Ownvoices Stories

🏆 Watty Award Winner (2022) This updated edition includes revised chapters and new scenes. Trans guy Collin makes a bet with his coworker that he can land a date with the hot new barista across the street. It should be easy. Except the more time he spends with her, the more the bet starts to feel like the worst idea he's ever had. ### It's 2003 in Santa Cruz, and 21-year-old Collin thought transitioning would be the hard part. But now that he's on hormones and passing with ease, he's still stuck wondering who he is and where he belongs. It doesn't help that his girlfriend of six years just dumped him. So when his coworker challenges him to prove he's still got game, Collin agrees to a stupid bet: get a date with Heather, the cute new barista who just started working at the café across the street. With some unexpected help from his roommate Sam, getting close to her might be easier than Collin expected. But what starts as a harmless distraction quickly turns into something real. And when the truth behind the bet finally comes out, Collin will have to decide whether risking his heart again is worth it... or if he's about to lose the best thing that's happened to him since the breakup. A nostalgic beach-town rom-com about bets, baristas, and what happens when pretending turns into something real. ☕ Tropes: friends-to-lovers vibes, a very bad bet, coffee shop flirting, early-2000s nostalgia, and learning who you are while falling in love. NEW CHAPTERS EVERY TUESAY & FRIDAY

One man is her family's dream. The other could be her undoing. Suraiya Rao has never quite belonged. She's not white enough for society, not brown enough for her family... not enough for anyone. She's spent her life walking a tightrope between British reality and Indian expectation, doing everything by the book, no matter the cost. Then one chance encounter changes everything. Haydn Ellis Clarke isn't part of the plan. He's rich, ridiculously handsome, and absolutely not the man her family has chosen for her. But he sees her - not the dutiful daughter or the girl buried beneath generations of pressure, but the version of herself she's never dared to be. Mendhi My Heart is a story of identity, belonging, and choosing love, even when it means breaking every rule. Because love doesn't always arrive in the "suitable" package. Sometimes, it wears torn jeans... and gives your grandmother a heart attack.

A boy whose home was taken from him seeks freedom. A mindrenderer with dangerous hands hopes to undergo his own redemption arc. When Cole was younger, his mother told him about the men who played at being gods. Self-righteous, arrogant fools who stole his people and used their wicked mindrenderers to take away their free will. And as he got older, they nearly took away his mind, too. Alistair didn't like his job. If it were up to him, he would've discarded the part of him that made him a mindrenderer years ago. Perhaps then he wouldn't have hurt so many people. When the pair are forced together after a failed assassination attempt, they discover they might have to put aside what they know about each other in order to survive. Or kill each other in the process. (WARNING: THIS IS A ROUGH DRAFT!! i'm so very sorry)

"Behind Our Backs" is an #OwnVoices short story about being an autistic kid in middle school. This story includes depictions of ableism. _________ Like most teenagers, Natalie thinks she knows everything. In her efforts to befriend a loner classmate, she realizes the world isn't as simple as she thought.

Suddenly home when coronavirus hits during her sophomore year of college, asexual Hannah finds herself wondering if a lockdown might just be the perfect time to try to find love. She won't have to worry about the physical side of a relationship!

Seventeen-year-old Lia navigates high school with a sharp tongue and an even sharper mind-memorizing footsteps, decoding voices, and refusing to let her blindness define her. But when a heated rivalry with Brittany, the school's charismatic but guarded queen bee, twists into something deeper, Lia's world tilts on its axis. As their unexpected connection grows, so does the backlash-from Noah, Lia's childhood friend turned jealous bystander, and a school that loves labels more than truth. Between whispered rumors, brutal honesty, and fragile trust, Lia must ask: Can you truly love someone if you've never seen them? And does it matter, when their touch speaks louder than words? A fierce, radiant YA novel about rewriting the rules-of love, identity, and what it means to see someone for the first time.

University students Pernali and Sebastian finally get the chance to go on a trip abroad, but life is always confusing when you struggle with anxiety. She thinks she's supposed to have it all figured out and know exactly what she wants to do or who she wants to be. The tropical Jamaican air, a special trip to a nightclub, and finally getting the chance to speak to her longtime crush Sebastian, she realizes traveling might have changed her life forever...

