Reduced To Nothing

The next morning. Hayden blinked his eyes open and glanced over at the girl beside him, who was breathing in and out softly. He looked at her peaceful face the swung his legs over the side of the bed, leaving Caris. He took one last look at her before walking out of Constance's room, accidentally slamming the door. The noise made Caris sit up in a hurry, and the movement made her head spin. With a groan she laid back down on the unfamiliar bed. 'What the hell.' She thought to herself. She looked around the room, before sitting up, more gently this time and putting her still high-heeled feet on the ground. Glancing around she noticed her purse, and upon grabbing it, she made her way out of the room. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she noticed what a disaster Constance and Alyse's house had became. She noticed all the bottles and cans strewn everything, along with bits of streamers and random bits of food. Madison and Andrew had fallen asleep on the couch together, and with a wry smile she walked over to them. She gently shook Madison, who she guessed, would probably feel worse than she did. Madison rolled over and blinked her eyes.
"Caaaaaaaaaaris..." She whined. "Caris, shoot me. Please."
Caris leaned down close to her. "Madison, we really need to leave! Mum and dad will be expecting us at mine REALLY soon... Come on!" She shook Madison again. Madison groaned before making the same mistake Caris did, sitting up too fast.
"Oh my fucking Goooooood!" Madison moaned.
Caris rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. Andrew sat up, more slowly than the other pair and laughed.
"Can I come? I'm not leaving little Miss alone for the next four years." He looked at Madison and patted her arm.
"I don't care, just hurry up!" She said, a little hysterically.
"Fine, fine." He huffed and jumped up off the couch, pulling Madison up with him. Madison turned and spotted Constance picking up what they assumed to be one of her shoes. She walked over to the girl and kissed her cheek.
"Thanks for the party love. It was great." Constance managed a lazy grin at her then waved to the other two who said their thanks and goodbyes, before leaving the now disastrous house.
"So, guess who I saw leaving this morning?" Andrew teased. Caris raised an eyebrow, the early morning sea-breeze ruffling her hair.
"Who, Andrew?" Madison asked, clearly not in the mood for games.
"Hayden Prince!" He announced. Caris raised her other eyebrow, suddenly interested.
"Oh?" She asked.
"Yeah. Came down the stairs. He didn't LOOK hung-over. Maybe a little pissed off... He left in a bit of a hurry." Andrew explained, nodding.
"Was he drinking too?" Madison asked, curious.
"Nah, don't think so. The last time I saw him, he was dragging Caris away from James." He said. He smirked when Caris stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh my god. Fuck, what was I doing with James? Strike that. Will James REMEMBER what we were doing?" Andrew and Madison both laughed together before Andrew answered her.
"Probably not. He looked fairly smashed when Hayden dragged you away from him. However, that might have just been because the girl he loves basically jumped on top of him and shoved her tongue in his throat." Caris winced in shame. "This has an upside! Hayden could not have looked any angrier when he had to pull you guys apart. Seems to me it's as if he is a little bit jealous..." Andrew insinuated, grinning shamelessly. He put his arm around his sulky girlfriend, pulling her close to him.
"How come you're not hung-over? You stupid git." She said, pouting.
"Because, my dear, all I had to drink was the last half of the bottle I confiscated off you." He answered, grinning easily at her.
"Kiss my ass, Andrew." She answered him, giving him a dirty look. Andrew grinned at that.
"I would kiss your ass, but I can also think of a large amount of other places I'd also love to kiss." He replied smartly. Madison managed to give him a small smack on the arm, but not much else. Caris smirked slightly, knowing that she probably wouldn't have been able to manage much more than Madison in her current state.
"So, Cars. What's your opinion on the whole 'Hayden ripping you off James then disappearing off with you for the rest of the night, aye?" Andrew asked, winking at her.
"Oh God. I don't even want to think of the things that could have happened. I mean... I'm pretty sure nothing BAD happened... I woke up with my clothes on. Shoes included." Caris held up the shoes in her hand.
"I doubt that he would take advantage of you like that anyway, though. Like, if he didn't care about you, he would have left you with James. And we all know how that would have turned out." Madison put in. When Caris raised her eyebrows, and Andrew looked confused, she rolled her eyes. "Come on, you guys. Two drunk teenagers, one of them horny beyond all expectation? Seriously, if Caris was drunk enough to kiss him, she would have been drunk enough to shag him, we all know it." She concluded, her voice laced with a tone that said, 'How could you possibly be that stupid?'
"I reckon she's right though. If I still had Hayden's number, I'd text him and thank him..." Caris trailed off softly. Charles snorted and Madison raised her eyebrows.
"You deleted his number?" She asked, slightly surprised.
"Yes." Caris answered shortly. "I don't need a reminder that I left him every time I turn on my phone."
"I suppose that's true." Madison replied, softly.
The rest of the journey back to Caris's house was almost silent, apart from Madison's complaints and Andrew's condolences. Caris was too wrapped up in her own thoughts about what had happened with James and how Hayden had rescued her from anything getting further than she wanted. She was truly thankful to him, and she wanted to tell him so. But she didn't really know what to thank him for. In all honesty, she didn't remember anything; she only knew what Charles told her. She didn't even really know that Hayden had left the same room as her.

