Cora Hoover's Story

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Adriana sighed as she zipped up her third and final suitcase. She hated everything about the orphanage and had dreamed of leaving it for years, but she had finally grown use to living in upstate New York, so suddenly being uprooted from the life she had managed to carve out for herself in her last year at the orphanage was frustrating - to say the least, especially since if it wasn't for the fact she was still on her last year of HS, she'd legally be able to leave of her free will.

"Adriana dear, are you ready?" a woman called out from down the hall. Instead of responding however Adriana would slowly make her way over to an old full length mirror and fiddle with her hair as she stared at her outfit. Showing off her bare back and long legs Adriana had chosen a baggy teal open-back tank, bleached denim shorts with studded pockets, and black studded combat boots to wear on her journey. The chill in the air outside was of little concern to her, the hoodie tied around her waist would suffice if she became too cold.
"Ugh, fuck it!" the impatient teen spat, before giving up on her attempt at a high ponytail an instead letting her hair fall straight.
"Adriana?"
The voice of the woman calling her name was now closer than it was before, causing Adriana to sigh...there was no more delaying her departure. After throwing her phone and cigs in her over-sized Hello Kitty tote Adriana would gather her suitcases and make her way out of her bedroom door - just in time to nearly run into the worker who had been calling her name.
"Oh there you are! Ready to go?"
Instead of answering Adriana simply rolled her eyes and pushed past the woman before making her way outside.



"Holy shit, what is this, a tour bus?"
Adriana would come to a complete stop just to stare at the massive bus in front of her, a mixture of confusion and shock painted all over her face.
"Watch your mouth young lady! And yes, this is what your new family chose to pick you four girls up in, now here, let me help you get on board."
"Yeah, no, I got it.......thanks."
Stubborn as always Adriana loaded her own suitcases onto the bottom of the bus before boarding with her tote. From what the woman said Adriana assumed she wasn't the only one leaving the orphanage, but she apparently was only the second to board.
"For real? You spent all that time yelling for me and I'm just the second one here? Nice."
Adriana pulled out her cigs after sitting down and started to dig through her bag for a lighter, but before she could find it the woman came over and yanked the pack of cigarettes out of her hand.
"I don't think so, not on here.....show some respect for such a lovely vehicle, and wait here while i go and get the others - understood?"
"Psh, and if i say no?"
The woman shook her head at the sarcastic comment before leaving the bus to gather the others.

Adriana kicked the chair in frustration before sighing and relaxing into her seat. She had seen enough tour buses in her life, and even sat in one before - briefly - when a favorite band of hers was in town, but it was surely the first time she'd be driven somewhere in one. So as she waited for the other girls to board she'd walk around and take in her surroundings, amused by the amount of pricey amenities.
After several minutes she'd sit back down again and begin to dig through her bag for her phone and ear plugs - two of her most favorite, and envied, possessions. Having a job, even if it was at Albany's backwoods version of Hooters, had it's perks, such as expendable income, which afforded her things others in the orphanage didn't have.


....


More interested in her phone's gaming apps Adriana would pay little attention to the girls who eventually boarded after her, she just wanted to get on the road already. However after everyone was boarded the bubbly blonde to her left excitedly introduced herself to everyone, causing Adriana to pay attention.
"Gee you're happy...it's like someone shot sugar, spice, and everything nice right into your ass."
She couldn't help but laugh at her own crude remark as she slid her phone into her short's pocket. "No, seriously though, I'm Adriana, and I'm freaking starving. Hey Driver...."

Adriana would stand up and make her way to the front of the bus, where she'd lean over and paste a huge fake smile on her face. "Mind if we stop at Mickey Dees, I'm staving!"
"No can do, no stops on the way, now please sit back down."
"Awh come on, pretty pleaseeee, I'll buy you an apple pie!?"
Batting her eyes and pouting her lip had no effect on the driver, and he'd simply repeat his previous statement - with more emphasizes on the request to sit down.

A disappointed Adriana would make her way back to her seat and flounce down before pulling her phone back out of her pocket. "This is seriously going to be a long ride." she'd mutter, before plugging her earphones in and opening up YouTube on her phone.

Cora was getting ready for the trip that would change the life she had learned now to adjust to. No it wasn't no trip with mom and dad and the bro but she was used to it now. She believed it was odd to be okay like this. It was only so many months ago shouldn't she still be heart broken and in tears? She was packing her things that she had gathered over time. She was putting her picture album, picture frame, shoes, shirts, jeans, camera, books and laptop. She had quite a few possessions from the house still she had taken with her. She looked around the room she had called home for the past 6 months was no longer hers. But it would soon go to a girl or a boy who had lost his or her family in some unfortunate event.

She stuffed it all in the suit case and sat on it closing the zipper and jumping down. She pulled the suit case down and walked out the room closing the old brown wooden door behind her. As she walked through the halls toward the bus that someone yelled was here she knew this most likely would be the last time she would ever walk these halls. It made her wonder the different adventures that lay ahead. As she walked her heel boots clomped. It had went with her tan pants, blue top and leather jacket that she was wearing. She said goodbye to the few kids she had played with sometimes.

