Here's chapter 3!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Meeting the New Face

That first shift of the week dragged terribly for all five friends. They were all still tired from their late-night party and early morning, it didn't help that it was a quiet day. That summers day was the hottest on record and was rumoured to only keep going up, many of the townsfolk were opting to stay inside their air-conditioned homes or eat something cold and refreshing. Nobody was craving hot greasy food while they sweated. As a result the five friends had spent most of the day sitting at the table under the air vent, enjoying the cold air and occasionally taking turns standing in the walk in freezer.

So when five O'clock came, Mr Krabs decided to close down early. He was desperate to get home, change out of his sweat drenched clothes and take a cold shower to wash away the stickiness.

They five shuffled into the heat wave as the boss locked the doors.

"It's too hot!" Patrick groaned, throwing his head back.

"I'll give ye all a ride home, it's too warm to be walking." Mr Krabs offered, Squidward, Sandy and Patrick agreed in a heartbeat.

"I'm heading over to welcome the new guy, it's too out of your way." He shrugged with a tired smile, "I'll see you later."

"No boy, it's too hot to be walking the length of town. Just leave it for today." Mr Krabs tried but SpongeBob shook his head in determination.

"I'll be ok," He waved to his friends, turned on his heel and headed for the opposite side of town. The others piled into Mr Krabs' car after waving their short friend off, they pumped up the air conditioning with relieved sighs.

Bikini Bottom was pretty small, it was just an old seaside town that time seemed to have forgotten about. The rest of the world moved on while their little speck of the world stayed rustic and beige, it was very difficult to get the latest technology. Living on the south/west coast of America meant their little beach hub was always dry and never really got close to being cold, most of the citizens had never even seen snow before. The rain was always dusty and dirty, there was little grass so the water would turn the sandy mud into pools of sludge-y hell.

But as small as everyone said it was, it was still a long way to walk from one end to another. Especially in such unforgiving heat, the sun was still setting and the whole town was now glowing orange from the dying rays. It looked as hot as it felt.

SpongeBob was parched and exhausted by the time he arrived at the run down old shack, he grimaced at the street as it looked like no one else lived there. Every shack was tiny and run down, some were even missing doors and windows. He shuddered, it looked like a crime scene.

He arrived at the only house that seemed occupied, it was still run down but there was equipment in the front yard that indicated the resident had plans to fix the old place up. SpongeBob smiled, excited to meet the new face.

He stopped in front of the weathered door, took a deep breath and knocked.

There was shuffling from inside before the door opened.

SpongeBob had to tilt his head backwards, this man was as tall as Squidward! He had to bend over to get out the door of the small home. He had tan skin and a hansom face, his grey eyes were half lidded as they scanned over his visitor. He was lean but muscular, not as tough as Larry but didn't have far to go. He had spiked black hair, that glistened with gel.

He was definitely too cool for SpongeBob. He was wearing a grey tank top and black shorts, on his feet were navy flip flops.

"Can I help you?" He asked warily, the boy was taken aback at the deep voice.

"Um… sorry…" SpongeBob shook his head before smiling friendlily, "Hi! My name's SpongeBob! I just wanted to welcome you to Bikini Bottom!"

The man raised his eyebrows at the name, he gave him a half smile in return.

"Hello SpongeBob, thanks… Would you like to come in for a drink?" The man shuffled to the side, "It's burning hot out here, I have ice cold water in the fridge and some air conditioning?"

"Um, sure? I can't be long though, sorry!" SpongeBob nodded as he entered the shack.

There wasn't much to it. It had a simple laminate flooring that continued through all the rooms, it had a Living room/ kitchen at the front and a bedroom through some slatted doors at the back. There was a white panel door which SpongeBob assumed was the bathroom, through the bedroom he could see huge glass sliding doors and a beach with the blue sea behind it.

"My name's Phineas." The dark-haired man introduced himself as he collected the jug of water from the fridge, SpongeBob strolled over to him when he heard the ice clink against the glass. He frowned when he saw cucumbers floating in the water, he'd never drank water like that before.

"Nice to meet you." SpongeBob smiled politely.

"Thanks, you too. You can call me Phin by the way." Phineas nodded as he poured the water into glasses and placed the jug back in the fridge, "Hope you like cucumber water."

"I like cucumbers… I've never had them in water before though." SpongeBob admitted shyly.

"Oh, I just think it makes the water more refreshing." Phineas smiled, "You need that on days like this, try it."

SpongeBob took a tentative sip of his water. He hummed in delight at the cool refreshing taste as it coated his dry tongue and mouth, he swallowed before taking a swig.

"So, how are you settling in? Is it true you just moved in today?" SpongeBob asked as they sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, literally just this morning. It's been busy and sweaty but at least it's done, I'll be fixing up the outside tomorrow to try and make it a little more livable." Phineas informed the boy casually, he eyed the shorter male up and down. "Say, I'm pretty hungry – you wanna grab a bite?"

"Sorry, I can't. I have plans." SpongeBob smiled softly. "But if you want, I can help you fix up this place tomorrow? I'm sure my boss won't mind me taking a day to help!"

"That would be great, thanks!" Phin agreed softly before continuing. "What can you tell me about the restaurants around here?"

"Oh, there's not much honestly… There's a seafood place by Goo Lagoon… There's the Chum Bucket but it's kinda gross, Plankton owns it and he's a little weird. I work at the Krusty Krab! It's the only reason tourists ever come near this town anymore!" SpongeBob laughed lightly, "It's really nice there."

"Oh, interesting… Maybe I'll do some exploring tomorrow, you could show me around?" Phin suggested, SpongeBob nodded before chugging the rest of his drink.

"I've got to go but thank you for inviting me in and giving me a drink!" The boy stood and wandered towards the door, "And welcome to Bikini Bottom! I'm sure you'll love it here!"

Phineas waved him goodbye, he settled back into the couch with a smirk and pulled out his mobile. He dialed someone and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, it's me." He greeted slyly, "You were right, the little guy was the first to introduce himself to me. He's coming by tomorrow to help me make this hellhole a little nicer, didn't have the heart to tell him I won't be here long."

There was a moment of chatter from the phone.

"Yup, he's showing me around tomorrow… I'm sure he will… yeah…" He listened to the other voice, responding when he could.

Something was said and the man gave a sinister smirk.

SpongeBob finally stumbled through his front door, his legs were aching. He was sticky and uncomfortable, but most of all hungry.

He collapsed onto the couch between his two best friends, Sandy and Patrick. They immediately shoved a pizza box onto his lap and a cold cola in his hand.

"Thanks," He panted after taking a long slurp. "That was a longer walk than I thought!"

"So, what's the new guy like?" Patrick asked, waiting to press play on the movie.

"He seems really cool!" The freckled boy nodded enthusiastically, "I think he's kind of a foodie too coz he was really interested in the local eateries."

"Cool." The two friends smiled.

Patrick pressed play and the three enjoyed their dinner and movie. Afterwards, Patrick and Sandy headed home, SpongeBob had a soothing cool shower before hopping into bed for the night. He smiled happily as he thought about the next day.

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