Lizzie is looking forward to the science class field trip, but she is mortified when she finds out that her mother is a last-minute replacement as the girls' chaperone. Lizzie fears that her mother will embarrass her to death, and Mom does a pretty good job of doing just that while they are competing with the boys on a nature walk. But Mrs. McGuire proves how cool she can be when she helps the girls get back at the boys for a prank they pulled then takes all the blame herself. Back at home, Matt and Mr. McGuire are left on their own and try to cook for themselves.

Gordo is sure that Mr. Pettus is giving him ""B""s instead of ""A""s because Pettus doesn't like him. His state of mind isn't helped any when the teacher gives the class an aptitude test which shows that Gordo is best suited to be a blackjack dealer. To prove that Mr. Pettus has it in for him, Gordo convinces Lizzie to turn in his science project with her name on it and vice versa, which ends up having disasterous results. Also, Matt adopts a hip-hop attitude and insists that everyone call him ""M-Dogg.""

Gordo and Miranda visit Lizzie after she was out sick and bring her some scary news--in social studies class she has to pair up on a project with---KATE!! Lizzie reacts hysterically. She tries to get out of going to class the next day but her parents make her go. Kate is mad about working with Lizzie also, but she comes by the McGuire house to work on their project, cooking a Latvian dish called an Alexander Tort (a raspberry pastry ). At first the two are hostile to each other, but eventually they have a laugh or two and begin to recall the days when they were friends. Jo McGuire sees them enjoying themselves and tells the girls it seems like old times. Suddenly the girls stop being so friendly, then Kate excuses herself and leaves.

At school Miranda and Gordo ask Lizzie how it went with Kate, expecting the worst. Lizzie says it wasn't so bad. In fact, the two are going to the Digital Bean to do work on a high-speed computer. When they get there, Kate and Lizzie are working fine, but