Author's note: N, I know you are reading this. Thank you for your discussions with me on what is safe and what is not safe in a relationship, the one you have with him is definitely something good, so keep on loving him and demand that he respects you with all his heart.

This chapter is light-hearted but there would be some mature dialogues about the nature of interracial and inter-abilities relationships. Also, I have been asked where I got inspirations for my story. Well, there was this anime called Gakuen Alice and the academy's student body population is what I base most of my characters on. Moira is definitely like that anime's protagonist, but our heroine in this book still needs to come out of her shell more. Check out the anime's opening and ending song, "Pika Pika no Taiyo" (Sunshine) and "Shiwase no Niji" (Rainbow of Happiness). Also, Count on Me by Bruno Mars has the same feelings.

-------------------------

Nardho ended up buying a lot of ingredients from the farmer's market for dinner. He said he would treat Moira and Tony to a special Papua New Guinean feast since the dining hall foods were getting too boring for their tastes. Moira helped Nardho stored the ingredients in the huge fridge—there were banana leaves, yams, half a pig, green beans, rice, and more. Meanwhile, Tony heated up the oven like Nardho instructed and the chef washed his hands. They were in the same large dormitory kitchen they used to bake cupcakes to welcome Rain the other week or so.

"So, you guys know I have Indonesian blood but I also have the genes of its neighboring country, right? My ancestors on the PNG side came from a province called Oro. It was very remote and it had birds of paradise, the same one tattooed on my neck. Oh, you want to know why Johan does not have one. Well, in Oro culture actually only girls got tattooed when they came of age, but I couldn't let Nardhia did it alone, so I did it with her." Nardho narrated.

"Interesting! I'm boring, I'm just Irish and Welsh. By the way, the oven's ready," said Tony.

"Nah, there's nothing boring about having ancestors from the Great Britain. At least you can track down who your great-great-great grandparents were. I never knew mine. All I know is that at some point my ancestors were Black Americans from Cincinnati, Ohio." Moira admitted.

"Okay, now I need help cutting the pork into several different parts. Tony, you do that. Moira, you can help me boil the green beans while I buttered the yams and prepare the rice." Nardho commanded. Moira hated veggies, but she would eat anything for Nardho. 

The girl watched wordlessly as her boyfriend skillfully chopped the sweet potatoes into chunks of evenly shaped cubes. She wanted to help but she was not sure how to handle the knife as effortlessly as he did.

"How did you get so good at cutting vegetables?" She rested her elbows on the kitchen counter as Nardho set the sweet potatoes aside to wash the green beans.

"My mom made sure that my siblings and I know how to cook," he replied while turning on the faucet. "I'm still learning myself, so thanks for the compliment. Do you think you can help me measure the seasonings?"

Moira nodded and was about to go find a measuring spoon when she realized she had no idea what kind of spices she needed to use.

"Hey honey, what should I use to season the sweet potatoes?"

"O-oh, right!" Nardho stammered and then asked her to check if there were some sea salt and dried rosemary or parsley in the overhead cabinet.

The bottles of herbs were on the furthest corner of the top shelf and Moira had to tiptoe to reach them. She managed to grab the bottles but she tripped on the kitchen mat.

"Careful!" Nardho caught her before she could land on her back. Their faces were just inches away from each other and they sheepishly smiled before pulling away.

"This mat should be put elsewhere. I don't think it even needs to be here." Moira pretended to look at it disdainfully. Nardho did not understand the pretense and was about to take the mat away when the girl couldn't contain her amusement and snorted.

"What's so funny?"

"You are! It's just a mat, it can stay. I should've been more aware of my surroundings, I'm so clumsy."

"Did you fall on purpose?" There was a tone of slight annoyance in his voice but the way his lips twitched into a grin betrayed him. Moira shook her head vehemently.

"That wasn't planned. I swear!"

"Really? Because it seems to me you were trying to get my attention."

"If anyone needs attention, it's me!" Tony called out from beside the oven. "You guys act as if I'm invisible."

The couple exchanged a glance before bursting out into uncertain laughters. Tony raised an eyebrow but said nothing else.

"Sorry, buddy, we didn't mean to forget our favorite sous chef!" Nardho gave him a pat on the shoulder before thanking Moira for her help seasoning the sweet potatoes. 

An hour and half later,  the oven beeped and Nardho's cooking was ready to serve. The aroma was enticing and Moira's mouth watered in anticipation. Johan walked in at the perfect time and sniffed the air.

"Woah! This feels like home. Nardho, you're teaching them how to make mumu?"

"Yup! More labor than I thought it would take, but we nailed it! I also bought banana leaves and I think if mom could see me now she'd be very proud!" Nardho portioned the foods equally.

Johan took pictures of the foods to send home and called for the other residents and Kenta to come eat. The kitchen was very quickly becoming cramped, so they moved everything to the big pasture just behind the dormitory, a few feet from the basketball court Tony liked to play in.

"Those banana leaves, woah. They are eco-friendly and we don't have to wash plates!" Moira said excitedly while scooping up rice. Nardho just laughed bitterly because they still needed to wash the pots and the pans, but Tony said he would help so the chef did not have to do the cleaning. Johan chimed in and said he would also offer to clean up, he was the RA after all.

"You need to check out the Intercultural Forum, Dho. They do annual dinner and poetry night for the whole campus, so you'll be welcomed to bring the mumu recipe." Kenta informed.

