Chapter One: Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses

A/N: This is an idea I've been toying with for a while. It's a current day story, and I'm trying something new this time: chapter titles. So, every chapter will be named after a song in my Spotify playlist. Not sure how it'll go, but we'll see. Also, all of these songs are great so give them a listen

Rose stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the building in front of her. She read the sign on the front of the building: "Union Square Home for Girls", it read. This was her new home. Her mother had abandoned her, her father had died. Now, here she was. How the hell did this happen?

"Come on, Rose, it's time to go inside," said the social worker, touching her shoulder. "Don't worry, everything will be okay."

What the hell do you know, Rose thought to herself, I don't see you having to give up your life and live in an orphanage. "I know," is what she really said to the social worker.

The social worker took Rose inside and led her to the front desk. Behind the desk was a large, older woman with big brown curls. "This is Rose Dewitt Bukater," said the social worker. "She is signing in."

"Okay," said the woman in a thick southern accent. She slid a clipboard over the desk. "Here's some paperwork to fill out, then we'll take you to your room and introduce you to your roommates. My name is Molly, if you need anything."

"Thanks," Rose said quietly, and she started filling out the paperwork. When she was done, she brought it back up to the desk.

"Perfect," said Molly with a sweet smile. "Let me give you a tour of the home."

For the next hour, Molly took Rose around the home. There was a large library with half-filled bookshelves, large faux-leather couches where the foam was sticking out, the dining room was a long, rectangular table with fifteen plastic chairs, and a large fruit bowl with about five fruits. Next, Molly took Rose upstairs. There were three different doors as they went upstairs. "Each of these floors have a different room. Each room has five girls. You will be on the top floor."

Molly knocked on the door. "Girls, I'm coming in." Molly opened the door to reveal a room with three bunk beds. There were four girls in the room, taking up two beds. "This is Rose, she'll be living in your room from now on. I'll leave and let you talk."

All of the girls looked at Rose as if she was a parasite. Rose had never been this uncomfortable in her entire life. One girl rolled her eyes while typing on her phone. "And another one bites the dust."

"Yeah, welcome to hell, new girl," said another.

"Ignore them. It's not that bad here," said a girl on the bottom bunk. She was reading a magazine, and she looked up to smile at Rose. "I'm Helga. That's Maddie, Lizzy, and Trudy."

"Nice to meet you," said Rose quietly. "Um, which bed should I take?"

"Take that one," said Helga, pointing to the bed next to her. "Where are you from?"

"Philly, but I just moved here last month," said Rose, moving to the bed.

"So what do you think of New York City?" Helga asked.

"It's overwhelming," said Rose.

"Yeah, well, you'll get used to it," said Helga. She stood up. "Drop your bags, I'll show you around."

"Oh, Molly already took me on a tour of the home," said Rose.

"No, I'll show you around the city."

•••

Helga and Rose had left the home. They walked about five steps when Helga started talking. "Curfew is at eight every night, so we're basically allowed to do whatever we want until then. We go to school at the public school across the street, and we have different chores that we have to do around the home." They walked past another building, right next-door to theirs, that looked the same as their home. On the building was a sign that read "Union Square Home for Boys".

"What's this?" Rose asked.

"The boys version of our home. Our home has some connecting rooms with their home, and we see them all the time. Whenever there are holidays or night activities, which is almost every night, we all get together. Molly and Thomas, the leader of the boys' home, always try to come up with fun activities, but they're always lame. It's the worst." Helga looked at Rose. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," said Rose. "You?"

"Same," said Helga. "I've been here since I was six months old. Ever since, they've been looking for a family for me, it just never happened. What about you? You want new parents?"

"No," said Rose. "I just need somewhere to live until I go to college. And I can do that here."

"College," said Helga, "big plans."

"I mean, I've always had big plans for my future, and my dad made me promise I wouldn't give those up," said Rose, looking straight ahead.

"You shouldn't give them up," said Helga. "And ignore the other girls in the room. They've been through so many foster homes with awful foster parents and siblings, it's almost impossible for them to be happy."

"I can't even imagine," said Rose. "I can't even pretend I know what it's like to bounce around the foster system."

"Neither can I," said Helga. "My mother was from Norway. When she was pregnant with me, she came to the United States, where she wanted to give us a better life. I was born here, but soon after, immigration officers found her and deported her. She left me here because she thought I would have a better life than one she could give me in Norway. So here I am."

"I'm so sorry, Helga," said Rose.

"Don't be," said Helga. "At least I know she did it because she loved me. She could have brought me back to Norway where I probably wouldn't have the life I have now. I mean, I hate my life in a lot of ways, but she had the best intentions."

For a little longer, Helga pointed out all of the different coffee shops, restaurants, and stores nearby. Finally, Helga looked at her watch. "It's almost eight. We better go back."

Rose and Helga walked back to the home, where they soon realized there was a night activity planned. "Does that mean the boys are coming?"

"Yes, it does," said Helga. "Don't get your hopes up though. They're all either ugly, or damaged, or assholes."

"Noted," said Rose. She sat down in the library and picked up a book. Any distraction from her current situation was good. But Rose couldn't think about the book. All she could think about is how much her life had changed. Her mother had left, sure, but it hardly mattered to her. She watched her father suffer through cancer, she forced him to fight it but it didn't matter. He still died. And lastly, her amazing boyfriend, Cal, turned out not to be so amazing and broke up with her right after her father's death, since she had lost everything. Now what?

Suddenly, a rowdy group of guys walked through the door. They were so loud it seemed like a whole stadium had entered. Regardless, they all filed into the home, through to the auditorium (calling it an auditorium was generous; it was an empty room with folding chairs). Once they had all entered, one last boy walked through the door. He was tall, blonde, and he had icy blue eyes. He looked at Rose, rolled his eyes, and looked away.