Pulling Down Heaven

Proctor's life when he's not studying bibles

Proctor headed to school the next Monday aiming to discuss what had happened at bible group with the only person he knew who could be trusted to give unbiased advice: Elizabeth. They had dated for a while, back when Proctor was still trying to convince himself that he was straight, but they'd ended on good terms and he knew she would support him through anything. So as he trudged into the form room and dropped his bag on a desk, he called out to her turned back, "Lizzie?"

"How many times?" She turned around from writing on the whiteboard and put the cap back on the whiteboard pen, "It's Elizabeth. What do you want." Proctor sat on the desk next to his bag and put his feet up on a chair.

"There's a guy," he sighed, and Elizabeth looked up from adjusting her skirt- rolled up once in order to be fashionable but not 'slutty', as she would firmly insist whenever she was called out for it by a teacher- and raised her eyebrows.

"A guy?" She sat on the desk opposite him and crossed her legs. "Why didn't you say? Come on- spill the beans," Elizabeth was a skinny girl and about a month older than Proctor, which she liked to remind him of as frequently as possible; the fact that she could vote in the next general election and he couldn't by a matter of a few weeks was a point often heard in dispute between them.

"You know that bible study group my dad makes me go to?" There was no one else in the room- Elizabeth always arrived early to complete her duties as a prefect and Proctor had arrived earlier than normal to talk to her, so they could discuss the matter at ease.

"Of course,"

"Well, there's a new guy who just started there- moved into the area from Wales or something. Anyway- he's called John Hale, and-"

"Wait." Elizabeth pulled out her phone and opened several social media apps, "If he's got social media I'll have found him by lunch. I assume you haven't bothered to look." Proctor shook his head, and Elizabeth returned to listening carefully.

"I've only met him, like, twice, but he seems like a nice guy. We've talked a lot- I helped him out with an anxiety thing, and I probably told him way too much about my family issues, but- I trust him, you know? I like spending time with him,"

"Well, if he keeps your mind off of Abigail-"

"For the last time, Lizzie, I don't like Abigail Williams!"

"That's not what she thinks,"

"I'm not having this conversation again,"

Proctor looked away, annoyed. He wasn't lying- he'd never liked Abigail Williams, he'd kissed her once, and regretted it immediately afterwards. If Abby couldn't see that, then it wasn't his problem- it was hers. The form room door opening startled him out of that train of thought and he turned around to see who it was.

"Have either of you done the physics homework? It's due first period and I totally forgot," it was Samuel Parris, who, despite being entirely self centred, had always been a teachers pet.

"You shouldn't copy people's homework," Elizabeth stated disapprovingly, not looking up from her phone.

"Hold on," Proctor reluctantly rummaged through his bag and handed Parris a crumpled sheet of paper, "I've done it."

"Thank god," Parris got out his own book and began copying the answers across. "So what were you talking about?"

"Nothing," Said Elizabeth simply, "that would even remotely interest you." Proctor wasn't out to many people- Elizabeth and a couple of other friends knew but he still had to be careful about what he said to who.

The rest of the day passed without much incident- he took a nap in maths and Elizabeth woke him up in time to pack up his stuff before the bell rang. It wasn't until the end of the day that he had to deal with Abby.

He was leaving school after fifth period, backpack slung over one shoulder, when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Abby walking fast to catch up with him, and dreaded the interaction he knew was coming.

"Hi!" She sounded out of breath but persevered in matching his long gait by half jogging along beside him. "How's my handsome stallion?"

"I'm not a horse, Abby,"

"You know what I mean," the worst part was he did know- Abby was famous for her overly sexualised metaphors and this was almost certainly one of them.

"What are you doing here?" his walk home was only about 15 minutes, and he was nearly half way there, so if he could get her to leave now he'd still have about 7 minutes to himself.

"Just wanted to talk to you,"

"Why are you actually here?"

"Fine," she sighed and tugged at her blazer- their school uniform had a grey and navy theme with blazers that were never permitted to be taken off- "Why do you keep hanging out with Elizabeth so much? You know she doesn't like you like I do, and-"

"Elizabeth's my friend,"

"She wants something more,"

"Funny, that's what's she said about you," he spoke bitterly, increasing his pace so she had to almost run in order to stay parallel with him.

"I don't want something more John, we have something more, Elizabeth's just jealous-"

"That's your street," Proctor stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?"

"You turn left here, that's your street."

"Oh." She looked down her road, and in a last ditch attempt said, "sure you won't walk me to my front door?"

He just sighed and kept walking. He had a special reason to want to be home soon tonight- Elizabeth was going to send him links to John Hale's social media, if he had any.