Disclaimer: I can hope, wish and dream that I own SpongeBob, but it's just wishful thinking. Stephen Hilenburg is the owner.

Title: Formfitting

'There ain't no need to get all worked up over nuthin'. It's not like I'll capture any attention.' she reasoned. Slightly reassured more, Sandy glanced at it again, and then whitened. "How could I lose that bet," she muttered in distaste. "Belinda must've been cheatin'."

.

.

As her Ma would say, Sandy felt as nervous as a thief in court. Unintentionally as well as involuntarily, her entrance was quite noticeable. Once the Texan squirrel entered the most well-liked fast food restaurant in the city, it was as if she became the next most well-liked 'thing' in the city. She rather preferred the not-too-quiet whispers and glares from the female customers instead the penetrating stares and ogling eyes of the males.

Anyway, lifting her head up high the female scientist continued her stride to the cash register. Sandy wasn't an attention grabber. She wasn't the type of girl to get such a reaction from people, so why act like it affected her? Though, why act like it didn't when it surely did?

"Good afternoon Sandy!", "Hello, Ms. Cheeks.", "H-Hiya.", "How are you this fine day?" many greeted her in one way or another. Not use to such attention, the squirrel simply smiled at some and made her way down to the cashier.

Squidward; a cashier (as stated on his name-tag), unwillingly took his eyes away from his 'Musical Moment's' magazine and looked at the elderly woman before him. He frowned. 'Even the elderly eat at this dump. Tragic how society has fallen.'

"For that to be possible, Ma'am." he said slowly. "I'd have to go in kitchen, into the cupboard, retrieve it, listen to nonsense babbling from a fry-cook, come back out here and re-fill the ketchup. Unnecessary, wouldn't you agree?"

The woman's brow furrowed in confusion. "B-But, you're the employee. Isn't it your job to do so?" Squidward shrugged his shoulder at her question. He began reading where he left off. "In my days, when we got a job, we did all that it required."

The turquoise coloured octopus, flipped to the next page and replied. "Thank Neptune you're times have passed." Hearing his nasal laugh, she gave up against lazy cashier.

.

.

"Hiya, Squidward. Can ya tell SpongeBob that I've arrived."

"Sure Sally, I'll get right on it." he responded, cheerfully? Sandy being no fool, easily detected the sarcasm that was heavily coated.

'No point losin' yer cool 'ere. It is Squidward after all. The infamous cashier that's ruder than country club pampered women.' Refraining from causing some damage with her fists, it still irked her that he purposely or most likely uncaringly couldn't get her name right. They knew each other for more than seven years! True that they weren't exactly best friends, but she also saved his live (alongside the other crazy bunch) countless times-it couldn't hurt a soul to correctly address their saviour.

"Look, I know we ain't exactly tight an all, but would it kill you to get my name right?"

Before retorting back, the octopus unwillingly took his eyes away from his 'Musical Moment's' magazine, aiming to make eye contact with the squirrel so she'd get the message loud and clear. Once looking, he couldn't stop-not that he wanted to. One look was all it took for his personality to take a one-eighty turn.

"Forgive me Sandra," he apologised, purposely rolling the 'r' in her name. "Let me make it up to you, any plans this Saturday night?" Sandy leaned back at his verbal advances. She found his purring very out of the blue, but when viewing the lewd twirls of his brows-she looked at herself and quickly discovered his 'friendly' interest in her.

After declining three private clarinet lesson with Squidward which wasn't all that hard to do (considering how he played), SpongeBob came into the scene.

"Squidward! What's keeping your attention?" cried out the sponge. "It's been precisely five minutes and thirty seconds since you haven't ordered any..." The tray in his hand dropped. Normally, he'd be weeping at the waste of two perfect patties or begging for forgiveness from the customers. For now; he didn't care. He didn't even worry about the threatening call of the wasted food coming out of his pay check.

