High school's over for Tommy, and he decides it's time to follow the lead of Jack Kerouac and hit the road. Dick and Mary go to the movies with Sally and Don and then to dinner, and in the course of discussing the sexy movie they've just seen, Dick and Sally begin to rave about how wonderful their respective partners are in bed. Both Mary and Don are mortified.

Tommy, with Harry tagging along, arrives at a broken-down gas station at the edge of Rutherford and, realizing they're out of money, sees no alternative but to go to work pumping gas.

Sally and Dick, discussing their evening out, are disturbed when they realize that neither of their partners had anything to say about their talents in bed. Don and Mary accidentally meet in a supermarket and realize that they're suddenly madly attracted to each other. They can't resist kissing before they go their separate ways.

Tommy reveals he's a talented manager as he begins to whip the gas station into shape. Dick and Sally are shocked and angry when Mary and Don confess that they shared a kiss. Tommy begins composing beat poetry about his gas station job, but it's Harry who hooks up with some rowdy characters who want him to party with them. Soon Phil, the gas station owner, and Harry tell Tommy that they're hitting the road; Tommy can run the station. But Tommy wants no part of it. He decides he's ready to go to college; Harry suggests maybe he can study Kerouac. And Sally pleads with Don to take her back; she'll do anything to satisfy him. While Mary confides to Dick that she's not in love with Don; she doesn't even like him.