The high pitched screech of Squidward's alarm clock ripped him out of his sleep, making him gasp as he quickly sat up straight. His heart pounded as he blinked rapidly, coming into reality as he realized that the sound wasn't a demonic laughing SpongeBob that chased after him like the creature in his dreams last night. Every night, actually.

Squidward trudged his way past a deeply sleeping Snelly, and up the stairs to turn off his alarm clock. After slamming his fist against the snooze button and then dropping the clock onto the floor, smiling as a piece of it broke off, he turned to his bed and let himself drop onto it. He squeezed his blanket with his tentacles and rubbed his face against the softness of it, unable to understand why he hadn't slept on his bed last night. Or why his alarm clock was so loud that it could wake him up from downstairs.

Sleeping on the floor wasn't something Squidward was used to. He figured he must have been truly exhausted last night...or was it that ice cream that did this to him? He wouldn't put it past that. He froze, eyes popping open. He frowned at the memories that cascaded back into his mind.

He rolled over onto his back and cringed inwardly as he remembered…

Squidward walking out on SpongeBob, leaving him to close the restaurant alone. SpongeBob seeing him on his kitchen floor gorging himself on ice cream, Squidward flying into a rage and destroying SpongeBob's photo, then bowing before him, groveling and begging for his forgiveness.

Squidward felt his face heat up as he tried to keep himself from remembering these things, but it was like the harder he tried not to think about it, the more persistent the memories were.

He pulled out the pillow that was under his head and held it against his face, felt its coldness cool his face down a little.

"Hiya Squidward! I hope you have a wonderful day at work today!"

Squidward flinched in terror and threw himself off of his bed to the floor, collapsing into a heap, his tentacles splayed around him.

He trembled in rage as he saw the sponge outside his open window, gazing at him, smiling as always. He didn't remember opening that window, so he could only assume that SpongeBob had opened it himself.

SpongeBob shook his head at Squidward, as though he was just the silliest thing. "Squid, you're all tangled up," he said. "You need some help?"

Squidward stood up on quaking legs and dusted himself off. He kept his eyes on the floor until he could calm down enough to keep himself from shouting. He didn't feel like wasting the energy.

"One of these days, I'm going to go to your house with the sole purpose of scaring you to death, and my sad life will finally have some meaning. Because I hate you."

"Wow, I didn't know I was that important to you, Squidward," SpongeBob said. "But you know you can always come over whenever you want."

"Yup," Squidward said curtly, raising his head to look at the square monster. "I know, alright!"

SpongeBob's eyes softened as he pushed his legs over the window ledge and then dropped himself into Squidward's bedroom. "Did you sleep well last night? You look pooped if you want my honesty."

Squidward shook his head and chuckled bitterly. "SpongeBob, I never want your anything. When are you going to understand-"

"Are you getting ready for work?" SpongeBob asked. He walked over to Squidward's closet and placed a hand on the doorknob. "Do you need me to help you pick out what to wear?"

Squidward stared at SpongeBob before turning around, shutting his eyes and breathing deeply to calm himself down.

"What are you doing, Squidward? Are you-"

"Will you just leave me alone!?" Squidward shrieked, turning around fast, on the verge of grabbing the sponge and throwing him out the window.

SpongeBob was unfazed as usual. He still maintained his smile as he shot Squidward a thumbs up. "Okie dokie, Squid. I gotta get ready for work anyway. See ya in a bit!"

He then skipped his way out of his room and down the stairs. He heard the sponge say hi to Snelly before he heard the front door open and close.

Finally.

As Squidward slowly began to calm down after SpongeBob's departure, he shut his eyes and focused on his breathing. It was something he'd been practicing lately thanks to some books he'd bought that taught meditation and breathing exercises. He was always looking for books to help him hone his skills and he'd been skeptical about these particular books at first, but he eventually found that they helped him to deal with the idiots around him. At least for a little while, anyway.

Once he felt like he'd calmed down enough, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his oil canvas that stood to the left of the window. Paintbrushes were on the floor next to the canvas, along with unopened tubes of oil paint.