Hayden sat alone in his bedroom, trying to remember Caris's smell. He knew from the amount of times being in her bedroom that it was a sweet scent, like lollies and fairy floss. Last night, however, this normal smell was accompanied by another perfume, sweeter than her usual, sickly almost and the smell of Cruisers and Vodka. He thought he recognised the perfume on her bare skin - Madison's maybe? He could smell her as her dragged her up the stairs, it was blocking his nose and making him want to gag; whereas her normal perfume was hard to stop sniffing. Hayden would never forget how she looked, with caked on make-up and her top hanging down, revealing all. He despised her when she looked like this. Natural Caris, with very little make-up and her ugly school uniform on. She had a faint glow about her when she was sober and natural.
"Why did you leave me, Caris?" Hayden asked himself, scrolling through his phone contacts, pausing on her name, debating whether or not he should call her. His finger brushed the green call button, which seemed so daunting. He imagined the soft laughter flittering through the phone and closed his eyes. He pressed 'call', and waited.

Caris stepped out of the hot shower, steam circling it's way around her legs and feet, like a snake coiling around it's prey. Her hangover had subsided slightly, and her head wasn't throbbing so much anymore. Caris wasn't really paying attention when she heard her ringtone - 'Smother Me', by The Used - going off. Caris quickly unlocked the bathroom door and made a quick dash across the upstairs hallway into her bedroom. She didn't even bother looking at the number before answering.
"Hello?" She said into the receiver, water dropping onto the floor around her.
"Hey, Caris." The familiar voice answered.

Caris was startled. She almost dropped her towel at the sound of his voice, before regaining composure.

"Hayden? Hey. What's up?" She asked, walking over to her set of draws, pulling out her lucky red push up bra and a pair of black underwear.
"Just wanted to see how you were... You got uh...," Hayden paused for a moment. "Pretty smashed last night. Wanted to see how your hang over was going. "
"Oh... Well, yeah. Last night was pretty stupid of me. No more piss-ups for me for a while. The headache is still there, but it's a ton better now that I've stood under the hot water for an hour and a half." Caris laughed delicately, pulling a pair of skinny jeans on.
"Yeah, I suppose it would. Um, another thing. James... You guys were, well, pashing." Hayden said, trying to control the jealous anger that flared up.
"I know. Andrew told me. I'm a bit disgusted with myself, really. I mean, I know his your best friend and all, but honestly... James! Of all people." Caris spat, falling back into the old comfort of talking to Hayden. Hayden laughed at her, a bit jealous knowing that the tongue of his best friend had been in the love of his life's mouth. The thought made him shudder a bit.
"He won't remember it, though." Hayden said, relieved that he wouldn't have to put up with James.
"Yeah, well, thank the Lord for that, right? Seriously. What was I thinking?" Caris sighed, trying to manoeuvre a top over her head without letting the phone slip.
"I suppose you weren't really thinking at all." Hayden replied to her, his voice falling slightly. Caris heard the change in tone, then all of a sudden she realised what she was doing. And as much as it was what she WANTED to do, she knew it was stupid.
"I have to go! I'm sorry. Talk to you tomorrow!" Caris hit 'end call' and closed her eyes.

Hayden stared at his phone, looking at the 'call disconnected' written across the screen. The sinking feeling in his stomach proved it. She left him, once again. He felt like he did that morning at school; Like crying. He'd never forget the way she had looked that morning. Her blonde hair was streaming out of the loose bun it had been enclosed in, and her normally bright blue eyes were dull. The only time he had seen them that lifeless, was two years ago.
Her face was pale, sallow. But there was a determination that had set her face in place.
Hayden sighed and tossed his phone onto his double bed and glanced out the bay window into the East Ravenswood beach, which was slightly more grey than usual, mostly because of the oncoming storm. He stared at the view for a while, before whispering softly;

"Why'd you leave me, Caris?"

Caris glanced out at the beach that she had seen so many times. She threw open the glass doors to her balcony and watched the waves roll in and out. Caris leant onto the railing - more glass, and she thought about last night. She tried to remember what happened after Hayden dragged her away (Not that she remember that either,) from James. Her lips curled into a thoughtful frown, and she tried to remember through the foggy darkness, but to no avail; it was like trying to remember someone you never met, or something that never happened.
Caris's bedroom door clattered open, and in strolled two of her cousins, from her fathers Italian side of the family. Coletta and Adriana Van Giuliana. Both with strong features, and dark hair, they looked less related to Caris, and the cousins from her mothers French side, such as Sam and Kylie Bedeux.
"Caris!" Adriana said, kicking off her tall high-heels.
Coletta smiled radiantly towards Caris. Adriana kissed Caris on both cheeks, and Caris caught a breath of florally scented perfume.
"Ciao bella!" Colette greeted Caris, doing the same as her elder sister.
Adriana had a set look about her face, making her look even more determined than before. Thin, plucked eyebrows drew together and she huffed.
"So, Caris. I hear you and that boy broke up?" She enquired, and she sucked her cheeks in, awaiting an answer.
Caris sighed, and knew that it was going to be a long. Longer than the last night spent with Sam and Kylie.