Teenager, Lola Cep (Lindsay Lohan) dreams of being an actress. She already has the ego and the imagination and she refuses to be called by her real - although certainly less theatrical - name, Mary.
Through her imagination and her tendency to sometimes embellish the truth, Lola gives a much more dramatic scenario to her life than it really has and when her mother, Karen (Glenne Headly) decides to move the family from New York to New Jersey, Lola's farewell to her beloved city and most especially Broadway, gets her an A for over-acting. She's perfect for her chosen career.
At her new school, Lola, who is not used to playing second fiddle to anyone, finds that Carla (Megan Fox), the haughty queen bee on campus, feels the same way and the two become instant enemies. Rather than trying to be part of Carla's entourage, Lola befriends the timid Ella (Alison Pill) because she is a fan of Lola's all-time favourite group, Sidarthur. Lola is especially smitten by band member, Stu Wolff (Adam Garcia) who, she insists, writes the best poetry since Shakespeare.
She scores a point over Carla when she wins the lead role in their oddball teacher, Miss Baggoli's (Carol Kane) updated version of Pygmalion to be called (no, not My Fair Lady) Eliza Rocks! Carla seethes.
It's a crushing blow for Lola and Ella when they hear that Sidarthur is breaking up, and their agony is compounded when Carla scores tickets to their farewell concert and party through her father who is the group's lawyer. At the game of one-upmanship however, Lola is expert and, despite setbacks - including nearly losing her new best friend because of a lie - some unexpected circumstances bring Lola face to face with her idol and make her the centre of attention at the big party.
But will her victory over Carla be quite what she expected or will a few past fibs finally catch up with her?