Chapter 4: Greene With Envy

ARGH! I'm so mad in myself. I haven't updated in more than a WEEK.

That is beyond terrible.

Truth is, I had HUGE writer's block for this chapter. I wrote the first two paragraphs, and after that, my fingers just froze on the keyboard. (not literally, but you get what I mean) I had no idea what to type AT ALL. I mean, I knew what the plotline was, but I had no idea how to put it into words and turn it into a wonderful story to publish on .

So I completely abandoned this chapter for like, 6 days, before finally returning to it, then I took two days to finish it all up.

So that's 8 days of no update for you.

I'm so sorry you guys. I've been so terrible. Especially after you guys have given me 42 reviews in total! (which is like, an average of 14 reviews per chapter, which is LOADS.)

Okay, enough with me going on and on about how sorry I am and blah blah blah. You're probably getting bored.

Disclaimer: Nope, I do not own Kickin' It or Mr. Moseby, the guy from Suite Life on Deck who's obsessed with pocket hankies.

PS: Nope, there's no typo in the chapter title. It truly is 'Greene With Envy'.

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I cannot believe I met Ricky Weaver onboard. What I find even harder to believe is that I, Kim Crawford, actually meant something to that jerk. And while any ordinary fan girl would forgive him, my 'I-Love-Ricky-Weaver-No-Matter-What-Stupid-Thing-He-Does' days are over.

The boat was amazing. It had so many incredible fine dining restaurants, with a variety of cuisines – Italian, French, and Japanese – and each of them were run by highly-trained chefs. There was also an amazing gym, with state-of-the-art equipment. And don't get me started with the hot tub – I went for a quick dip (without the boys) and it was so relaxing to just soak in there.

"Okay guys, time for you all to go sign up for your activities onboard," Mr. Moseby said, leading us back to the receptionist. He sat in front of the computer, clicking about before finally looking up.

I gawked in horror. "Wait… what activities?"

Mr. Moseby looked puzzled by the fact that I had no idea that we could participate in lessons on the ship. "It's pretty optional… Basically, you sign up for one or two lessons to take part in. We have tons of stuff – there's arts and crafts, cross-stitching, dancing, and so on, so forth. I have the whole list right here." He then shoved a clipboard onto the desk.

I peered over to take a look. Arts and crafts, cross-stitching, dancing, baking, art, a bunch of sports (like golfing, martial arts included), etcetera, etcetera.

I did not exactly want to participate in any of the activities.

Expressing my thoughts in words, Jack grabbed hold of my shoulders and shook them vigorously, sending a rush of warmth down my arms.

You do not like Jack, you do not like Jack.

Right?

"Come on Kim, it'll be fun!" Jack pleaded. "Plus, we could take part in the same things. How does baking sound?"

Very honestly, baking sounded pretty okay. For one thing, messing around with ingredients in the kitchen can get quite fun, and secondly, I so needed baking classes to boost my grade in Home Economics up.

I could not experience getting a B again.

"Okay," I reluctantly consented. For some reason, Jack just made things more worth doing.

But I'm not saying that because I like him or anything.

Just being objective.

Right?

Stupid thoughts.

"So I'll sign you two up for baking classes?" Mr. Moseby questioned, directing his gaze at the brunette and I.

"Me too," Milton piped up, waving his gangly arms into the air for attention, causing the ship's manager to send him an uncertain glance.

As Mr. Moseby put our names onto the list, Eddie waggled his eyebrows at me teasingly. "I bet you only agreed because your dear little Jackie was participating in baking."

I tried to hide the flaming red color on my cheeks by grabbing hold of the boy's arms and flipping him onto the ground. Stamping my foot down on his chest, I said with gritted teeth, "I do not like Jack. Got that, Edward?"

Eddie forced my foot off in mention of his real name and scowled, scrambling up from his position on the ground. "Yeah, yeah, you're just in denial. But I'll stop bugging you two lovebirds."

I flushed again, and felt even more embarrassed to see Jack's face turn a delicate shade of pink out of the corner of my eye.

Did he like me?

I'm gonna quit questioning it, because it's just cluttering my brain up with irrational, stupid, tangled thoughts.

Jerry, of course, signed up for dancing, and Eddie chose karate, since he wanted to build up a good foundation for the next time we went to the dojo. Rudy seemed kind of upset that Eddie was attending somebody else's karate lesson, and insisted that he was 'betraying' him and being 'disloyal', and another whole load of 'blah' stuff.

As for Rudy, since Eddie was going for karate, he decided to sign up too, so he had a reason to enter the class and show everyone else what good martial arts material he was made of.

I wonder if that was actually allowed, but I ignored the matter anyway.

"Oh, one final matter," Mr. Moseby said before we left. "We're having a talent show on the night of Christmas Eve, here on the ship. You can do practically anything – just nothing illegal or dangerous…" At this, he trailed off and eyed us warily. "Things like singing, dancing, magic tricks, and ventriloquist acts are all allowed, and if you can think of more, fine by me. So if you're willing to sign up, you have to do it by the end of today."

I rolled my eyes. Talent shows – so not my thing.

"Pardon me, I forgot to mention – the prize is $1000."

