The episode starts with Kevin saying that he and Karen used to be close, but over the years have drifted apart. One day when waiting for the school bus, Karen and some friends pick them up and asks Kevin to go into her school to deliver a note to a friend's locker, explaining that they can't do it because they are having a "free day". Karen asks again, and Kevin decides to read the note, learning that she skips school to hang out at a hippie hang-out called The Hill. Kevin goes there to confront Karen, and Karen is pleased to see him (and proud that he did not tell anybody).
Kevin continues to deliver absence notes, told how to react to students and teachers, but occasionally encounters a man whom he can't tell whether he's a student or teacher, and one day, they introduce themselves to each other. Later that night, the parents get a call from Karen's guidance counselor who wants to set up a meeting, and Kevin recognizes the name as that of the person he thought was a student. Kevin warns Karen, but she is not concerned about it.
Later that night, Karen ends up running away from home, but she does return home by morning.
Includes Examples Of:
- Blatant Lies: Wayne saw Karen pick up Kevin and asks this in front of the parents, and when Karen says she gave Kevin a ride to school, Wayne guesses that she did not go straight to school. Karen admits that but makes up a story that her friends car was sputtering and they needed Kevin and Paul to ride with them in case they needed to push the car to the gas station. Kevin does not think their parents will believe this, and is surprised when they do.
- Kevin comes home from the hill and forgot to wipe off some face paint from his nose. Wayne points this out, again hoping to bust him for something, and Kevin makes up a story about finger painting in art class.
- Oh, Crap!: Kevin after finding out that the person of vague age he had encountered, and introduced himself as Kevin Arnold that day, is Karen's guidance counselor, and has called to schedule a conference for the next day. And when he starts to think maybe it won't be so bad, Jack says he'll go to the conference.
- Parental Obliviousness: Kevin is surprised that Jack and Normal bought Karen's explanation for why she picked up Kevin and Paul, and she says that parents never listen. After Karen runs away and their parents are calling people to try to find her, Kevin flat out says that she's been skipping school and going to the hill, but they are so caught up in trying to find Karen that they don't notice what Kevin is saying. The narrator says "Karen was right, they never listen!"
- Vague Age: Karen tells Kevin how to act around students and staff, but occasionally encounters George Finch, a man who he cannot tell if he's a student or staff. One day when dropping off an excuse note, the two tell each other their names, and that night, Kevin finds out he is the guidance counselor when he calls their parents to schedule a conference.
