When the Sun Shines

I have known Carver all my life. We were the same age, we liked the same stuff, and he was an amazing guy overall. He was nice, caring, smart, really cute, and a great friend. The only problem being that he lived in a whole other place.

Every summer, I used to absolutely dread going up to Santa Fe and spend another two months completely alone in a foreign place. At least in Denver, I got to go to places that were near me. In Santa Fe, I wasn't allowed anywhere alone. Not that mom and dad had ever offered to take me anywhere with them. For dad, it was anywhere there was sports - specifically golf - involved and for mom it was anywhere that had sold stuff - particularly pots, pans, and purses - that included any fun for them.

My idea of fun was either a rock concert or the library. I know I seemed like the type of girl who hated everybody and that was kind of true, but just not all of the time. Sure, I hated socializing, but it wasn't like enjoyed being alone every hour of every day. It could get pretty boring. Which was why when I first met Carver, I was both pissed and surprised that he was actually interested in someone like me.

Because let's face it, when I first laid eyes on Carver, I knew just what type of guy he was: an All-American Golden Boy. And when you looked at me you saw: your typical emo scene girl who hated everybody and everything. People found it hard to believe that Carver and I could actually be friends, but then again I used to find it hard to believe that Carver could actually be that cute and that nice of a guy. Boys these days just didn't come like that.

You either got the cute and mean gene or you got stuck with the ugly and nice one. Carver got the first and I got the latter - with a little mix-ups, of course. He got the handsome and charming trait and I was given the weird and constantly pissed off one.

When I first met Carver, who actually has moved around a lot since he came from rich parents as well, it was like in that Hey Monday video. The one for 'How You Love Me Now' where the cute guy comes and talks to the weird girl and she thinks that he really likes her, but in the end she finds out that he was only playing with her and much rather spend his time with a blonde cheerleader and her little groupie.

Except I had misread his intentions. Carver had come over to ask me if I knew where the closest beach was, I said I did and that I was just heading that way. I had gotten a job there as a waitress, so I would have something to do the whole summer. When I got there, I found Carver canoodling with some other girl and I felt such an anger I was this close to seriously poisoning his food. I found out almost too late that he actually worked at the same place as I did and he was only asking the girl what she wanted to have and she was the one that had gotten all touchy-feely with him instead.

After we all made up and stuff, we just hit it off from there. We did everything together from busing tables to talking about different types of music and movies we were interested in. Our lives weren't very different from each others'; we were both an only child and we knew what it was like to have parents that fought constantly, though we had different reasons. Mine were just...always fighting for no reason at all sometimes and his fought about the fact that they had to keep moving so much. But, overall they both fought for one reason: because of us.

Carver may not look like it, but he was just a big of a trouble child as I was. He was always getting in trouble with the teachers and getting detention for the speaking out and having different and sometimes unusual opinions. From far away, he looked every other heart-throb teenage guy; get to know him a little better and you find out he's actually this really determined eco-friendly boy.

Over the summers, I've got to know just how strong minded that boy could be and I knew that when he made a commitment to something, he kept at it until he finally got it in the end. So I knew for a fact that he wasn't going to leave neither me nor Ingloria, the little bitch, alone until he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was apparently a better world with better people in them with better thoughts and ways of living.

Sigh! if only there were more people in this world that actually thought like Carves did, maybe then we'd actually get somewhere near having a better world. Maybe then nobody'd die or cry, just like Nickelback sings about in 'If Everybody Cared'.

As I sat on my bed now, looking down at the bright eyed young boy who was going on and on about how he was going to help out Gloria and how he wasn't going to give up that easily, I could tell he was being absolutely truthful.

"So, you'll help me, won't you, Umbi?" he asked me all of a sudden.

"Huh?" I snapped back to reality and out of those beautiful blue eyes of his. "Of course, I will, Carves."

He smiled at his nickname and I smiled at mine. Carver's been calling me Umbi since we first met.

"Saathi, huh?" he said, once we were properly introduced. "What kind of origin is it from?"

"I'm not sure, but when I looked it up, it means something along the lines of 'umbrella', I think." I told him honestly, wrinkling my nose at the thought of being named after something that you used to cover yourself from the rain.

Carver laughed at that. "If you dislike it so much, how about I call you Umbi instead?"

"What? Umbie?" I scowled. "As if that makes it better somehow?"

Carver laughed again. "Yeah, but I'm the only one who's allowed to call you that, got it, Umbie?"

I gave in. "Fine, whatever. But, only if I'm the only who's allowed to call you...hmm, Carves! Yeah."

"Sure, that sounds great. Real original." He grinned at me.

"Well, it's not like you can make much out of your name. Ooh, unless you'd like me to call you Caviar!"

"Uh, no thanks, I'm good with just Carves."

Our laughter from back then was now ringing in my ears and I couldn't help smiling happily.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Carver asked me now.

"No reason, Carves," I grinned at him. "I just think you're a great person with great ideas that can definitely change the world one day."

Carver grinned back at me that told me that he was genuinely happy with that statement.

"And you're a great person for thinking that." he told me.

So, that was that; Carver was actually going to go through with his great planes of change and I, both fortunately and unfortunately, was going to be helping him. I knew that what Carver was trying to do was all with good intentions, but what he didn't remember was that, 'The best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry and leave us nothing but grief and pain.'