Mary deals with harassment from a boy she turned down for a date; Lucy's new best friend seems to be hiding something; Simon prepares Ruthie for pre-kindergarten.

Annie's "boy-crazy" best friend from school, Rachel, is in town, but the boy she has her eye on is Matt; Lucy may have to say goodbye to her friend Suzanne.

Convinced that she'll fail in her basketball comeback, Mary develops a horrible attitude making her quite unpleasant. Eric laments that Mary never talks to him anymore. Lucy is excited over the prospect of her best friend Suzanne coming to visit, until she learns the girl ran away from home. Afraid of his science teacher, Mrs. Hunter, Simon loses his confidence in his ability to complete a class project and feigns illness to avoid it. Also, Ruthie is fearful of her first field trip thinking that she'll get lost from the group.