A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 10: "Breaking the Divide"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:46 p.m.

As Arash stood at the threshold of his room, he couldn’t help but smile. The walls of his home—no longer just a house, but now a place of change—felt different. There was an energy in the air, a small but noticeable shift that he couldn’t quite put into words. But it was there, lingering, like the faintest trace of something new on the horizon.
The night before, the conversation with his parents had been a victory. They weren’t completely on board with every radical change he suggested, but they were open. They had seen enough to understand that the world they had built around him was perhaps a little too narrow. Too protective. Too… segregated. And, more importantly, they saw that Arash wasn’t going to let it stay that way. He wasn’t alone anymore in his questioning. His entire school, his community, was slowly starting to wake up to the fact …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 9: "The Curtain Falls"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:45 p.m.

The night was unusually quiet. Arash had spent hours replaying every awkward conversation he’d ever had with a girl in his head, his attempts at making small talk during the field trip looping on an endless loop. Finally, as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, he realized something: this wasn’t just about him.
It wasn’t just about the boys in his school or even the occasional encounter with a girl at a family gathering. It was about everything—his family’s expectations, the way society had shaped his views without ever allowing him to question them. It was about the vast chasm of misunderstanding between the genders, one that wasn’t as insurmountable as he had been led to believe.
And he was tired of it.

The Great Confrontation
The next evening, over dinner, Arash decided it was time. His mother served him a plate of khoresh, her hands moving deftly between the kitchen …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 8: "Field Trip to Reality"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:45 p.m.

The announcement came out of nowhere.
“We’re going on a field trip,” Mr. Shafiei, their civics teacher, said one morning, standing in front of the blackboard with his usual air of exasperated patience.
The classroom erupted into chaos.
“What? Where? Why?” Arash heard himself ask, his voice blending with the excited murmurs of his classmates.
“Quiet!” Mr. Shafiei barked. “It’s an educational outing. We’re visiting the Khosrow Environmental Center. You’ll learn about community projects and teamwork.”
That didn’t sound exciting at all, but a break from school was still a break from school.
“Wait, sir,” one of the boys piped up. “Is it just… us going?”
Mr. Shafiei’s lips twitched, almost forming a smirk. “No. The youth group from Shams High School will also be there.”
Dead silence fell over the classroom. Everyone knew that Shams High School was co-ed.

The Boys’ Plan
The bus ride to the environmental center was electric with nervous energy. Most of the boys …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 7: "Revolution in the Library"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:44 p.m.

Arash had never thought of the school library as a particularly thrilling place. Sure, it was a quiet refuge from the chaos of his classmates’ shouting matches and pencil wars, but it was mostly just rows of dusty books, ruled over by the ever-frowning librarian, Mr. Jalali.
But one day, everything changed.
It started when Kian, who was supposed to be reading about physics, elbowed Arash and whispered, “Psst! Look at this.”
Arash looked over. Kian was holding a thin, unassuming book. The cover was simple, with a flower and a woman’s name scrawled elegantly across it: "Parinoush Saniee."
“A book by a woman?” Arash asked, his voice a mix of surprise and awe.
“Yeah,” Kian said, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Do you think we’re even allowed to read this?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
Kian raised an eyebrow. “Because it’s by her! You know… a girl.”
Arash smirked but couldn’t deny his curiosity. Growing up, …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 6: "A Recipe for Trouble"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:43 p.m.

Arash was lounging on the living room sofa, scrolling through his phone, when his mother’s voice pierced the air like a dagger.
“Arash, come to the kitchen. Now.”
Her tone was one he’d learned to fear—it wasn’t angry, but it was firm, the kind that brooked no argument.
He groaned, dragging himself off the couch. “What did I do now?”
“You’re sixteen,” his mother declared as he entered the kitchen, hands on her hips. “You’re old enough to learn how to cook.”
Arash blinked at her. “Cook? Me?”
“Yes, you,” she replied, already pulling out pots and pans. “One day, you’ll need this skill. What if you’re hungry and there’s no one to cook for you?”
“Mom, that’s what restaurants are for. Or instant noodles.”
Her glare was enough to silence him. “No son of mine is going to rely on instant noodles. You’re learning to cook. End of discussion.”
She handed him an apron, which he stared at …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 5: "Mythology of Girls"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:41 p.m.

