A girl and her two brothers from Ohio try to fit in to their new Los Angeles school and neighborhood. Clay and some friends are harassed by police. Glen hits the winning shot in a high school basketball game. Spencer allies herself with a girl that the cheerleaders call a lesbian and ends up quitting the cheer squad after that treatment.
Sparks fly between Aiden and Spencer and Ashley is taken back at her jealousy over it.
Ashley warns Spencer off from a new friend who only wants some action.
Clay is confronted by a lot of people with words of wisdom when it's learned that he's still a virgin.
Spencer and Ashley escape a school lockdown while skipping school at the beach, but Clay and Glen aren't so lucky. Spencer tries to learn about dating girls from Ashley.
Spencer tries to come to terms with her interest in Aiden even as Ashley and Spencer both make moves on him. Ashley confesses to only going after Aiden to get in Spencer's head. Paula gets stuck at work after a warehouse explosion and Glen and Arthur spend some quality father-son time together. Clay and Sean get carjacked.
Ashley makes friends with a girl from Seattle staying at a local youth hostel. Clay has a hard time with a sociology paper with racial context.
The family lives through their first Californian earthquake.
Ashley gets her feelings hurt by a date between Spencer and Aiden. Clay finds out that his birth mother is willing to meet with him.
Spencer spars with her parents over Ashley and her mother forbids her from seeing her. Clay tries to reunite with his real mother.