"Take off your clothes," I tell my boyfriend.

He gives me the I know what's going to happen look, but I simply say, "You were sweating in those clothes and you can't lay in my bed with dirty clothes." His amusing grin disappears and is followed by a series of protesting remarks.

I'm a germaphobe and strongly enforce and believe that only clean clothes can touch my bed. If you think about it, after a day of work and running errands, you can only begin to imagine how many things or people you have brushed up against. I don't want those germs coming onto my bed; The thought makes me cringe. I can't even be dirty when I lay in my bed. Yes, even after coming home at 3 a.m. from the bars, I stagger into the bathroom and shower the sweat and spilled drinks off of my body. And yes, even when I sweat the tiniest bit, I need to shower.

I have always been a clean and organized person, but this phase started when I entered college. During my freshman year, my room was the hot spot for hangouts. Every weekend I had multiple people sitting on my bed and treating it as if it were a couch. Their dirty shoes would touch my comforter and I would find hair on my blanket that wasn't mine after they laid all over it. I also freaked out whenever someone would come lay on my bed right after class. Hello!? How many people have sat in that very same desk you sat in? I'm sure you wouldn't want those people in your bed and I certainly don't want them in mine. Those two reasons are why I cracked. I'm not saying that I think my friends are dirty, but I started constantly washing my bedspread, and I got tired of it. And when I mean constantly, I mean that after every weekend of people sitting on my bed, I would strip it and wash the sheets so I could have a clean bed to sleep in for the upcoming week.

Four years later and my friends still laugh at me, but I think it's because they never really thought about what their clothes and body come in contact with on a daily basis. Even something as minuscule as dirty socks aren't allowed in my bed. My boyfriend will walk into my college bathroom in his socks, which is shared between four girls, and then try to wear those same socks in bed with me! At first, we use to argue, but now I keep a pair of clean socks for him in my dresser.

Some of my friends also like to mess with me and purposely sit on my bed to get me irritated. I use to laugh along, but now I get annoyed that they don't respect my personal space. It's not an issue that I fight with them on because I'm the only one out of our group who feels passionate about this. I just want people to know that my bed is my space and I don't want uninvited cooties on it. It honestly helps me sleep at night knowing that I'm just cuddled up in me. So, snicker all you want and make faces at me, but at least I'm going to sleep in an extra clean bed.

Unfortunately, when I sleep in my boyfriend's bed, I have to temporally get over my germ obsession, since it's not my bed. (Trust me, that's difficult for me)