When Maria was fifteen, her father told her she would leave home after she graduated high school and never come back, not even to visit. Her father turns it into a bet, and Maria feels that her fate has been decided for her. She thought that she wanted to go to community college. Still, a few days after graduation, Maria's father wakes her up while her mother and brother James still sleep and takes her to the train station. Her father gives her some money and tells her he thinks she would like New York.

Maria begins to cry but gets on the train. She does not have money to go to New York, so she goes to Los Angeles. On the train, she meets a recent college graduate named Charlie. Charlie assumes that Maria has left home because her parents were awful and abusive, and Maria feeds into the lie. He lets Maria stay in his apartment with his two roommates, who call her "boss." Maria gets a job at Applebees, where all of her coworkers are trying to start their acting careers. She takes classes at the community college. Eventually, she will have enough money to buy a studio apartment and a used car. Maria has gained independence, but she does not feel free. She sends letters back and forth to her little brother James, who is now thirteen years old, and he responds with vague answers about how his parents are. He mostly sends poems and tells Maria he will go to boarding school. Maria's father has also not answered her questions about life since she left.

Maria continues to hang out with Charlie even after they no longer live together. They get groceries and do everything together, and one day, Maria realizes he wants to sleep with her. She thinks she would like to be with Charlie but never tells him the truth about her parents. She finally breaks down and does, and Charlie tells her the bet does not matter; she should go home. Charlie and Maria take a train back to Maria's hometown and kiss the whole ride there. When they arrive, Maria and Charlie get into an Uber to Maria's house. As they pull up, the house looks the same but smaller. Everything appears to be tiny, even her parents. Her father tells her she should not have come. Maria tells them about what she has been up to. Her parents tell her James is away at boarding school and that they are in couple's therapy. Maria thinks about how her past and future have shrunk so that she can bear them, manage her emotions, and understand them.