My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. A thousand dollars? Are you kidding me? That was huge – real huge. A thousand dollars could get me a smartphone, which I've been begging for since last year but never got a chance to buy.

I had to win the competition.

Okay, I suppose you think it's kind of weird, how I was like, "I hate talent shows", and the next second I'm practically screaming in my mind that I just have to participate and win it. But that's Kim Crawford for you. One very major detail could change my mind about the entire situation.

Now the question was – what would I do for the show?

Dancing, magic tricks, and ventriloquist acts were out of the question. I couldn't do a short comedy skit – I wasn't all too funny. Maybe a karate routine? Yeah, that may work.

Oh wait, I had that darned, broken ankle.

Or I could sing.

Singing has always been sort of like, my secret passion ever since I was a little girl. I would take a look at a singer performing on TV and I'll ask my mother, "Mommy, can I be like her someday?"

And obviously, Mom said no, saying that I had very little chances of making it and being successful.

But that didn't stop me. Whenever my parents weren't in the house, I'll just sing alone in my bedroom, sometimes belting out a full rendition of the song, or just humming a small snippet of it. Whatever it was, karate and journalism weren't the only things I enjoyed doing.

So should I sing in the talent show?

Would it alright to admit to the guys that I enjoyed singing, and that I wasn't that totally tough Kim Crawford I proved and looked to be?

I guess so.

"Oh man, that's total swag!" Jerry trilled. "I'm totally gonna put together a dance crew and own it!" He glanced at us all excitedly. "You guys wanna join? We could do the same routine we did for the dance contest. You know, the one where I won Best Individual Dancer." He smugly busted new and improved 'The Jerry' right there in the lobby, and we all cheered. And even though Mr. Moseby looked alarmed, I could tell he was inwardly pretty impressed.

"No thanks Jerry," I answered with a smile. "Besides…" I gestured wildly towards my ankle, and Jerry grinned sheepishly. "Plus, I think I'm gonna do something else."

The guys, intrigued, stopped their fooling around to listen to what I was going to say.

"I'm gonna sing."

The look on their faces was exactly what I expected. Their jaws just dropped to the ground, and their eyes grew larger and larger as they pondered over the three shocking words they had just heard.

I'm gonna sing.

"Kim, you like to sing? How come you never told me?" Jack asked. I couldn't tell the tone in his voice – he sounded rather hurt and disappointed, doubtful, and surprised, all at the same time.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I never really tell anyone. First, my parents seriously don't support it – but then again, they don't support anything I do, and second, it's something you don't really find me doing."

Jack finally managed to flash me a dazzling smile. "It's nice to know there's a secret side to the Oh-So-Tough Kim Crawford."

Playfully, I smacked him on the shoulder.

"Furthermore, singing's cool," Jack continued with a shrug. "You know, maybe we could, say, join forces and do an act together."

I could feel my face color at the prospect of Jack wanting to participate in the talent competition with me, but I quickly brushed the thought away and asked, "Oh really? What can you do to accompany my singing?"

"Well, I do jam pretty well on the guitar," Jack said, straightening his shirt smugly. "I could play while you sing. And if you want, we could do a duet."

I snickered. "You can sing, Jack?"

Seriously, I doubted it.

But I was proved wrong when the martial arts expert spontaneously belted out a pitch-perfect chorus of 'If I Ruled the World' by Big Time Rush.

Okay, how unexpected.

But Jack was an awesome singer, so there would be no harm done if we did a duet together. Furthermore, we'll also have a blast of a time working together to put up an amazing act, worthy of the first place trophy.

"Okay Jack, we're partners," I said with a grin, taking his hand in mine and shaking it firmly. I tried to ignore the tingles traveling up my arm as our hands came into the contact, or the butterflies erupting in my stomach when he flashed me one of his blinding smiles.

Because, they don't mean anything, duh!

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"We have five days to get together a great – no, phenomenal singing act for the talent show. What do you propose we sing?" I asked as Jack and I walked back to my room. "Perhaps a Christmas song? How about 'All I Want For Christmas'? Or 'Mistletoe' – and not the Justin Bieber one, the Colbie Caillat one? Oh I know – 'It's Not Christmas Without You' by Victoria Justice!" I rattled off practically every Christmas song that popped into my head.

Jack shrugged. "Those songs are pretty okay, but –"

"Okay?" I literally screamed into his ear. "Those songs are not just okay! They're awesome!" I stopped my crazy rant and calmed down, crossing my arms across my chest. "Then what do you propose we sing?"

Jack shrugged again, and I threw my hands up in the air in frustration, stalking off.

"Kim…" Jack rushed up and grabbed my arm. "Why are you so worked up over this talent contest anyway? We're doing it for fun, aren't we?"

I sighed. "I know, I know, I'm being overdramatic about this whole situation. Just that… imagine what I could do with $500! I can finally get a smartphone! Plus, you know how I like to put my best into everything and win. When the competition gets tough, I tend to get a little crazy."

"That's fine and all, but don't go OTT, okay?" Jack asked, staring at me with his deep, chocolate-brown eyes. I got lost in the chocolate-y goodness was I staring into, and my heart melted.

