The first installment to this lovely fic. Don't worry, the chapters will be longer soon enough.

"Doo, doo, doo, doo," Spongebob hummed to himself as he happily flipped Krabby Patties on the grill. He was working at, what he thinks, is the best job in the world. Even though his boss is a cheap tightwad, he still loved working there.

"One cryin' johnny!" Spongebob cried, ringing the order bell multiple times to get Squidward's attention.

Squidward flinched at the sound and grabbed the plate, trying not to make eye contact with the sponge. But even after he took the patty, Spongebob continued to ring the bell. He tried to ignore it as he handed the customer his patty. "That'll be $2.99, sir." He muttered, wishing he was somewhere else right now.

The customer flinched at the sound of the bell and groaned. "What is that noise?" He asked, angry.

"Just ignore it, it'll stop eventually." He told the customer and himself.

The fish handed him the money and walked off to sit at a table. The bell continued to ring.

"Hey. Hey, Squidward?"

Squidward sighed and realized that he wouldn't stop unless he gave him the attention he wanted. He turned to him and groaned, "What IS it, Spongebob?" He made it clear how annoyed he was.

"Well, I was just wondering..." His eyes grew sparkly with anticipation. "Have you opened your present yet?"

Squidward glanced slightly at the wrapped mess he had stuffed at the bottom of the boat that was the cash register. "No." He said, turning back around.

"Oh, ok." Spongebob said. Then he tapped his head lightly. "You're gonna looooove it!" Then he went back to his flipping.

As the day continued on, every few hours or so, Spongebob would tap him lightly on the head, asking him the same question. He would always reply with a no, but that just boosted the pestering. Squidward had just about had it and when he finally thought he was going to go crazy, it finally was 8 o' clock.

He sighed happily and threw off his hat, not bothering to pick up the present. Spongebob noticed this and grabbed it and joined Squidward in their walk home. The squid didn't even care that he was beside him. He was just happy he was finally going home.

"So, that was a good day, huh?" Spongebob asked.

Squidward just nodded, keeping his eyes ahead.

Spongebob twirled his fingers as they walked, then poked his side.

"Yes?"

"W-well...you forgot this..." Spongebob held out the present.

Squidward wondered how he had found it, but it WAS Spongebob. And he always seemed to find some way to annoy him. "Oh, gee. Silly me." He said in monotone.

"Well, do you want it?" Spongebob asked.

Squidward rolled his eyes and grabbed Spongebob by the shoulders and turned him sharply to face him. Spongebob giggled slightly from the spinning but looked intent. "Spongebob, there are a LOT of things I wanted today. One, not to go to that wastebucket you and Mr Krabs call the Krusty Krab. Two, to have something better to do today than sit at a cash register. And three, not to be bothered by YOU."

Without saying anything else, he walked off.

Spongebob stared as his "friend" walked off into the night. Normally he would shake off Squidward's harsh comments, but that one hurt. He had gotten that specially for his birthday and he didn't even ask him to give him anything. Maybe he was in a bad mood. He still felt his spirits drop and didn't even call after him.

Suddenly he a sharp cry and then a blow to his back. He whipped around to see Sandy striking a pose in her green karate gear. He blinked slightly.

"Hey, Spongebob! Ready for some ka-ra-tay?" Sandy smiled as she striked another pose.

"I don't know about tonight, Sandy." Spongebob said, glancing slightly at the squid's disappearing figure sadly.

"Hey what's that?" Before he could stop her, she grabbed the present in his hands. "Who's this for?"

"Well-"

She unwrapped it. Her eyes shone in amazement at the clarinet. "Spongebob, this is beautiful!" She studied a bit, taking in every shiny detail. "Where did y'all get this?"

"I bought it." He replied.

"Who's it for?" She asked.

"S-Squidward." He felt a slight blush rise in his cheeks. "It was his birthday."

"Well, why didn't y'all give it to him durin' the day?"

He didn't answer. He felt a lump rise in his throat. He wouldn't cry over this. Squidward would get it tomorrow, and everything would be alright...

"Oh." She already knew why. "That's not nice of him."

"H-he was just grumpy, I guess." He murmured. 'Don't cry... Don't cry...' He told himself as he fought to keep them away.

Sandy felt bad because she knew how much Spongebob liked him and wanted him to be his friend. He was too sweet and innocent to see that Squidward wanted nothing to do with him. She patted his soft head and smiled slightly. She couldn't tell him that. It would break him. And he wouldn't understand anyway. "Yeah, I'm sure. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah.." He said sadly.

Sandy wrapped her arms around him, but didn't get one in return. She pulled back and stared at his depressed face. He wasn't usually like this. "Aww, c'mon, Sponge." She said. She put down the clarinet and pulled out her karate gear. "Hii-YAAAH!" She hit him on the side of his head, causing it to sink it and pop back out.

Spongebob sighed. "Not now, Sandy."

She didn't listen. "HII-YAAAH!" In a whirl, she chopped him left and right in a cloud of dust.

Spongebob tried to ignore her. "Sandy, please. Sandy. S-Sandy..." He began to smile slightly. He couldn't resist a karate fight with her. He pulled out his gear and they continued their fight for a couple hours.

After they finally stopped they both were laughing loudly, even Spongebob, who you wouldn't have thought ever was on the verge of crying before.

"Ahh..." Sandy sighed. "S-so, you wanna fight some more at the treedome?" She breathed heavily as she spoke.

"Sure! That sounds fun." Spongebob agreed happily. He struck a pose. "I'm gonna win this time."

"You sure about that Sponge-Brain?" She smiled, also striking a pose.

"As sure as my square pants." He said, and they both laughed loudly.

They walked down the road to Sandy's Treedome. But what neither of them noticed was that they left Squidward's clarinet sitting on the side of the road, the wrapping paper sprawled around it. Sandy