It's Ashley's birthday and she's having a party at her house. During the party Chloe meets Zack. She is a wealthy girl living in Malibu, while he is a lower class guy living in the valley. Chloe's brother gets into a fight with one of Zack's friends, Flipper. This leads to the arrest of both. Ashley and her upscale friends, Julie and Bree, dare Nina. They want her to try and sleep with her best friend, Chloe's, brother. She does the deed, breaking a previous promise that she made to Chloe. Due to the fight at the party, Zack's parents think that he should live with his sister in Malibu. Meanwhile, Josh gets pulled from the school's football team. Chloe's friend Teddy becomes an arsonist when he sets his own home on fire to try and blame it on Zack. Even worse, an earthquake destroys the high school in the valley, making it so that the two rival schools must combine, and all of the valley kids must now attend school in Malibu.