"Is that so? I'd be honored to represent both PNG and Indonesia!" the boy was ecstatic.

"Err, since everyone's here, I've a favor to ask, if I'm not being too intrusive." Nardhia raised her hand slowly. Johan said that everyone would be willing to help, no need to be shy.

What Nardhia needed assistance with was what Rain had asked of Kenta and Johan the other day, but Nardhia wanted to interview Vannie, Moira, and Nardho instead.

"Moira, you can go first. I'd like to know if you ever had experiences in which people see your disability first before they see you for the cheerful and passionate girl you are." Nardhia started.

"Oh, goodness, I can write a whole essay on this. Yep, of course. When I was in elementary school, I took a long time to color a picture within the lines and I always messed up because I had no idea what lines were, like where one line began and the other ended. My teacher gave up on me and took my crayons away. I was so frustrated I tore the picture up."

"That's awful, I'm sorry. And that experience didn't deter you from pursuing arts?"

"Uncle Martin gave the teachers an earful and transferred me to another school. Then he came up with an idea of letting me experiment with oil painting. You should have seen this corner in our garage that he built for me. So, I finally had a safe space to truly be myself."

"That's great, your uncle sounds very supportive of you and I like that you're into arts."

Nardhia then turned his attention to his twin brother. She wanted to know if he truly thought that Kenta was too good for Johan, vice versa, or if he was just being a little mean-spirited.

"Damn, Dhia, going for the hard question. Big bro, I'm sorry about my statement, I was just being bratty. Kenta is perfect for you, he's a gentleman and he has treated Dhia and I like his own. I don't care that he's deaf. Kenta-senpai, please don't mind what I said previously."

"Oh, Dho, no offense is taken! I'm glad my deafness doesn't bother you!" Kenta hugged him.

With the boy and the man reconciling, Nardhia asked Vannie what it was like to be in a wheelchair and if people bugged her all the time about wanting to assist her as well as what it was like for her to start dating Rain.

"Yikes, where do I begin? All they see is a vulnerable girl and they jumped on me with offer to wheel me around. Hey, I can wheel myself. Also, they said things like my being courageous and inspirational. Hello? I'm nobody's inspiration. I'm just living my life, so fuck off."

"That's rough, but I think the college environment isn't hostile to you, is it? I guess this is what you like about Rain, they never ask to wheel you. Rain, any confirmation?" Nardhia inquired.

I think she's a capable individual, Vannie's partner signed their answer and kissed Vannie's hand. Vannie cupped their face and gave them a quick kiss on the nose. 

"That's sweet and respectful. So, Vannie, what was your reaction when you know Rain is mute and that they have Qatar ancestry and pray silently in Arabic? You're Jewish, right?"

"If I can pray in Hebrew then Rain can pray five times a day in whatever language they like, it's not that different, in the end we're still worshipping the Creator, be it Allah or some other Mighty Being. What matters is that we share the same values: humanity above all else. Rain called me their Nur Laila, their evening light. I called them my moon and stars."

"Good to hear, you guys made my day! Okay, that's all!" Nardhia turned off her camera recorder. Moira was sure that she would make an excellent journalist one day.

"Y'all, I have come up with a scenario of our play. Wanna hear?" Moira announced. The students all echoed their yeay, so Moira took the center stage and presented her idea.

"Since our class is about the Gaburs, I'd like to direct and produce a play in which half of us here take the roles of Gaburs and the other half can be scientists and Outer and Inner Little Trees. We can begin with the days the scientist unearth the DNA of many different birds and combined it with elephant DNA, then we move forward by portraying that story Lee told about children being scared shitless about the animals, then we end with the deforestation scene."

"Ooh, you first-years make me want to be a freshman again!" Johan said excitedly.

"I've always loved three-act plays, reminds me of kabuki theatre." Kenta reminisced.

"Can I probably volunteer to work on this with Rain as my co-narrator, Moira? They and I can make poems. I'd be the one arranging the composition for ukulele and Nardhia can sing parts of the narrative. That should integrate our talents." Nardho thought aloud.

"Yeah, yeah! I'd like to sing! Now we need the lead scientist, don't we?" Nardhia chimed in.

"That'd be amazing, for sure. Hm, I think Tony can be the scientist?" Moira asked.

"Why me? But eh, I'll try my best." Tony shrugged and made a mental note to buy a lab coat.

"I want to be a baby Gabur!" Vannie shouted in the distance. Moira laughed with everyone.

"Oh yeah, sure! I'll make sure to decorate your wheelchair accordingly!" Moira promised.

"Cool. But now we need someone to design the costumes for the Little Trees. Think Ayumi can give us references about the jewelries and traditional attires of her people?" Vannie asked.

"I'm sure she can, but how are we gonna tailor and sew the costumes for like a dozen plus of people here? Do you think we can hire a tailor or two? Maybe rent the costumes?" Moira pondered. Ugh, that's gonna be hard on my pocket allowance, she sighed sadly.

"Moira, can I offer an alternative solution? A friend of mine owned a boutique that employs Blue Orchid students from the Fashion and Modeling department. I can put in good words and you guys will get like 75% discount for large order of costumes. If you still find it expensive, Johan and I can cover the rest." Kenta suggested to a very surprised class of freshmen.

"Oh my luck, you're a life saver! Thanks, Kenta! Yes, put me in touch with your friend!"

With the floor meeting concluded, Moira smiled broadly and returned to her room with pictures of the scenes playing in her head. She would be looking forward to the study abroad trip!