On the last day of 8th grade before their freshman year in high school, Julie Corky (Alexa Vega) has a slumber party with 3 best friends, Hannah Carlson (Mika Boorem), Yancy Williams (Kallie Flynn Childress), and Farrah James (Scout Taylor-Compton). As a quartet, they end up having the adventure of their lives. A group of popular girls, led by a former friend of Julie’s, Stacie Blake (Sara Paxton), challenge the girls to a scavenger hunt. The prize will be a coveted lunchtime seat near the fountain in high school. The losers will have to sit at tables near the school’s dumpsters.
The list includes things like a picture of the girls with a date inside an exclusive night club, the insignia from a local private security firm, and a pair of boxers from Steve Philips, the cutest guy in school, whom Julie has a crush on and to dress an Old Navy mannequin with their own clothing. The girls sneak out of Julie’s house, and use Yancy’s father’s smart car to travel to various locations and get the required objects. Along the way they dodge a Patroltec security guard (Steve Carell) and try to keep Julie’s parents (Jane Lynch and Jeff Garlin) from discovering that they are gone. During their scavenger hunt, Steve Philips sees Julie skateboarding in a dress and is impressed. Later the girls meet up at the school dance, but both have acquired all the items on the list.
Stacie suggests a tie breaker, where the group which is able to get the crown from the homecoming king or queen will win. Steve Philips ends up named homecoming king and picks Julie as his partner for a victory dance, giving her the crown and ensuring victory for her friends. As Julie and Steve dance, the other girls dance with each other. Yancey shares a dance with a boy who moved speakers for a summer job and who she had met him earlier in the night. Stacie catches her boyfriend Todd dancing with another girl who claims that she has been Todd’s girlfriend for six months. After the two break up, Stacie shares a dance with a scruffy skater friend of Julie’s.
After the dance, Julie and Steve are about to kiss when they get a call from Julie’s brother that their mother is headed home. The girls race home and pretend to be sleeping just as Julie’s parents check on them. The next morning, Julie says goodbye to her friends and finds Steve waiting inside her tree fort, where the two share a kiss. The film ends with a scene of Stacie and her friends, now in high school, eating their lunch by the school dumpsters among the trash and the social rejects.
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