We meet best friends Laz and Fred. Just out of high school and unsure what they want to do with their lives, they take jobs at a mall food court, at the lame ""Yippee, Hot Dogs"" run by Mr. Hut. There, Laz meets Lily, the girl of his dreams. Laz cuts a deal with his dad, Rick, and stepmom Michelle, that allows him to continue living rent-free at home if he keeps an eye on his stepsister (Michelle's daughter), the angst-ridden Molly. Rounding out the family is perfect, 9-year-old Gus, the product of Rick and Michelle's union and the object of their obsession.
Laz and Fred get their jobs back at ""Yippee, Hot Dogs"" to work off the damage they caused when they deep-fried everything in Mr. Hut's office. Meanwhile, Fred, Laz and Lily discover the beauty of the mall barter system and exchange movie tickets, tanning sessions, manicures and pedicures for corn dogs. Meanwhile, Molly goes out with Jasper but is deflated when he brings his girlfriend with him on their ""date.""
The fish shop across from ""Yippee, Hot Dogs"" becomes stiff competition when the employees use singing to bait customers. And while Laz and Lily's bond gets stronger and Fred begins to feel left out, he jumps ship and joins the singing opposition. Meanwhile, Molly continues to fish for compliments from Jasper.
Laz has agreed to watch over Molly in order to continue living at home, but when he inspires her to defy her German teacher, she learns her lesson. Her act of insubordination garners her adulation from the class and, more importantly, it gets her a show of affection from Jasper. Meanwhile, Fred advises Mr. Hut to stand up to his wife but when the advice backfires, Fred is forced to become a lonely Mr. Hut's new buddy. (FOX Press Release)
Fred falls for a girl who works in the mall but is told that he can't go out with her because she works in a store where the employees only date the jocks from the athletic shoe store. Meanwhile, Lily feels insecure after being ridiculed by a clique of catty mall employees.
Lilly is still not committing to Laz. Fred dates a friend of Laz's mom's. Fred hooks Laz up with an older woman. After Molly accidentally breaks something special of Rick's and bribes Gus with cappuccinos to take the fall.
Fred makes special clothing allowing it to make his life more convenient. Lilly and Laz try to convince each other that they are over with one another by going out with different people. Laz goes out with a girl who has an extreme dislike for old people and Lilly goes out with a guy who sings about everything. Rick and Michelle discover an older stuffed bear of Molly's that they took from her 8 years ago and give Molly whatever she wants when she finds out.
Laz, Lily and Fred enter a contest to win a car in the mall. In order to win it they must stand next to the car without taking their hands off of it. The last one standing wins. Meanwhile, Molly finds out that her parents are trying to throw her a surprise party for her 16th birthday even though she doesn't want one. She decides to get even with them by inviting all their friends over when they least expect it.
After Molly hits Laz with a car he wets himself and this causes Molly and Lilly to take pity on him. Feeling embarrassed Laz and Fred try to think of a way to forget about Laz wetting himself. Gus refuses to leave a suit of armor he wore for a school play.
Michelle and Rick plan to get Molly drunk for the first time, but the plan backfires and they end up being the drunk ones. During this supper Molly learns many things about Rick. Laz is asked out by a girl he liked in high school before she leaves to go work on a cruise ship, but he has feelings for Lily. Fred and Jasper dicover some great tasting edible underwear.
Now in a relationship Lilly keeps making soup for Laz. In fact Laz is freaked out that she keeps giving him the same soup and that she's too intense. They eventually find out that Laz hates the frequency of the soup and that Lilly hates making it. They go so far into the lie that they eventually get engaged and a marriage license. Fred reveals to Molly that Jasper broke up with Susan, but she freaks out that she didn't tell her. Molly even goes as low as having Michelle dress her to impress Jasper, but it backfires when she thinks he has no interest.
Now that they are in a relationship Jasper has Molly meet his parents and accidentally kills Jasper's grandmother. Laz, Lilly, and Fred stay at a furniture store in the mall when they realize that their own place will be too expensive. Laz and Lilly learn things they don't like each other when they live together. Fred takes in a hurt bird and Mr. Hut helps him.
Fred wins front row Beastie Boys tickets which is the same night as Lilly and Molly's self defense demonstration, which Jasper and Laz have to go to. They decide to lie to the girls and go to the concert. They decide to not go, but Fred hangs onto the tickets. When Laz tells him to get rid of them, Fred lights them on fire and throws them out the window. They hit a motorcyclist who is the stage manager of the Beastie Boys and asks them to come with him to the concert and meet the Beastie Boys. Jasper keeps on thinking these as signs of fate, but Laz thinks of it as fate tempting them. When the manager hurt his foot he asks the guys to carry him inside to the concert. They eventually cave and go to the concert. Meanwhile Lilly gets freaked out by an old memory of a guy in an animal costume. The guys lie and have to wreck Laz's car to prove to the girls they couldn't go to the demonstration because they hit a deer.