The canvas itself had only a pencil-drawn outline of Squidward's face and upper torso, though. He felt tears prick his eyes as he walked over to it and studied the sketch. Another possibility of competing ruined because of his idiotic neighbor.

Okay, maybe not completely ruined. Squidward still had some time to work on it, since the competition was a few days away. He'd just have to make time after work today. But he still felt frustrated about his inability to work on it at all yesterday. And all just because of a childish party...

To top it all off, he had forgotten that he had to work today until SpongeBob had so kindly reminded him. Or perhaps he had just subconsciously been pushing the reminder to the very back of his own mind.

He wished that SpongeBob hadn't reminded him so that he could have a valid excuse not to come in. He wasn't sure he was ready to face SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, and the mentally disturbed customers today.

Squidward realized that he didn't feel like waiting around until the last second today. He didn't even feel hungry. He just wanted to go straight to work and get whatever was going to happen when he got there over with. So he shut his window, left his room, and walked down the stairs. Before he reached the front door, he backtracked and looked inside the kitchen. Snelly meowed sleepily from her bed that sat next to the entry of the kitchen.

Squidward's face softened as he bent down to pet her eye stalks. He smiled crookedly at his only friend.

Snelly shut her eyes and meowed appreciatively as he massaged her in the way that he knew she liked. If only it was as easy to make friends with creatures that talked, he thought to himself. He tried shoving that thought aside, too, but it was hard to keep it away. It was one that haunted him in all aspects of his life.

Yes, it was true. He did want friends from the bottom of his heart.

But life was cruel and he knew that he had to accept that. At least he had Snelly. It was better than nothing, after all.

Squidward stood up and walked to the front door, then grabbed the keys that hung next to it. Opening the door, he turned around one last time. "Snelly, I'll be back in a few hours. Take care of the house for me while I'm gone, okay? And remember. If anyone knocks, don't answer."

Because it's probably SpongeBob, he thought to himself irritably.

Snelly meowed a confirmation and Squidward left the house, shutting and locking the door behind him.

It was a few minutes into his walk that he realized that he'd again forgotten to feed Snelly, but by then he didn't feel like turning back.

Squidward walked down Conch Road, his pace slow as he kept his eyes straight ahead, dreading his destination.

Before he'd left the house he'd felt like getting things over with, but as soon as he was out the door, he was filled with anxiety.

His body ached and his tentacles dragged along behind him. He could feel the bags under his eyes and his eyes themselves burned from the brightness of the sun.

This wasn't the first time he'd felt like this, though.

Like SpongeBob had mentioned, he did like to have a drink every now and then. Let's just say being in a stupor made his life somewhat less torturous. In the mornings after a drinking binge, he'd walk around like a zombie, barely able to even leave the house. But that didn't take away from the amazing feeling that drinking gave him the night before.

The feeling of being relaxed and at ease with the present moment.

And what was it that made him drink? Well, was there any question?

Sometimes it was because of the ringing in his head from all the screaming and laughing next door that nearly drove him to contemplate suicide. Sometimes it was the friendly smiles and offerings of peace long after his day had been wrecked. Most of the time it was simply his loneliness that drove him to drink. Although, strange as it was, he hadn't been drinking as much as usual lately. Maybe it was because he'd been focusing on his artwork more.

Well, whatever the case, he sure felt like drinking right now.

At 7:54 in the morning.

Squidward smiled sadly as he stared at the ground, passing by other fish who looked at him briefly as they walked by. He often attracted stares, though, so this wasn't new. Usually, he'd assume that it was out of jealousy of his good looks, but right now he figured that maybe they sensed what a loser he was just by looking at him.

Because that was what he felt like.

Finally, he looked up, sensing that he was near his destination. His nose wrinkled instinctively at the sight of the giant clam Krusty Krab sign. He stood before the restaurant and inhaled deeply, preparing himself for Mr. Krabs's interrogation.

Squidward looked down at his watch. He was a few minutes early, an impressive feat for him since he was usually at least twenty minutes late to work. He was sure both Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob were going to do a double take at the sight of him there so early, at least.

