Brooke and Sam are forced to hold their annual Christmas parties together, and Carmen is injured just weeks before the next round of cheerleader tryouts. Meanwhile, Nicole's brooding over the yuletide season leads to visits from the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

Brooke and Sam try to derail their parents' wedding plans by planting false evidence of Mike's infidelity, which leads to a startling announcement from Mike and Jane. Meanwhile, Mary Cherry discovers that her mother is engaged to actor Erik Estrada.

Brooke decides to run for student council president, dropping out of the Homecoming Queen election. She asks Harrison to be her campaign manager. They disagree on mandatory drug testing for students and he quits to run against her. Sam, Carmen, Nic and Mary Cherry get nominated to Homecoming Queen. Sam is motivated by George to run for it, but gets too into the spirit. Carmen is sleeping at the school since she is homeless, and Bobbi Glass invites her to her home. Seeing in Carmen herself in high school, Ms. Glass helps her with the contest (even threatening to give everybody an F if they don't vote for Carmen). Nic and Mary Cherry look for help with Hellacious Arke, a past 3 time Homecoming Queen, who is also Ms. Glass's own ""Nicole"" back in her high school days. Brooke misses Josh and sees him and Lily trying cough syrup while spying on them. Motivated by the recent death of a student of cough syrup overdose, she decides to run her campaign on anti-drug platform. Scared to be caught

Lily, in an effort to defend a fellow student who has been suffering jokes about his lifestyle, starts the G.L.A.S.S. (Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Supportive Students), which causes a lot of repercussion around the school, and not such great support from people as she expected. But prejudice is not only about sexual choices, as Sam and George have to deal with the comments on their interracial relationship; Sugar D. doesn't get a job for being fat and Jamie (Brooke's date) reveals that he has suffered prejudice because of his religion. Things get hot when Lily is hospitalized after being attacked when she was leaving a g/l community center (which she took Miss Glass to get information about her sexuality). The gang realizes that hate will never lead to anything, and join the group one by one. Bryan comes out of the closet in a gesture of support after the group is cancelled.