Tommy has fallen for a girl named Nicole, but he's afraid she's too classy and cultured for him. He confides to Rachel that he's trying to write poetry for Nicole. Tommy reads a poem of Rachel's in class and gets an ""A."" Nicole is impressed, and Tommy makes a date with her--at the opera! Ryan schemes along with R.J. to make Tommy appear cultured, hoping to impress Nicole's father so that they can get Boys II Men tickets from him (he's the manager of the L.A. Amphitheatre) and take out Lindsay and Maria. Tommy is now nervous about meeting Mr. Miller and feels like a phony.

Nicole tells Rachel and Lindsay how cultured ""Thomas"" is, which causes the girls to bust out laughing. When Nicole finds out from them that Tommy didn't write the poem, she's mad at him for deceiving and using her and doesn't want to see him. Meanwhile a school ballet production is called off, disappointing Nicole. Tommy volunteers to dance in the production so Nicole's father can see her perform, and he recruits the