Squidward shook his head and walked towards the restaurant. His thoughts were getting him nowhere and he was only getting later to work. He had no idea why he cared about being late, but he assumed it was because he needed the money.

He hesitated the slightest bit before pushing the front doors open and going inside.

The Krusty Krab was empty.

Squidward stood in front of the doorway, eyes darting around everywhere, looking for any sign of a soul inside the restaurant.

He didn't see or hear any sign of life.

Squidward walked slowly up to the register that had no one behind it and saw that there was no one hiding in the boat either. He walked around the register and stuck his head into the window that connected to the kitchen and saw no one in there either.

He pulled his head out of the window and then turned around to look back at the Krusty Krab lobby, tempted to scratch his head in confusion.

His eyes widened as he realized there was at least one other place that the sponge and crab could be. He was rarely here this early, so he'd forgotten that his coworkers could be in Mr. Krabs's office.

He sprinted down the hallway, keeping his eyes ahead so as not to get creeped out by all the photos of SpongeBob on the walls. Once he reached the end of the hallway, he raised a tentacle to knock on the door that had a "Do Not Disturb" sign on it. Squidward paused, his tentacle in the air, frowning at the sign. But just before he could knock, he heard some whispering from inside and then what sounded like shuffling and footsteps.

Mr. Krabs cracked open the door and narrowed his eyes at Squidward, making him lean back and smile nervously. The door slammed in his face, making his heart jump in his chest. Squidward stood in shock, staring at the door, unsure of what to do.

A few seconds later the door opened again. Mr. Krabs laughed as he held it all the way open for him.

"Just kidding, lad. Sorry. I couldn't resist!" He gestured towards SpongeBob, who was sitting in front of his desk, and the empty chair next to him. "Come on in, we need to talk."

Squidward blinked, still recovering from what had actually hurt his feelings a little. He walked in tentatively, feeling nervous as he approached SpongeBob.

SpongeBob looked up at Squidward and smiled, but the smile looked stiff...not quite the friendly smile he'd seen just before he'd left for work.

Squidward stood in front of SpongeBob, staring at him as he smiled uncomfortably, feeling as though he had to say something. He had no idea what it was he felt he should say, though.

"Squidward, sit down," Mr. Krabs said after shutting the door. He then scuttled his way over to his desk.

Squidward sat in the chair next to SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs stayed standing behind his desk as he eyed them both.

"SpongeBob and I were just having a little talk about what happened last night. I would have asked you to join us, but I figured your phone was still off the hook," Mr. Krabs said with a wink.

"What? How did you- I mean, I...I just forgot to pay the phone bill. That's all. I didn't...unplug it from the outlet or whatever." Squidward looked away, blushing with embarrassment at being caught red-handed. "And don't wink at me. Seriously."

It was partially true, though. He did forget that he had to pay the phone bill soon. Maybe all the stress in his life was affecting his memory. Or maybe he was just that careless. Or maybe it was-

"Oh." Mr. Krabs looked a little disappointed as he studied him, but he seemed to shrug it off. "Anyway, since you're here – and congratulations for getting here early by the way - I hope you don't mind if we have a little talk."

"Um, it's fine I guess," Squidward said, eyes darting to SpongeBob who kept his eyes on Mr. Krabs. He wondered what Krabs and SpongeBob had been talking about before he'd arrived. There was definitely some tension as he'd entered the office, and SpongeBob was clearly avoiding looking him in the eye. That wasn't like the sponge.

Mr. Krabs's mouth suddenly set in a grim line as he crossed his arms behind his back. He shook his head as he looked at Squidward.

"Squidward, you know I care about you, don't you? I know I'm a little hard on you boys sometimes, but I like to think we're more than just coworkers. We're friends, right?"

Not in a million years.

"Yeah. I guess. In a way."

Mr. Krabs began pacing then, quiet for a few seconds. Squidward fought the urge to tell him to hurry it up and just say what he has to say. It took all he had to contain his anger. Even now, he still felt this tight ball of rage inside himself that was trying to claw its way out. And he doubted it was because of the ice cream. At least, not directly.

Mr. Krabs stopped pacing and turned towards them again, eyed Squidward, then eyed SpongeBob, then Squidward again.

