I am the Skeleton in the Closet

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Once prom passed Austin and I started spending more and more time together. The more I learned about him the more alike I started realizing we were. He was adopted, just like me, but his adoption was handled through the family passing him from his mother to his grandmother. She had gotten him when he was older, around the age of seven, and once he moved in with them he lived a life of relative luxury. His grandparents were quite a bit more wealthy than my parents, but he similar feelings towards them as I did my parents. That's not to say they were awful or that he hated them, but they were never someone he felt he could readily share things with. Despite some bad habits at the start he was still on his own and a lot of what seemed to drive him was the idea of never having to live with them again. We had that in common. We liked all of the same movies and shows. Every night after work I would stop by his place and together we would binge the new seasons cuddled up on the couch.

Eventually I even met his roommate Tyler. He worked everyday all day as a chef at a local golf course with brief intermissions to sleep and eat. Whenever I was at their house, he wasn't. His car was seldom in the driveway whenever I passed their house running errands. Neither of them were big on cleaning or tidying up. Every time I went over there was something new added to the mess. It gave me anxiety just thinking about it. Everytime I walked passed the sink I heard Dawn's voice in the back of my head scolding me for not having finished them, or having swept, vacuumed, dusted, clean the windows, toilet, really everything in their house set me off. 

One day I woke up and decided it was high time for a change. If I'm gonna keep coming over this has got to change. Maybe it's just gotten to a point where there's too much to do so the task is too daunting to them. I've handled worse. I got out of bed, threw on some sweats, and started loading a bucket with cleaning supplies. Not like they'll have it there. Men. I rolled my eyes stuffing another roll of paper towel in and slipping on my shoes.

"Whoa whoa whoa. What are you doing?" Dawn was suddenly alert.

"Going to clean a friends house, they said they'd pay me." I huffed finishing up on my laces.

"What? What friend?"

"From work. He works just a few stores down. Saw I was good at cleaning, asked me to clean." I shorted. "I'll be back later." I left it at that, igorning everything else she was trying to shout after me as I slammed the garage door behind me. Plus then I don't have to see her much today. I rolled my eyes as I saw the garage door start to crack. No, I'm not dealing with that. I started my car and zoomed out of the garage and into the subdivision. He's probably home right? It's a Saturday after all. Wouldn't want anyone thinking I just broke in, even if it was just to clean.

When I got there, his car was not in the driveway. You home? I messaged him.

No, at work.

Oh, ok, well I came over to clean your house, I thought you'd be home.

No.

Is it ok if I go in to clean?

Sure.

Ok. I slowly ebbed out of my car and into the house. I hope Tyler isn't home, this could be awkward. I pushed through the front door. Where to begin. I pondered looking at all the disarray. I guess we'll start with dishes. I figured heading over to the sink.

Soon enough Tyler appeared out of nowhere. Until now I figured he just didn't need sleep or anything since I had never seen him at the house. Was his car even in the driveway? I silently continued with the dishes. Maybe if I just keep super quiet and out of the way he won't ask. I widened my eyes with anxiety and scrubbed harder.