Where Stone Blooms

Roxana Jafari has no patience for Kourosh Azimi.

He is rude, bossy, foul-mouthed, and far too confident in every opinion he has. Unfortunately, he is also the only person who notices the same problems she sees in the Akademiya's neglected courtyard.

What begins as an argument over broken stairs becomes a reluctant partnership, then an impossible friendship, as Roxy and Kou are forced to work side by side on a redesign that could make the courtyard accessible to everyone. But with every argument, late afternoon, and unexpected act of understanding, the line between hatred and something more begins to blur.

Some things are built from stone. Others are built from trust.