again.
“Okay, do it. Rubber gloves are under the sink and there’s cleaning stuff under there too. Vacuum, broom, and mop are all in the hall closet. Have fun.”
"Wait! I was kidding!" I yelled after him as he headed back to bed.
Adam turned and looked at me. “Why is it such a big deal for me to have a clean place?”
Shouldn’t the answer have been obvious? “No one lives like this and no girl is going to want to stay here with you if it constantly smells like death.”
“Hmm,” Adam muttered to himself as if he had never considered that. “Well, have fun!”
“Wait-” I stopped him from walking down the hallway. “Where are you going?”
“Back to bed,” he replied. I followed him, having to step over piles of trash and dirty clothes to do so. When we reached his large bedroom, I noticed that it was cleaner than before. There were no dirty clothes covering the surfaces, no pizza sauce stains on the sheets, and it smelled like something-Febreeze? He must have tidied in there. He flopped down on his bed and I noted that Bones took up half of it.
“Goodnight,” he mumbled snuggling into his blanket. I watched him curiously and leaned against his door frame and just stared. Adam’s back was up against Bones' and he seemed so comfortable. He opened his eyes and peered over at me, annoyed.
“It’s hard to fall asleep with someone watching,” he pointed out.
“If I’m cleaning, then I will just wake you up."
“No,” Adam assured. “I’m a heavy sleeper. Unless you’d like to join me?” He opened the blanket, inviting m in with a coy smile.
I rolled my eyes and walked back into the living room with a sigh. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and found the rubber gloves. Within an hour, the floor became slightly visible. I had sorted every gross item of clothing into color piles. I was pretty sure he had more clothes than any girl I’ve ever known and I wondered what he did when he ran out…if he ever ran out. I threw the loose trash into bags. It easily filled up three hefty bags of items so disgusting and old that I barely recognized any of them.
When I went to grab the garbage bag under the sink I found the pack of cigarettes. My mouth practically began to water. I snatched them up and slipped the pack into my pocket.
During the next hour, I cleaned all of his dirty dishes which half ended up in the trash because the mouldy food just wouldn’t come off. As I was waiting for them to dry, I decided to straighten up the living room. Without the clothes and trash cluttering the floor, the place already looked ten times better.
I was cleaning off his coffee table, which seemed to be used for junk collection, when I found an iPod. Curious, I picked it up and turned it on, happy to find that it had battery life. I smiled to myself and searched the place for the headphones.
His library consisted of older songs but I didn’t complain, I kind of liked them. I checked in on the sleeping giant and his bear to make sure I wasn’t too loud.
I found the vacuum and cleaned off his couch and loveseat as well as his carpet. I cleaned and scrubbed his bathroom which was the worst nightmare I had ever witnessed in my life. It looked and smelled like the bathroom of a dirty bar.
The shuffle list skipped to a song by ABBA while I was sweeping the kitchen and I just couldn’t help myself. I had to break it down.
“ Young and sweet, only seventeen… ” I sang as I switched the broom for the mop. I got the bucket of soapy water ready as I jammed out some more.
“ See that girl, watch that scene…” I began to scrub the floors. " Feel the beat from the tambourine ,” I sang along awhile using the wooden end of the mop as my microphone. Then I noticed someone watching me and I dropped the mop like it was covered in the plague.
“Um, good morning,” I greeted as casually as I could. Adam was on the other side of the hallway leaning against the wall but I could see a smirk on his face. He