Andie's run for student council lands her on a campaign trail of tears when Abby and Monica began advertising her family situation. Jen helps Dawson take steps to deal with his powerlessness over his parents divorce. Jack shuts out Joey after a family crisis.

Dawson's confidence as a filmmaker is shaken when his new teacher turns out to be a movie studio executive on sabbatical in Capeside and tells Dawson the painful truth about his amateur movie. The future is unsure for Joey as well, when a fortuneteller advises her to be open to every new opportunity that crosses her path, and she stumbles into Colin, a gorgeous photographer who brings out Joey's free-spirited side during a wild photo shoot.

Dawson is stunned when Eve presents him with a sneak peak at the PSAT test and everyone is tempted to cheat including Joey, whose scholarship is dependent on her SAT scores, and Andie, who is desperately fighting for acceptance to Harvard. But when the test is stolen, it's Pacey that Dawson accuses since he sees Pacey slipping back to his old ways. Meanwhile, Jack is insistent that the football team is purposely beating him down because he is gay.

Pacey hopes taking Dawson to their favorite childhood camping spot will help ease the pain when he tells Dawson about his new feelings for Joey. Meanwhile, Joey deals with the emotional fallout from her kiss with Pacey by spending girls' night out with Jen and Andie, but to Jen's surprise they stumble upon a birthday party for Henry that she wasn't invited to.