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my sleeves, walking to the center of the kitchen. “Game on,” I mutter, planting my palms on the sticky floor and ignoring the shudder rippling down my spine at the feeling. Just don’t think about what’s been on this floor. I move my body into a plank easily. You can do this, Rachel. Think yoga. Think of all the planks and yoga you’ve done before.

I slowly bend my elbows. Ignoring the shake in my biceps, I push up from the ground, biting back a hiss of exertion. “One,” Seth calls out.

Just five more. Five more, you can do this.

I bend my elbows again, gasping when I felt my muscles beginning to give out. Fight it. Push through. I push with as much strength as I can muster, my whole body quivering while I bring it back up into a plank. “Two,” all three boys says together.

Four more!

But I don’t know if my body can possibly do four more. My arms are shaking violently. I take a deep breath, hovering there in a plank and willing my arms to bend once again. “We are waiting,” Seth sings above me and I scowl up at him, hoping he burns in hell for this torture he is putting me through.

Come on. Just four more.

“I don’t think she can do it,” says Lucas.

“Honestly I’m surprised she was able to do two,” says Hunter.

I bend down again, my chest nearly touching the floor. I will my arms to push up, but I remain down. A whimper escapes me and I wince, using every last strength I have left within me to push up from that sticky, disgusting floor that I refuse to clean. But my body is against me. I can’t do it.

I can’t.

My body falls, landing on the disgusting floor and I gasp, biting back tears at my failure.

“Ah,” Seth ruffles my hair. “You lose. Too bad.”

“Guess you better get started,” says Lucas while looking around at the hell hole that is my life. “There sure is a lot to clean up.”

“Yeah, who knows how long this is going to take you,” Hunter adds with a chuckle.

I wipe my eyes, not wanting them to see my tears while I pick myself up off the floor. Seth hands me a mop as soon as I’m standing. “Good luck.” He pats me on the shoulder and gives me a bitter smile.

“I want it to sparkle.” Hunter expands his hands, looking around at the apartment. “I want it to be so shiny I can see my face in the floor.”

Lucas passes me and opens the refrigerator. “Maybe we should eat something before we go out,” he says, pulling out some milk and chugging it, spilling some on the floor. “Oh, oops. Sorry, roomy. I guess that just makes your job harder.”

“Oh, no,” says Seth, staring down at the spilt milk. He rubs his chin, and I know he’s just thinking of more terrible ways to torture me with. “That’s not so nice, Lukie.”

“Yeah,” adds Hunter, taking one of the glasses filled with yellow liquid and spilling it on the floor. “That’s just going to make her work longer.”

“Oh, Hunter, look what you just did.” Seth points at Hunters upturned glass.

“Oh my fucking god.” Hunter covers his mouth in mock surprise. “I’m terrible.”

“No, I’m terrible,” says Seth while grabbing the rest of the glasses and running around the apartment, spilling the contents all over the floor and then wiping his dirty shoes in it. “Absolutely, terrible.”

“Stop it!” I shout, dropping the mop and following Seth around the apartment. I slip in the spilt water, my legs sliding into an almost split. I grab the couch and pull myself up, ignoring the laughter behind me. “Stop it right now!”

Seth drops the glass onto the floor and I gasp as it shatters into tiny little pieces. “Alright, boys, let’s leave her to it,” says Seth, motioning towards the door and walking onto the glass, making them break into tinier fragments.

“Bye, roomie,” each one says while I watch them walk out the front door, slamming it shut.

I stare at the empty room, covered in spilt water smelling like rotten eggs. I sniff and pick up the mop. I lean it against the wall and sniff again, wiping my eyes. Don’t you dare cry.

I don’t even know where to start. The floor? The sink? The bathroom? Cinderella probably had it easier. I wonder what would happen if I just refuse to clean. How long can I stay in a locked room without food and water? Or, really, how long can I avoid them?

Probably a day max.

I sigh and resolve myself to my fate. Just do it and they’ll leave you alone. Then you can finally have a proper, decent apartment. And as soon as this is done and over with, you can just hideout in your room.

And they’ll leave you alone.

6

HUNTER

 

“Ah, man, that was hilarious,” I say while smacking the top of the armrest.

I bite back a groan, pain shooting up my shoulder at the sudden movement. It’s aggravating me more and more these days, which pisses me off since it’s the start of the football season. And this injury is from months prior. It should be better already. Actually, I thought it was getting better. It didn’t even bother me until the summer months. Not until practice started up again and honestly, yeah, I probably shouldn’t be playing. Maybe I should be taking a break, but I’m already at the top. After this year and next I could be drafted into the NFL and taking a break now… well it would likely hurt my chances of playing pro football.

I probably shouldn’t have pushed it with those pushups. A hundred would have been enough. Hell, ten would have been enough, yet I just had to show off. I narrow my eyes at Lucas. He did over two hundred. Fucking showoff. If my shoulder wasn’t like this I could do three hundred. Fuck, I could do five hundred.

I should really