In similar manner to the male customers, and just like Squidward. Once he looked, he couldn't stop. Not that he really wanted to. Especially now that recently, SpongeBob no longer considered Sandy cute any more, but pretty; very pretty. That word would probably be upgraded soon. Worries entered his mind. 'This squirrel's trying to kill me. That suit is too, t-too...Why is it so...tight? Why does she have that kind of figure? Why is she wearing it?' he thought, as he couldn't help but notice. 'Fish paste! Just when when I was getting used to her in her bikini, now this. Calm down SquarePants. You gotta stay in control. Sandy's your friend, you can't afford to think about her like this!'

In his mind, the word 'pretty' was upgraded to a three-lettered word beginning with a 'h' and ending in a 't'. Her big, white space space suit which 'did no wonders for her' as Pearl would proclaim was not present. As a substitute was a formfitting suit (that was definitely 'formfitting') which was guilty in creating too many wonders in one day. Whilst still retaining her pink flower, a difference to be noted was the her boots, slightly wedged-creating a mature. Her new suit was still primarily white; yet it was accompanied with thick pink lines traveling from her arms, waist and legs. It proudly pronounced some curves she secretly possessed by how it molded on her body. Nicely shaped she was, which was not what a lot of female sea creatures were. Only mermaids, arguably the most beautiful creatures in the ocean held such reputations.

If Sandy was affected by the naïve fry cook checking her out, she didn't show it.

"SpongeBob?"

Hearing her pronounce half of his name, he hesitantly replied."Y-yeah?" He settled to staring at her face because it made him able to pronounce his words without stuttering.

"Aren't ya gonna show your 'special friend' the best table in the house?" she said with a smile in her eyes.

The sponge formed an 'oh' in understanding when realising that today was the day they'd go to the museum and beach, since the Krusty Krab suspiciously finished earlier than normal. "Of course I will, let me show y-you to your special table." Before he could extend his arm for Sandy to hold, he halted in his movements when Squidward stepped in front.

"Why don't you go check on the burning patties and I'll," he says, extending his own long arms chummily around Sandy's shoulders (much to her disapproval). "show her to her seat."

The fry cook rushes without a moment's notice once hearing the words 'patty' and 'burning' in the same sentence. In spite of that, he steals a glance behind him to view Squidward's arms on Sandy. Faintly he frowns. The sight isn't enjoyable. It unsettles him.

With more force than necessary-the spatula flattened the patty on the grill. "Squidward was being a worry wort for nothing. Theses patties aren't burnt, they're still cooking to perfection. Grilled at best, Sandy'll like 'em."

SpongeBob left his station with the squirrel's meal. When arriving at her table, it was overcrowded with four men and Squidward (who really should be at the cashier counter), hovering over Sandy as if she was breath-taking treasure.

'Something's up. Sandy does know a lot of people in Bikini Bottom, but not like this,' he noted in his mind. 'Even Squidward is gazing really hard at her, just like the time the customers all thought Patrick was a girl, just because they thought he was really...' The spongy male didn't finish his thoughts, because he figured out what was going on. The customers becoming friendly with Sandy just because she was wearing something a little too friendly with her skin. Gazing and ogling at her like she was a smokin' boat mobile. This unsettled the sponge even more than Squidward's arm on her.

As tolerable the attention was, it stopped being tolerable when one fish got too brave and placed a fin on her thigh. She forgot the first offense and punished him with a hard stomp on his foot, but the second, third and now fourth advances made Sandy grit her teeth. 'How in tarnation am I supposed to beat that these sorry good-for-nuthin' punks to pulps and not get arrested for assault?' she wonders.

A smile as fake as a tan stretched on her face. "I'mma head out now, I've got an appointment with-"

"-Me! We're leaving now, right Sandy?" supplied SpongeBob, coming at the right time.

"Right!" she happily replied. The joy was obvious on her face-she couldn't be more relieved.

.

.

Each longing gaze directed at her made him unsettled. Each wolf whistle directed at her made him twitch his left eye. Each wink directed at her made him seethe in anger. Each flirtatious greeting directed at her made him grit his teeth. The sponge didn't like (at all) the response to Sandy. So what if her suit was formfitting, pleasing to the eye? Couldn't they just look at her like they normally did? Well, fact was SpongeBob in the beginning couldn't, and neither could a certain red lobster.

"Helloo, Sandy!" a muscular man greeted.

'No, not Larry!' the sponge panicked.

