I smiled. But for reals smiled. Not a smile that I put for the other people to think I was okay. Not a smile I put because something was funny. I smiled a smile of joy and happiness. I jumped up and down. I sang as loud as I could. I ran around my small room trying to get my nervous energy out. I couldn't believe I was getting adopted.

It was around 6 pm when Jessica came back and I was lying in bed. "Hey," she said as she walked to her desk carrying an envelope with her. "What's that?" I asked as I sat up. "Nothing," she said as she put it away. "Come on. Tell me what it is." She turned to me and laughed. "Why don't you tell me why you never told me you can sing." I gave her a confused look. "You heard me singing?" I asked. She laughed. "I think the whole state of California heard you singing ," she said as she walked over to the bathroom. "I can't sing," I said. "And I can't scream either. It's a lose lose situation. I mean at least if I was blessed with screaming I could still be in the music business but no. I suck as both screaming and singing. " She laughed as she washed her face. "You're laughing too much." I noted. She looked at me with a confused face. "I'm not funny. You never laugh at my jokes. Why are you laughing at my jokes?"

"Well, cause I'm going to miss you. I'm trying to block the pain."  "Aww. You're actually going to miss me? I thought everyone here hated me and thought I was annoying. " She walked over to me and gave me a hug. "No one thinks you're annoying. And no one hates you. When are you going to see that we love you ?" I raised my eyebrow. "We? Only you, Stacy, and Logan like me." She hugged me tighter. "Well, most people would love you once they got to know you. And even if it's just us, we would love you till the end. Please don't ever forget that." I smiled feeling a little bit better about myself. "And you guys are great." She smiled. " I know. We're that awesome. But time for dinner."

We walked over to the mess hall where we usually have dinner. I got in line and got soup. How nice. I went over and sat with Logan. "Hi Logan." I said. He smiled. "Hey, Cora, " he said sipping the soup. "So . . . I heard you're getting adopted." I smiled remembering. "Yeah! Guess who?!" He shrugged. "Uh, some farmers from Texas." I shook my head. "You're  bad at guessing,  you know that?"  He giggled. "Yeah, I know. You have told me a million times. So who is adopting you?" I ate my soup first. "Fall Out Boy. " "Hm?" He asked since it took me 5 minutes to answer his question. "Fall Out Boy is adopting me. Well technically it's Patrick Stump who's adopting me but yeah." "Uh, Fall Out Boy sucks." I looked at him straight in the eye. "They don't suck. And you've never even heard them."

He rolled his eyes. "I've never heard them, but they suck." "You suck." "I do not." "Well neither does Fall Out Boy. " We went fighting like that for about 2 or 3 minutes. Every time I got very angry he would smile like if it was funny. "Okay, look I'm sorry. They're just not my thing. Okay?" I nodded. "As long as you don't say they suck I'm okay with that." He nodded and we both took our plates. As we walked back to our rooms he said, "Fall Out Boy sucks." I growled. "They don't suck! Stop saying that or I will kick you!" He walked away laughing and I realized that he was teasing me. I glared at him as he entered his room. "Jerk," I whispered as I entered my room.

Jessica was reading a book. "Hey, " she said. "Hi," I said as I went to my bed. All I wanted was to sleep. I lied in bed and slept calmly for once. I didn't worry about not having many friends. I didn't remember the accident. I didn't worry about how I felt like I didn't belong. I just slept in peace. I was happy.

The time came when I had to leave. It was a Saturday , the day before i had to leave ,so we had a party. And by party I mean we got together at my room with chips and soda and watched Spongebob. When everyone got there, Jessica, Stacy, and Logan, they gave me hugs and then we sat down on the floor. Stacy brought her tablet and we watched Spongebob for a while. Then we watched a movie, Mulan. During Mulan Stacy and I talked alot. "Remember the first day you got here?" She asked. "Yeah," I said as I smiled remembering.

I was a shy timid 7 year old who was scared out of her mind. I walked towards the room where one of the workers had guided me. Jessica wasn't there so I just sat on my bed awkwardly thinking about what I was going to do. This is going to be my new home, I thought. Awesome.  I feel just as home. I felt abandoned and lonely sitting there. Just then someone opened the door. I stiffened as a girl with black hair all over the place. She had a black T-shirt that said Black Veil Brides. "Black Veil Brides? " I wondered out loud. "Hey, you must be new right?" I nodded. She gave me a warm smile. "Hi. I'm Stacy. And yeah, Black Veil Brides. They're a band. You don't know who they are?" I shook my head. She smiled and took out her phone, She showed me a few songs and music videos. "I like him," I said pointing at one cute guy I saw. She smiled. "That's Ashley. He's awesome." I nodded. She showed me more songs and music videos until she had to go.

"Bye! But what's your name?" She asked. "Cora," my little self said. "Bye Cora! " "Bye Stacy. " Then when it was dinner time I didn't know what to do, where to sit, or anything. I grabbed the sandwich that they were serving and looked around. I felt overwhelmed. Where do I sit? Then Stacy called me. She pointed to a table where she sat by herself.  I sat right next to her and we talked a little more. The next few days I found Jessica and Logan and that was that. For the most part I wasn't lonely but thanks to Stacy I had someone to talk to the first few days.

Once Mulan was over Stacy left. She gave me a big hug .It was just Logan and Jessica. And me of course. "Hey Cora, remember your 8th birthday?" I laughed thinking of the first birthday I spent at the orphanage.

