Summary

Chapter 26 opens on Thanksgiving. Her parents are always willing to open their door to people who need a place to spend the holidays, either their friends or Navid's friends. Shirin convinces them to invite Ocean, her “friend” from school who wants to try Persian food. Her parents are heavily invested in their culture and are happy for the opportunity to share it with Ocean. Ocean seems to like all the food. He is happy to watch videos about faucets with Shirin's father. He agrees he would like to learn Farsi, though Shirin argues with her mother that she cannot just push an understanding of the language into someone's brain. When Ocean is about to leave, Shirin goes to her room to avoid doing anything that will make her parents realize how much she likes Ocean. A few minutes later, Navid knocks on her...