At Dawn, in the Forest

Chapter 21

Dawn started at the clothes that hung in front of her in the fitting room. She desperately wanted them but couldn't have them. She was broke and in debt. She realized Aiden and Sarah had paid for the products and clothes they already bought. She couldn't possibly ask for more. That would be greedy of her.

She let out a deep sigh of disappointment.

"Hey Dawn? Everything alright in there?" 

When Dawn waited too long to respond, Aiden asked, "May I come in?" She agreed.

"Is it alright if I sit next to you?" Aiden pointed at the small bench in the fitting room. Dawn nodded her head and together they sat on the bench. It was too small, but it didn't bother her. She didn't mind being close to Aiden in the position she was in right now. She didn't mind their arms were touching. She didn't mind she could smell him. She didn't mind she could hear him breathe. She wished they could stay there on that cramped bench in that fitting room for eternity.

"Is something wrong?"

Dawn looked at the clothes and sighed again. And then she finally said, "I don't have any money."

"So?"

"So, I can't take these clothes with me. You both have already done too much."

Aiden chuckled. "It's nothing, really. If you like those items we will take them with us."

"But I don't have any money, and I have no idea how to pay you back, or anyone else for that matter..." She looked frantically at him. It dawned on her that she had so much to pay back for. And the fact she had no skills didn't help her in a way to find money. How was she going to apply for jobs? She couldn't even write!

"Dawn, I think it's great you took paying for the clothes into account and the implications of you not having money. I think it's a great step forward in your assimilation into society. But maybe that's a step too far ahead... Do you like all of them?" He asked pointing at the clothing items.

"Uhm yeah, except for those two sweaters, didn't like the texture." Aiden caressed the fabric and nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, not the greatest fabric texture. Let's put them back."

***

The following days everybody got ready for the hearing in front of the council. They tried to keep Dawn out of the loop for most of it. They didn't want to add more stress, or nerves to the situation as the circumstances were already stressful and nerve-wracking enough.

It was Sarah who kept her company for most of the time. The two young women had hit it off greatly. Even though Sarah was too chatty to Dawn's liking she could tolerate it as her happy personality made up for it. Sarah helped with Dawn's hair as it was choppy. She managed to cut it to an even length and made her hair more voluminous. Sarah was a hairdresser who dreamed of opening her own salon someday. She just started at a salon nearby as she just finished her training. Sarah was one of the many pack members of the Red Wood Pack who worked outside of pack grounds. The pack after all too small to forsee everybody a well-paid job.

A great advantage of this new friendship to Dawn and the others as well was that Dawn didn't feel monitored. The medics and Aiden did ask Sarah to keep an eye on her and Sarah did, but let it go eventually, noticing she wasn't treating Dawn as a friend when she scanned her for any abnormalities. As long as Dawn seemed great she didn't want to give it any more attention.

Dawn learned a great deal from Sarah, much was related to her personal hygiene. She hadn't taken care of herself for many years and it was hard to get into that routine. Sometimes she forgot to face her face, brush her teeth, or put on a clean shirt after a day. Dawn liked how Sarah did it in a non-judgmental way. It was always said in a caring tone when Dawn had forgotten to do something.