16-year-old Rachel Willows, raised human, discovers she is Silvani in a world at conflict with itself.

[ COMPLETE ] Ananya Sathe was hoping for a do-not-disturb solo writing retreat. What she got was something better. Much better. - - - - Featured on the following profiles and reading lists: » @WattpadShortStory - REALISTIC FICTION » @AsiansReads - HEART TO HEART (ROMANCE) [x] 2k reads - 31/01/2021 [x] 100 votes - 24/03/2021 [x] 150 votes - 06/06/2021 [x] 5k reads - 11/07/2021 [x] 200 votes - 23/07/2021 [x] 7k reads - 21/11/2021 [x] 8k reads - 28/01/2022 [x] 300 votes - 10/01/2023 [x] 10k reads - 07/02/2023

[This is the translated version of my original Indonesian story. To support me or read the Bahasa Indonesia version, visit my profile] In an alternate version of the 2000s, where technology surges forward and magic-once revered-is hunted to the edge of extinction, lives a young man named Hans. By day, he is a quiet bartender, blending drinks for patrons who never suspect the truth: buried deep within him lies a power passed down from his mother, a healer and sorceress, and his father, a drunken gambler entangled in the shadows of the criminal underworld. For years, Hans has lived in silence-choosing solitude not for peace, but to shield himself from the scars of his past and the shame that clings to him like a second skin. He hides his power, not out of cowardice, but out of pain. That is, until a stranger walks into his bar. A dark-skinned man from the southern isles, the stranger calls himself Kaelani-or Kaelan. But he is no ordinary guest. He carries with him a sorrow deeper than grief, the remnants of a lost homeland-Maluʻia-an archipelago laid to ruin by the very technology that now rules the world. Like Hans, Kaelan is a mage, a guardian of protective magic betrayed by the one he loved. That betrayal cost him his people, his purpose, and nearly his soul. Their meeting is no coincidence. Two fractured souls, exiled from the destinies they were meant to fulfill, begin to find flickers of hope in each other's quiet company. But beyond the whispered conversations and the soft hum of city nights, the world stirs once more. Magic is awakening-and Hans may be the key that time itself has tried to forget.

"Just because we're in college, doesn't mean things have to change. That's what I thought. But now I feel like an idiot. Of course things would change. We can't stay a perfect trio forever, now that I know I was so wrong about the twins. I thought Kara was a straight girl, and I thought Caleb was a gay guy. How could I not realize it was the other way around? And how can we all stay friends if they're fighting over me?"

When life sends a tidal wave, how do you keep swimming? // On the edge of the sea, Lee Baker spends her days reading, crafting, and being homeschooled by her mom. Although their life at Oceanview Trailer Park is far from luxurious, Lee is happy the way things are, spending the days with her best friend Ana. But the summer Lee turns 17, everything changes. When Noah moves to Myrtle Cove, Lee's predictable life is turned upside down. Noah is quiet, anxious, and doesn't want any part of his mom's summer beach house plans. Lee is roped into being his tour guide, and unexpectedly, the two hit it off and strike up a friendship. Then Ana moves away. After losing her closest friend, Lee is reluctant to make another, but she doesn't want to stay away from Noah. She begins to have feelings for him, and thinks he might feel the same way. But when disaster strikes and Lee is left completely alone, will Noah stick around? And will she let him? // Updates every Saturday! // // Highest Ranking // #7 in Homeschool #266 in Beach

Do pictures enhance experience? I have no idea. Here are experiences which have shaped my relationship with cameras. Part 2: Siena

Two teenagers, Sofía and Martina, experience an unforgettable summer in Pescara, Italy. Their friendship blossoms into something deeper, but fear of rejection and family expectations force them to keep their love a secret. Through ten chapters, we explore their journey of self-discovery, acceptance, and courage to confront their fears and come out of the closet. 💻 THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHTED / DO NOT COPY

What am I? Who am I? How do I know what I am? Better yet, how do I come to terms with it? **Awesome cover by @shermssss**

