On a Sunny Autumn Day

"So then what kind of music do you listen to?"

Carver looked up from the cd collection before him as he heard Jake's voice. He shrugged. "I don't know. I mean some old stuff. Simple stuff. I'm not really big into music." It was true. He had never really been one of those people who retreated into their world of music. He liked it but he didn't really care what he was listening to as long as it wasn't some annoying pop band singing about puppy love.

"So when you say simple…you mean what? Beach Boys? Beatles? Mr. Rodgers?" Jake asked. He could not believe Carver was so uncultured. First the guy didn't know about the greatest indie flicks of all time and now he didn't seem to care about music. Jake had a lot to teach this kid though the idea of being a teacher kind of thrilled him.

"I meant more like Metallica…Filter…Train." Jake tried to stop himself from making a face but was only partly successful. Carver gave him a look. "What? It's not too bad," he replied as he studied the cd cover in front of him. It was some sort of abstract art which wasn't even that good. Carver could've done a much better cover design, but then again he had an artist's eye so who was he to judge. Jake walked down the aisles, in the music store the two boys stood in, towards Carver. The music store was one that he had found on the boardwalk and grown to love. It was run by this guy who went by the name of 'Jones' and didn't really seem to have a history. But Jake liked him anyway. He was this crazy old music freak guy. He was by far one of the coolest people in Sherman Oaks.

"I need to educate you, my friend. And fast because if I don't get chopping, you're going to end up like Cameron. I'm telling you, the music he blasts from his room makes me want to kill myself…and not in a good 'Cat Power' emo way." Carver couldn't help but laugh to himself. Jake definitely had a way with words. That was for sure. He continued to study the cd cover, but was surprised b a female voice behind him.

"You want to buy that?"

Carver turned to see a short skinny dark haired girl with pale skin and dark eye makeup. She wore jeans, black vans, and simple sweatshirt, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail with streaks of red. She definitely didn't look like most of the girls he'd seen so far in Sherman Oaks. It took him a minute to respond as he was pretty surprised by her look. "Uh no. I was just looking at the cover," he finally said, finding the few words he was looking for.

"Yeah. Pretty lame." The girl gave him a small smirk but nothing too outrageous. He liked it. It was subtle. Soon Jake came up to stand next to the two, a few cds resting in his hands. He smiled as he looked between them. "I see you two have met."

"What?"

Jake took the opportunity to introduce them, putting his arm around each of their shoulders. "Carver Michaels, this is Sunny Bishop, the chick I was telling you about. Sunny Bishop, this is Carver Michaels, my new pseudo brother. Not a replacement for Cam, but he's already fitting in pretty well seeing as the kid's from Fresno," Jake announced with a smile. The two eyed each other and exchanged a small smile.

"Hi."

"Hey."

"Wow, you're both such big talker. Me, I'm nothing compared to you two," Jake added, sarcasm oozing from his voice. Sunny cracked a smile as she looked up at Jake. "So what was he saying about me?" Sunny asked, looking towards Carver. Carver opened his mouth to respond but caught a look that Jake shot his way. Maybe the real comments were best left unsaid.

"Something about you being the coolest girl in Sherman Oaks…the only one whose company he was worthy of," he replied, making up an answer on the spot. Sunny smiled at the comment and Jake nodded along as if it were the truth. Sunny extended her hand to Carver which he slowly shook. She eyed him for a moment, trying to see who he really was. Sunny had always been good at reading people which was probably why she didn't hang out with most people in Sherman Oaks. Jake was one of the lucky few. And saying lucky was even saying too much.

"Looks like Jake's already got you covering for him. Isn't that supposed to come two years in the friendship?" she replied as she glanced over at Jake with a raise of her eyebrow. He looked busted for a moment and then put his arm around her shoulders.

"And I also said you were the sunniest girl in all of the Valley which as you can definitely see, Carver, is no joke," Jake replied. Carver looked on at the two friends. It was clear they were close. It kind of reminded Carver of Jasmine. Yet even they were not like Sunny and Jake.

"FYI, Carver, don't ever listen to Jake. He's wrong 99.9 of the time," Sunny said, looking between the two boys before her.

"Yeah but the rare .1 of the time is just plain awesome."

"I gotta get back to inventory. Jones will probably have an aneurysm if I'm not there stacking boxes in like five so I'll check up with you later. Nice to meet you," Sunny replied as she turned her back and looked one last time at Carver. She then grabbed one of the cds out of Jake's hand and continued walking.

"What was that?"

