/lit/ - Literature

I'm having trouble coming up with a backstory for my protagonist. Her parents died 5 years before the beginning, and at the point where story begins, she's cut off from everything, with nowhere to go. But how did she live those 5 years? Without relatives, she presumably was sent to an orphanage or some such facility and they kicked her out when she became of age. But that's kinda generic and boring. Maybe she got adopted by a foster family and ran away from them? That's a bit cringe too. I don't want to write an angsty teenager, the MC is at least 18 and wouldn't do anything so stupid without a good reason. I need an idea more interesting than that, but which you don't need to dwell on. It's not supposed to be a major plot point, but quickly explained and over. What other possibilities are there?