A/N: Credit for this story idea goes to Patricia Starara. This story is humanized. Gary the cat speaking is italicized and in quotes. Everything else italicized is just for emphasis.

I own nothing.

- Thursday -

It was a fine, sunny day - the birds were chirping, lawn mowers were mowing, and there were big, fluffy clouds floating across the bright blue sky. Spongebob Squarepants was outside, carefully tending to his precious plants, when Sandy Cheeks ran up to him.

"Hey Spongebob?" He looked up when he heard his nickname, turned around, and stood, dusting the dirt from his pants.

"Yeah, Sandy?"

"Are you busy this Saturday?"

"Nope! Why?"

"The Bikini Bottom mayor asked me to be one of the judges in a surfing competition. Would you like to compete?" She gave him a hopeful smile.

"Uhhh... I don't know, Sandy. You know how you can be with extreme sports and I..." He trailed off and nervously twiddled his thumbs, looking anywhere but at her.

"Spongebob." She said in an exasperated tone, "I'm JUDGING. Not competing. Besides, surfing doesn't really count as an extreme sport. At least not on my level of extreme."

"Really?"

"Really. It's supposed to be fun, Spongebob. You've surfed before, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"And you had fun, right?"

"Right."

"So what's the problem?"

"I... Guess there is no problem!" he agreed happily.

"So you'll compete?"

"Sure!"

"Cool! Make sure you sign up!" She smiled at him and he nodded, indicating that he understood.

"So... Who else will be there?" He tried to act casual and shuffled his toes in the earth.

"Well, let's see..." she began listing on her fingers, "Larry, Don, I think Mr. Krabs... And... I forget who else. There were a lot of people who signed up. See you Saturday!"

"Larry." Spongebob narrowed his eyes and balled his fists and watched as the guy in question drove down the street. Larry stopped right up next to where Sandy was and began to talk to her. Spongebob stormed back inside his house, fuming. He shut the door forcefully, startling Gary awake from his catnap.

"What's wrong?" Gary mewed at Spongebob as he stretched and padded over to him.

"Sandy's talking to Larry."

"And you're jealous." He sat down in front of Spongebob.

"I am not jealous of a guy who's perpetually sunburned!"

"What's he doing now?" For now, Gary humored him.

"Probably talking about how awesome he is at surfing and how he's going to win the competition, blah, blah, blah." At this Spongebob started to pace while waving his hands erratically in the air to emphasize his point.

Gary snorted and rolled his eyes. "What competition?"

"Oh, Sandy's going to be a judge at a surfing competition this Saturday," he said, light as air, sighing dreamily.

"And he's competing?" That brought him back down to earth.

"Yes." Spongebob grumpily crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"Are you?"

"Yes."

"Sandy is a judge?"

"Yes," he said, starting to get annoyed.

"So you're going to try to win to impress her?"

"Ye- what do you mean try?! I can win that competition!"

Gary just stared at him blankly.

"I can!"

"Right. Because you're so sporty."

"I've played sports before!"

"The last two times you tried you ended up in the hospital."

"Leave me alone." Spongebob turned away form his friend and sulked in silence.

"I'm sorry. You tend to get in over your head sometimes, but I've seen you surf. You should be fine."

"Awww. Thanks, Gare-bear." Spongebob scooped his cat up and hugged him.

- Friday -

Spongebob took an early shift at work so he was able to get off at six. He decided to practice a little for the 'Surf-Off,' which is what the nice lady at the town hall had called it when he signed up. He was a decent surfer, as a lot of the people in the little town were, but he just wanted to fine-tune his 'sweet moves' as Larry would say. He didn't like Larry.

When he got home he fed Gary his Kitty Kibble, changed into his dark blue wet suit, grabbed his surfboard, and went down to the seashore. He got there at about six-thirty and looked around at the almost-empty beach. He spotted Sandy laying on a tri-color towel and reading a thick book and made his way over to her.

"Hi, Sandy!" His voice pulled her from the strong grip of her compelling novel and she turned around to see who called her.

"Oh, hi, Spongebob!"

"Whatcha doin' here?"

"Well, it was such a nice day that I decided to do something outside so here I am. A bit windy, though. What are you up too? Aren't you usually at work at this time?"

"I got off work early because I put in an early shift and I'm here to practice for Saturday." He gestured to the board.

"Ah. I see. Can I watch?"

"Oh! Um... Sure? You want to watch me instead of reading your book?"

"Uh... Y-yeah! That's what friends do! Right?" She turned to mark her spot in her book, blushing.

"Of... Course!" She got up and followed him closer to the shore and set her towel back down.

"Hey, Spongebob?"

"Yeah?"

"When you're done... Do you want to go to Tom's Pleasant Tavern? For supper?"

"Sure, Sandy." He blushed darkly, and he could feel the wet sand squish between his toes and the sea breeze blow through his hair. "We can do that."

