Tucker can't believe it when his dad surprises him with a pair of tickets to a concert that's been sold out for weeks. But before he has a chance to invite Becca, Tucker finds out that Kerry, the girl he has a crush on, would love to go. He invites Kerry instead, figuring that Becca will be none the wiser, until his father mentions the concert to her. Suddenly, Tucker has to find a way to get another ticket and it looks like his only option may be to pay a lot of money to a mysterious scalper. Without asking he borrows the money from Miles. But when Miles and Becca discover what Tucker's been up to, they're both furious and Tucker realizes that no concert is worth losing his two best friends.

Tucker and Miles decide to try out for the soccer team and Tucker surprises everyone, even himself, with his natural talent as a goalie. Much to Jack's dismay, Tucker leads the team to victory in their first game. But when Tucker gets in trouble for grandstanding during a game, he gets kicked off the team. Meanwhile, Becca starts writing for the school paper and, in exchange for having her poetry published, is assigned to the loathed sports column. After a disastrous first attempt (she forgets to publish the scores), Becca learns the key to appreciating team sports from Tucker, who wants nothing more than to get back on the team.

Parkview suddenly becomes newsworthy when a hot shot reporter named Kilroy decides to write an article on ""today's student"". This is too good to resist for Tucker and Miles and they concoct an elaborate set of ficticious behaviors to feed to the gullible reporter. Meanwhile, Becca is hoping to use this opportunity to get something of her own published and she's mortified when she sees Kilroy swallowing the bait: hook, line and sinker. After a front page ""expose"" is printed in the papers Lifestyles section, Tucker becomes the ""voice of a new generation"". While revelling in the spotlight, Tucker realizes that Becca's column was turned down, even though she was the really the one with something legitimate to say.

It's time for the eighth grade talent show. Tucker is planning to do standup, Miles is working on a magic act, and Becca, Christine and Max are practicing their tap dance routine. Tucker invites Roland, a less popular student, to be a part of his act. Roland secretly wants to be more like Tucker and starts dressing and acting just like him, which drives Tucker crazy. Max and Christine wish Becca and her two left feet weren't a part of the dance number. Becca catches the two girls practicing the routine without her and decides to be a judge instead. Roland attempts to do the act himself and bombs until Tucker saves him, but it's Max and Christine who win first prize.