As always, I'm sorry for the delay. Summer classes have been taking a toll on me, plus job hunting. Also, this chapter was probably the hardest one that I've had to write yet. I honestly thought that I'd just leave it out (I still might delete it) and go to the next one, but I don't want there to be any gaps with people wondering 'I don't get how Trina got to this point when she was somewhere completely different in the last chapter.' Still, please read and review. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious
Trina Vega woke startled; she quickly put her hand to her chest and felt her heart racing. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she quickly reviewed the thoughts that her just run through her mind.
It had been just over a week since Trina left L.A. Since then, it seemed every night she would relive that entire day in her dreams: everyone rushing around to pack, Trina trying to stay out of everyone's way or get run over, her family rushing out, and then the indifference they showed her that day. Still, it was clear to Trina she had some mixed feelings about leaving; just a small amount of regret about not having any final closure with her family. Then again, it was the only way she could leave in the hopes of making their lives better. That thought was the only thing that was helping her cope with her current circumstances.
Suddenly, Trina heard a slight noise from her right; she quickly turned to look for the source, but it turned out it was only one of the other girls in the room snoring. Sighing lightly, Trina took a moment to think back over everything that had happened after she left her car behind.
The L.A. bus station wasn't very crowded when she arrived; only a few people besides the attendants. At first she'd been worried about how long she might have to wait for her bus to arrive. Luckily she found one bus heading north passing through L.A. and would be there in an hour. From what she could tell, it was driving about two more hours north and stopping at Santa Barbara. After that, there was a transfer bus that was heading southeast, and would pass through Flagstaff about 8 or 9 hours later. That fit right into Trina's plan, so she anxiously waited out the hour before she was able to leave.
The bus ride itself was completely uneventful. There was only one other person who got on at the L.A. stop and there were two other people who were already on the bus. The ride to Santa Barbara was fairly uneventful. The original two passengers got off the bus halfway through the trip, but the other stayed until they got to Santa Barbara. Throughout the trip, Trina tried staying awake, but found herself constantly dozing off. When they finally got to Santa Barbara, there was a brief 20-minute break while the bus was refueled. During that time, Trina was able to make a quick bathroom break and grab a coffee from a dispenser inside the bus stop before boarding the new bus.
This time Trina was the only passenger, though not surprising given the late time (it was almost 11:00 by then). Now though, Trina had at least 8 hours before she'd get to her destination. With no other passengers on board, this trip was even more uneventful. But, thanks to the quiet, Trina was able to catch some sleep along the way. The bus had to make a stop every so often to refuel and check for new passengers, but for the entirety of this trip, no one else got on the bus. Finally, by around 8:00 the next morning, she was in Flagstaff, Arizona.
When she finally got off the bus, it hit Trina that she had no idea what she'd do for lodging. She didn't know anyone in the area, college dorms wouldn't be available for nearly two months, and she couldn't afford to go back and forth between hotels that whole time.
Luckily, as Trina was looking at a map inside the bus station, one of the workers noticed her and asked if she was a student at the university. When Trina said that she would be, the station worker said that there was a hostel about 20 minutes away for potential and incoming students who wanted to familiarize themselves with the campus and town before the semester started.
Thinking that that was the best she could hope for, Trina asked for directions and thanked the attendant. She didn't leave just yet though. Whatever this place was, she doubted that they'd let someone check-in or whatever this earlier in the day.
After a few more minutes of studying the map, Trina finally decided to head out. She took the next few hours walking around the streets to look around the city. There were noticeable differences from Los Angeles: there was a LOT less traffic; not nearly as many areas flooded with shops, restaurants, and skyscrapers for big businesses; and of course no Hollywood. That didn't mean it was completely different. Some parts of Flagstaff reminded Trina of some of the less developed areas in L.A. and some areas had a few athletic fields were similar to the ones Trina played soccer at when she was younger.
Still, as important as it was to finding everything in the new city, Trina started to feel the effects of riding a bus all night and decided she might as well check out the hostel she'd heard about. Despite her wishes to hail a cab, Trina knew her desperation to save money was more important and so she ended up walking.