They smiled at each other for a moment.

"Are you getting in the water, Spongebob? I'd like to see what you can do."

"Oh! Heh, heh. Yeah." He tripped over his feet as he turned to go into the choppy water and tried to fight down a blush.

He got in the water to his waist and hopped on his board. He laid down and paddled out a bit further and waited for a big enough wave. He didn't have to wait long, as it was a blustery day. He caught the beginnings of a good wave and pushed himself up quickly. He kept his knees bent and his arms loose and stretched out. His feet were close together, helping him keep his balance.

He started a simple turn, angling his board across the wave and leaning with his body. When he had the right angle he rode down the curl of the wave. He got a feel for the waves and was able to pick out the ones that were promising. He stayed like that for quite a while, practicing his moves and sparing a few glances to shore where Sandy was.

He loved surfing. He loved the freedom and power that came with catching a wave. He loved the salty sea breeze that twisted through his blonde hair and the cool water that splashed up all around him. He loved the sound of rushing waves and seabirds calling out to each other.

Where he was? Nobody could touch him, nobody could catch him. Here, he was free.

He was about to try a more complicated move, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else walking along the beach - and making a beeline towards Sandy. He took a quick glance to see who it was... And his concentration broke when he realized that it was Larry.

The wave overtook him and he lost his balance, toppling off his board and plunging into the restless waves. When he resurfaced, he saw Sandy partly in the water, coming to him, and Larry running in the same direction. He held onto his board and swam back far enough to where he could stand waist-height in the water. By the time he got to the shallow area, Sandy was waiting for him with a towel.

"Are you ok? That looked like a nasty fall. Did you hit your head?" She wrapped the towel around his shoulders - he was soaked to the bone.

"It's alright, Sandy. I'm fine." He smiled at her; she smiled back.

"Hey, guys!" Larry called, splashing up to them. "Hi, Spongebob. You ok?"

"I'm fine." Spongebob assured firmly, if a bit grumpily.

"Whoa, man! Chill! I was just makin' sure you didn't hurt yourself! You know, you should really wait until you're more skilled to try those moves - like me. You could've seriously hurt yourself, especially if you don't know the techniques."

"I know how to surf! I've lived here my whole life!"

"If you say so, man." Larry raised an eyebrow at him and turned to Sandy, "Sooo, Sandy. You up for a little grub at the Shell Shack?"

"Actually, Spongebob and I already made plans to go to Tom's Pleasant Tavern." She glanced at her friend and gave him a little smile.

"Maybe tomorrow then?" he asked, a bit desperate.

"I'll be judging the surfing competition, Larry."

"Oh. Well, uh... See you both later then!" Silence hung in the air as they waited for him to get out of range and they both came out of the water.

"Don't listen to him, Spongebob. I think you were doing great up until you wiped out. What happened?"

"Oh... You know... I lost focus because... I was... Tired?"

"That makes sense. You were out there for almost fifty minutes – it's seven-seventeen. We better head over to Tom's before it gets any later." He agreed and off they went, surfboard, towels, books, and all.

Tom's was the perfect place to relax after a nice long swim, or in Spongebob's case, surf. The service was friendly and the place had a sort of homey feel to it. They even had a surfboard rack! The two friends ate their dinner and chatted the night away, eventually going home to get some well-deserved rest for the big day.

The day of the surfing competition came and Spongebob woke up early, having been nervous and excited when he went to bed.

He laid in his bed for a bit, thinking about the competition and hoping that he would have enough skill and luck to win. He got up eventually, avoided stepping on Gary's tail and stretched as he walked downstairs to get some early breakfast.

He scrambled some eggs and made some toast but he was almost too nervous to eat. Almost. Spongebob spent several hours just doing random chores and pacing around, pausing occasionally to stretch and warm up his muscles.

Eventually he got too restless to stay at his house so he left, to the relief of his cat, and headed over to Sandy's. On his way there he thought of how much he wanted to prove himself in the competition - not just to her, but to Larry as well. He wanted to show that he was good enough to pull off the complicated moves and win.

Spongebob nearly ran into Sandy's door, he was so deep in thought. He saved himself and was about to knock when he noticed a piece of paper taped to the door. It was a note that read, 'At beach for surf competition. Be back in a few hours.'

Spongebob sighed and went back to his house to get his stuff for the beach. By the time he set foot in the sand, there was an hour before the Surf-Off started. There were caterers and volunteers who were setting up tents and tables and banners. Among the throng he spotted Sandy and made his way to her after he put his stuff down. She saw him walking towards her and waved.

"Hi, Spongebob!"

"Hi, Sandy!"

"Are ya nervous?" she asked, grinning at him.

"Yeah, kind of. What if I wipe out and make a fool of myself?" He wrung his hands anxiously.

