trigger warning

This short story contains hints of bullying, body shaming, and racism. If you are a trauma survivor and encounter a topic that is triggering for you, please engage in self-care and/or take necessary steps for your emotional safety.

Below are links for resources that help with these topics.
https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/get-help-now
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/help-support/contact-helpline
https://stopaapihate.org/actnow/

about More than Okoy

Everything is better fried. Vanessa Harper firmly believed this, but she hasn't allowed herself to eat anything fried for seven years. She wasn't going to start now. Not even if it was her favorite snack offered to her fresh by her crush with his megawatt smile.

Maverick Evangelista volunteered to man the class booth for the Multicultural Food Festival. Any excuse to show off his cooking skills and eat his favorite after school snack, okoy, really. He knows it's a foolproof recipe—Filipino crispy deep-fried fritter made with various vegetables, who can resist? Apparently, Vanessa Harper. They've sold out two batches and she has not tried a single bite.

Will he be able to break her out of her shell and get her to take a bite?

disclaimer

The story is set in an American high school, which I did not attend and therefore had to ask a couple of people about.

What I learned was that there were multicultural food fests held around dinner time for about two hours so that parents could attend if they wanted.

It's possible to join sports teams as a transfer, but I didn't verify if it's applicable for out-of-country transfers. One of my characters has a pretty nice academic portfolio, which I'm not sure of the plausibility in the US. But we can dream. So make of that what you will (hehe).

copyright
© May 2023, More than Okoy

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic methods without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please send a red maya bird to the author. Just kidding. Direct message also works.

about AAPI Heritage Month Contest

The Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month Contest is hosted by WattpadAsianFiction, WattpadAsianFantasy, WattpadFusion, and WattpadMulticultural with the following guidelines:
— 2,500 words
— English, Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, Hindi, Japanese, Sinhala, and Thai
— Asian or Pacific Islander protagonist
— Mature context accepted

For more details, please visit their book on my Contests reading list.

This short story is based on YARomance's prompt:
—To celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, the school is hosting a cultural food festival. Your class gets assigned to make a Pacific Islander inspired dish and you're in charge of running the stall with a quiet classmate. Sparks fly between you two while working together. What will happen next?

character look inspirations