Closeted high-school jock Troy Allstar needs the last lake-weekend of summer to be perfect because it sets the tone for the school year to come. Instead, he grapples with his non-binary sibling's out-and-proud lip syncs, an inability to shake off his beta status amongst the other jocks, an ex-girlfriend who is now dating his BFF Jesse, a growing desire for said BFF as well as for hottie cheerleader Chad, all while a mysterious shadow sets loose DNA-spliced experiments that give Troy strange powers that make it impossible to control his emotions. What's a fella to do??? Hi all, I wrote the original Queeroes novels more than a decade ago. What a time! I've grown a lot as a person and as a writer; I've realized I'm on the autism spectrum (my superpower!) and been officially assessed. I've learned about how I've masked and hidden my autistic traits (with mixed success) and I now see that the character of Troy in Queeroes is following the same strategy and is also on the spectrum (all the clues are there in the original Queeroes books!). In this reimagined version Wattpad edition of Queeroes, it's been really liberating to reflect Troy's autism more intentionally (even though Troy hasn't figured out yet :). It's also been a joy to include diversity in ways that reflect this wondrous world. Chad's Latinx (and just as sassy as ever), Troy's younger sibling, Gabi, is adopted from the First Nation neighboring the small town of Nuffim, is non-binary, and way more brash and confident than in the original books. Now, Gabi often steals the show. Like the original Queeroes novels, the Wattpad edition is Smallville meets Buffy with odes of Queers As Folk and American Horror story as a group of small town queer teens get powers and face a villainous shadow that forces them to face their darkest fears to become their truest selves! Xena warrior cry!

When 19-year-old Ayana stumbles upon a buried relic beneath an ancient sugar tree in rural Georgia, her world cracks open-literally. Marked by ancestral magic and haunted by visions, she's drawn into a hidden war older than any history book dares record. With the help of Kofi, a spiritual scholar with family secrets of his own, and Malachi, a mysterious young man bound to the same darkness that nearly consumed her, Ayana must confront the legacy of power, pain, and prophecy left in her bloodline. But when her growing powers awaken a forgotten entity known only as the Hollow Crown, Ayana realizes she's not just a bearer of magic-she's a key. And something is watching her. The door has opened. What walks through will either heal the world-or hollow it. Powerful, poetic, and rooted in Black ancestral mysticism, The Obsidian Mark is a lush fantasy about identity, legacy, and the cost of awakening.

Waking in a strange tavern with no memories of who he is other than his name, Stepa finds he's not the only one with amnesia. With seemingly nothing in common, he and five others have begun to realize that they have been chosen for a purpose that wasn't meant for them. The death of the holy warrior Oskan and his warband during the Peacekeeper Banners changed the tides of a war before they were even born. Now, under the name of the Spearhead King, Oskan has crawled out of the confinement of the spirit's realm and thrown off the balance of mortals and spirits alike. The magical forces of Orenda and Starwalkers have begun to bleed into the earthly world and along with his friends, Stepa must find a way to stop the Spearhead King from tearing the balance apart and plunging their world into an endless night.

Lian snuck out of the imperial palace and exposed the village healer to be a fraud and a devil-worshipper. Cursed by the spurned fire god, Huogwai, and disgraced and cast out by the royal family, Lian set out with her manservant Emiru to the kingdom of fire to rid her of the curse of uncontrollable flames for a chance to regain her claim to the throne. But being a fire disciple meant she was a practitioner of the forbidden arts. For those that hunt her kind, the game had just started.

In a twist of fate, Ariah Martin's world flips upside down when she receives an invitation to a Christian summer camp. Little does she know that the charming guy she's been texting on a dating app, specifically made for trans people, is none other than the pastor's son. Step 1: Avoid him at all costs. Step 2: Repeat Step 1. But just when she thinks she's got it under control, Bryan Nguyen enters the scene, leaving her heart in chaos, but she hasn't disclosed to him yet. Caught between love and war, Ariah must navigate the unpredictable waters of summer romance, where keeping secrets might be her downfall or her saving grace. Highest ranks: #1 - Diversebooks 08.25.23 #1 - TransWoman 12.01.2025