"Well, you were doing fine yesterday, and, honestly Spongebob? You never care if you make a fool of yourself. No offence, or anything."

"I guess I don't, do I?" He rubbed his chin with his hand and took absolutely no offence to what she said.

"Exactly! So why would that be a problem now?"

"It shouldn't!"

"Good! And by the way, seeing you surf yesterday gives me enough proof to know that you will be fine. You have a good chance of winning."

"Do you really mean that?" he asked as the other judges came up to her.

"Yeah. Good luck, Spongebob," she said as she was whisked away by the other judges. Spongebob was in awe, even after she had gone. She thought that he could win? She though that he could win! A huge smile split across his face as he turned around and ran right into Larry.

"Watch out, Spongebob! I almost ran you over!"

"Oh. Hi, Larry." He looked up at the body builder.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have work?"

"I'm here to compete. And no, I don't work today," Spongebob said crossly.

"You? Compete? No offence, Spongebob, but surfing takes a lot of skill, skill you don't have. You really should back off and let the pros show you how it's done before you hurt yourself like yesterday."

"I do have skill, Larry. I've been surfing since I was five."

"Even so, you should stay out of my way." He glared at Spongebob, and then straightened up and started to walk away. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt, buddy."

At this time, the beach was getting more and more crowded with all the people who wanted to watch and the people who wanted to compete. Spongebob had struck up a conversation with several people he knew to pass the time, one of them being Mr. Krabs, who had wanted one of them to win to promote the Krusty Krab.

Everyone who was competing got in line to receive their order number, and when the Surf-Off finally started, out of thirty-four competitors, Larry was tenth and Spongebob was thirteenth.

The first nine people remained consistent with either easy moves or spectacular wipeouts (or both), and when it was Larry's turn, he kicked off with moves only an expert could attempt and for a while, he was doing pretty well. Until he too, wiped out. Spongebob began to feel a lot better about winning. The two people before him were decent and stayed on their boards, but their moves were not something to be desired.

When it was Spongebob's turn, his knees were knocking with nervous energy, but when he saw Sandy wave and give a thumbs-up, he was able to relax just a bit. He got out on the water and quickly caught a wave, riding down it to get a feel for what he wanted to do. Soon, he was out there pulling off complicated moves and surfing like an expert.

However, Spongebob still couldn't help but feel nervous and stressed because of what Larry had said to him. Was he going to try to hurt him? The longer he was out there, the more he thought about it and that quickly came back to bite him. He made a big miscalculation on (ironically) the same move he failed yesterday and tried to save it. He ended up wiping out, though not as badly as he could have.

He swam back to shore as someone else went out to take his place, dejected. He had failed. Again! And in front of Sandy, no less.

When he got back on the sand he sat down and just watched the other people. There were some that had no clue what they were doing and others that were actually pretty good. Finally, the last person came and went and the judges were ready to announce first, second, and third.

"In third place…" The announcer paused for dramatic effect. "We have Larry Lobb!" Cheers erupted for the handsome body builder as he came up to claim his third place trophy and one hundred dollar prize. "In second place…" Spongebob crossed his fingers and closed his eyes. "We have Robert Squarepants!" Even more cheering rose up for him and he got up to take his trophy and the second place prize of five hundred dollars.

"In first place, now claiming his fourth win in a row…" once again, the announcer paused dramatically, "Mr. Eugene Krabs!" There was a deafening roar when his name was called, and after he had his money and trophy secured, he called for a party at the Krusty Krab.

A few minutes later, more than half the people at the beach had cleared out, giving Spongebob an opportunity to talk to Sandy. He walked in her direction, but was stopped by Larry.

"Hey, Spongebob."

"Hey."

"Uh… good job out there, man. I'm sorry I doubted you." He hung his head and started to turn away.

"Thanks Larry." Spongebob smiled at him and Larry smiled back before he went to go celebrate with his friends. Spongebob then continued his original path to his friend, happy that Larry would probably leave him alone now.

"I didn't know there was a money prize," Spongebob said to Sandy as he leaned on the table in front of her.

"Yeah, they like to keep that a secret, sort of an extra bonus of getting first through third," she explained as she gathered up some of the judging papers.

"Why did I get second, Sandy? I wiped out," he asked, rare seriousness creeping into his voice.

"Well, pretty much everyone wiped out today; you just so happened to wipe out least badly out of all of them. Plus your moves were pretty fancy." She winked at him and he blushed.

"Oh, thanks."

There was a brief pause.

"Why did you want me to compete so badly?"

"Because I knew you had it in you to do well."

A/N: A bit of extra fluff for an extra day!

Ha, ha, could you all tell that I have no clue how to write people surfing? For the people who actually surf, I'm sorry if I totally butchered your sport.

I want the weather to hurry up and be spring.

Happy Leap Day, everyone!