Squidward felt himself begin to tremble, and he gritted his teeth in order to keep from pouncing on the crab and ordering him to spit it out already. He had so little patience anymore. That was one of the reasons he didn't ever attend work meetings. He couldn't stand the comparisons between him and SpongeBob and then being told every little thing he did wrong. It was like he came to work solely for the purpose of being a punching bag. Actually, that was pretty much what he was in all aspects of his life.

Finally, Mr. Krabs sighed, as he placed his claws on his desk and looked Squidward in the eye.

"Squidward, I'm just gonna say it since it looks like you might start another tantrum right here and now, and if you want me to be honest, I'm sick of it."

Mr. Krabs leaned forward, focusing his full attention on Squidward. Squidward shrank a little in his seat under the intensity of the crab's glare. "I'm a nice fella, but I can only take so much. Especially when it's hurting me other employees and me money." Mr. Krabs reached into a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper, placing it on the desk in front of Squidward.

Squidward leaned forward to look at it.

"Look, I know you haven't listened to me in the past, but I'm gonna give you an ultimatum." Mr. Krabs sighed. "If you want to work here, if you want me to take a little less money off of your paycheck, go to therapy. It's not only going to help me, but it's going to help you, too, Squidward."

Squidward stared at what looked like a formal letter telling him that he is being sent to therapy in order to deal with "anger issues". He leaned back after reading parts of it, taking in what had just been said to him. He turned towards SpongeBob, hoping for some sort of reaction, but the sponge had his head lowered, staring at the hands that sat in his lap.

Squidward turned back towards Mr. Krabs, laughing as he looked into his eyes, unable to believe that his employer was as dead serious as he sounded.

But the grim expression on his face only made him even more afraid. Squidward laughed nervously again, shaking his head in disbelief. "You...You're joking, right? I mean, how can you even tell me to do this? You're my boss, but you can't talk to me like this. You can't tell me I need mental help. That's...that's ridiculous."

"Squidward, if you want to see ridiculous, you should see yourself every day on the job."

"Says who? You?" Squidward continued shaking his head, looking again to SpongeBob for help, but the sponge only smiled at him apologetically. He turned back to Mr. Krabs, now feeling anger rise in him again. "Who wouldn't have anger issues working for a scrooge like-?"

"Listen," Mr. Krabs snapped, raising his claw which made Squidward shut his mouth, "I'm sorry for scribbling across your magazine like I did. I know that was pretty lousy of me to do. But I get annoyed with your attitude, lad. Do you know how many angry customers I get each day because of you? I don't even know how many because it's practically every other customer."

"Okay. Well, how about you take my side for once and realize that nearly every one of them comes in looking for a fight?" Squidward ground out.

Mr Krabs stood up, walked around his desk and to the door, holding it open. "Alright, well, I gave you my ultimatum. What happens next is up to you." He looked at Squidward expectantly.

Squidward stayed seated, pursing his lips and trying to keep from blowing up on them both. It was so tempting to point out each and every one of their flaws. He could name them easily. But something told him that wouldn't be the best way to handle the situation, especially after what happened last night. So he shut his eyes to calm himself down, thought about the advice in the meditation book he'd read.

Squidward thought about how SpongeBob had looked after he'd torn his picture into pieces. He thought about last night and how he didn't want to repeat that again. He thought about when he'd keep himself from exploding...how much better he felt afterward. He opened his eyes again and sighed loudly, unable to ignore the throbbing pain in his chest. He was so angry it hurt to keep it all in.

Well, this is my good deed of the day, he thought to himself bitterly.

Squidward pushed himself out of his chair and stalked out of Mr. Krabs's office, making sure to keep his eyes straight ahead, avoiding looking at either SpongeBob or his boss as he rushed down the hallway and then practically ran out of the Krusty Krab. He was so tempted to grab a chair in the lobby and throw it across the room, but some small, sane part of him stopped him from seriously considering it.

As he stomped away from the restaurant and towards his house, he gripped the paper tightly in his tentacles as he held it up and read one line over and over again, his blood boiling hotter each time.

anger management issues and lack of consideration for others