SpongeBob does chores for his friends after work to earn a bit of extra cash to boost the clarinet funds. Unbeknownst to him, however, Squidward starts work at the barber's and a delivery round delivering newspapers- also to raise extra dollars for the clarinet.
...
"Wow, thanks for taking care of my lawn, little square dude!" Sandy says cheerfully, slapping SpongeBob on the back. "Looks straighter than a frightened adder's tail!"
SpongeBob feels his stomach churn from the friendly contact. "No...no problem, Sandy," he wheezes, managing a weak smile up at her.
"Gee- sorry about the lawnmower, though. Wasn't expecting ya to end up having your first rodeo on my garden." Sandy says apologetically, handing him twelve dollars. "Here, take the extra four for the trouble." She assures him kindly.
SpongeBob, too weak and dizzy to say anything else, gives a polite nod of acknowledgment, before dragging himself off to do Pearl's chores.
Sandy notes how pale her friend looks, and she feels worry manifest in her gut- even more so when Gary phones her urgently, about twenty minutes after SpongeBob left, requesting she examine him for signs of overwork or illness the next time they meet.
...
Meanwhile, Squidward sighs as he looks at the tacky white and red plastic clock on the wall of the barber's shop. It was still quarter past six. He finished work at half past eight, and then he only have time for a quick supper before starting deliveries at nine o' clock.
"Come on, sour tentacles!" the barber snaps with a loud bark, pointing to a pile of shaved off back hairs lying at the feet of his customer- a fat starfish resembling Patrick, albeit a lot older and fatter one. "That lot isn't going to sweep itself up!"
Squidward scowls at his temporary boss, and begins to sweep up the hair, pretending he hadn't seen little black things crawling in and out of it. He shudders in revolt.
'It will be worth it, Squiddy,' he reminds himself.
All the same, when he accidentally places a tentacle in the offending lump, and sees Squilliam randomly laughing at him from outside- along with a crowd of his starry-eyed followers- he starts to make despairing jokes about razors to himself. At this rate, staying up until past midnight almost sounded like heaven.
Or perhaps even working overtime at the Krusty Krab with no overtime. This place disgusted him!
...
Tuesday and Wednesday whizzle out before either of them realize it; Thursday melts into Friday; Friday lumbers into Saturday, and so on as the weeks clamber on. As they get home with their pay, they each put it into a secure receptacle to keep the money safe until they could officially buy the clarinet.
By the following week, Squidward notices that SpongeBob is looking just as ragged and ready to collapse from exhaustion as he, if not more so. He frowns in contemplation- what on Earth was that yellow weirdo up to now? He hadn't been as hyperactive or annoying as he normally was, and he was feeling somewhat uneasy now. Is he sick? Is he being plagued by some enemy again?
He shakes it off with a simple, routine 'I don't want to know,'.
Meanwhile, despite his own exhaustion, SpongeBob still smiles kindly at Squidward and tries to remain cheerful to his friends and the customers and people of Bikini Bottom.
He does feel awfully tired, though. No matter how much sleep he gets, he wakes up feeling like he'd been hit by a bus. Not to mention that he had been coughing more, too. Yet, he refused- stubbornly- to go to the doctor. Gary even tried to put his lead on his master's ankles and drag him to a doctor, but SpongeBob wouldn't go.
He just went to help his grandma with her gardening instead. Not for money, but out of devotion and love for his elderly relative. Although the ten dollars she gave him afterwards, along with some cookies, proved to be immensely helpful...
...
At the end of a particularly busy Thursday, SpongeBob puts another ten dollars and forty cents into his jar- and his eyes widen.
Back when he started the project, he had drawn a big red line on the jar's neck to show when he had enough money to go and buy the clarinet- and the last amount of money he put in...was touching the line.
Overjoyed, SpongeBob whoops. "Hey, Gare, I'm going out to the music store! I'll be back in an hour!" He calls out joyfully, ignoring his exhaustion.
"Meow..." Gary mutters, rolling his eyes and resumes reading his poetry book. Yet, when the door closes, he feels a prickling of dread up his shell.
Something was going to happen to Sponge. And it is not going to be good.