When Trina finally arrived, she asked the attending worker about staying. From what Trina heard, it sounded like a good idea: it cost $25 for the extent of the stay, but that covered lodging and showers. It also included a small continental breakfast that was mostly cereal, fruit, and juice, but it was healthy and better than nothing. They even offered lockers for people who wanted to keep their stuff safer. Since Trina was carrying about two-thirds of the money she had in her two bags, she decided that was the best option.
Even though the hostel was pretty nice and gave Trina a place to sleep after looking around the town for the better part of the day, there was a problem: visitors were allowed to stay only to stay a maximum of one week before they had to leave and then they weren't allowed another stay until two weeks later, and today was the end of Trina's week.
She honestly didn't know what she'd do next. The first few days she'd spent in Flagstaff she'd mostly been touring. After that, she'd spent the majority of her time at a local internet café looking up apartments on her laptop.
That was a challenge enough of its own, and Trina was facing more problems than most: she only had the cash she had been carrying with her and no one assistance from anyone else so she needed a place she could afford; she couldn't afford to pay for any furniture or appliances so she needed some place furnished; and she had no car so it would be best if she could find some place close to campus…or she needed a roommate with a car to drive her. Even though Trina didn't know anyone in the area, and had originally hope she'd have an apartment to herself until she was better adjusted, a roommate might not be such a bad idea: the rent would be cheaper, she'd have someone to show her around, and maybe meet new people.
So far, Trina was still looking for a place that had all of those potential needs and now, she was about to face either being on the street or spending at least $50 a night for a hotel.
Sighing, she realized she'd have nothing to do but keep thinking about any possible options.
Sadly, after three hours of thinking, Trina still had no success; she still didn't have any ideas about where she could possible go. She tried asking the other girls around, but they were no help. Even though they were admitted that they were going to start at NAU in the fall, none of them were from the area. They were just staying at the hostel for a quick visit before they went back to their homes for the rest of the summer.
By the time 10:30 rolled around, Trina still had no idea about what to do, and she only had 30 minutes longer until she had to leave.
Her only option was to ask whoever was working if she could stay for just a few more days. It wasn't like it was a big request. None of the girls that checked in a week ago (the same day Trina did) were still around; they all had left within a day or two of staying at the hostel. The longest anyone had stayed while Trina was here had been four days…and that person had left yesterday. Most of the people who worked here were nice; and, maybe if Trina could ask nicely and explained some of her situation, they'd be willing to let her stay a few extra days. Taking a deep breath, Trina decided she might as well try and ask.
Unfortunately, Trina started thinking her plan was hopeless as she noticed who was at the front desk. In addition to the main workers at the hostel, they also allowed volunteers from the high school to perform community service there. In comparison to the actual employees, the volunteers were less focused and constantly slacked off; the fact that the girl at the front desk was lounging back in her chair texting. Trina would just have to hope that she could catch a break.
When she got to the front, Trina waited for a few moments, expecting the volunteer to acknowledge her. To her dismay, the younger girl kept playing with her phone. Feeling slightly annoyed, Trina cleared her throat to bring the high school volunteer back to reality. When she did look at Trina, she also seemed annoyed; most likely the girl was angry at Trina for making her have to do actual work.
"Can I help you?" the girl practically grunted.
"Yeah, uh," Trina started, suddenly feeling anxious, "I was wondering if I could see about extending my stay here?"
The girl sighed and picked up the clipboard with the names on people staying before asking, "Name?"
"Trina Vega," Trina answered.
The young girl looked over the list for a brief moment before saying, "You've been here for your week; you'll have to wait the two weeks before you can stay here again"; and with that she quickly returned to her phone.
Although Trina was surprised at the lack of effort, she made sure to stay composed. "Well, I know my week's up, but I'm sure there will still be some space at the end of the day," Trina stated.
"Sorry; no exceptions," the other girl replied, frustrating Trina even more.
"Look," Trina said, "If you could call up one of the people who actually work here, then I'm sure that they'd-"
Sighing, the high school volunteer put her phone down before looking up at Trina and saying, "Hey, if you need a cheap place to stay then try the homeless shelter down on Fifth Street. I'm sure they help out people just like you. Just get there around 1:00 or there will be too many people in front of you and you won't get in" After that, the younger girl stood up and walked off.
