Tess convinces Jack to let her join the wrestling team, but then discovers that she may have damaged her “girl-cred” in the process.

Tess, frustrated with her brothers’ lack of manners and hygiene, calls in Grandma (a.k.a.“the Big Gun”) to come teach them a lesson… but ends up getting one in return.

When Tess finds out Sam was only invited to a party to be made fun of, she goes to great lengths to spare his feelings.

Worried that their friendship might start drifting apart, Tess and Allie try to share each other’s interests and instead, end up in the Principal’s Office.

Tess calls Jack to get permission to get her ears pierced early, but he is preoccupied with her brothers and shoots her down before she can plead her case. In a weak moment, Tess gets her ears pierced anyway, but immediately feels guilty. When she gets home, she plans to tell him the truth, but before she can, Dad admits his bullheadedness and gives her permission and therefore, a way to not get caught. But when he tells her how proud he is that she waited until he said yes, Tess has a hard time living with the guilt.

Tess is forced to join the Mathlete Team at school and it puts her social reputation in jeopardy.