Chapter 10A quiver ran down her spine when she felt the blanket slid away from her body, no longer providing her any warmth to her body. A small whine escaped from her lips with the discomfort. Sophia could never sleep without a blanket, just like her mother. Eventually, she squinted her eyes open and realised that she was no longer leaning onto her brother but was laying on both the seats, legs curled up and hands tucked under the chin. Miles had shifted away when she fell asleep and took another seat to sit on, all without waking her up. Which was pretty surprising because she believed she was a light sleeper. And if Miles had moved or carried Sophia in her sleep without waking her up, then that should be considered as a real talent.Sophia was about to bend her hand down to pick the blanket that fell but a hand appeared and picked it up before she could. She thought it must be Miles. The blanket was spread upon the length of her body again. When she looked up to thank him, she was
CHAPTER 11The breeze felt soft against Sophia’s skin, making her muscles rest. She relaxed as the breath-taking view in front of her that mesmerized her eyes with utter awe. The early afternoon sky was a pale blue with almost no sight of any clouds. The sun shone bright also doing a pleasant job at making the atmosphere warm and moist. The mountains were as if having a peak from behind the lake staring at the group of people being all goofy all for once.Sophia held the camera in her hands and pressed it against her face. She adjusted the angle with one eye open and one eye closed. Her tongue sticking out yet being bitten by her teeth in concentration. In front of her were her fellow colleagues. Everyone were in the water, wearing their swim attires. All and sundry held a huge smile as they swam in the water, splashed it on one other and did dives into the lake.Smiling in satisfaction at the picture she just took, she nodded at her camera with a fond smile. It was something about ca
Chapter 12Love. Such a simple yet compelling word. Holds so much passion and value. Has meaning bigger than the iceberg that destroyed the Titanic. But so much similar to it at the same time. Love might seem like a minor verb from a grammar workbook but it embraces depth at unknown meters in complexity just like that underestimated iceberg.Love. Something Sophia did experienced, but was offered by none other than her family. They were the only people who had ever said ‘I love you’ to her and they’re the only people too who’d ever heard her say ‘I love you too, from the moon and back’.She never had a potential partner. Well, she never really tried to have one. Nevertheless, doesn’t mean she never wanted one. In reality, her fate never offered her one. Sophia’s primary school years were spent being too naïve for being in a relationship or even understand the term itself. Her high school years were spent being home schooled giving her no chance of a typical school love life. By the ti
Chapter 13 Later when Sophia reached home, she was welcomed by her parents with warm smiles. And when she reached her room, her dear room, she realized how much she'd missed her bed. She collapsed on the sheets and grinned like a maniac with closed eyelids and felt every ounce of comfort the bed had to offer. Her body relaxed which was sore from the whole long bus ride from the camp and back home. Oh, at how ease she felt! So much better than those sleeping bags back at the camp. She didn't even realize when her serene and heavy eyes dropped and she fell in a deep slumber, only to wake up feeling like she had slept for not more an hour when in reality she was asleep for more than eight, later acknowledging the same when she realised that it was the twilight now. It was Lana who woke her up telling her to come and eat something downstairs. When she reached there, she met her parents in the living room as if they were already waiting for her. She smiled and sat with them on the couch.
The Smith family elegantly walked into the living room, their heads shifting in every direction observing the house that certainly met their standards. The parents nodded involuntarily in a gesture expressing that they were impressed by the beautiful house they’d just stepped in. Then, their eyes settled on the girl they’d especially come here for. She stood their shyly, her delicate and teeny hands fidgeting with the hem of her beautiful floral, long dress. The girl was looking back and forth between the parents and Joshua, a petite and in a way forced smile dancing over her matte lips. ‘’Introduce yourselves, kids,’’ Roy spoke for the first time.Miles walked forward taking the initiative. He stood before Joshua and raised his hand. His voice, in a way, was like a warning.‘’Miles,’’ he introduced himself firmly.‘’Joshua,’’ he accepted the handshake. ‘’And you must be?’’ He asked raising his eyebrows, as if wondering.‘’Sophia’s older brother,’’ He worked his chin towards where sh
CHAPTER 15Two days. Sophia had two days to plan her escape. Well, at least from the utter mental torture her dear parents gave her. Yes, she was getting engaged, probably married too with the guy, Joshua in a couple of years. But she also needed time. Time to recover from the sudden trauma she experienced within the 12 hours of her returning from the trip. Who knew all the refreshment would go in such waste. Sophia wanted to prove to her parents, especially her father that she didn’t need a man to look after her, to provide for her, or to satisfy her.She would be rather be known as young and mature than young and beautiful.Day 1; Is when Joshua took Sophia on a date, her first-ever date. People usually feel a mix of emotions such as eagerness, anxious, and even joyful about and for their first date. But Sophia walked out of the house with a low-spirit that day. If it were in her hands, she would swap herself with someone else. What was rather funny was the fact that most of the ti
CHAPTER 16Sophia grunted in frustration. The people who used to live on rent in this apartment had left it behind like a tornado had passed by. The curtains were dirty and torn. A layer of water was built up by the bathroom with disgustingly rotten and dead insects floating on and underneath it. In no way was she going to call the tenants and argue about their uncivilized behaviour when she had so much on her plate to digest.That Saturday night, Sophia spent most of the night cleaning the living room. She decided to go one to two rooms every day until the flat was all neat. The next day, which was a Sunday was devoted to the kitchen and washroom. The kitchen needed so much more attention than the other rooms. Open lids of containers, spoons, and dishes were fallen onto the ground, some even had half-eaten food around it. The window for ventilation was covered with dust, a few spiders making it their home. The evening passed by shopping for her new home. Home décor. She had a bright
CHAPTER 17Soft footsteps echoed into the empty corridor. They travelled into the workplace where sat a 20 year old girl working alone into the dark room. The only lights were the tubes above her which shone bright enough for her to see the keys of the keyboard. She was lost into her work, making some kind of graphs. A headphone covered her ears but no music blared through them.Miles sighed and stood behind her chair. She jumped in her seat when a shadow appeared beside her on the floor. She snapped her head back and realised who it when, which allowed her to relax her stiff shoulders‘’C’mon, I’ll drop you home,’’ he started without any greetings. His hands were in his pockets. His voice echoing into the empty workplace even though he spoke lowly. It surprised Sophia how fresh he looked, apart the slightly dishevelled hair.She turned to him wordlessly and looked at her watch on the left hand’s wrist. ‘’Its only 8:30. I’m not supposed to leave before 9,’’‘’You can go home, because