Because Taylor had an accident and broke her leg, Paula says that there isn’t any competition for Homecoming Queen and that she’ll win. Taylor thinks otherwise. She points out that the new girl is cute, but Paula reminds her that at Centerscore High, a girl must win a dance off as well to become Homecoming Queen. Taylor calls the new girl over and learns that her name is Emily. In addition, she just transferred from Fulliard School of Dance! Paula storms away, and Taylor explains how becoming Homecoming Queen works. The top two girls by popular vote have a dance off, both solo and as couples. The winner of the competition is crowned Homecoming Queen. Emily decides to try to beat Paula.

With Homecoming only a week away, there isn’t much time. Emily goes to her classes and attempts to make friends. In English, she hangs out with Taylor. She also meets Amanda, who befriends her when she learns that Emily really believes she can defeat Paula. She befriends Spike by helping with his skateboard trick. In the library, she becomes friends Ashley by mentioning that she’s not popular; she just wants to defeat Paula. Dexter tries to hit on her in calculus. When Emily gets mad but doesn’t slap him, he becomes her friend. She meets Beth in the cafeteria, befriending her by sitting with her after Paula forced her to sit alone for wearing the same earrings two days in a row. Beth also admits wishing Paula’s date, Andy, had asked her to the dance. In English, she wins over Laura by standing up to Ryan’s gross advances. She proves her friendship to Kim by helping her in a diss battle. When Spud asks how far she’s willing to go and Emily responds that she’d do anything, Spud agrees to vote for her.

During the week, Emily learns how far Paula is willing to go. She’s convinced many guys that they’re her boyfriend, including Andy, Chuck, Spud, and more. Andy’s her date to Homecoming because he’s a good dancer, but she’s particularly mean to him. After Emily treats him nicely, he reveals that Taylor broke her leg because Paula had him shoot the girl at the bottom of the pyramid with his slingshot while Taylor was on top. She tumbled down, breaking her leg. He reveals that Paula wanted Emily to have an “accident” as well, but Andy’s not going to do it.

Emily’s dad is concerned about the dance competition. She transferred from Fulliard because she choked up at her dance competition with stage fright, tripped, tore her pants, and revealed her underwear to everyone. However, she decides to overcome her fright. She attends dance class during the week to learn as many moves as possible. She even learns a move from Taylor!

Taylor offers to set Emily up with Ryan if she can’t find a date. However, she finds him repulsive.

At the beginning of the week, Emily runs into Jacob. If she chooses to date him, he tells her pirate jokes, they go to the arcade, and even go see a comedian. He’s so bad that he’s funny, and when he ends for the night, Jacob convinces Emily to tell her own “it’s so bad it’s good” joke! They also attend a diss battle at school. During the week, Emily learns that Jacob once dated Paula. However, he tells her that that’s in the past. If they date enough, Jacob asks her to Homecoming.

Emily also meets Kenji outside at lunch. If she chooses to date him, they hang out in auto-shop, play poker, and hike to a party. Kenji reveals that he was, in a way, testing her. He says girls have tried to change him in the past but that he doesn’t want to be changed. He doesn’t like dances, but if they date enough, Kenji asks Emily to the dance.

At Homecoming, Amanda comes in third, Paula comes in second, and Emily comes in first in popular vote. They each dance with their dates, and afterward they have a one-on-one dance off. Emily is crowned the winner! If she’s dating Jacob, he reveals that he originally dated her because Paula wanted him to sabotage her, but he ended up really liking her. They agree to start over and continue dating.