"Hiya, Larry!" she responded. As usual (unintentionally) Larry did not recognise SpongeBob's presence.

"Might I say on this lovely day, you look so much lovelier." he stated, with his voice deepening. It was all SpongeBob could take. He himself acknowledge that Sandy was incredibly hot today, but he wasn't making any passes like at her compared to other guys. Still, he did occasionally stare which wasn't much damage but still some.

He coughed. "Well would you guys look at the time," said the sponge, displaying a fake drawn watch on his right arm. "We're late Sandy, we'd better head on off."

"Huh? Won't the museum have a long-" the sentence wasn't finished. With strength that Sandy would question later, the sponge ushered her along to their next destination.

.

.

The sponge and squirrel had planned to visit the Bikini Bottom Oriental Museum days ago, in hopes of learning the history of Karate and viewing ninja artefacts from the 15th century. A number of people in the queue held no problems in letting Sandy jump the line-it took little persuasion from her to allow her spongy friend to accompany her also. The squirrel took in detail in how SpongeBob grudgingly tailed after her. 'Could he be...Nah, he wouldn't be, it's not in his nature to be however..'

.

.

Seeing him deflate unhappily so on the grass of Jellyfish fields, makes her decide there and then that she'd ask questions that would lead him to unintentionally reveal a few things.

"It's been a pretty interestin' day today, don't ya think?" she commented offhandedly.

"I guess you could say that." he mumbled.

"Oh, I guess I could seein' as I was the center of attention today." taking a look at him, she didn't miss how his shoulders tensed at her words. "I'm still wonderin' why?"

Astonished by the squirrel's response, he spoke. "Sandy, are ya sure you don't know why, why everyone was staring at you?"

She shrugs her shoulders, inwardly intrigued by his reaction. Deciding to act oblivious becomes a tactic to retrieve information from him. "Nope. I'm about as clueless as a wild headless chicken. Why, do y'all know the reason?"

Nodding his head, SpongeBob firmly grips the grass underneath him in irritation at the true 'reason'. "Sandy, you do know that what your wearing is completely different from what you normally wear, right?"

"Okay, so what?"

"Well that's what," he says, shyly gesturing to her suit. "you may have not noticed, but your new suit's gaining a lot of attention in town today." 'Wrong attention.' he grumbles in his mind.

On the face of it, realisation dawns on her. The squirrel pulls the supple material on her thighs. "You mean to tell me that this lil' suit is to blame for the friendly interest in me today?"

The way SpongeBob drones (seemingly irritated) that she's on the right track does not go unnoticed by her-so she pushes her false lack of knowledge further.

"Hmm, if this be true," she drawls out. "then what makes this suit of mine so attention grabbing." She examines the suit on herself-the same suit she despised wearing earlier today. "Ain't no one in this city dumber than rocks to not recognise the difference, but it's only the shoes that are different and the pink li-"

"No," he states, ending her words. "That's not it." The grass beside him once connected to the soil are ripped; clutched in his tense hands instead. His eyes turn to hers. "Sandy, you had the whole town's eyes on you-everyone was looking, no eye balling at that, t-that formfitting suit!" Frustration is next to leak on his voice. "It happened with Patricia and it happened too you to. At the Krusty Krab, you were the smokin' boat mobile of the century! You saw how all those distracted guys ogled and gazed and, and just couldn't leave you alone."

The grass clutched in his hands are released.

Bitterness is the third tone glued on SpongeBob's voice. "Larry and Squidward were distracted by that suit and even I-" he cuts himself off, and turns away from her-switching the topic to the underwater sun about to set soon. The Texan squirrel finds it a struggle to hold herself back from an all-knowing grin from the information she's retrieved from him.

Her tone is exceedingly innocent when she says. "Were ya distracted by my formfitting suit today, SpongeBob?"

He feels his mouth go dry, he can't seem to articulate his words properly. "No, I mean yes, no, yes, wait a minute!" he splutters. "It's not like I wanted to be distracted, but that doesn't mean I didn't like being distracted, but um...You're my friend, best-friend and y'know, that suit is formfitting, so your legs were really, forget I said that. I wasn't ogling, I was staring and well-"

He stops his incoherent explanation. Forgetting and unable to restrain herself, she chuckles. Verbally and loudly.

