11:18 AM
Chapter 1: Sunlight, Tea and Cookies
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.
Italics= SpongeBob's thoughts
Underlined= Sandy's thoughts
A/N: I FINALLY REWROTE THE FIRST CHAPTER! YAY!
"What the?!"
The loud banging echoed throughout the glass dome, startling the mammal and causing her to incidentally draw a line off of her page. She huffed in frustration at the bothersome mark before moving to stand; notes and pages fluttering in dissent as their author left the table. Sandy should have known better; having forgotten all about their weekly sparring session. As she approached the door, the knocking paused, giving her the opening needed to unlock the hatch.
A fist stopped just shy of hitting her face; she assumed he had been going to knock again. She blinked, staring at the hand in front of her, before its owner quickly retracted it and tucked it behind his back. In the other, he held a bag that held the familiar red karate gear she had become well acquainted with. She looked from the bag to his face, his grin having expelled her foul mood. She just couldn't help it when she was around the small yellow sponge.
"Howdy SpongeBob."
"Hey Sandy! You ready for some KA-RA-TAEEE!" He said excitedly, preforming several karate chops to the air. She giggled lightly under her breath, his enthusiasm refreshing after working through most of the night.
"Sure, just a minute though. I got some cookies to bake for later, and I need to clean 'that' mess up, before we start." Sandy gestured to the notes and calculations overflowing onto the ground behind her.
She turned on her heels and started off towards the large tree centered in the middle of the glass dome. SpongeBob stood in the doorway for a few seconds before stepping inside, looking curiously at the mess on Sandy's picnic table. The quiet returned after the light 'click' signifying that he was, for the moment, alone.
Feeling quite awkward, standing idly near the front hatch, he walked over to the jumbled clutter of papers warming in the sun. His shoes squeaked on the grass, always preventing him from holding an air about him other than humor. Sometimes this worked against him, others, for him. It was all a matter of situation.
SpongeBob slid into the small gap and lowered himself into the crowd of papers. Words, letters, numbers and symbols filled the pages, every one brimming with ideas and suggestions. Sadly, he was unable to understand this side of Sandy, most likely due to his lack of knowledge on the subject of science and inventing; but he tried nonetheless. This was the least he could do as she was always helping him out of trouble.
His eyes scanned the sea of paper, red markings standing out against the contrasting black and white. His hand brushing over the various mathematical equipment lying on the table, his eyes still doing the same, several words jumped out and stuck in his mind, as if covered in glue. Words like 'mind-reading machine' and 'testing' were underlined and circled on almost all of the papers. He assumed this was her next assignment.
SpongeBob could see how Sandy could get swept into her work so easily, the passion basically radiated off of her work; but that wasn't the only thing. He could also feel her annoyance, that and he could tell from the mounds of crumpled and scribbled paper surrounding the table. That's why she looked so tense when she opened the door! And here I was thinking that she was annoyed that I was coming. That thought had hurt him quiet a bit, thinking of how he might be more annoying than he believed. He put that down to the new fondness he found himself having for the squirrel.
"SpongeBob?"
Upon hearing his name, he snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to face the squirrel staring at him curiously, his movement so sudden, the pages nearest to him fluttered down to the ground in defeat. His gaze was quickly returned to the papers; he scrabbled to pick them up and order them. Sandy held in a giggle at the apologetic grin that was flashed her way as the young man began to make more of a mess. She held a confused yet playful look on her features as she pondered as to what the sponge was so engrossed with that he hadn't noticed her return. After failing to hold back her amusement, with a few giggles escaping her hold, she moved down next to the sponge and helped clean the now towering mountain of papers.
They sat under the large oak tree, the sun speckling the ground as it found its way around the leaves. The sound of heavy breathing broke the silence as the two of them lay against its trunk, fighting to regain their breath after sparring for some two hours. SpongeBob gulped down breaths of fresh water, turning to Sandy. She sat with her legs pulled into her chest, arms draped across them, forehead resting on top. As their hearts slowed down, and their breathing returned to normal, the yellow sponge turned to the mammal beside him. She was quiet except for the hushed sounds of her fingers playing with the frill on her bloomers. The yellow square turned his body towards her, a concerned look on his features. She's not normally so quiet… She was the type to go on about the moves they used and how they could both improve.
"Sandy, are you feeling alright? You seem worried about something…Sandy?" He waited for a response but she only huffed out a breath before halting her fidgety fingers.
"It's my bosses SpongeBob," SpongeBob looked down from the leaves he had been staring at overhead, to Sandy; watching the worried expression on her face, " they want me to make this machine that can allow you to read other peoples thoughts an' I have no clue as to how I'm goin' do it."
The young woman looked despondently at the grass, swaying in the light artificial breeze. She hugged her knees close to her chest, closing her eyes and once again laying her forehead on top.
SpongeBob, seeing his friend in such low spirits, lightly threw an arm over her hunched shoulders. He leaned over and ,at the same time, pulled Sandy to lean into his spongey side. He smiled brightly at her as she looked up at him.
"Don't you worry Sandy; I know you can do it! You're the smartest person in the whole of Bikini Bottom. I have faith in you."
As he said this, he stared intently into her stunning mocha-brown eyes. He hoped the energy and motivation in him had reached her, as it had when she had been in ruts before. The sponge had that fuzzy feeling in his chest again, but he ignored it as he had done every time it reared its head. The thing he couldn't ignore though, was the way in which it grew stronger with each glance, smile and giggle she sent his way, unawares of the effects it had on him.
The corner of the mammals mouth lifted ever so slightly at the compliment and the squirrel huffed out a sigh, allowing her head the fall onto his shoulder. She unwrapped her arms from her knees and spread herself out, the wear-and-tear of the previous match having to finally set in. She sighed once again, but this time in contentment; was she ever glad that she had a friend like him. He's one in a billion. She closed her eyes, enjoying the heat as the sun's light spilled over her. She wanted nothing more than to stay like that the entire day, being close to her pal and having the chance to enjoy the peace and quiet for once; but, she had an oven full of cookies to tend to and a tray of tea to make.
"Well, are you up for some tea an' cookies SpongeBob?"
SpongeBob perked up once again, he always loved the tea and cookies Sandy made. He'd hate to admit it, but he'd been looking forward to them almost as much as their sparring match. He jumped up, offering his hand and bowing before shooting a quick grin at Sandy. She couldn't help but stifle a light giggle at his kind gesture before accepting the out-stretched limb and standing as well. They moved to the door, where SpongeBob opened it and looked back to Sandy, still grinning at having improved her mood.
"I'll help you with the tea and cookies too, wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me if I let you do all the work." He shot her a quick wink before gesturing for her to head through the open door.
"Well, that would be mighty kind of you SpongeBob." Sandy smiled; yep, she couldn't have asked for a better friend then the one standing in front of her.
—
A/N
Hey Guys!
As you can see, I've started rewriting the first few chapters, I plan to do this in between writing the new chapters, so be on the look out and read the description to know if it's a rewrite or a new chapter posted.
Thanks all for being so patient, hopeful I can post the next new chapter after exams! Please read through if this is your first time reading this fanfic, as the writing is crap for the first 5 or so chapters, but once I rewrite them, it will flow and sound so much better!
Please review and leave me your thoughts, or PM me if you feel like a chat! Don't forget that more reviews = faster updates!
Goldenflash100
