Page 73 of Tangled in Knots

Unlocking the door, I find there are people moving around now, and I find a place at the sink to brush my teeth before exiting the bathroom once I do.

“Adira?” a girl with long dark hair and pink streaks through it asks, pushing away from the wall. It looks as if she’s been waiting for me.

“Yes,” I say with a nod. “You’re looking for me?”

“I wanted to welcome you, show you around, and,” as she glances at my feet, she huffs out a breath, “find you some shoes.”

“I was just thinking about those,” I tease her. “I didn’t pay attention when I came in, I’ve gotten used to being barefoot.”

I realize how odd that sounds, but she simply nods.

“I’m Hazel by the way. I heard you came in late,” she says, starting to walk down the hall. Following her, I nod, still in her periphery so she can see me. “Go ahead and drop your things off, and I’ll start your tour. I want to make sure you eat before you talk to Aisling too.”

“Okay,” I murmur, thinking about how everyone is very concerned about me eating. I can feel how loose my clothes are, even if they are a smaller size than I’d usually wear. My curves have diminished in the last three weeks, and when I gaze at myself in the mirror, I can see how hollow my cheeks look now.

Opening my door, I put my things away the way that suits me, instead of tossing them, and then walk back out to stay by Hazel.

“You’ve probably noticed that everyone has their own room,” she says as she waves at my door. “It’s nice to have your own space when you’re in a transitional phase like this, and we thankfully have enough room to do it. The bathrooms are communal to help cut down on wait times.”

Hazel moves efficiently as she shows me around, and I’m amazed. She finds me a pair of slip-on tennis shoes from the closet where there are tons of shoes. There are also a lot of surprises at the shelter that I’d never have dreamed of.

There are study rooms for omega adults and their kids who are in school, as well as a large play area. The gym made my eyes widen, and I remember the way my father always made me walk a treadmill every day.

“It’s easy to feel cooped up here,” Hazel explains. “This helps with the pent up energy. You’re by no means forced to stay at the shelter all day, either. I’ll show you where the sign out list is, and how we leave and come back for safety purposes. The reason we have the sign out form is in case something happens and you don’t come back for some reason.”

“So safety reasons,” I muse, able to get behind that.

“Exactly. We want a general idea of where we can start looking,” she says with a nod. “Down that hallway, you’ll find the heat clinic. There are private rooms with soundproof walls, toys, high powered handheld shower heads, everything you can think of to get through a heat.”

Hazel blushing as she talks about shower heads is adorable. The co-founders have thought about almost everything.

“Over here, is a courtyard the original building had, but it was somewhere that squatters were using and it was open to the street,” Hazel explains. “It’s now surrounded on all sides by brick walls, the pavers that were once out here were torn out, and in the spring we’ll start working on a garden. We had some trouble with our grocer a few months ago, and are trying to be more self-sufficient. Gardening is something some people find fun or soothing too.”

“I’m in awe,” I admit. “This is all so beautiful.”

“We all work hard to keep this place safe,” she says with a smile. “We have a few rules, because we have to have them, the most important one is that we don’t tell people where this place is unless it’s clear they need our assistance. The outreach you came through is on flyers, but not many people understand the shelter is at the back of the warehouse. We have some chores we assign to make sure everyone does their part, and we do our own dishes. Otherwise, we all give each other space.”

It’s pretty standard for omegas living together, and they tend to need clean spaces, so I can see how this works so well.

“Completely understandable,” I agree.

“Alright, let’s head to the kitchen then, I’m sure Aisling is waiting,” Hazel says with a smile, walking me back through the halls.

People are chatting and eating, and there’s a large basket of muffins that look really good. There are other breakfast items, but my stomach isn’t in the mood.

“Can I grab a muffin?” I ask carefully.

“Anything in the kitchen is communal,” Hazel says sternly. “We have mini fridges in all of the rooms for anyone that wants to buy their own food.”

I don’t remember there being one in my room, but I still nod. Something crosses Hazel’s mind and she shakes her head, sighing.

“I’m going to make myself a note to put one in your room,” she says apologetically.

“It’s really not an issue,” I reassure her as I snag a blueberry muffin. “No money means no reason to have a fridge.”

It’s just the reality of my situation, and a really difficult one when I never had to worry about money. I think I’m so shell shocked, it hasn’t completely hit me yet. Fuck, I don’t have a single thing that belongs to me.

One of the girls turns toward me at the island with a raised brow. “Right now that’s the situation,” she says. “It won’t always be. We all pull ourselves up, girlie. Keep your head up.”

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