I was with Jessica who was acting like a big sister. She proudly showed me a chocolate cupcake with a candle in the middle. I looked at her surprised. "You remembered," I said. She nodded. "Make a wish," she said. Being 8 I wished that I meet my father. I don't want to meet my father anymore, I thought. I still don't get why I asked for that.

Anyway, once I done we both decided to eat the cupcake outside in the playground. There was a small table under a tree that was perfect. We went outside and sat at the table. "Why aren't you hanging out with your friends? " I asked. Jessica always had friends. She was friends with almost every group of people. "Because it's your birthday and I don't want you to be alone." I smiled and gave her a hug. We sat down at the little table. We watched the birds fly around for a moment.

We were about to share the cupcake when I heard someone say, "Hey can I have some?" I turned around to see a boy standing behind me. He wore some shorts and a blue T-shirt. His dirty blonde hair was a mess and his green eyes stared hungrily at my cupcake. "Who are you?" I asked. "Logan." He said sitting next to me. He stared at my cupcake like it was a gift from God.

"No no no. That's her cupcake. You can't have it. I worked hard for that cupcake and you aren't getting any." He had a sad look on. "Okay," he said as he stood. "No wait," I said. "You can have some." He smiled. He sat by us and we talked a little as we ate the cupcake. "How did you end up here ? If you want to tell us. You don't have to tell us." He looked at Jessica with a sad look. "My Mom and Dad died in 9/11. I was barley a few weeks old so I don't remember anything." I was 8 and I didn't know much about 9/11 except that something bad had happened and many people died who shouldn't have died. I gave him a hug. He stiffened surprised. "I'm sorry. That's terrible. " He nodded. "And A couple of days ago was my birthday so . . . can I have some? You know . . . like a birthday present?" I looked at him surprised and smiled. "Awesome!My birthday is today!" "Cool! Happy Birthday!"  We ate a little bit of the cupcake and later played tag for a while. That was our thing for a while. We would play tag almost everyday.

"That was a good day . . . " I said. He smiled. "I know. You meet a handsome and cool guy that day that turned out to be your bftteot." "What? Bftet? What?" I asked confused. "Bftteot. Best Friends Till The End Of Times." I shook my head. "You would. And that is why your my bff."I said pushing him. He laughed and punched my arm playfully. We played Monopoly and almost killed each other but that's what happens when you play Monopoly.

After that it was 8 pm and Logan left giving me one last hug for the night. "I'll miss you," he told me. I hugged him tighter. He was only a year older than me and he was always like a big brother for me. "I'll miss you too," I said. I wanted to go to bed after since the next day I would leave. As I slept I heard Jessica cry. "Why are you crying? " I asked. "Because your leaving me," she said. "I'll miss you. Please don't forget me." I gave her a hug and tried not to cry. "I will never forget any of you . You guys are my best friends and I could never forget you guys. " She smiled and we both fell asleep on her bed.

We woke up and started to pack. I put everything I could fit into my small suitcase. I didn't have much so everything fit perfectly. I put on my best shirt and Jessica smiled doing my hair. I was bad at fixing my hair and most of the time Jessica did it for me. But I could still do it on my own. I grabbed my suitcase. "Wait," she said. "Here," she handed me the envelope she had a couple of weeks ago. "Don't read it now. Only read it when you feel sad or feel lonely and depressed. Promise?" I nodded and put in the suitcase.

Logan and Stacy came and gave me one last hug. "We'll miss you," they said. "I'll miss you too." "Never forget us okay?" "I could never forget you guys." I gave them a hug and gave Jessica one last hug. "I love you guys. I won't forget you guys and I hope you never forget me." "We won't. Love you too." Just then a worker came and took me. "Bye you guys." I said.

Jessica had part of her blonde hair dyed black. She wore a My Chemical Romance T-shirt and had blue jeans on. Her green eyes were almost filled with tears. Stacy's red hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore some jeans and her blue eyes looked at me with worry. She was afraid something would happen to me and to be honest I was too. She smiled kindly. Logan's hair was still a blonde mess. His eyes were also filled with tears. He smiled happily like he was happy I was going to be happy. I waved one last time and left.

I walked with my suitcase down these empty halls and remembered the first time I walked through them. I was guided to the front of the orphanage office where Patrick waited. "Heey," I said smiling big. I was happy to see him. He smiled big too so I guess he was happy to see me also. "Should I call you Dad? " I asked awkwardly. He gave me a hug and said, "Call me Dad." "Hey Dad," I said as he helped me with his suitcase. We entered his gray car and I sat there thinking about Elisa. What about her? Where is she? I looked back and saw the orphanage one last time. We drove off and I looked at it for the last time in a long time. I'll miss you . . .

AUTHORS NOTE:

SO I DECIDED TO PUT ALOT ABOUT CORA'S FRIENDS SINCE THEY WON'T COME OUT IN A LONG TIME!! SO SORRY IF YOU HATED IT!!! :( FALL OUT BOY WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR SURE IN CASE YOU GUYS ARE GETTING TIRED ABOUT STACY, LOGAN, AND JESSICA!! HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT!! I WROTE A LOT TODAY BECAUSE THANKS TO MY COUS I HAD TO PAINT MY NAILS , IT WAS A DARE, PINK AND I FEEL LIKE RIPING MY NAILS OFF!! I HATE THE COLOR PINK AND SHE KNOWS IT!! COMMENT VOTE !!! THANKS TO ANY ONE READING THIS!!