She meets Abby’s father, a successful entrepreneur, who offers to pay Jo’s college tuition in exchange for friendship with Abby. Jo reluctantly accepts, motivated by her desire to attend Carnegie Mellon. Jo, Tyler, and Abby become close friends, along with a journalist named Quinn Shinn, who has become obsessed with the Plastics ever since she came to high school. Tyler takes Jo on a date, borrowing Mandi’s boyfriend Nick’s convertible. Unknown to them, however, the car is bugged, which Mandi uses to humiliate Jo. Jo later learns that Tyler is Mandi’s stepbrother. Mandi escalates the prank war, first trying to sabotage her chances to get into Carnegie Mellon, then using artificial sweetener and coffee to ruin one of Jo’s father’s engines.