“You can’t keep putting this off!”
“I know. But you’ve met Jasmine.”
“I have. Doesn’t change my opinion, though.”
Can’t they just be happy for me?
Bowie goes quiet as they start the car. Disappointment rolls off them in waves.
We barely talk the whole way home.
“See you,” I say as I close the door.
Bowie just nods and drives off.
39
Amy goes all-out for Nowruz dinner: saffron-marinated salmon with sabzi polow, roasted chicken with zereshk polow, a whole platter of Persian sweets ordered direct from a bakery in California.
It’s the one holiday of the year Dad always takes off; he’s in charge of the haft-seen in the living room, and sorting out the sabzi from the little herb garden in the backyard, and picking out presents for me and Jasmine.
To my surprise—and Jasmine’s utter shock—Dad got us both new phones.
“I figured it was time for an upgrade,” he says. “Besides, there was a sale.”
Even the deliciousness of dinner—and zereshk polow is my favorite—can’t stop me from setting up my phone and texting Liam right away.
New phone!!
Happy new years!!
Thanks
How's break?
I miss you
Miss you more
It's okay
Mom wanted to know if I was okay with her “exploring the dating world again”
Awkward
Right?
“What’re you smiling at?” Amy asks.
“Nothing.”
But Amy shakes her head. “I know that smile.”
“Huh?”
“Who is it?”
My face starts burning. Despite what I told Bowie, I still haven’t found the right opening to tell Jasmine about me and Liam. I hoped that maybe, after Nowruz dinner, with her full of tea and sweets and presents, I might be able to tell her without causing an explosion.