For a moment, Trina just stood there at the front desk speechless before she walked back to the commons; she didn't know when her next shower would be so Trina thought she'd better take advantage of this while she had the chance. As much as she didn't want to, and even with the noise from the shower, Trina kept replaying those words in her head: 'homeless shelter; people just like you.'
Even though Trina had been faced with the challenge of not having a place to stay, hearing it from someone else made it finally sink in: she was homeless. She was in a strange area with no one she knew around, she would quickly run out of money if she didn't watch it, and she had no guarantee that she'd have a roof over her head at night. She could actually be out on the street for the night. Now she was more scared than ever.
An hour later, Trina was sitting in the Internet café she'd visited over the past few days; only this time, she was barely able to focus. As she looked over available apartments to rent or hotels to stay at, she kept looking back at the clock on her laptop to see what time it was. By the time 12:30 rolled around, it was too much for Trina. There was no way she could suddenly move into an apartment, and while a hotel was optional, she couldn't find anything that she could risk staying at for not even a week. Swallowing her pride, Trina left the café and hailed a cab and rode to Fifth Street.
When she got out of the cab, Trina understood why the volunteer back at the hostel had suggested getting there before one. There was already a steady line of people outside the hostel, which, judging from the crowd was for women only (something Trina was thankful for).
As she got in line, Trina started to look over all the other women waiting. While some of them looked what could be considered the stereotypical homeless attire (i.e., torn, raggedy clothes; messed up hair, and poor hygiene) a few looked to be fairly close to her in age and even wearing some similar, albeit slightly unkept, clothing. But what made Trina cringe was that some of the older women in front of her appeared to have children with them…children that Trina could only assume were the women's' sons and daughters.
When people finally started being allowed in the shelter, Trina constantly looked behind her to see if there were any other women with kids behind her. No matter how desperate her situation was, Trina couldn't live with herself if she didn't let a young child take her place. Fortunately, by the time Trina got to the front of the line, it looked like all the children had already been let inside and there weren't any behind her.
The person at the entrance took a few moments to look over Trina. Trina guessed that, despite not having an actual place to stay, she still didn't look as though she were homeless. After a minute or two, the person noticed Trina's two bags and asked, "Were ya thrown out on the street ma'am?"
Trina wasn't quite sure how to answer the question so she just nodded.
"Come on in," the attendant replied, "Talk to the person at the desk inside and see about where to put your stuff for safekeeping."
Again, Trina nodded and walked inside. As she looked around the building, it looked like a converted gymnasium more than anything. What used to be a basketball court now was filled with what looked like beach chairs that had been converted into cots. Trina walked over to the front desk and was told to take anything she needed from her bags before she handed them to the staff and given an ID tag for when she needed to pick them up.
After getting her toothbrush and some soap and asking where she could get something to eat to another area where several people were lined up. Once Trina got in line, she looked ahead to see that it was somewhat set up buffet style…though she doubted the food would be the same as some of the restaurants she'd been to in the past.
As she looked over the food, Trina noted that none of it looked too appealing. In the end she just decided on the toast she found at the end of the line and what she guessed was soup. After getting a drink, Trina sat down and started eating the toast. For a few moments after, she just stirred the soup around the Styrofoam bowl thinking about her current situation. Finally she decided to try the soup, but before she could take a bite, Trina noticed something. What she thought was soup was actually an extremely watered down form of cream of wheat; the realization caused her appetite to drop.
Pushing aside her food tray, Trina sighed before propping her elbows on the table and putting her head in her hands. Despite her earlier desire to not think about leaving L.A., Trina couldn't stop herself from wishing that she could have just stayed home.
And there it is. Like I said, this chapter's pretty bad. I don't like it myself. I apologize if it sounded stereotyped at some parts; I hate it when my writing comes across like that. Like I said before, I may delete this, but that depends on what you all suggest or think. I've already got the next chapter started (things finally start to improve for Trina) so it should just be a few days. Again, please review. Thanks.