"You're really lettin' your cows runn'n today, SpongeBob." she stated, eradicating her chuckles. "Calm down, I'm just playin' the tease is all."

Holding a hand on his chest, the yellow sponge sighs in relief at that. He allows a tiny, tiny, microscopic smile of sheepishness of his face. "I think you're really good at acting the tease instead playing, Sandy."

She notes his words in delight and contemplates to herself that some more fun at his expense ain't so evil or illegal for that matter. Her tone in voice lowers lecherously. "Apart from mah legs SpongeBob what else is more noticeable?" she questions. He gulps. The poor sponge is speechless again, his reddened face is enough to start her off.

Her incessant chuckles cause him to whine out at her in mortification. It ceases her for the time being.

"Well, hally-lallily ding dang do! Never," she attempts to stifle her laughter. "Never did I thought that you'd have." Her attempts fail. After a minute of glee, she finds it in herself to settle down. "I'm sorry partner, it's just that I ain't ever seen this side of you before." 'Who would have ever thought?' she thinks.

The sponge tilts his head in confusion.

"C'mon, don't make me proclaim it out loud." she bits her lip so laughter won't escape. "I surely ain't the only one who'd be surprised, but never did I think that SpongeBob Naïve Pants would one day be SpongeBob Mature Pants." she sighs when not viewing the understanding on his face. "Three years ago, you would have never reacted in such a way as today even if I wore a formfitting suit like this," mentally, the sponge disagrees. "I see you shakin' yer head, letme tell ya that three years ago, I did in fact ask ya how appealin' I was."

"What'd I say?"

Sandy looks down at her knees before replying. "You called me cute." her voice is timid. Not as confident or flirtatious as before. "Now, if was to ask ya whether I was pretty or attractive, you'd say-"

"Both." he states audibly. The squirrel is thankful that he's staring far into space other than her face, cause it's heating up rapidly at his words.

"Y-you see? There's a difference now, whether it's because of someone you're crushin' on or you've finally gotten the talk or sumthin' like that, your maturity has finally awoken." she refrains from sighing.

"What I mean to say is that your dormant hormones are now awake." she winks at him. This causes the blushes on his cheeks are not to fade away as quickly as before.

One more person other than Gary and his Dad that knowing about his attraction to the opposite sex doesn't go with him well. At least Sandy sees no awkwardness but amusement in his attraction to her, yet the the yellow sponge thinks that maybe the latter would be better.

.

.

"Y'all should know that I'm in this suit against mah free will. Somehow I lost a bet against a colleague of mine from New Kelp City." she frowns. "'Cause I lost, I had to wear this suit for a day as Belinda knew tight-fitting clothes weren't mah thing in public. I also get the feelin' she knew I'd get unwanted attention."

"So all along, you did know about the stares on you from everyone?"

"Duh, course I did. Squidward actually got my name right, Larry didn't treat me like one of the guys and you, Mr. SquarePants," she says, with a smug look on her face. "got your hormones workin'."

The sponge blocks his ears shut in preparation to the next thing his supposedly best-friend; Sandy, will say next. SpongeBob's not sure if there's another level higher than extreme-extreme-embarrassment.

"It's a good thing that there workin', though I'd like to experiment and see what would cause 'em to briefly malfunction or overload." her words cause curiosity within him (only one hand was covering one ear). "Could be 'cause I manage to wear sumthin' tighter, less? Or," she drawls. At her drawl, the sponge looks at her and panics. The (good-natured?) feral grin on her face stirs his instincts to; flee and escape from her right now. At this instant-forgetting whether she is a friend or not. "nothing at all." she purrs.

For a moment, he prides in himself that no visual imagery comes into mind-though that's not considering the dreams he'll have tonight. Her words cause his face to become the personification of humiliation yet again.

"T-that's not funny Sandy." he reprimands in a mumble. She doubles over. His mumble is out of earshot by the sound of her ear-splitting, knee-buckling laughter filling his atmosphere.

A/N: What d'ya think of this chapter? Were characters: IC, OOC, IC and OOC at times? Constructed criticism and advice is needed please.