Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) lies to her best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) about going on a date in order to get out of camping with her and her hippie parents. Instead, she hangs around the house all weekend, listening to "Pocketful of Sunshine". The following Monday, pressed by Rhiannon, Olive lies about losing her virginity to a college guy. Marianne (Amanda Bynes), a girl at their school who is a zealous Christian, overhears her telling the lie and soon it spreads like wildfire.