It started as a normal school day, or at least as normal as it could be in Arash's all-boys school, where chaos and testosterone-filled chatter reigned supreme. Mr. Akbari, their literature teacher, was scribbling on the blackboard, his usual monotone voice explaining the poetic structure of an ancient Persian poem.
Arash and Kian, sitting in the back row, were engaged in a silent but heated argument over whether Superman or Rostam would win in a fight. Kian was adamant that Rostam’s divine gifts would give him the edge, while Arash was convinced that Superman’s heat vision would make quick work of Rostam’s armor.
“Boys!” Mr. Akbari barked, his chalk snapping in half from the force of his exasperation. “If you’re going to argue, at least argue about something meaningful. Like… I don’t know… poetry.”
“Sorry, sir,” Arash said quickly, nudging Kian to shut up before they got detention.
Mr. Akbari sighed and turned back …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 4: "Operation Opposite Gender"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:40 p.m.

The wedding was the perfect opportunity. Or, at least, that’s how Arash had framed it to Kian as they rode together in the back seat of Kian’s dad’s car.
“You’re overthinking this,” Kian grumbled, adjusting his tie for the fifth time. “It’s just a wedding.”
“It’s not just a wedding,” Arash said with a mischievous grin. “It’s a rare chance to observe and maybe—just maybe—interact with the opposite gender.”
Kian gave him a sidelong glance. “You make it sound like we’re wildlife biologists studying a new species.”
“That’s kind of what we are,” Arash said. “Think about it. How often do we get to be in the same space as girls? This is our chance to see what they’re really like.”
“I already know what they’re like,” Kian muttered. “They’re terrifying.”
When they arrived at the venue, a sprawling garden decorated with fairy lights and elaborate floral arrangements, Arash’s excitement only grew. The air buzzed with …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 3: "Secrets of the Curtain Club"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:39 p.m.

It all started during lunch break. Arash and his best friend, Kian, were playing their usual game of "Soccer Without a Ball" in the school courtyard—essentially an overly dramatic simulation of a soccer match where the "ball" was entirely imaginary. Arash had just scored what he declared was a game-winning goal (though Kian insisted it was offside), when they heard a suspicious clunk coming from the old storage shed behind the gym.
The shed was officially "off-limits," which, to any boy worth his salt, meant it was the most interesting place on campus.
“Did you hear that?” Kian whispered, his eyes wide.
“Probably just a cat,” Arash said.
“A cat wearing boots?” Kian pointed toward the shed, where faint murmurs could now be heard. “That’s definitely people.”
The two exchanged a look, the kind of look that boys exchange when they’re about to do something undeniably stupid but utterly irresistible.
“Let’s check it out,” Arash said.
They …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 2: "The Forbidden Question"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:39 p.m.

It was a quiet evening at home. Arash sat cross-legged on the living room carpet, building an elaborate fort out of dominoes while his father flipped through the newspaper. His mother was in the kitchen, humming softly as she prepared dinner, and his older brother, Saeed, was sprawled on the couch, scrolling through his phone with the expression of someone enduring great boredom.
The quiet was broken when Arash’s younger cousin, Mina, ran past the room, giggling as her mother called after her. Mina had been visiting for a few days, and her presence had been a peculiar phenomenon in the house. Though she was only six years old, she belonged to the "other side," the mysterious world of girls, and her occasional intrusion into Arash’s boy-dominated universe always caused a ripple of awkwardness.
As Mina dashed by, Arash found himself pondering a question that had been bubbling in his mind for …

A Curtain Divides the World - Chapter 1: "Boys, Boys, Boys"

dehongi Jan. 17, 2025, 6:37 p.m.

At Arash’s school, life was a testosterone-fueled symphony of chaos. Every day began with a thundering stampede as boys flooded the hallways, racing each other to class as if punctuality were a sport. Backpacks swung like pendulums, shoes screeched against the tiled floors, and someone, somewhere, was always yelling, “Last one to the classroom is a chicken!”
Arash usually wasn’t in the front of the pack—running wasn’t his thing—but he also refused to be the metaphorical chicken, so he always managed to come in somewhere in the middle. His classroom, Room 14, was a microcosm of every stereotype about boys you could imagine. There was Hamid, the self-proclaimed athlete, who carried a soccer ball everywhere like it was his firstborn child. Majid, the class clown, could turn even the dullest math lecture into a comedy sketch. And then there was Kian, Arash’s best friend, whose life goal seemed to be proving …