Previous Episode | Next Episode
Original Airdate: 11/24/97
Morning finds Eric struggling to get into his jeans, which amuses Annie to no end. He asks if she shrunk them in the drier and she tries to humor him by saying she must have had the heat turned up too high and left them in too long. They both know she would never do that, and she offers to take Eric out walking after dinner. After this, Eric manages to convince himself that he is getting fat.After school, Mary and Matt are heading out to the car to wait for Lucy when Mary sees a guy she is dying to go out with, Brian. She pesters Matt to go see if he likes her and if he will go out with her. Matt eventually agrees so Mary heads into the school to find Lucy. When Matt asks Brian if he will go out with Mary, he says he doesn't think Mary is her type – plus he's broke. Matt offers to give Brian $20 for pizza if he'll just go out with her and he accepts. Back inside, Lucy is tormented over the fact that Shelby got invited to go to a sleepover with the "cool group" and she didn't. Mary manages to get Lucy invited though and Lucy goes hypersonic in joy.
Eric comes home after a day at the church and manages to resist the temptation to snack on the cookies placed in plain view on the counter. He asks Simon if Simon wants to go running with him, but Simon tells him that unlike Eric, HE can fit into his jeans and comfortably tuck in his shirt. Ruthie manages to spill the beans about Lucy's sleepover and about Mary's date. Annie tells Ruthie that she is going to have to start taking swimming lessons but Ruthie isn't exactly thrilled by the whole idea. She enlists Simon's help to try and teach her to swim so she doesn't have to take the lessons. As Ruthie rushes upstairs to fill the bathtub with water, Matt hits Simon up for a $20 loan to pay off Brian – which Simon finds hysterical. Simon agrees to the loan and then heads up to the bathroom to coach Ruthie on a breathing technique.
Mary and Brian go out on their date to the pool hall and struggle to find something to talk about since Brian isn't really into sports. The date seems a disaster until Mary asks him what he did for his sophomore science project and he tells her about his frog organ transplant. The two rattle off different episodes of the medical channel and end up hitting it off after all. That night, the two exchange a goodbye kiss but is outraged when she overhears Matt and Brian talking about the $20.
Lucy is at Beverly's sleep over and is told that there is an initiation game for new members of the group. One person hides under the bed, and they try to get the new girl to say bad things about the person under the bed – so you will know who your true friends are. Lucy gives in and hides under the bed and starts to cry when she hears Shelby saying bad things about her. Shelby can't believe it when Lucy emerges from under the bed.
Eric and Annie hear the commotion upstairs when Matt tries to talk to Mary and Eric takes Matt downstairs to have a chit-chat with him. In actuality however, Eric just wants to know where the cheeseburgers he asked Matt to sneak into the house for him are. Matt tells Eric they are in the garage under the tire. At Lucy's request, Annie agrees to pick her up, and Eric knows the fate of his cheeseburgers are in jeopardy and winces when Annie backs over the bag containing his ground beef patties. Annie promises to stop on the way back and get him more cheeseburgers.
Brian comes over to the house and apologizes to Mary and the two make up and set another date for the night. Mary eventually forgives Matt – but then it is Lucy who gets upset with Mary for forcing Beverly to invite her to the sleepover. After a talk with Eric, Lucy learns to have a sense of humor about the situation and forgives Mary.
After several days of Simon coaching Ruthie in the bathtub, Ruthie asks her mom and dad to take her to the Y so she can prove she can swim with the big kids and not take the little kids swimming lessons. Eric and Annie are convinced that Simon could not have possibly taught Ruthie to swim in the bathtub. However, after Ruthie jumps in, she begins swimming across the pool. Simon first says he's a genius… but settles for lucky.