"Yeah, okay," I absent-mindedly, very dreamily agreed.

Jack looked rather taken aback by my tone of voice, but decided not to pry. "Good," he said. "Now let's get going."

As he walked off, I stayed still and mentally felt like kicking myself in the shin. I acted like an idiot, all crazy and dreamy and falling over him – which I was not! As such a tough tomboy, I, Kim Crawford, should at least have some control and not go drowning in Jack's hypnotizing eyes.

Giving myself a slap on the shoulder, I blinked hard before finally moving on. Looking up, I saw Jack talking to someone.

More specifically, a girl.

Wait, not specific enough. A gorgeous girl.

The teen looked about our age and was just an inch shorter than Jack. She had an elegant posture, and if not for her height, I'd call her a model. Dark, curly locks of hair tumbled down her shoulders like a waterfall, and her eyes twinkled like an emerald ring. They were just so lively and vivacious, and the excitement that glistened around in it looked contagious. Donned in a denim jacket, white top, skinny jeans, and black boots, she was probably the prettiest girl I'd ever seen.

Looking at Jack talking to such a pretty girl, I couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. And um, obviously not because I thought he was gonna date her or anything, but more because it looked like they were going to turn out to be great friends and hang out together a lot so I wouldn't have enough time with my best friend.

Right?

Deciding to intrude on their amiable conversation, I rushed forward and gently tapped Jack on the shoulder. With both pairs of eyes on me, I tried to act casual and said, "Jack, who's your friend?"

"Oh, we've just met, but Kim, this is Stella, Stella, this is Kim," Jack said quickly, introducing me to his newest acquaintance.

"Stella Greene, if you want to be technical," Stella said cheerfully, shaking my hand as she let out a tinkling laugh.

"Kim Crawford, if you want to be technical."

Just wanted to get friendly.

"I met Jack after carelessly bumping into him," Stella continued, flipping her hair as she giggled. "I should seriously watch where I'm going next time, but on the bright side, I've made two new friends!"

Friends. Friends. Friends. Jack was just her friend.

Were these really the thoughts that I was thinking? They sounded so lovesick and romantic and cheesy.

Furthermore, I did not like Jack.

"It's cool, Stella, really," Jack said, slipping his hands into his pockets in his usual, casual, easy-going manner.

Stella flashed us both a dazzling smile, and while Jack smiled back, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sticky-sweet aura this girl was giving out.

"You guys wanna go like, hang out at the buffet and get to know each other?" Stella asked casually, pointing to the floor below us. "I hear their shrimp is legendary."

"Cool!" Jack immediately jumped at the chance to get to know the flawlessly-perfect (in terms of appearance) Stella Greene. "I heard about the buffet and I was meaning to check it out. Wanna come along Kim?"

So Jack didn't want to come work on our act for the talent show anymore? Well, that certainly upset, disappointed, and enraged me.

"No thanks," I said, faking what I hoped was a convincing smile. "I'm just gonna go look through a list of Christmas songs for the talent show."

I knew Jack could see right through me, and tell that I was being totally insincere and everything, and that I was really upset with him for following his new acquaintance.

Smart boy, if he could tell.

"Um, bye Kim," Jack said awkwardly, giving me a small wave before heading off, chatting animatedly with Stella. I just continued to stand there, staring after them, secretly hoping that nothing was ever going to go on between them.

Did I just admit that?

Jack looked back once, but I turned around and walked away and acted like I didn't care.

I was "Greene" with envy.

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Okay… so did you like the chapter? I'm surprised that it turned out pretty okay, even though it was kinda short. Only thing I dislike is that I unintentionally injected too much Kick in it… but I didn't go and delete some parts, since I was DESPERATE to get this up to you.

Maybe some of you are mad about the OC Stella Greene, but before you make you go on about how you hate it in the comments, I'm just gonna say that she's put into my story as a tool to get Kim to admit her feelings for Jack. Plus, nothing too serious between her and Jack. You'll see that in the next chapter.

If you still haven't changed your mind, then it's your loss. I'm not gonna jump straight into all the Jack/Kim-ness.

Oh yeah, maybe Kim was a little OOC about the whole 'talent-show-decision-making' thing… but well, this place isn't called FanFiction for nothing.

Anyone saw the new show, Austin and Ally? I think it'll turn out pretty cool – plus Austin and Ally look cute together. The first episode was HILARIOUS, by the way.

Does ANYONE have ANY clue to what the next episode of Kickin' It is? I'm dying just trying to find out. Most say it's Breaking Bad, but it's more of a rumor, so I'm choosing not to believe it until it's like, up on Wiki or Wikipedia or something like that.

Oh yeah, planning on writing a Kickin' It songfic for Jack and Kim. Got any song ideas? (nothing about heartbreak or them being all romantic and girlfriend-and-boyfriend stuff, please)

WHOA! Long Author's Note there!

Review like mad, and pray like crazy that I have no writer's block for the next chapter!

~Kels :)

PS: This is like, really random (okay, not totally, but sort of), but anyone noticed how Jack and Kim's pairing name is KICK and the show they're on is KICKin' It? Just saying…