On the last night of summer vacation, Cy Bergen is fast asleep and dreaming that she is President of the United States, fielding questions from her adoring public (“I Got This”). She wakes up to the sound of her parents telling her to get ready for her first day of 8th grade!

At George P. Flounder Middle School, Principal Rostand, a goofy academic full of school pride, is welcoming the new 8th Grade class. Cy is seated next to Roxane, her best friend, and Conor, a smart kid who does things his own way. Roxane asks Conor if he is still planning on running for Class President, but he says he decided to back out. Cy shyly says she is considering adding her name to the ballot. They are interrupted by Kylee Carlucci, a brash and overly self-assured classmate, and Samantha, Kylee’s sweet and loyal sidekick. Kylee tells Roxane how much she missed her during the summer while ignoring Cy.

Meanwhile, Principal Rostand is shuffling through notes and babbling on. He announces that Cy has been named the winner of the summer essay contest and calls her on to the stage. Cy walks up to redeem her award certificate but freezes from the worst possible case of stage fright. Roxane jumps onstage to deliver a quick speech on Cy’s behalf and escorts her off. Principal Rostand carries on with announcements about Student Council elections and the Fall Formal dance.

The bell rings and the students go to their classes. Before heading in different directions, Cy tells Roxane that there’s no way she can run for Class President and deliver speeches in front of her peers if she can’t even accept an award without panicking. Roxane tells her to have more faith in herself.

Cy’s left alone in the school gymnasium, trying to muster up the courage to put her name on the ballot (“Someone Like Me”). Chris, a popular jock who lacks eloquence but always means well, interrupts Cy’s power ballad moment. He congratulates her on winning the essay contest and asks if she is going to the Fall Formal. Things get a bit awkward as Cy anticipates that he is about to ask her to go with him. Finally, Chris asks if she thinks Roxane would want to be his date. With the wind out of her sails, Cy says she isn’t sure what Roxane’s plans are and starts to head to class. Chris stops her one more time and asks if she will give him feedback on the poem he’s been writing for Roxane. He reads it aloud—it’s terrible. Cy tells Chris to ask Roxane to the dance without giving her the poem.

Kylee bursts into the room and announces that she will be running for 8th Grade Class President, making her the sole candidate. She begins bribing students for their votes using muffins from her father’s bakery. Cy is terrified by the thought of allowing this girl to take over the school!

The next day, Kylee asks Cy if she can confirm her vote. Cy says she will need to hear more of her platform first. Kylee doesn’t like this response and starts bullying Cy.

Frustrated with Kylee and the way she's handling her campaign, Cy rushes over to Chris, who is sitting in a corner of the hallway revising his poem for Roxane. Cy offers to help him get Roxane to go to the dance with him as long as he runs for President using her ideas and speeches. Cy explains that using Chris’s popularity is the only way to ensure Kylee will not win. Chris agrees to put his name on the ballot as long as Cy writes a really good poem for Roxane.

Kylee enters the hall like a freight train, per usual, commanding the attention of the entire student body. She introduces a series of ridiculous ideas, including a brand new school schedule that would go into effect if she wins the presidency, and continues to bribe students with pastries from her father’s bakery (“This is My Year”).

Chris and Cy meet up later to go over Cy’s finished poem. It’s absolutely perfect ("So, You Wanna Go?"). Chris texts the poem to Roxane and she agrees to go with him to the dance. Chris goes into crisis mode when he realizes Roxane thinks he’s a poet now. He has no idea how he is going to hold a conversation with her at the dance or deliver his speeches for the election. Cy assures him that she already has it all figured out. She pulls out two tiny earpieces and lapel microphones from her backpack. The plan is for Chris to wear the special earpiece and lapel mic when he’s at the dance with Roxane and when he’s giving speeches for the election. Cy will prompt him with exactly what to say via the earpiece. They both gain confidence that everything is going to work out perfectly (“We Got This”).

Two days later, the school glee club opens the 8th Grade Presidential Debate with a song (“Alma Mater”). Chris and Cy discretely test out their earpieces and everything is good to go. Principal Rostand calls Chris and Kylee on to the stage to debate three topics: The Economy (the school budget), Foreign Policy (connecting with other schools to benefit from each other’s resources) and Health Care (the school health center). Cy is hiding behind the scenes, feeding Chris brilliant responses for each question. Principal Rostand and all the students are blown away by everything Chris has to say. After the debate, Cy watches Chris get all of the praise and attention. She congratulates him, but he brushes her aside as he continues to take compliments.

Chris and Cy reconvene at Cy's house. Chris talks about how well he did at the debate and neglects to give Cy any thanks. The topic shifts to the Fall Formal and Cy mentions that she will be attending. Chris reminds Cy that she will need to be hiding in the janitor’s closet with the special earpiece in case he panics or runs out of things to say to Roxane during the dance. Cy is frustrated but agrees to continue helping Chris out (“Eye on the Prize”).

Friday night at the school dance, Principal Rostand is entertaining the students with his band (“So, You Wanna Go? - Vegas Version” and “You Kissed Me By My Locker”). Chris and Roxane meet up. Things get off to a decent start, with Cy prompting Chris from the janitor’s closet. Roxane mentions she wants to find Cy, and Chris, panicking, says she’s not here because no one asked her. Hurt, Cy takes off the earpiece and heads to the gymnasium. Chris now has to speak for himself. Roxane begins to think something’s wrong as Chris continues to stumble on words. Cy strolls in wearing a new dress and greets Chris and Roxane. Roxane senses some awkwardness and decides to join Conor on the dance floor. Cy and Chris get in an argument about the promise they made and they both decide to leave the dance. Cy tells Chris she will not be helping him out any further and he will have to deliver his final speech on his own ("He Said/She Said”).

The following week, the students gather in the school auditorium to hear one final speech from Chris and Kylee. Kylee delivers an over-the-top monologue that is full of accusations about Chris, making him out to be a bad guy. Kylee finishes and Chris assumes the podium to deliver his speech as people cheer him on. He asks everyone to quiet down and confesses that they are applauding for the wrong person. He brings Cy onto the stage and asks her to take his place in the race, admitting to the entire school that he’s been using Cy's words and ideas.

Cy tentatively walks to the podium, takes a deep breath and delivers a speech straight from the heart that resonates with everybody in the school (“The Speech”). Principal Rostand is very moved, but tells Cy that it would be unfair to let her enter the race at this point. This means there is only one possible winner...Kylee Carlucci relishes her sweet victory!

Roxane approaches Chris, figuring it out that he also lied about writing the poem. She’s clearly disappointed and says she would have gone to the dance without the poem. Chris and Cy apologize to each other, realizing that they both could have gotten what they wanted if only they had been brave enough to try.

Kylee approaches Cy and admits that she was very impressed by her speech and likes a lot of her ideas. Much to everyone’s surprise, she appoints Cy as her Vice President. The entire school comes together to celebrate (“You Gotta Try”).