Reduced To Nothing

Caris walked in her front door, the familiar smell of her home absorbing her. There was a clatter of feet down the hall way and then Sam had her arms around her, squeezing her tightly.
"Sam, let the girl breathe..." Kylie sauntered towards them, smiling serenely.
"CARIS! I AM SO EXCITED!' Sam shouted, grinning excitedly.
"I know Sam. Let me dump my stuff, it's fricken heavy." Caris laughed, and made her way up the stairs, Kylie and Sam following her.
Upon arrival to her bedroom, Caris dropped her bag on her desk and kicked off her chunky school shoes. Sam plopped down onto her bed and Kylie jumped onto her desk, her legs swinging. Caris smiled and shook her head at how comfortable to the two had made themselves. She stood with her back against her window, hands on her hips, and raised her eyebrows.
"Sam. Go ahead." Caris said. Sam jumped up and squealed.
"I got offered to go to London! I cannot believe it! It's so amazing!" She shrieked and Kylie rolled her eyes, obviously having heard this same speech more than once.
"Yeah, I KNOW Sam! Are you going to take it?" Caris asked, leaning forward. Kylie huffed, once again knowing the answer coming.
"I don't know! I want to go to London, but I don't wanna leave mum and dad or Kylie or you or Eric... I don't knoooooooow!" Sam moaned.
"Well, I've gotta break it to you Sam. You need to make a decision soon. You're meant to leave next month..." Kylie put in, shaking her head.
"I almost want to stay here. I really don't want to leave Eric. I mean, I love him." Sam said, frowning.
"Well, that sucks." Caris conceded. Sam pursed her lips. Kylie rolled her eyes.
"So, Caris. I hear you've got yourself a boy-toy?" She grinned, watching Caris blush. Her eyes sparkled and she fell back onto her bed next to Sam, giggling.
She sat up and replied, "Okay, so his name is Hayden, right? He is like, THE most gorgeous guy I have ever met, and he is SO great. Like, today, this new chick came into our class, and she was full hanging herself over him, and I was worried that she was going to steal him away from me, BUT I asked him about it, and he told me that he thinks she's ugly, and she doesn't like her." Caris said, going pink in the face, grinning.
Sam and Kylie exchanged a look, then smiled at her. "He sounds great Caris. Just look out, because the guys that are the nicest are usually the ones that will cross you, my love." Kylie said softly, her eyes wide and gentle.
"Yeah. Just be careful, I mean... I've been screwed over by a guy more than once. Your too sweet for me to let that happen to you. I'll protect you!" Sam said fiercely, pretending to draw a sword from her pocket. Caris sucked in her cheeks, decided that they just wanted the best for her. She smiled at them, automatically dismissing the conversation.
The girls were sitting around the dinner table, stuffing their faces with the food that Aunty Opal had cooked for them. The adults were sitting outside, eating their dinner and laughing loudly under the effect of wine. Kylie was balancing peas on the end of her tongue, much to Melanie's amusement. Sam was texting her boyfriend, in between shoving amounts of food in her mouth and telling Kylie to stop being an idiot. Caris was watching with silent amusement, thinking about what her two closest cousins had said. She thought about how she was so convinced that Hayden was going to leave her for Alyse. She thought about the look in his eyes when he looked at Alyse, the look that was absent in Andrew's. But she also remembered how Hayden had promised that he saw nobody else but her. She didn't know who to trust; the guy she loved, or her gut feeling. The thoughts were making her stomach twist and her insides were writhing. Her dislike for Alyse was burning, and her face was crumpled up in disgust.
"Jeez, Caris. Don't think so hard, I can smell hair burning." Sam said through a mouthful of food. Caris grinned and stuck her rude finger up at Sam. "Bite me?" Caris replied.
"No but seriously, we know what your thinking about. Honestly, just coz we've had relationships like that, doesn't mean you will too. If it's meant to work, then it will." Kylie told her, reaching across the table to take her hand. Melanie's face screwed up, her eyes horrified.
"Is something wrong with Hayden, Car?" Melanie asked, clearly worried. Caris shook her head and smiled at her sister.
"Hayden's fine Mel. Don't sweat it, okay?" She replied. Melanie nodded her head then pushed her seat back and walked away from the dinner table. Sam glanced up, dropped her phone on the table and took a deep breath.
"I'm going to take it. I'm going to England." She said happily.
Kylie sighed. "Fina-Fucking-Ly." She said and Sam threw a few peas at her.
"What do you mean 'Finally'? I've only known for like... Three weeks." Sam trailed off. Caris snorted and got up to get a glass of water from the sink. "What about Eric?" She asked, taking a sip.
"I'm old enough to know that a boy can't make my decisions for me." She thought for a minute, then corrected herself. "Influence my decisions. I'm a big girl now." Caris nodded, and bit her lip.
"I guess you're right. You just... Went with your gut feeling, right?" She asked. Sam nodded. Caris knew what she had to do.