Murphy is a hard-living, hard-drinking, disaffected twenty-something with a penchant for cigarettes and casual sex. She's also blind. Murphy lives with her supportive best friend, Jess, and—more reluctantly—her trusty guide dog, Pretzel, whose presence she resents. Her parents, Hank and Joy, own a guide dog school, a venture they opened hoping it would give Murphy a job with some purpose. Murphy's closest friend is a sweet teenager named Tyson, whose kindness and intelligence are currently going to waste as he deals drugs on the street for his older cousin, Darnell. Murphy's life comes crashing down when, while out for a walk with Pretzel, she stumbles upon what she's sure is the lifeless body of Tyson in the alley outside her apartment. But when the police arrive, including a salt-of-the-earth detective named Dean, there is no body to be found—and with Murphy not exactly sober, the police aren't especially inclined to investigate. Murphy is devastated, and the only thing holding her back from spiraling downward even further is her resolve to learn what happened to Tyson.

Murphy enlists an unwitting Felix to help her organize an outreach presentation at Fairview High so she can do some digging around to try and locate Tysons girlfriend Kira. When the presentation goes awry, Murphy and Felix take a smoke break under the bleachers and have their first heart-to-heart. Meanwhile, Dean does his best to be there for Chloe as she experience's a rite of passage.