Love In My Lunchbox

Chapter 1

The bell rang and I quickly reunited with my friends to head to lunch. "Your grandma still packs your lunches for you, Taylor?! You're 16!" My friend Jenna exclaimed. She was the first person I met when I moved here 6 months ago, and was always speaking her mind. She threw back her head in laughter as my other friends giggled.

My Po-po has been packing my lunches since I was little, and I really never thought anything of it. In my house, food was always used as the language of love. Any achievement made by someone in my family was a good enough reason to have a feast. Every chance she got, Po-po would bring out all of the pots and pans, cut up vegetables, and stir-fry enough food to feed an army. Some of my most-loved memories happened on Fridays, where I would join her and help fold the dumplings for the family get-togethers and listen to stories of her childhood. The leftovers from these almost-weekly feasts would be packed for my brother and I to take to school.

As I opened my lunch box, the aroma of five perfectly folded dumplings flowed into the air. It was always exciting to see what my Po-po packed me, as it changed every day. One day it was chow mein, the next day was fish soup and today it was my favourite! Dumplings.

"Ew...what's that smell?!" Said Jenna with a wince, as she peered over my shoulder. I gave her a confused look, having no idea what she was talking about. "Oh my gosh, Tay, your lunch stinks!" She exclaimed, while staring at me. She bit her lip as if she was trying to stop herself from laughing. Was it really my food? I glanced at her meal, which was a ham and cheese sandwich. Then at the rest of my friends, who were also eating the same. It was the first time that I felt like an outcast among them. Nervously holding my chopsticks up to my mouth, about to eat a piece of bok-choy, I set them back down again. It felt weird eating now, and the pit in my stomach certainly didn't help my appetite. I closed my container and shoved everything back into the bottom of my bag.

The next day, I thought the smelly-dumpling-fiasco would finally be over, but Jenna was relentless. "What kind of weird food did you bring today, Taylor?" She giggled again. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up, hoping that whatever Po-po packed for me was "mainstream" enough to keep Jenna's mouth shut. Her eyes widened as I opened the container.

"Jenna...please..." I pleaded, knowing she was about to lose it with laughter.