Carbon atoms have four valence electrons. are they likely to react with other atoms, and why or why not?

Carbon atoms have four valence electrons which means, in order to agree with the octet rule, it would likely react with other atoms. In this way, the carbon atoms would be more stable. The octet rule states that each and every atoms would want to be stable so it would want eight electrons in their outermost shell thus it would have an electronic configuration same as the noble gases. However, there are a few elements that do not follow this rule which are hydrogen, boron and aluminum. Hydrogen only has 2 valence electrons while both boron and aluminum only have 6 valence electrons to be stable.

What are the choices?