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 to the board. “You’re all so noisy. You remind me of my sister’s kids.”
The room went silent.
A collective gasp rippled through the classroom as every boy sat up straighter, their attention now laser-focused on their teacher.
“You… you have a sister?” one of the boys asked, his voice trembling as though Mr. Akbari had just confessed to owning a dragon.
Mr. Akbari froze, realizing his slip. “Yes, I have a sister. Why is that surprising?”
The room exploded into chatter.
“Wait, he has a sister?!”
“What’s she like? Is she as scary as him?”
“Do you think she has a mustache too?”
“Silence!” Mr. Akbari bellowed, his face turning red. “What is wrong with you all? Having a sister is perfectly normal.”
But the damage was done. For the rest of the lesson, the boys couldn’t concentrate. As soon as the bell rang, they swarmed into the hallway, buzzing with speculation about what having a sister might mean.
By the time recess rolled around, a full-on debate had broken out in the courtyard.
“I bet sisters are like moms but smaller,” one boy declared.
“No way,” another argued. “They’re probably like female versions of us, but, you know, more… delicate.”
Arash, as usual, found himself at the center of the chaos. “Guys, you’re all wrong. Sisters are like ninjas. They’re super sneaky and always spying on you. My cousin told me his sister knows everything he does, even when he’s alone in his room.”
Kian, sitting cross-legged on the ground, shook his head. “That’s ridiculous. Sisters are probably like cats. They look cute, but if you annoy them, they’ll scratch your face off.”
The boys laughed, but then Ali, the self-proclaimed class philosopher, chimed in with a more serious tone.
“You’re all thinking too small,” he said, standing up and pacing like a professor delivering a lecture. “Sisters are part of the mythology of girls. Think about it. We don’t actually know what they’re like, right? So, logically, they could be anything.”
“Anything?” Arash asked skeptically.
“Anything!” Ali said, his eyes shining with the thrill of his own theory. “For all we know, sisters could have magical powers. Maybe they can read minds. Or maybe they have secret meetings where they plot against us.”
“Plot against us?” Kian repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Ali nodded solemnly. “Think about it. Girls already have their own schools, their own rules. They’ve probably got an entire secret society we don’t know about.”
The boys fell silent, the weight of this revelation sinking in.
“Do you think Mr. Akbari’s sister is part of the secret society?” someone whispered.
“Definitely,” Ali said. “Why else would he keep her a secret all this time?”
The conversation spiraled further into absurdity. Some boys speculated that sisters could communicate telepathically with other girls. Others insisted they were raised in underground bunkers to learn the ways of female warfare. One boy swore he’d heard a rumor that girls could shapeshift into animals to spy on boys unnoticed.
“I bet they’re training to take over the world,” Arash said dramatically, earning nods of agreement.
“Or,” Kian said, breaking the tension with a smirk, “maybe they’re just normal people who happen to be girls.”
The courtyard fell silent. The boys turned to stare at him as though he’d just suggested the earth was flat.
“Normal?” Arash repeated. “Kian, that’s the most ridiculous thing anyone’s said all day.”
Kian shrugged. “I’m just saying, maybe we’re overthinking this. I mean, if Mr. Akbari has a sister, and he’s pretty normal—well, mostly normal—then maybe sisters aren’t as mysterious as we think.”
The boys mulled this over, but before anyone could respond, the bell rang, signaling the end of recess.
As they trudged back to class, Arash couldn’t help but feel that Kian’s theory, while boring, might hold a grain of truth. But where was the fun in that?
No, Arash decided, until proven otherwise, he’d stick with the idea that sisters were part of some grand, mythical conspiracy. It made life far more interesting.
Besides, he thought with a grin, if they ever found out the truth, it would make for one heck of a story.