A simple life: Book 4

Chapter 1: Trust is vital

"What do you think?" Sophia asked, standing in front of her wall, trying to hang the painting that Asa had made for her a while back. "Josh, what do you think?" she said again, this time specifying with whom she was speaking to. "Is it centered? It seems off to me somehow," she whispered to herself. After a few seconds, Sophia realized Joshua wasn't answering her, so she turned around, finding him sprawled out on her bed, asleep by the look of it. Upon seeing this, she laughed softly and asked him, "What do you think?" a little louder, hoping it would wake him up. When he didn't respond, and after a faint snort coming from his mouth, Sophia became playfully frustrated. A mischievous smile crossed her face while she gently set down the painting, and then she picked up one of her pillows lying on her chair and threw it directly at him. "Yo, bro!" she said, raising her voice.

Joshua jolted awake, his eyes wide open, when the pillow hit him. "What?! I didn't do it!" he said. Sophia laughed at this. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, remembering why he was there. "I must've dozed off."

"Must've?" Sophia said, chuckling. "You did doze off, Mr. Ryan."

"Sorry," he said again while letting out a big yawn. "What was it you asked me?"

"What I asked was, what do you think of the picture on this wall?" she said, picking the painting back up and holding it against the wall. "And does it look straight?"

Joshua looked at it and shrugged. "Yeah, it does," he replied.

Sophia scoffed with a giggle. "It does what?" she asked. "Look good? Or look straight?"

"Both, I guess," Joshua replied, lying back down.

"You're not much help," Sophia said bluntly. "I should've asked Alex to come over and help me. He wouldn't have fallen asleep."

"Sorry, sis," Joshua mumbled. "This isn't exactly man's forte. But to be perfectly honest with you," he went on anyway. "I think you should hang it in the bathroom. That way, you can have something nice to look at while you're in there."

"Boys," Sophia said, shaking her head. "I'll just make the decision myself. But next time," she added. "Remind me to call Alex for a second opinion?"

Joshua chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough," he said.

"But since you're here, will you at least help by handing me the hammer and nails?" she asked, pointing to her desk.

"Yeah," he said, getting up and stretching his arms.

"And hurry. This picture is getting heavy," Sophia said.

"Okay," Joshua replied, walking over quickly to grab them. After he made his way back over to where Sophia was and gave her the tools, she handed him the painting. "You know, I have to admit," Joshua couldn't help but say. "Asa isn't bad at this stuff."

"Not bad at what?" Sophia asked while pounding on the first nail.

"This," he replied, looking and pointing at the picture. Sophia didn't make any comment. She just continued to pound. "And you know..." he added, watching her. "You're not too bad at that."

Sophia shrugged and said, "Well, I've had to teach myself these things, you know? The cooking and cleaning as well. And doing my own laundry."

"Yeah, I know," he replied rather gloomily. "You do great."

Sophia suddenly and softly nudged Joshua's shoulder because his expression looked as if it conveyed sadness. "But I can't do everything myself," she said with a smile. "We make a good team."

"The best," he answered her, his face brightening again. "You know," he said after a few seconds. "Knowing that the last day of summer break is tomorrow, should we do something with Alexander and Asa? Something fun?"