dojo first to say goodbye to everyone, then they're picking me up after two hours to take me to the airport.

My room is bare now; everything has been packed away and sent ahead to our new house in New York. The only things left are my bed, which we're not taking with us, and the two bags in the middle of my room that I'm bringing with me on the airplane. That's it.

Well, I'm going to go say goodbye to my house now.

I'm in the plane now. Seaford has long disappeared from the windows.

Saying goodbye to my friends was heartbreaking. I don't even think I can write about it here without crying. And I don't cry. So I won't tell you what happened, just that it was heartbreaking. They made me promise never to forget them- but how could I? How could I forget my friends?

I'm definitely going to keep in contact with them. After all, as Jack put it, nothing splits the Wasabi Warriors up. Nothing. And nothing's gonna split up Grace and I, either. She's been such a good friend to me and this move won't change that.

I'm too upset right now to write much. I'm mad at my parents for making me move, but I know that it's the best thing that's happened to them for a long time, and I love them too much to complain about it.

Not that they've ever told me they love me or anything.

Sigh. I can't stop thinking about Jack- he refused to let me leave without him, and managed to talk my parents into letting him come to the airport with us. He left my side at the last possible second, and even then, it was reluctantly. I don't like not knowing when I'm gonna see him again. He means the world to me. I wonder if he's thinking about me as much as I'm thinking about him.

I sure hope this long-distance thing with him works. I'm worried it might not, after all, my parents never told me when I'm coming back to Seaford. It might be in a few months, it might be.. never.

December 6, 2012

I haven't had much time to write lately- you wouldn't believe how hectic settling in was! New York is so amazing. I don't even know why I didn't want to come here! It's so amazing that I forgot about this diary until earlier today, when I found it nestled in a drawer and decided to write in it again.

I just read my last entry. Wow. August.. that's a long time ago. I can't believe it was only, what? Three months? Three months since I moved here to New York. It feels like forever ago.

Well, I suppose I should tell you a little about my life here. As my dad promised, we live in a HUGE mansion. Well, huge compared to our old house, anyways. It's not a palace or anything. We don't live in downtown New York, but instead in a neighborhood where there's lots of houses like ours- big, with gates and fancy cars. Yes, we did also buy a new car. It's a Mercedes, and my mom adores it.

My parents are hardly ever home, so I can do as I please. I've made some new friends at the school I go to now. My dad wanted to send me to one of those posh all-girls' private schools, but I adamantly refused, so I'm going to New York High (made it up. If it's real… sorry!). It's gigantic, and there are thousands of students there. Thousands. It's nothing like Seaford High, which is beginning to seem more and more imaginary the longer I stay here. Sometimes, it even seems like a dream, like something half-forgotten and distant.

Which reminds me. I haven't heard from any of my old friends back in Seaford for a while. We exchanged emails and had the occasional Skype call for the first two months, but soon we all became too busy. They've been pushed to the back of my mind, much like all my other memories of home.

Actually… I wonder how they're doing. I feel like I should email them or something, but … I don't really feel like it right now. I think I'll do it later. I wonder how Jack's doing.

Does he still think of me, from time to time?

We never officially broke up, but sometimes, it feels like we did. We just.. drifted apart, and it seems neither of us has the heart to end this floundering relationship. It's not that I don't love him anymore, in fact, I still love him as much as I did the first time I said it to him.

I wonder if he still loves me.

Sometimes, I sit at my brand-new, purple laptop and stare at my inbox, waiting and hoping to see an email from him appear at the top of the screen.

But since the end of October, it never has.

I wonder what life's like, back in Seaford. I wonder how the dojo's doing. I even wonder what happened with the whole Milton-and-Julie thing, and if Grace and Jerry are still dating. Oh, Grace. I miss her so much. She was the last one I got an email from, you know. The last to drift away. I wonder if she's made a new best friend, to replace me.

Well, I haven't exactly made a new best friend to replace her- not yet, at least. I was pretty quiet at school for a while, but I've warmed up to these girls in my class. Their names are Mia, Sarah, and Jenna. Oddly, they're all popular girls. I've never been into the whole cool-kid sort of thing, and I've always avoided these kinds of people, but they seem genuinely nice.

Well, boy-craziness and drinking parties aside, anyways.

Oh, someone's calling me. I think it's Mia, calling about that party on Saturday. I'd better go.

I flip the page, expecting to find more. But it's blank, and so are all the others after it. I guess that was the last time I wrote, then. I can hardly remember.

Reading those words made me realize how different I am now. How much I've changed from the girl who used to live in this bedroom. New York changed me more than I wanted it to, more than I was hoping it would. I hope I'm not too different for Seaford, cause I don't really know if there's such a thing as un-change. Besides, I'd like to think I've changed for the better, become wiser or something.

I glance down at my pale pink, one-shouldered crop top and leather skater skirt, neither of which tenth-grade Kim would've worn. She would've stabbed herself before wearing this.

But she isn't me, not anymore.

Suddenly, it strikes me- shouldn't I tell any of my old friends that I'm back? After all, I've been yearning to come back here to see them for ages.

Before I can change my mind or chicken out, I slip my pink phone out of my pocket and start dialing Jack's number. Halfway through, I pause.

His number was carved into my mind just two months ago, I'm certain of it. I'm shocked, but I think I've actually forgotten it. Only the first two digits come to mind, and I'm too scared to dial a wrong number. I've gotten my fair share of rude hangups and the occasional screaming from random strangers I've accidentally dialed.

Searching my contacts, I realize I never transferred my contacts from my old phone to this one. All I've got are my friends from New York.

Then I remember I've got his number stored in my email account. I should probably check there.

A few moments later, the phone is ringing and my palms are sweating, because I haven't talked to him for so long. And… we never broke up, so technically we're still dating. Isn't that kind of odd? I think it's kind of odd. Yeah, it's kind of odd.

Oh, joy. I'm babbling in my head. That's never a good sign.

I wait for him to pick up, drumming my fingers on my leg.

He picks up on the third ring.

"Hello?" I ask, heart beating even faster. This is Jack, I remind myself. You trust him with your life, and you can tell him anything. But that does nothing to quell my pulse as I await his reply.

Bwahahahaha yes I just ended the first chapter in a cliffy. So.. since this story is called 'Everything Has Changed', what do you think has changed about Kim, Jack, Milton, Jerry, Grace, Eddie, and the rest of them since the end of tenth grade?

What do you think's happened since Kim left? And is there anything you want to see happen in this story?

Please review and tell me! It would make my day!

By the way, for those of you who are used to my frequent updates, I'm sad to say that this story won't be updated as frequently as I'd like to update it. Since I'm back at school, I'm going to have hardly any time to write. It makes me sad, but it's reality.

So.. yeah. What did you think? Review!

Xoxo, lovelifeandwatermelons