In this chap­ter, Par­vana is sur­prised to encounter her old school­mate, Shauzia, while work­ing in the mar­ket. Ini­tial­ly hes­i­tant, Shauzia asks Par­vana what she’s called, to which Par­vana responds with “Kaseem.” They share a brief con­ver­sa­tion about their work, where Shauzia men­tions need­ing to return to the tea shop before blend­ing back into the crowd. Par­vana reflects on their dis­tant rela­tion­ship in school and is struck by the real­iza­tion that there are oth­er girls in Kab­ul who share sim­i­lar strug­gles.

As they walk togeth­er, Shauzia gifts Par­vana some dried apri­cots, a rare delight for her. They exchange sto­ries about their fam­i­lies; Shauzi­a’s broth­er is miss­ing in Iran, and her father has passed away, while Par­vana reveals her father’s arrest. Shauzia’s grim state­ment about the fate of many who are arrest­ed leaves Par­vana upset, but she clings to hope that her father will return.

Their con­ver­sa­tion shifts to busi­ness as Shauzia sug­gests they con­sid­er new ways of mak­ing mon­ey. Shauzia express­es her desire to sell items from a tray, allow­ing her to be mobile in the mar­ket, while Par­vana dreams of con­tin­u­ing with her let­ter read­ing. They rem­i­nisce about school, find­ing solace in shared mem­o­ries.

At Parvana’s home, her fam­i­ly wel­comes Shauzia warm­ly, despite her claims that her moth­er is ill and her fam­i­ly dynam­ic is tumul­tuous. Their dis­cus­sion includes the pos­si­bil­i­ty of cre­at­ing a secret school for girls, spear­head­ed by Mrs. Weera. Shauzi­a’s sharp wit and Mrs. Weera’s deter­mi­na­tion inject some lev­i­ty into the grim real­i­ty they face.

The chap­ter high­lights the girls’ ongo­ing strug­gle for sur­vival, punc­tu­at­ed by con­sis­tent inter­ac­tion and hope­ful dis­cus­sions about edu­ca­tion, com­mu­ni­ty sup­port, and shared aspi­ra­tions for a bet­ter future. Nonethe­less, loom­ing fears about the Taliban’s oppres­sive regime remain ever-present, as demon­strat­ed through Shauzia’s reluc­tance about their new mon­ey-mak­ing scheme. The chap­ter con­cludes with Par­vana feel­ing uneasy about the prospect pre­sent­ed by Shauzia, paving the way for fur­ther con­flict and deci­sions ahead.