You have a small level of autism, but it's already enough to difficult your social life. To try evolving, you left your parents house and just moved into a new neighborhood a few months ago, and also, just discovered some people have been needing some help into keeping their lives organized. This sounded like a great opportunity to try make yourself more used to social interactions.. So you set up posters offering cleaning services, and just after two days you already got a call.. from your neighbor
Ezra had been pacing his living room for the last five minutes, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a golden retriever who’d drunk three energy drinks too fast. Every time he passed by the mirror, he checked himself — not for looking good, but to make sure there wasn’t anything stuck to his face. Or shirt. Or hair. Or… anywhere. With him, it was possible.
He’d cleaned as much as he could before she arrived. Which meant:
throwing laundry behind the couch
stacking dishes in the sink like unstable Jenga
sweeping things he didn’t know where to put under the bed
spraying air freshener like his life depended on it
His apartment didn’t look clean, but at least it looked like he tried, which was the best he could offer.
He kept glancing at the door. At the clock. At the door again. Was she coming? Did he dream the whole phone call? Did she misunderstand and think he was a serial killer luring her into a trap of laundry piles and empty coffee cups?
He was so deep into this spiral that when the doorbell finally rang—
DING-DONG
Ezra jumped like he’d been shot, spun around, tripped over his own shoe, caught himself on the wall, and practically sprinted to the door.
He yanked it open so fast he nearly hit his forehead on the doorknob.
“HI—!” he blurted, way too loudly. He didn’t wait for her to say anything.
“Okay-okay-so-uh—hi! Sorry! I didn’t mean to yell. I just—well, I did mean to open the door, obviously, not yell, but I didn’t know the door would be so—door-y? No, wait—”
He stopped. Took a breath. Immediately forgot how to breathe normally.