It's a beautiful Indian Summer day. Irene and Wes watch as others enjoy the warm weather and outdoor activities. They can only hope for just a few hours alone together. After making many arrangements, they are finally able to take the day off to travel across the river and spend the day together. But the trip is bittersweet....

The camping trip that Tom-Tom, Vern and Howie have planned ends abruptly when Howie is struck by lightning. He seems OK after the accident so the guys decide to wait out the storm before returning to town to see the doctor. Sometime during the night, though, Howie wanders off.

""Ultimatum for Peace"" is the topic of Tom-Tom's manuscript. He's asked Molly to type it for him. Molly's boyfriend ""Scooter"", currently away in the military, is a 200 lb. ex-football player. When Tom-Tom begins to go out with Molly, Wes warns him of the danger if Scooter finds out. Tom-Tom refuses to let that worry him. When Scooter returns home on a two day leave, the whole town comes to watch the fireworks when Scooter meets Tom-Tom.

Howie's been begging Mr. Stott for a job but Mr. Stott won't hire him. Finally, Mr. Cleary offers Howie a job working with him in the insurance office every day after school and on Saturdays. Howie's very pleased with his new job. When Mr. Stott finds out though, he becomes very jealous and uses blackmail to get Howie to quit working for Mr. Cleary.

Vern meets Jeri, who's been left at the drive-in by her date. Jeri's a waitress at the local luncheonette and is tired of living in Cordella ""where nothing ever happens"". She learns from Vern, some valuable lessons about self respect and where your dreams can take you.

Wes, Tom-Tom and Vern agree to take a series of aptitude tests for Irene - with surprising results!

There are a lot of chores to do and Wes can't do them all. He entrusts Tom-Tom to take care of a few of them; but Tom-Tom, as usual, can't keep focused long enough to get them done. As a result, his lack of self discipline ruins everybody's day!

Vern learns when he takes a quiz in a fad magazine that he's a 'social dud' . He decides he'll break out of that if he becomes more like Tom-Tom. Tom-Tom tells him to ""be yourself"" and to ""get your thoughts out of your head and into the world"". Vern decides that people will notice him more and respect him more if he just tells the truth and says what comes into his mind. So every day, he vows to ""take an hour of truth"" so expressing himself will be easier and easier. But always saying exactly what's on your mind can get you into a mess of trouble....