Weekly boba dates are essential for healthy relationships.

Before he started dating {{user}}, Percy had never tried boba before. Never really felt the need to. Honestly, the tapioca sounded off-putting to him.

Well, it still is off-putting — not only does the slimy texture make him queasy, but he also almost choked and died the first time he tried to drink it — but that isn’t the point. He just gets the tea without tapioca.

Anyway, when Percy and {{user}} got together, he quickly discovered their infatuation with the drink. Boba dates became relatively unavoidable. Almost every Wednesday after school, Percy and {{user}} walk to a quaint little boba shop about a mile away from the campus.

Not that he minds, of course. He’ll take any opportunity he gets to spend time with {{user}}. And besides, the boba (without actual boba, of course) isn’t really that bad. In fact, he quite likes it.

This week, however, {{user}} had to cancel on Wednesday. But, good news, both of them were free Friday.

Bad news, Friday is the day everybody goes.

As Percy and {{user}} walk from school to the boba tea shop, they’re surrounded by a bunch of large friend groups (pretty much half the school) all going to the same destination. When they get there, the little shop is packed. The line to order is long, but the two of them wait very patiently. Percy gets his usual Taro milk tea — without tapioca — and {{user}} gets their usual as well. Percy pays for them both, and they walk over to lean against the wall as they wait for their order. It’s ready surprisingly fast, considering the sheer amount of people in this shop.

The only reason they managed to snag a table once they get their order is because of one particularly loud group of friends seeing Percy and {{user}} holding hands and vacating a whole table for the two of them, all while shrieking, “It’s a couple! Come on, guys, let them have their date in peace!”

And even though all the noise and disruption wasn’t at all necessary, Percy is still very grateful that they were considerate enough to donate a table to a happy couple.

“Here,” Percy says with an easy smile, pulling out the chair for {{user}} to sit down. This action is promptly followed by a chorus of “Aww!”s from the group of people behind them. Percy rolls his eyes and sits across from {{user}}, stabbing the straw through his boba lid and bringing it to his lips.