affluenza (1.) | ✔️

Clean Up

"Nothing," he responds nonchalantly, tapping his fingers on the wheel. "You and Hayley seem to be doing good."

I shrug. "It's going okay, I guess. She's a nice girl."

"'A nice girl?'" Sebastian echoes. He looks over at me again with the faintest blush along his cheeks. "She's what you want?"

I purse my lips and look out at the dark sky of Malibu, the purple and pink and red hue of nightlife surrounding us. "I don't know. I don't know if anyone ever knows exactly what they want."

        "I guess. Maybe it'd be easier to ask what you don't want."

        I look over at him, his chiseled jaw and relaxed expression.  "I don't want to just date her for fun. I don't want to lie to her about how I'm feeling. I don't want to move too quickly with her when I'm not even sure if she's who I want to be with."

        Sebastian raises an eyebrow. "Who else would you want to be with?"

        The blush on my cheeks shouldn't even surprise me at that point. I drum my fingers along my thigh, trying to pivot away from this suddenly vulnerable topic. "Nobody. I don't know what I meant, exactly."

The conversation is sort of cut short after that. We continue driving silently down to the school and Sebastian parks in his usual spot in the lot. "Windsor said the back doors would be left unlocked for us to get through. And that the school is absolutely wired with cameras, so we shouldn't even bother trying to get out of this," Sebastian recounts.

I sigh. "Well, isn't that just dandy?"

We both get out of the car and walk to the back doors, slipping through them solemnly. "What's our first assignment?" I ask Sebastian as he reads the clipboard of tasks Windsor left for us.

Sebastian chuckles humorlessly. "Check it out."

He hands me the clipboard and I read over it quickly.

Dust all the tables in the library.

Water the plants in the library.

Mop the floors of the library.

Rearrange books alphabetically based on genre and year.

Janitor Irwin will be checking your work in the morning, 7 a.m. sharp. No horseplay, gentlemen. Happy cleaning.

"These aren't tasks, they're punishments!" I exclaim. "Why can he just do this?

"Because he's Dean Windsor. The almighty." Sebastian takes the clipboard and places it back on the wooden desk, sighing deeply. "Well. Better get started, eh?"

I shoot Sebastian a small smile and we trek through the eerily silent school, the only sounds being our footsteps walking at the same pace and same time. When we reach the library, Sebastian pulls open the door for us. We both instantly groan.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he yells.

Books are strewn around the tables, chairs, and leather couches. Sweaters and blazers and ties are also scattered around the room. "Is the library really this dirty every night?"

Sebastian huffs a breath, crossing his arms across his chest. "I have a newfound appreciation for dear old Irwin."

I step deeper into the room, picking up a moldy PB&J and gag.

"Like I said...torture."

¥

"Okay, would you rather lick a dirty trash can or...the bathroom floor?" I ask as I stack up books starting with H from 1986 in the genre of Historical Figures.