She walked out the door to the bus and hopped in. She didn't see any spots that she liked and since she saw that the one front seat was taken she sat behind that girl. She was normally a person that sat in front but she was cool with any really. She grabbed out a book from her bag and looked at the girl in front of her that had shouted something. She seemed a bit excited and Cora was happy that some people were happy. She decided to speak in her answer instead of leaving her hang.

"Hi, I'm Cora. Nice to meet you Celeste."

She looked at Celeste. She was a very pretty young lady. She definitely thought she was very amazing and seemed like she was very hyper and excited about this trip. She definitely thought this trip was going to be interested. She was excited herself and was quite happy. She smiled at the girl who introduced herself. "Hello Madeline and Adriana." She smiled at both of them and then back at Celeste who she seemed drawn into. "So what brought all of you here into this specific situation? Madeleine? Adriana? Celeste?"

She definitely thought this was going to be a very introducing day. A very productive day. It wouldn't be like when she was younger with her family. Everything was very different. It wouldn't be like the days they were driving and listening to Avril Lavigne on the radio.

She needed life to be better and this trip was going to be that she cold feel it and see it through the spirits of these young girls surrounding her.

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She was in her own little world and couldn't hear any of the conversing going on around her, however Adriana would look up from her phone when the bus made a sharp turn and then slowed down to a crawl.
"What the hell was that?" she'd ask aloud before standing up and walking towards the front windshield. By the time she got there the bus had come to a complete stop behind several other cars, and she could see the cause of the back-up was a police blockade.
"Looks like they're cleaning up some kind of spill, shouldn't take long so you can go sit back down." the driver said nonchalantly, but Adriana had spotted a Pizza joint right outside the bus doors and she had every intention of going inside.

"Hey, so you're like contracted to get us there safely right?" she'd ask the driver as she leaned against the dashboard.
"Yes indeed."
"Ah, so you couldn't like leave one of us on the side of the road or something without getting in trouble or like, breaking your contract - right?"
The driver would look up at Adriana with a annoyed and slightly confused expression on his face.
"Uhhh, well yeah I do beleive leaving a teen on the side of the road would get me fired. But why would i -" before he could finish Adriana would perk up and hit the button to open the side doors. "Thought so, be right back!!"
She was off the bus before the driver really even understood what had happened, and by the time he called out to her Adriana was at the Pizzeria's front doors.

Quite proud of herself Adrianna was all smiles as she ordered three pepperoni and bacon slices from the ready-to-eat buffet, as well as five 20oz Sprite's.



Once outside again the bus had moved up a few spots but not too far, and when she reached the closed bus doors the driver would glare down at her with his arms crossed.
"Hey, don't be like that! I got you something too!!"
Adriana would hold up the bag of sodas and flash her biggest shit-eating grin.
After making her wait a minute or so the driver would finally smirk and open the doors.

"Why thank you!" Adriana sarcastically remarked, before making her way back towards her seat. After she put her pizza box down she'd walk back up to the driver and hand him a bottle of Sprite before returning to her seat.

"Not sure who likes what, figured Sprite was a safe bet....dig in."
After taking out a bottle for herself Adriana would hand the bag to the bubbly blonde a couple seats away before digging into her pizza.

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After she finished her pizza Adriana would dive right back into her phone, watching a whole host of YouTube videos on the top half of her screen while commenting on random IMGUR uploads on the bottom half of her screen. Eventually both would get old and she'd begin to play Modern Combat 2 - staying awake all the way to the property gates.

....

As they drove up towards the house Adriana would notice the hedges and begin to chuckle as she rolled her eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me, animal shaped hedges? What is this, The freaking Shining??"
Shifting around in her seat she'd catch a full glimpse of the house they were approaching and again roll her eyes.
"Yup, it's that house from The Shining, bet these people are closet sociopaths." she'd remark sarcastically as she shoved the empty sprite bottle into her bag in preparation of getting off the bus.
She wasn't excited, but she wasn't scared either, more like she was annoyed yet content with the fact that she was once again being shuffled around to a house that wouldn't feel like her own and faced with having to not only go to a new school but look for a new job.


When the bus came to a stop outside of the house Adriana would begin to respond to a few comments on her instagram page vs. getting up to walk off, almost surely cementing her spot as the last one to exit the bus.

She watched as they stopped and Adriana got out and brought sprite and pizza. She grabbed a slice of pizza and a can of pop. "Thank you Adriana for the pizza and stuff." She took a bite of her pizza and watched as the driver continued. She always did that she wondered what others thought. It was an odd pastime but it was one of hers and she couldn't help it.

Out of her bag she grabbed a comic book and looked through it. She began to flip through it. It was one of her favorites. She decided to stop reading and look out. She grabbed her mp3 player and place it in her ears and listen to her music. She lip zynched the songs while they drove through the small cities and then started to go into farmland. When they finally got to the house area she was out of shock.

She watched as the others slowly woke up. "You must have all not slept good." She smiled at them and looked at the younger one who introduced herself as Celeste. She was very pretty and watched as the bus came to a stop. "This is beautiful. I only lived in the big city when my parents were alive."

She looked at the others. She grabbed her bag and walked out of the bus. She then walked down the three steps and finally was off the bus. She looked in ashtonishment around. She placed the bag on the ground and felt like Maria in the sound of music. A favorite movie of hers. She looked at the others. "Should I start calling you guys sis'? Or would that be weird?" She smiled at the gang wondering what they thought about the place.