"There's no way I'm letting you buy Less Than Jake. Too much of a bad pun. Don't want to scare your new friend off, now do you?" Sunny replied, a small smirk forming underneath her lips. Wit that, she headed towards the back room, leaving Jake and Carver. Jake turned to look at his friend who was still studying the place where Sunny had previously been.

"So that was my Sunny Bishop."

Carver nodded, looking over at Jake. He had found the girl to be pretty cool. Definitely a Jake kind of girl. They had a good banter going on which even Carver could see. Maybe he was just surprised that they weren't going out though he wouldn't bring it up. "Look, this is a great place and all but I don't really have the money to buy anything…," Carver started, changing the subject. He didn't have much money at all and he wasn't abut to ask Jake for some. No way. Jake started walking towards the counter at the front of the store with Carver trailing behind. "Hey, this is for your music education. I'm paying. And before you give me some really moral speech about me not paying, I'm already going to so save your breath," Jake responded. Carver figured arguing was not going to work especially since Jake would probably win such an argument anyway. He followed Jake to the counter and watched as Jake placed the cds on it and an older man with graying hair and a 'Sex Pistols' t-shirt turned around.

"Morning J. This it?"

"Yeah, Jones. Just buying a few things to educate my musically challenged friend over here."

The older man who Carver by now figured was 'Jones', looked over the cds and rang them up on the cash register. "Stiff Little Fingers, Kinks, and Cat Power…all a fine start to an education," Jones responded, looking down at Carver, who stood there silent unsure of how to respond. The guy kind of freaked him out a little with his messy graying hair and droopy eyes. Clearly he was a friend of Jake's. As Jake whipped out his wallet, Jones threw the cds in a bag and looked over at Jake.

"So you ever gonna actually buy the Bangles record you made me put on hold. For the girl…Autumn…whatever the hell her name is?"

The color in Jake's cheeks instantly reddened. Carver couldn't help but be interested in the comment but let it go for the moment. "Uh yeah, well, we'll see about that, ok, Jones? Ok. Well we still have to head to the Bugar Shack so uh…have fun with inventory and mucho gracias for the musico," Jake replied as he grabbed the bag and walked out of the store at a quicker pace, Carver jogging a bit to catch up with him as they left the store. He kept his gaze on Jake as they walked.

"So who's Autumn?"

Jake clearly didn't want to answer the question which was odd since this was the first time that Carver had seen Jake not want to talk about a subject. "Autumn?"

"Yeah. He just mentioned a girl named Autumn who you put some record on hold for?"

Jake tried to conceal his nervous laughter and handed the bag of cds over to Carver, buying him a teensy bit more time. "Oh, that Autumn! She's just this girl," he responded trying to shrug it off.

"Just this girl?"

"Yep."

"That you put a record on hold for?"

Jake nodded his head at a rapid pace. He realized how fast he was walking and slowed down. The best thing was just to play it off cool. There was no need to tell Carver all the semi-embarrassing details that branded Jake as a real geek. Yeah…didn't want to scare away a possible second friend in Sherman Oaks. "Oh yeah well we've been kind of been on and off for awhile now. She's this real Valley Girl, brown hair, blue eyes, knows she's pretty…she just likes to play me hot and cold," he said, trying to pass off his macho 'I've been around the block a few times if you know what I mean' tone. Carver nodded though he clearly didn't believe a word of Jake's response.

"So you guys are going out.."

"Well, more like…in a holding pattern but you know her birthday is coming up so I figured I'd put the record on hold 'cause we'll probably be back together by then, and you know she's a real big fan of the Bangles. It's weird but every Valley Girl has to have their inner rocker chick," Jake added, feeling better about the whole tone he was trying to play off. The story seemed to actually be making sense and seeming true. It was a first for Jake. He was not a great liar.

"So when's her birthday?"

The question was met with a slight silence as Carver watched Jake look away. "Uh…in…six months." Carver slightly smiled but didn't let Jake see the small smile forming. He knew Jake was making the dating stuff up, but he wouldn't ruin the cred that Jake thought he had established.

"Oh wow. She sounds like a real catch, that Autumn."

With that, the two boys walked off down the boardwalk, towards the Burger Shack, dropping the subject of all things Autumn, Jake, sure that he had gotten away with sounding like a real Sherman Oaks player and Carver, wondering what hold this Autumn girl had over Jake.

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If you're reading this,I would LOVE a review. I really want to know what people think. Do you like Sunny/Jake? Can you not wait to meet Autumn? Do you hate it? LOL.